It is May 30, former Memorial Day, 2018.  I see that I haven't added to this blog in well over a year, but having read some old posts - and I hope I haven't deleted them - I decided to add a little before getting back to what I was doing before I diverted to the blog. 

What a dumb name this is, "Phillip's Fillups."  Surely, I can come up with a better and more creative name.  I enjoy reading from time to time in others' blogs, both private and professional, and gain much from it. 

I've tried to copy and print out some old ones from this and haven't been successful: only part of a first page gets printed.  Technology has always eluded me anyway.

There's much I could say, but I'm rather strapped for time, having promised LaVera, my long-suffering spouse, that I would make a few phone calls to places that have billed us for who-knows-what.  We just received our Amex bill and I see therein a few glitches, so I shall have to iron them out somehow.  No doubt, I'll be put on hold, after punching in a number of numbers until I reach a live voice.  Even then, with the live voice, there is absolutely no guarantee that I'll be assisted in a manner I would expect.

The "big deal" in my life now is an upcoming trip to Germany.  I have sung with the Portland Bach Cantata Choir since 2006 (is is it 2005 when it began?) and we are making a tour of East Germany to many of the places J.S. Bach, our patron, lived and worked in: Erfurt, Eisenach, Muhlhausen, Leipzig, Coethen, Dresden.  I used up most of my supply-work money to pay for this (over $4500) so I hope it proves to be a worthy enterprise and fun as well.  We had a long, 3-hour rehearsal last night, and are giving a "preview" concert this coming Sunday, June 3, at St Michael and All Angels Church.  There will be a few more rehearsals, and we were warned last night by our conductor Ralph Nelson that we'll rehearse "on the bus" as we travel from place to place later on in June.  I hope to blog about the trip as well, so stay tuned.  (I don't even know if this blog is circulated or not!!!)

So, drawing this to a swift close, it's "good to be back" (how often have I said that since 2009 when I started blogging?) and to keep in touch.