Music to work by

Do you listen to music while you work?  I suppose that's a bit of a loaded question, as you have to work in the right environment to have that opportunity, right?

I ask because there is a worker at the vacant house next door (it's a rental, so goodness only knows who or what we'll have living next door soon) and every time he shows up over there (if we're home, we know, because he has a very loud older Jeep) he opens all of the doors and windows and plays irritating country music at a very aggressive volume.

I spoke briefly with him once when I was doing some yard work several weeks ago.  I complimented some work he did on the front door, he looked at me strangely and said "it's OK, I suppose."  The song playing at that moment indicated that he loves his country, he loves his country, and he loves HIS president.  Somehow, I don't believe the song was referring to the current occupant of the White House.

But I digress.  One of the best aspects of working from a home based office, or spending a lot of time traveling to client locations (and back again) is that I have ample opportunities to indulge my avid love of music.

Because there was a recent tribute concert celebrating the live of the late Jimmy Buffett, I'm listening to a sort of greatest-hits-back-to-front compilation of many of his songs.  Used to have many of these on vinyl, a subject I'll save for another time, but it's a bit of a time capsule to hear songs that were originally recorded a long time ago.  For instance, the song playing now on my AirPods is "Tin Cup Chalice," which I believe was first committed to a recording in 1974.

Those who visit here know that I write often of music.  The Beatles are an absolute favorite, as is Elton John.  Always liked Billy Joel, and am very glad that he appears to be in good health and good spirits, as we watched some of his televised concert on CBS last night.  Fortunately, we went to bed before the network abruptly cut it off to go to local news, right in the middle of "Piano Man."  Bad form, CBS, bad form.

When I am home alone I always have music playing during the work day, quickly muting for the random phone call.  I have used a variety of computer speakers over the years, but right now there's a Sonos One SL gracing my desktop.  Just one, although I might eventually upgrade to a pair of their newer replacement (my ears really can't tell I'm not listening to a recording in true two-speaker stereo mode, as all of the music is there).  I picked up these AirPods 2nd generation about a month ago, and they're handy to put on when I need to hear music or a call, or to drown out music from next door as I am today.

I also bought a pair of the Apple AirPods Max over-ear headphones.  Wow, are they great!  They're a tad heavy, but I find that other than these older-design AirPods, I prefer an over the ear headphone.  Guess that's my experience in radio coming back to haunt me!

In the car I feel very fortunate to have a newer car with a good audio system, including the ability to use CarPlay to replicate my iPhone on the dashboard.  I still listen to a lot of music while traveling, but mix in some podcasts and audiobooks.

Gotta go, I have work to do!