1,2, cha cha cha..

Russ ... please excuse Donny ... he must have thought he was in the Fred Astaire forum ...
Get rid of the stuff that isn't so enjoyable ... you might like the koi pond, but YOU don't have to take care of it any more ... let someone else have that responsibility and you just use it to sit next to and enjoy a fine Kentucky bourbon and a cigar as you watch the koi eat the food you just threw in to them ...
I don't mind spending time getting rid of millions of leaves at this time of year, but my idea of doing that is collecting them with the garden tractor, while smoking a fine cigar ... ... the heavy stuff - garden areas, under bushes, etc. gets done at the end of November by a landscaping crew ...
Having a lot of 'work' you love to do is a has been earned through the years ... just get rid of the stuff you don't HAVE to do ...

Well, I like my pond, too, and unfortunately, the liner sprung a leak. New liner is sitting in the basement, which will go in when I return from the Florida keys. Koi ponds are neat, and relaxing to watch the fish during feeding time. Now, if I could just find a way to get rid of the damned great blue herons that predate on the koi. They get 90 percent of the fish every year.

Today, I turned down a lucrative yacht club job, a job that 5 years ago I would have jumped on like a tick on a dog's back. They only wanted an hour a week, and they offered twice my going rate. However, that would have required me to do a lot of Friday doubles, and I'm just too damned old to do doubles anymore. I would rather watch my koi swimming around the pond on Friday evening, after I finish my Friday Happy Hour job at the nearby retirement community.

Good luck, Russ,

Gary

Blue herons got 100% of my koi while I was away on vacation a couple of years ago ... since then the pond has been inhabited by 'feeder fish' which have grown fairly well - although no where near the size of the koi.
They react a lot like the koi at feeding time.

Gary ... I think you've got to find s 'younger' keyboard player/vocalist and take him/her under your wing to pick up the gigs you are dropping ... Your grandson is a little too young, but how about you son or daughter?

If I weren't so far away I would try to help you out ... of course your clients would have to realize that when you "can't get the best, you have to settle for less" ...

As I said, I'm through with the argument, but when I must say I was misinformed about the number of executive orders, and I don't watch Fox News.
Those that are interested may want to read this, from a fairly liberal media outlet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-...s-predecessors/

That's all folks. Let's play music.

I don't like, or play, soul music.

Gary

Well thank God for that.

Yes, it is hard to admit, Russ, but sometimes it's best for us to make the choices in slowing down (when and how), rather than Mother Nature stepping in and doing it for us, and she may not use a method we can live with...

In my case, it was my ego...it was difficult to admit to myself (and my friends even more) that I was no longer as fit to keep up the rather intense schedule I had slowly built up over the years (also ego driven, when I'm honest with myself about it).

I'm not saying that's your situation, but it does merit investigation. If I'm to read into your posts, you sound and feel much like I did before I made some changes...and, in retrospective, I am very glad I did make them.

I still play, and, I still help others, but it's at a chosen speed that makes my life so much easier to view, rather than watch it rush by in a blur. I am content.

My late Uncle Jim, who lived to be nearly 95, had a saying, "Life is meant to be sipped...not gulped."

I think you are at a crossroad and your posts are your way of getting your dilemma out in the open where you can see it better...things always look different when exposed to the light.

I wish you the best of luck, and any support I can give, regarding your inevitable upcoming decision...plus you have all your good friends here on SZ.

I hope it is you that makes the change (or changes) instead of, the far less predictable, Mother Nature.

Your friend in music,

Ian

aaaahhhhhh ... make it stop!