Twofer Tuesday

Not really true since I paid for both lessons but Tuesday is my double lesson night with a group class sandwiched in between.

So I should point out that I’m at a point where things are a bit achy and creaky. Well maybe more than a bit. My hands have been flaring for some reason and my knees aren’t doing great either. Plus, I’m probably starting to get a little bit somewhere in my neck because that’s also doing the dull arthritis achy thing.

Anyway, Z comes up to me during group class wondering if I’m alright because I guess I looked “pissed”. And I wasn’t. Just tired and hurting more than normal. So maybe that’s what she was reading on my face.

And I know it impacts my dancing at times. JoNY will show me a step or tell me I need to take a bigger step or say the dreaded words “lower into the knees” and then my mind takes over. Part of it is a desire to not do things that are going to aggravate the pain. Part of it is just my level of doubt on being able to actually do what she needs me to do.

I’m not going to lie that this gets extremely frustrating at times. I do have a certain skill level and so they want to keep pushing me and I want to keep growing. They are aware of my issues so everything is kind of trial and error. They see something and think it would look cool and then we try it and see if I can actually pull it off. Or we make adjustments or accommodations while I envy those who have functional knees.

OwnerGuy was with us on the second lesson which was focused on our Fox Trot. JoNY tells me that he really loves choreographing Fox Trots. I guess because he doesn’t get enough chance to do that so he’s all over this one. And he tells me he’s taking a different approach to this one. Rather than just picking figures, he’s been listening to the music and trying to hit certain accents in the song.

Ideally, this would make the routine pop because we’d be doing actions at the various “hits” in the song. Of course, it would help if I could actually focus on the music but, right now, all my energy is directed at trying to learn the steps. So we do something and JoNY is like “did you hear how the music did X”. And I’m like “there was music playing?” OK, its not that bad. I’m aware of the general beat but not specific things in the song.

As it turns out, we have more the song to go because the original end was before the minute and a half so we have room for more stuff which is what OwnerGuy was adding yesterday. I’d go through it all right now but it is a blur and I’d probably misremember stuff. I was looking at my dance notebook and it is time to get a new one. I think I need to kind of start over and just take each of the nine little patterns we’ve got and right them all out along with these three routines. I’ve got little notes in various places but I need to consolidate.

Had a couple of text conversations with some of my old team members. One guy wanted me to write a recommendation on LinkedIn. If there is anyone on the team who really understood self promotion, it is this guy. We had a testing facility that wasn’t on the main campus where we had temperature/humidity chambers so we could test at different conditions. Anyway, at some point, I put him in charge of it and he created his own title around that. And I think he’s done it again with the part time job he currently has. I do admire people who are skilled at things that are beyond me. I mean he’s not lying. He may be embellishing a little bit but if it does the job, what’s the harm?

While I was there, I endorsed him for a few things and then clicked on someone else’s profile and did the same thing. Had a text from someone else who is up for a third interview even though the place is on a hiring freeze. So we chatted a bit about that and other things.

When I hear about how many interviews people end up having and how much work they have to put in to try and find a job, I’m super glad I don’t have to do that. There is something that just seems wrong about the whole process. I mean I get that hiring someone is a big deal but it feels like so many companies are (a) trying to find the “perfect” candidate or (b) afraid of making a mistake that they put people through the wringer.

And is there really such a thing as a “perfect” candidate? I mean if you have a position that is open for a long time and you’ve gone through a lot of people, them maybe you are the problem. No matter what you do, you are taking a chance. You are never going to learn everything about a person in a couple of interviews. Anyway, I do hope everyone on my teams lands somewhere.

Oh and I forgot to mention one thing. This is one of those things that can only happen at a dance studio. There is an older gentleman who has been coming for a couple of years. He knows his music so he knows when people are on/off time but he doesn’t move all that well. I think he does it because it keeps him active and he likes the attention he gets from the lady instructors.

So we are sitting there before my lesson. He’s got a lesson with JoNY right after me and she had been on a lesson with Tex when we came in. So he tells her not to get too sweaty working with me. This leads to a rather long conversation about how sweaty she is and so on. After the lesson, as I’m coming out they are still having a conversation about that. It was all in fun but it was one of those things that you’d never talk about in a real corporate environment. But in a dance studio, why not.

(Warning – this next part might be a bit gross) I also bring this up because the gym I go to has all these signs up about wiping down the equipment and not sharing your sweat. As I was leaving yesterday, there was a guy who had decided to skip his post workout shower and he was sweating all over the place. Well he walked through the little half door right before me and when I went to catch it, I hit the spot he had just touched and it was still wet. Ugh. Good thing I have hand sanitizer in the car. Now on a dance lesson, you are basically holding someone’s hand for a good portion of the time and, if you are working, there is some sweat sharing (sorry but its true).

And why am I writing so much about sweat? I’ve got to stop doing these things first thing in the morning.

Well that’s all I’ve got for today. I’m off to the gym in a bit. Have a good day.