Beer, stairs and a big ego.

Did the title of this post grab you?

Here's why I used this title.

Thursday, Wayne Markworth, BOA hall of fame recipient, published author, professor, and my first podcast interviewee, texted me about grabbing a cold one around 7 at my favorite mexican restaurant. We had a marvelous time catching up. We talked very little about music. This is a good sign that we aren't just music buddies. This man is amazing. His wife, Tammy, is such a stabilizing force in his life. I am a little envious. I rode to the place in a brand new Honda Goldwing motorcycle. This bad boy has a GPS, heated handgrips and seat, reverse, cruise control, and even a remote security system. Life is good. 

While there, I got a call from a friend who is the radio engineer for Clearchannel Radio. He needed me to help him get a six foot commercial satillite dish up 22 flights of stairs to the roof of a downtown building. It wasn't too bad. The payoff was the rooftop view of the city at sunset.

OK, here's where you learn about the big ego.

I play bass for the University if Dayton big band and they had a gig in the UD student union tonight. I went early to load the bass amp in my car to haul it over there. It weighs 

about 50 pounds so it wasn't too bad. 

Here's where everything went horribly wrong.

The acoustic piano had a wheel missing. The pianist asked me to pick the piano up so she could remove the other three wheels and make the keyboard level with the ground. 

"Come on body builder, this should be easy for you" shouted the rest of the band. Enter Marra's enormous ego right on cue.

So far, so good with the first two wheels. On the third wheel, I was holding  the piano about six inches off the floor when a patron passed by and bumped the piano twisting my back. 

Bending or twisting now is very painful. I did the gig standing perfectly erect. 

I am home and full of aspirin. I just need to figure out how I can sleep standing up.

Oh, and when the dance was over, I still had to carry the bass and amp across campus to the band room. Long day. Tomorrow I was supposed to work out my legs. I think a day or two off won't kill me.

I think I play Kings Island Friday. I don't have to get out of bed until then.