Monday, March 02, 2009

Lessons Learned on the Road, Part 2


So, I know this is my second time around with this full-time thing, but I still had a thing or two to learn about living in constant community.
That, and I feel we should be honest about who we are. Sure, we can be serious and we love writing the 'thinking man's' entries, but we aren't serious all the time. Much of the time, we are a little less impressive than that.

On that note, here are a few things I've learned so far:

  • Cleaning the van once a week isn't just a rule the office came up with arbitrarily. It is a necessity for anyone who values hygiene and keeping their nose happy.
  • Following a TV show when home is hard enough. Doing it on the road when you have concerts scheduled or host homes who either don't have TV or watch a competing show makes it much more improbable. But we don't back down from a challenge... downloads and van rides are our best friends.
  • Carl and pants never make it very long. The pants seem to always move on into the afterlife not long after he decides they are his 'favorite' pair.
  • Sometimes, the floor really is the best option for sleeping.
  • We have a lot of fun on stage. Sometimes, I like to make faces at Carl when he's looking.
  • In an effort to not feed us lasagna/pizza/spaghetti, people instead feed us steak. Lots and lots of steak. I think this is a good problem to have, especially for the guys.
  • No matter how hard I try, I absolutely can not sleep in a moving vehicle. I'm still optimistic that it will one day happen, but realistic enough to have plenty of vehicle activities in stock (hello coloring books!).
  • Carrie and I read through books way too fast. We have a decent library forming in the back of the van. Book donations are always appreciated. We may even trade if you ask us nicely...
  • The bigger the dog, the more prone it is to believe it fits in your lap. When it's a 180 pound bull mastiff, this can prove to be a problem for a human much, much smaller than the dog.
  • We started out with 7 team members. Over time, we have found that personalities are asexual- they begin to multiply on their own. Right now, I'd say we have about 9.5 personalities on the team right now. As of now, there is no known cure.
  • When Eric is backing the trailer up, don't speak to him in terms of 'feet'. He is Canadian and an avid practitioner of the metric system, rendering him helpless when told he only has 3 more feet of space to move in.
  • When left to our own devices in conversation, it always comes around to poop and occasionally other body functions not generally accepted in day-to-day dialogue. Seriously. Next time you see us, just hang around for a while- it'll come up. Whether in passing or emotionally charged debate, it will happen.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Can I print this and put it in the next version of the Fulltime manual?

Sara Hoagie said...

haha, of course!

Ken and Natalie Simerly said...

LOVE it! Thanks for that Sara!