I got a paying gig on Saturday next, country music only. A birthday, I believe another 39th, which means up to five hours of stage time and all the food I can eat, Patrick cooking again. Country music pays well. Speaking of 39, Teresa called from Wilmiville (Wilmington, NC). She reports her new situation isn’t ideal. I dunno, I’d rather be there than here if I had the chance. Apparently jobs are scarce all over.It finally had to happen but somebody is refurbishing good old “Mickey Mouse” telephones. The twist is that they gut the mechanism and replace it with the motherboard of a cellular. Other than being portable, once the battery is charged, it looks and acts like the real thing. I found it while sparring with Nokia about their quiet-ringing model 1606. I had to inform them that if their product was defective in design or manufacture, their 30-day return policy does not apply in the Republic of Florida. Nor can they limit their liability over such an issue. I think they bought it.
Today’s trivia concerns the Titanic. Not the sinking, but the operation. It took 15,000 men to build her, an undertaking probably never equaled since. I once watched 475 people build a [Boeing] 747 which had twice as many parts. The trivia is that the Titanic was powered by coal, not fuel oil. Meaning somebody had to shovel the stuff into the boilers at the rate of 690 tons per day. Tons, not pounds. Holy anthracite, Batman.
I applied for a job as a summer camp music teacher. My immediate plan is to get the new equipment together that I need for my innovative act. The Karaoke screen is $300 which is not bad considering what the same thing cost a year ago. I may have to withdraw from the bigger music scene soon and perfect my moves. My totally kewl moves. You may recall my concerns about pursuing too many musical directions. This is my solution even if it disappoints others. I’m operating on a strict budget of time, money and talent. All of which are finite.
The last few weeks have given me time to plan ahead, and one of the things I’d like to get is a high quality slide scanner. You already know this blog is only a tiny drop in the amount of material I’d like to publish. The difficulty is partly because my journals are hand-written up until quite recently. Those slide pictures would be a fantastic motivation. They would liven things up, since a large portion of the slides were from overseas in places most people never get to see. Right now I am reduced to using old photos anyway. Unless I travel, there is not that much new to photograph.
The slide scanner is interesting technology. You cannot really get decent results using an ordinary scanner because the resolution is just not there. Where consumer grade maxes out at 1200 dpi, slide scanners begin at 2400 dpi. The reason is the huge amount of coloration present in a 35mm slide. Try to enlarge an ordinary print up to the size of a projection screen and you’ll see what I mean. Slide scanners start at $500 for something that’s going to last.
Bologna. I said I would give it a second chance. I did and I still have a lot of the pound I bought left over. Just ask Pudding-Tat. Besides sandwiches, both raw and fried, I sliced some into hash browns. The verdict is in. The fact is, for me, bologna tastes virtually identical to ordinary hot dog weiners, which are far more fun to eat. I suspect both products differ only in packaging. Besides, what is patriotic about eating a bologna sandwich? Huh anyway?
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
