The joys of home ownership. I took inventory of everything needed to get my place into fine shape. The only good news is we’re looking at less than a hundred bucks. It was a little dusty going into the crawl spaces and I didn’t check the roof. (“Can’t fix it when it’s raining and don’t have to when it’s not.”) That dodo Enrique who sold me this place was around. He’s a nice guy but a little weak in the brain department, I tell you about it in a moment.
Here's a picture of a real Mah Jong set. The tiles are ceramic and it has Chinese "poker chips" for keeping score. Unlike the computer game, you take turns placing the tiles, although this seems an unneccessary step to the Occidental mind. This hand-made set is in a custom felt-lined case and must have originally been very expensive. We don't know if all the tiles are there, and funny, neither does anybody else around here.
It seems Enrique lost the title and had it replaced a few years back (now he tells me). The document he gave me was the replacement. I mailed it to Tallahassee. He then proceeds to find the original and goes down to the courthouse to get his name off. Except, when you do this locally instead of by mail (like I did), the courthouse wants both parties to show up in person. I told him he should have checked with me on that one.
[Author's note 2016-01-28: this curious state of affairs, where the person selling the property may not have clear ownership, is a rather unique area of American consumer law. The normal principle that you cannot sell what does not belong to you does not seem to apply. And the legal system seems to be completely comfortable with that situation, meaning they are making money off it. Property can even be sold by someone who signs a document saying they have no claim on the property--and that is considered different that whether or not they ever had any claim!]
The Thrift came off as an average day, average sales and average customers. I finally met Darin. We’ve apparently met but I can’t recall him. He’s twenty years younger and has a serious case of the “eBay attitude”. Defined, it is an overly-sincere belief in one’s eventual success in an industry with a chronically less than 5% success rate. Lest we all become real estate agents.
Still, he seems in control, unlike most of the examples I’ve men in my career. I’ll give him a fair shake for youthful exuberance. Just remember, I do not regard imitation of what I do to be either sincere nor flattering. He and Dickens have made some great changes at the store. The art is on the wall where it belongs. There are some expensive works by a German guy but for the most of it, give me a good Snap-On Tools calendar. Before 1987, preferably. (After that time, it seems certain types of women began exceedingly aware of what garage mechanics had in the back room, ahem, and complained.)
There is no doubt in my thinking that eBay, no matter how remote, will change the way Thrifts do business. It can be sad how some places established for decades cannot understand how somebody can come along with a $900 computer and a DSL connection and put them out of business. However, I encourage such events and hardly consider it unfair, given the “get away with it” attitude of so many existing establishments. I won’t mention any names like Sony, Microsoft and Broward Community College.
So far, four guitarist types have been dropped from my list of six because they do not respond or call back fast enough. I’m down a “Wain” and a “Tom”, and the former seems eager to start right away, stating he could probably get out and front half of our songs already. Maybe, but his song list contains quite a few I’ve never heard of, and I get around. I’ll get things underway with him tomorrow.
On the way in, I stopped at Coffee Time, and Legs was there. She is giving out fast, and seems to have lost weight. Not good, as she was perfectly skinny six months ago. Speaking of women, a lady came in to day to purchase costumes for a production of Peter Pan. With her was a ripe little lassie, the kind who’ll break a lot of hearts, but not my type at all. Just one of those things.
If she'd left it at that, no problem. All the guys were staring. However, the lady felt compelled to say that “if she was any younger, she’d be almost barely illegal”. Instant street trash,
Now, figure that one out. What is that supposed to imply? I should have hit on the gal right there just to prove a point. That point being that women off the market can sure develop some awfully strange attitudes about any female in a better position. I’ve heard of “barely legal”, but “almost barely illegal” sticks in my craw. We know where this broad is headed.
I drew out a chart to calculate what I’ll need for PA equipment. I do believe that the stereo feature of the Alesis will require two input jacks. However, I can get by with six inputs and add a mixer later. I checked prices and found several Fender Passports (150 and 250) that looked in perfect condition for less than $150. Plus shipping and handling. This is similar to the unit the G uses and it was fine every time, including playing the bass through one channel.
Oh, and I read a rule of thumb that I had not heard in years and forgot. It concerns the power you should buy for your PA. Higher power seems to work better, but the rule states “one watt per person”. While you should not get less than 100 watts ever, the calculation says if you want to play for a hall of 250 people, get a 250 watt PA. Anyway, that is a neat statistic and very true.
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