You see, this morning Arnel was over here to get me the profile information he wants on mySpace. Since he was not busy, I got him to both give me a lift to the tire repair place and take a look at the room I have for rent (which he had never seen before). Instantly, he thought of his buddy who was staying in a hotel. That is the journalist. They looked at the room and there is a chance the guy may move in. It took all morning to fix that tire, including borrowing a lug wrench from Carlos next door. Between that and the grounds maintenance guy putting in a new post for the sign in our yard, there was about three hours of blabbing about the general situation. Yes, I have news for you. But first, that wild windstorm over the past days blew over the “No Parking” sign in Forest Wally. It turns out the property goes right to the edge of the known street. So if Wallace wants to put in an extra parking spot along the side of the patio, he can go right ahead.
Remember Pete the Rock, who was going to put in a good word for me at Gulfstream for a job? Pete, who knows some higher ups? It seems those people seem to have missed mentioning over breakfast that they defaulted on a $40 million loan payment y’day. It could be one of those things that busy executives could easily overlook. Magna, the parent, and Gulfstream went bankrupt as of early this morning. The racetrack is for sale for $44 million. At such a bargain price, maybe Pete and his coffee shop buddies could move their Texas Holdem club into the winner’s circle.
What is a Nano? It is a car that currently sells in India for around three large. The very fact that it is being considered for sale here harks back to predictions I made some 15 years ago. This constant upward spiral of American car prices was always a standing joke. Any car for $3,000 follows the same forecast I made about the $300 computer. [I said below a certain price, existing repair facilities are obsolete. Nobody is worth $75 per hour “shop time”. Think of the millions of vehicle-related businesses in this country that rely on very expensive repairs. Hasta la vista, baby.]
This Nano is making far more sense than society cares to admit. It seats four and I deem it will be on the roads here as soon as it meets a few Yankee safety standards. Now, if only somebody could think of a way to get rid of the whole “car dealership” concept. At 34 horsepower, the vehicle is barely over the margin of required registration, another outdated concept. But half of Americans know damn well how difficult it is to sue, fine and tax the other half without a DMV. As far as I am concerned, the Nano is twenty-five years overdue. It would even put the chop shops out of business because who would steal one?
Later, I did not know it until I crossed town on the way to Jimbo’s that there is yet another weekend carnival. I would not have made the decision to play tonight had I known. But play I did, and thus got some really serious work done on my new act. The outcome was foretold: I am not ready. The laptop is an unreliable backing band and further testing reveals tiny sound problems that make an intolerable difference when amplified at stage levels. The instruments, particularly the percussion, do not play back faithfully but rather have a “booping” quality. The Play and File buttons are so close together that errors are common. I must remove the count-in click tracks from all my previous music and continue to transistorize everything.
These downtown festivals have hurt me real bad. The Thursday Karaoke show was playing to an empty house when I checked in. I’ve remarked before that Wandaron needs a man with a hand truck just to move her speakers. There is little we can do to compete with city-funded parties who can barricade the streets. I must give closer attention about which weekends to avoid. On Sunday, I’ll get you some information on Jim’s newest toy, a 300 Watt PA mixer that fits in one hand.
And finally, a PC to TV transmitter has been located at a company called X10.com, although visiting their site makes you wonder what they are really selling.
