This is looking down the throat of the cantenna. You can see the actual antenna, a piece of copper Romex (ordinary solid electrical wire). It is attached to the stub of the N connector at the bottom. I emphasize this is not the finished product and there are some critical small pieces still missing. But you get the idea. How do I go through 25 feet of Romex a year when I don’t do anything?
Now that the used bookstore is gone, the computer show is cancelled and the new bookstore is practically fiction-only, maybe it is time to consider an early move. Early, as in May this year. You kind of have to lower your IQ to enjoy a place like Florida. In eight years, I have not met even one person who has read Shakespeare, much less a girl person. To that end, I’ve placed an ad in Colorado to hunt up any old friends who may still live out there. At least one can be bored where there are mountains and scenery. And women.This is early Sunday, the whole football game thing has not begun yet. I was reviewing my music lists. Don’t we all know a few people who should develop such a habit? With their own list, I mean. Here is the scenario. As I’m setting up (remember I run a bigger show than most duos so this takes twenty minutes) I’ve noticed patrons will often play a tune off my list. Pavlov would love this crowd. This is not coincidence, I mean the people at jukebox.com are probably wondering what gives with the sudden resurgence of “Wolverton Mountain”.
Come back here you! I can explain. My show is very participatory. Like in most pubs, people sing along. The difference is that I give them microphones. (Carefully controlled microphones run through a volume pedal and a choruser.) No, not karaoke singers, but ordinary people at the bar—no, not just get them clapping, the microphones are permanently on the counter for anyone to pick up. In return this dictates my choice of music. Some tunes don’t work, some do, hence, “Wolverton Mountain”.
Most successful are those little ditties that get buried in the subconscious. At first I chose tunes that were easy to learn for I never intended to play them more than once or twice. Wrong. Some have now become standards that pack the dance floor. Current examples are Leapy Lee’s “Little Arrows” and Cyrus’ “Achey Breaky Heart”. And yes, I do sing “North To Alaska”.
Stoopid Bowl. The staff and I closely watched the crowd, but here was so much pre-game television, we decided against live music. But I ran into a group of people from the big Thanksgiving party last year, including the cook. We talked again about adding my music to his catering business, although I gather he only does it on big occasions. It is still a great idea.
It was a nice afternoon to go over my taxes and that fat pension agreement I signed when I was 26. Turns out I was only 61 cents out on my calculation of the monthly payout. (Due to other adjustments unknown to me at the time, the amount I got was around $1.93 less.) Calculating annuities (a series of future payments) is highly dependent on which interest rate you choose. It is hard to get a real return after inflation of even 1% these days. If I chose 1%, then the annual equivalency (the amount of money I would need to invest to get the same return) is $1.5 million! Good deal or what?
[Author's note 2017: the above "equivalency" calculation can be tricky to follow, but you'll find it all over my records. It is the amount of money that you would have to invest that produces a return after taxes equivalent to my pension take-home. You cannot figure out what my pension is from this information. But I can tell you it was one wise move on my part.]
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