"cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"

Did you know that back in the day when battleships had sails the Jack Sparrows of the time would stack their cannonballs on brass triangular holders called "brass monkeys"?  When the weather was cold enough these holders would contract (because apparently that's what brass does) and the cannonballs would fall off. Hence the phrase, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."

Or perhaps I just made all that up and wanted an excuse to post this picture:

Either way, the point is it's cold in my current hometown of Chicago. Especially for a guy that was raised and went to college in the southeast. Not to mention I rely heavily on the fine motor skills of my fingers to perform my street act (not for playing an instrument though).

Thus I find myself in back in the south fine-tuning the act and getting ready to hit up some outdoor festivals and busker friendly towns that are warmer than 40 degrees (and raining!). Of course, the other half of all this is I'm broke and in debt (God Bless America Right?) So I'll be doing some freelance work for an insurance company while I'm down here as well.

Have you ever had the horrible fortune of your house burning down? Fortune might have been the wrong word to use there, but when your house burns down an insurance company will send an adjuster to what's left of your door to assess how much it would cost to rebuild your home. What most people don't know is that there's another person who will actually go through what remains of your house room by room and take note of each and everything you owned to assess how much it will cost to replace all your stuff....

That's me.

Correct folks, I go through and document ALL your stuff, from the Donald Miller books on your shelves to the Spartacus beneath the socks in your bedside stand. Somebody has to do it right? Of course as interesting as it sounds it has its drawbacks. Here's a photo of a room in the next house I have to go through...

A room with a view!

I just looked up the weather report for the day I have to be at this little jewel of a job. Naturally it's going to be 40 degrees and raining.


-Busker