Excuse me, I'm highly irritable!

I wonder if the medications have made me more volatile? My moods seem to be swinging.

What is one of the things that would make yours truly feel irritable today? Well, I came to orchestra rehearsals this afternoon only to realise that the double bass I was using had its end pin stuck inside. This meant that the end pin was right inside the double bass, and was too short for my playing. Even though I had tried to adjust the stool to a lower height, the end pin was just too short for ease of playing.

I tried to be calm, and tried various ways to get the end pin out. I did and was successful after trying so for about 15 minutes. I tried to screw the bolts of the end pin tight enough in hope that it would not slip back. But when I started playing on the instrument, the end pin went in and got stuck inside again! That time, it was much more difficult to force it out.

Pardon me, while my patience did not waver the first time that I tried to get the end-pin out, it had exploded terribly after I tried spending 15 minutes to get the end-pin out the second time.

I must have been highly irritable today. My moods were against me. The medication. The lack of rest. The idea that there are work piling up in office. The weariness in me. The poor double bass with its end pin stuck right inside. I could not play on my regular double bass, and the thought of using another double bass irritated me. I was bargaining. Why on earth did the end-pin of my regular double bass in the orchestra get stuck?

The reason being, I was very unadaptable today. My moods swing too badly, such that I actually feared that I would throw the double bass at any poor innocent fellow who would stand in front of me. I had to keep myself in check. I reckon I did, since nobody got thrown at by a double bass.

It must have taken me close to an hour of attempts of fixing the stuck end-pin before I got totally resigned to the situation. I got another double bass and played on it for rehearsals instead.

I was just trying hard to be adaptable. It was tricky to pitch certain notes on the double bass that I had ended up using this afternoon. Afterall, double basses like human beings are unique to much extent. I survived. At least my pitching was not too bad, despite using an unfamiliar instrument without having enough time to practise scales and studies on it. The second half of the rehearsal was better because I could safely tune to QH. QH changed her seats and became my desk partner for the second half of the rehearsal. I was glad that she requested to make the change of seats.

Now, I fear, how things would be when we are at Aberdeen. We would be using the double basses rented there. So that means I will be using a double bass unfamiliar to me. I could only keep my fingers crossed that I would have at least one hour to practise individually on that double bass which I would be using in Aberdeen, before I start playing with the orchestra.

Otherwise, I could only hope that I won't be as irritable when I am in Aberdeen. An irritable yours truly is awfully unadaptable.

Maybe the only good thing about the frustrating incident is that I was forced to play on another double bass. The experience was not that bad. Except for some slips in my playing, I generally did quite alright.

But I could not deny I was tearing deep in my heart (probably due to irritation and frustration) when I was playing during today's rehearsals. How sad that I could not play on my regular double bass today! I know, I can be possessive.

Well, I could only hope that the double bass would be repaired soon. And did I tell you that I found that another one of the double basses had its bridge knocked out of place and the sound post seemed to be out of place too? For these poor double basses, we have contacted a luthier to help repair the double bass.

This post should have marked with a Danger sign. I am feeling irritable. People should either avoid me at all costs or be more compassionate when they are with me.