Last evening I was over at Jack’s, the racehorse guy, and he had that rapid-fire Russian virus that fills the screen with Semantic messages. I can’t cure that but I can delete the triggers so I left him with that and a warning to not visit any “unknown sites” until I can reinstall his anti-virus. He has several boxes of unused software, and what do I find in there but something I’ve always wanted to evaluate. Several complete sets of Video Professor’s training software. They are here, now, awaiting their fate.Analysis of the gig last evening is barely encouraging. In a sense I’m glad nobody showed up as it was a chance to emphasize what is possible with a duo, although the Hippie was not receiving that channel. Instead of thinking that this is sounding great, he immediately starts planning to add new band members. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. He is the past-master at not putting together big bands. I wish I could confidently say it is only a matter of time. He is not paying attention to what is important. The potential for duo arrangements overrides other motives at this point. What good is a big band that plays to an empty house?
Nor am I hopeful, for such musical arrangement require a lot of work, often relearning to do existing music in a form that is no longer suitable for soloing I would expect he would be very resistant to that concept. He still plays his guitar all the time instead of leaving openings for bass or lo-hat. When I play silence, he looks over like I’ve missed a cue, but that is understandable for a single show. He has not figured out he can perform entire sets to just my bass playing, never touching his guitar. I would say the biggest “mistake” in our act is his over-playing his part, which weakens his own lead breaks forcing him to crank the volume. While we are playing together, we are not anywhere near being a duo. End of analysis.
The new exterior door might have an explanation why it cost so little. The strike plate recesses don’t match the latch set and dead-bolt. This requires some tricky repositioning and chiseling, which is the last step so you are unlikely to notice the rip-off until the door is almost completely installed. The offset is just enough that the screws do not contact the door jamb because of the existing recess. This doubles the amount of time to make the door lock properly. Yet another example of Florida culture.
Here’s another one. You know those spigot handles on your water supply? The tap you turn your water off with. The one here was broken. Why do they still make one that can be broken? There are four different sizes, threads and core shapes, none of which are compatible. Each manufacturer uses a special arrangement. It’s getting so I can’t get near any plumbing without noticing that strange smell of something left open too long.
Let’s recap for the day. I got the deadbolt installed, the rotten studs replaced and the air conditioner into the new bracket. Ten and a half hours. Oh yeah, I also fixed the leak and repaired another pipe under the deck. That air conditioning cutout took a long time with lots of back and forth, but it is in there solid and the Florida room now has it’s own 5,000 BTU cooling unit. If only I had electricity in there.
Return tomorrow for possible pictures of Marion’s new house by the lake.
