A New Week begins

It's hard to describe the uncertainty of working the way I am. I finish a job not knowing how long it will be until the next job, hustling assignments and putting in bids, hoping that there's not an underbidder sitting out there on the road. And there often is.

But what I've noticed is, there's always "enough" work, if I'm willing to travel and wait it out. Uncertainty and patience are the order of the day. And my laptop and cell phone have become trusty friends, as I depend heavily upon them on the road.

At this point, the next certain job I have is Friday, and I have a full day booked. Enough to cover expenses for the week, so anything that comes in between now and then is the gravy. It's a rough life, to be sure, but I am quickly discovering the appeal of the open road.

I have some work that I'm trying to schedule out next Monday and Tuesday that will land me in an area where I suspect I can land some gigs. I have a couple of connections down that way, and might be able to land an open mic or two.

Meanwhile, I played a jingle for coffee. Well, that wasn't the proposed arrangement; the deal was the first person to go to the radio station and sing on air was going to win a five pound bag of coffee from the local coffeeshop (which brews their own). So I headed down and asked the DJ what he wanted me to sing and it evolved from there. He proposed "If you're happy and you know it", and I wrote a short jingle promoting the coffeeshop. After some banter, knowing the shop owner is a Johnny Cash fan, I wrote a parody of "Folsom Prison Blues" plugging the shop, and played it on the air.

Now, coffee may not seem like much of a payment, but first off, it is my life's elixir, the one vice that I cling to. Second, it bears mentioning that the word "salary" comes from a time when folks were paid in salt. And I'd much rather have some good coffee beans than salt any day of the week!