Karaoke And Laundry Mats...

Karaoke is a great time out and I love to sing! 

Karaoke Night - Image: M Burgess

I am sitting in a lounge and the karaoke host and tech have arrived. They are setting up their musical equipment. 

The atmosphere is a friendly hometown bar and it is cool in here. I am so grateful for A/C these days! The summer heat outside is blazing and we had to do our laundry this afternoon. This secluded bar is right next to the wash and dry shop near our neighborhood. This makes doing this chore a lot easier!

My 28 year old daughter is with me. She's my runnin' buddy. The drink in front of me is a *Pink OJ*. It is a mixture of fruit juices and lemon-lime soda. I have been sober and clean for 7 and half years almost 8 years come October. I intend to keep it that way. Alcohol makes me crazier than I already am so I will just stick to fruit sugars and chocolate if I need a little bit of a feel good substance. Karaoke is one of the few reasons I will step into a bar.

Singing is a great way to keep me in my musical interest and helps me break away from routines. I have sung all my life. Choir in high school and in church has trained me to at least carry a tune. I play guitar but my instrument is sitting lately, collecting dust in the corner. It's a poor lonely thing these days.

I will open as I always do with the song *You're In My Heart* by that wonderful playboy crooner, Rod Stewart. This song has been my choice for warming up for many, many years now. I am not sure if I will stay much longer than a couple of songs. Crowds in bars get drunker and louder as the evening gets on and the alcohol level gets deeper. I am sitting off in the corner with my tiny lap top and editing some material.

I am seriously needin' a get away but the funds aren't there. Work has been tough with the job change in April and the fact that it's summer. Money is not readily earned at this time of year. Chauffeur work in Vegas is sketchy out of the convention season so we do our best to get by. The new procedures are making me just nutty some days and the heat doesn't help either. The days are over the 100 degree mark now. It's July and the sun just blazes off the black paint on our cars and you can see the heat vapors on the pavement in shimmering waves.

The past few weeks I have a new obsession. Writing has grabbed a hold of me and I don't think it is going to end any time soon. Developing a website and crafting readable, meaningful articles on the topic of preparedness is most of the focus in my publishing. This makes socializing difficult. Aside from the net and an occasional phone call I am a bit of a loner. Without my daughter in my home I probably wouldn't talk very often.

That is the purpose of this post. I needed someone to talk to and..oh, hey before I do that, I have to go sing. Looks like I am in the Que to sing next.


Be right back!