First Day on the Job
I hardly slept last night, even though today was only an orientation day. Once I actually got to sleep, I didn't sleep well or for long since my alarm was set for 6:00 AM. After a quick breakfast and coffee, I headed out to a place I had never been. Traffic on I-75 was not as bad as I was expecting, so I arrived a little early. That gave me a chance to meet the guys and gal that I'll be in academy with. There were also a bunch of guys from the fire department, along with everyone else being hired by Cobb County at the moment.
The day was full of paperwork and people explaining benefits and insurance among many other things. After all of that was finished I went to HQ. It was like Christmas morning! They had all kinds of great things for me: shirts, pants, three jackets, gloves, boots, two sets of handcuffs, two flashlights, an asp baton (which is my favorite thing so far), two baseball caps with the department name on them, and holsters to put all the great stuff on my belt.
I started getting paid this morning, so all-in-all, it was a good day.
An Old Journal
I was looking for an old drawing I had done and came across a journal I wrote about music. This was written back in '03 before I started keeping all of my journals. I know, I write a lot about music, but here's why:
If Only My Life Could Be Set To Music
Have you ever watched a movie with the volume muted? It is terrible. Regardless of how great the movie is, it is nothing without music. Music is so much to so many people. Some of the richest people on this planet are musicians, or atleast people who claim to be musicians. I wouldn't agree that Ms. Spears is a musician, but she is in the music industry.
To me, music is everything. Music defines me. Not the type of music, but all of it. If there isn't music playing then I'm singing something in my head. I consume so much music in my day. I am not a passive listener of music. I live the music that I listen to. I wish that as I go throughout my day that there was music playing to fit the scene. I would walk by people...they'd hear the music and think two things: "Where is that music coming from?" and, "That guy must be important!" Everything that I would do would seem so much more important. The next time you watch a movie pay attention to the music. Watch a TV commercial with the sound muted. There is music everywhere.
There is a concert called something like "Four Minutes and Twenty-Three Seconds." Imagine this: Everyone gathers in the concert hall. A single piano is on stage. A man walks out, sits at the piano, (at this point everyone is expecting a beautiful piano solo) and he does nothing for the next 4 minutes and 23 seconds. People start to check the programs and chatter amongst themselves to find out what is going on. That is the music. Music doesn't have to be notes played by an instrument; music is any noise (or silence) that brings about emotion.