Music to my Ears

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was kind enough to send me an email advertising this weekend's classic concert tickets were buy 1 get 1 free.  Score!  I emailed my favorite symphony companion and asked her if she had room in her schedule for some classic music on Saturday night.  After a few texts and a phone conversation we decided to get some tickets.  The regular price tickets range from $30 to $90.  In an effort to save money I suggested we get the second cheapest ($38) ticket available as we were there to listen to music and not to see the orchestra.

This is what happens when you buy the second cheapest tickets.  Yea....we were in the third row from the back.  I think the oxygen was a bit thin up in the second mezzanine balcony.  I felt like a commoner having to sit up in the nosebleed section.  I vowed to never let this happen again.  I much prefer the cozy chairs on the main floor in the middle.  As a matter of fact I had never even gone to the second floor until tonight. 

OK....there really wasn't much to see and we the acoustics were great upstairs but I think once you get used to a certain seat you don't want to be downgraded.  The answer is to buy more tickets when they are on sale in January and you can choose any seat for $21.

The show was called "Classically Cinematic" and featured classical songs from movies.  It was fantastic.  Let me say that again IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!!  I loved it and I am so happy that I was able to go this weekend.  I recognized most of what they played, and my favorite piece was their second selection, Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries".  It was beautiful and uplifting.  There is nothing better than live music done well.  It doesn't matter the genre (except for country...yuck), if it is done well it is awesome beautiful wonderful great and superfantastic.

The music program described the music and composers as well as the movie that highlighted it.  They included a piece from Aram Khachaturian, "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia" that was utilized in Ice Age 2 and 3 as well as Caligula.  Yes, they mentioned Caligula in the program and on the stage.  The 13 year old girl in me couldn't stop giggling.  You may remember this post I wrote about that movie.  Just one more thing to love about the ISO.

After the show we headed out to the 4th floor of the parking garage to get my car and go home.  When we arrived at my car the person who had parked next to the drivers side was waaayyyy too close and I couldn't get in my car.  However, I lucked out and they were in their car preparing to leave.  I just hung out talking to my friend while I waited the ten minutes for the traffic to clear and my badly parked neighbor could pull out.  Guess What....that little boy scraped the side of my car as he was pulling out.  I yelled out to him, "Dude, you hit my car."  He gave me a blank look.  I don't think he believed me at first but then realization dawned on his face.  By now he was backed up in the traffic and holding up all of the cars behind him.

He was about 20 years old and he gave me a scared look and asked if he could give me his phone number and could we work this out later.  I gave him a look of dismay and I said I wanted to verify he was giving me his correct number.  I got his number and called his phone to verify that it was his.  I also got his full name and his license plate number.  This was a really shitty way to end my spectacular evening of music.  I am just glad that I was there when it happened and I caught him in the act.  I am sure if I hadn't been there he would have been long gone by the time I returned and I would have been stuck paying for the repairs.  I think my poor little car has had a tough life so far.  At least she responds well to repairs;)

Thank you ISO for another great evening of music!

PS....Symphony on the Prairie will start soon.  I am especially excited to see The Sci-Fi Spectacular with George Takei in July.

Look at Me – I Did It!

I hurt my pretty green car the week of Christmas. I love my car and it is with a sad heart that I describe its damage. I recently moved things around in my garage so the roommate could park her car inside in the winter. Not two days after she started parking in the garage did I hit (my head is hanging down in shame as this was the second time I have done this in three years) the recycle bin and I broke off the passenger mirror.

I drove to work in a bit of a panic because the next day I needed to drive to Ohio for Christmas and I knew I needed to have a resolution to this problem. After I calmed down I decided to take my car to the Nissan dealership and get an estimate on the repair. $320! Seriously! They said the part would cost $217 and the labor would run about $100. This did not include the green cap that matches my car. They though this part could be salvaged.

I drove away in the depths of despair because I knew I didn’t have $300+ to fix my car. I called my brother to complain about this recent problem in my life and he tried to calm me down. We talked about the possibility of purchasing the part online. A light bulb started to flash with this new bright idea. Lou and I together could fix the car.

While we were discussing the problem I explained to him that I had requested that the guy at the dealership remove the old mirror so it would not chip the paint, and I discovered it was held together by three bolts. That appeared to be simple enough to repair. I made plans to stop by his house on my way home so he could look over the car and decided if we had enough skills as a team to fix the car. Let me explain to you that Lou and I are not car repair people. We don’t fix things ourselves…we outsource.

When he looked at the parts he was optimistic at our ability to repair the car. We decided to go for it and order the part online. Thanks to the nice people at the dealership for giving me the part number. Including shipping the new part cost $70. The dealership was going to charge me $217 and we purchased it for $70. I cannot explain to you my joy at saving all of the money.

The part finally arrived on Saturday and I went to Lou’s house so we could attempt the repair. When we had assembled the necessary tools it only took us five minutes to make the repair. By us, I mean Lou as I acted as the Sous Chef in this situation and only held things.

Five minutes and $70! I was so ecstatic! I this just goes to show how a lack of money can increase ingenuity.