Second, they don’t pay cash. Live music is the most decent of all cash-flow businesses and I am the automatic enemy of anyone who tries to change that. The significance of these lessons to me is that Guitar Center took down the bulletin board. The musicians seeking ads were on that same board, past tense. The next nearest board is in Ft. Lauderdale. So what was I doing at Guitar Center anyway?
Checking prices and options. Their prices have drastically increased and they are stocking more expensive merchandise than before. Who would spend $2,600 on an acoustic bass? Their Fishman Solos are a hundred bucks more than anywhere else. Mainly, I was checking the natural volume of the acoustic bass. I needed to hear if the instrument was loud enough to be worthwhile when played along to an un-amplified acoustic guitar. (The answer is yes.) But I the balked at the price tags.
“Golly, if I only had this stack of Marshalls then the babes would love me. Then those lousy guys in my band would show the proper respect. Then the world could hear my original licks. Lord bless this stack of Marshalls.”
Actually, this is a posed photo. I’m kneeling to fake the height of the amps. How about a test of character? Here’s the deal. I will next tell you a tale from the trailer court that took place at Guitar Center while I was there today. The catch is, this story is either 100% true or 100% false. That makes it a test of the reader’s character, not mine.
Story: The acoustic basses are back in the guitar room. I found the cheapest acoustic bass and asked a nearby guitarist to strum some chords at ordinary volume. There are always loitering guitarists over there. My bass playing is not the same as others, but I’m not saying it is better. Just unique. Well the moment I started playing, the room came to a standstill. The look on that guitar player’s face! You see, in an electric band, the effect of good bass gets buffaloed. But in this scenario, the max volume is set and my bass playing stopped the show.
Within moments, other guitarists were lined up wanting a turn to play along with me. I told you I could improve guitar playing with my bass. The entire room was soon swaying to Johnny Cash and Don Gibson. The compliments flowed like ripple wine behind the homeless shelter, I must have shook twenty hands. May even have sold them a few guitars despite warning them not to expect they’ll find a bassist like me in the real world. Talk about sincere thanks, I almost shed a tear telling them I just hired a rhythm player. That’s almost shed, barely almost. End of story. Now, is it true or false?
Coupons. That’s an option on the table for 2014. I don’t have to use coupons, but a short survey says that 40% are buy one get one free or half price. Maybe three times in my life I’ve changed my shopping list to specifically buy something on sale this way. But it looks to me it is a wise and worthwhile undertaking and now time to learn it. I have limited storage so it would be restricted to non-perishables. I just know everyone else is making their New Year’s resolutions in advance, are they not?
I’ll set up a small database initially. Why? Well, how do you know the coupons are really random? Is there a best-before date pending [on the merchandise]? To what amount, if any, did the base price change? I can set up a database in five minutes that will catch any pattern. Are newspapers the best source of coupons, or is it just that I already buy them for the crossword? The spin-off of planning ahead is that you continually learn better ways to do it. Coupon Sally has nothing over this cowboy.
ADDENDUM
A long conversation with John, milady from the phone place, reveals that quite a number of my previous co-workers may have fallen by hard times. It’s no skin off my nose, as most of them not only did not follow my example, but criticized me. For example, it turns out most of them tried piling money on their pension plans far too late in life. In my case, it is the bucks I put in from age 27 to 36 that really paid off. When you hit 52, peeps, it is too late to make realistic contributions.
She also reports the few jobs left at the company are the dreary positions in traffic and operator services. These are the drudge work the company used to put people when they wanted them to quit. Answering repair calls on rotating graveyard shifts is not a career choice. It always was an effective method to downsize. But it also ensures the people who stick with it for life are among the slimiest individuals imaginable. John says the company is deliberately eliminating all career positions.
So, all who laughed at me, one finality remains: the fact that I was the smart one. My timing wasn’t perfect but I got out when the going was good and I’ve had an easy time of it for a while now. Make that a long enough while that it no longer matters if things don’t go according to plan. I’m not rich, but for the past few years I do only what I please every day. And frankly, that is pretty darn nice. If John takes the leap soon, she will be the first of the old gang to formally retire. (Note my retirement does not count because of my age. I don’t quality until near end of the decade.)
And that is why my single big mission left in life is to buy a place of my own. I could rent forever, but that puts me at the mercy of too many factors in the economy. I don’t mind living in the woods a few miles out of town, so I’ll eventually connect with a cabin or a trailer. My battles are fought and I’m content that I got a hell of a lot further from my starting point than most. True, I wanted a wife and kids, but it isn’t all said and done by any means.
