June 6, 2008

           Who remembers that miter saw I bought for $25 that had the wrong size battery? I kept the saw because it was brand new (and still has the $100 price tag). I looked at the battery pack and said to myself, “That looks a lot like the 18 volt battery on the drill.” An exact fit. What luck! It blows sawdust all over the place because I’ve got no bag yet, but it makes perfect angle cuts. Now I’ll need some kind of table as the feed as to be exactly flush with the cutting plate, but still, that is pure horseshoes. Now if we could only remember why I wanted a miter saw anyway.
           I got the first partition finished and now to move the wall [back 48 inches] to create a decent bedroom. Good-bye Florida room. It seems like the experiment is working by keeping the temperature in the 93 range at noon. The ceiling fan, which is mounted too low (and thus somewhat dangerous) increases the perceived coolness. I was able to work in there for up to an hour without a break today. It will be great if that concept works and I’ve got two air conditioners I’m not using to make things even better.
           The next step gets complicated for me. I have to install a door before I can take out the wall. A new door is needed in that area since whoever put in the last one picked it up at some fire sale. It is like two feet wide and has those jalousie windows that never work right after the first time they are over-tightened. The new room smells of fresh sawn timber, an aroma that gives me mixed emotions.
           Pudding-Tat’s boyfriend, the black and white, finally has a nickname. Tennessee. (The relation is that type of cat is called a tuxedo and there was once a cartoon character named Tennessee Tuxedo.) We’ll see if it sticks. A large bully tomcat has been chasing him away from the food dish I set out at random times, so I’ve taken to coaxing him to eat right at the doorstep where I can keep an eye.
           Music. Tonight was a flop. As predicted, there is a point where my material just wears too thin for the regulars. I broke even but had some great crowd responses. The tip jar is the final judge and not even taking a break for a few weeks makes my material novel enough. I accept that and I also know I cannot learn new material fast enough to revamp my set lists for the same crowd. The hit tonight was the “Free Credit Report Dot Com” song. At least I know all my new digital equipment works well.
           I caught the southbound home past midnight and passed some guy riding one of those electrically assisted bicycles. He was doing the speed limit along Dixie in the dark. I looked at those bicycles and there is just something I question about the mechanics of hitting a Florida pothole doing 25 mph on an eight pound vehicle. Instead of fixing potholes, the cities find it cheaper (in the short run) to buy tons of extra liability insurance.
           The gig should be analyzed to see what can be garnered from the experience. In a way, I should be glad it lasted as long as it did. It is not really novel for me anymore and I do want my act to evolve. I’ve got $3,418 in equipment although I don’t use it all on stage. Take my keyboard, for instance. I just use it to pick out riffs I can’t get any other way. My total expenses are a mere $440. That would certainly increase if I take a better paying gig. One of my Yamaha speakers is frapping on low notes. I’ll test it but that would be a bit of bad publicity if it is blown after one year. Those speakers have never been abused and are perfectly matched to the impedance of the amplifier.
           Here’s one for you. This afternoon I pulled up the car to get the equipment loaded and neither Eric or Mila recognized me. My stage cowboy outfit fooled everyone (around here). I didn’t give it a second thought to wear my black cowboy hat while packing gear. At least I know that part is working, my old stage persona, the hick who doesn’t know what is coming next. Just say I’ve always had a lot of role models.
           My first major boo-boo. I got up this morning and noticed I had accidentally been air conditioning south Florida. Somehow I had left the patio door wide open. It is not as bad as it sounds, since there is very little circulation in the evenings. It is a mistake I’ll wager will be known to happen around here.
           Trivia, and some people ain’t gonna like this. For all the theories that state that mankind must have a religion, what percentage of people throughout history have had no religion of any kind? Worded another way, what fraction of people would be required to have no convictions before it must be admitted that religion is, in fact, not a natural sate of man? Is it 1%, or 5%? According to several studies, a whopping 25% of people have no religion. That means billions of people, each of whom has seen or heard religion, who say it does not exist as anything they would subscribe to. Too bad more people don’t feel the same about politics. One interesting aside is that non-believers don’t stand on the street corners telling us we’re doomed.