One year ago today: August 1, 2013, Boynton Beach, FL.
Five years ago today: August 1, 2009, another guitarist.
Ten years ago today: August 1, 2004, Cutler Ridge, FL.
This is a rush job, but the biggest event was a semi-successful plot of my geographical position using real data. Why semi? That’s easy, because I was
I’ve sort of translated my first Russian words, “confection”, “apricot”, and “secret”. The candy that went with it was pretty good, too. It stood to reason that many modern Russian words would be adapted from English and I find it is often only the suffix that changes significantly. And of course, all the small words are irregular. Small words are what makes every language difficult.
Not another guitar player prospect. You think I’d learn about Florida. This one I think knows people I know out west, so he has at least been exposed to music outside of the terrible ass-clown Florida scene. So it is worth a chance. Check back tomorrow to see how it goes.
I’ve told you how anybody worthwhile is already in a band. The rest are these doosh wannabes that are prancing around like big shots but eventually get a beat box and go solo. That's one universal about losers: they always get along fine with themselves. Right, Zack?
This new guy must be for real, he knows what certain clubs out west really paid in the 70’s. For all the talk of $150 per member back then, the average was around $75, which is precisely what it is today. Except today you can’t live on that. My average is not that high, but I feel my take is probably higher than most Florida musicians would be if they lowered their prices to get booked as often as me.
Read the addendum for what I found in the new book. But when I first started reading, I got a panic attack. The directions were backward to what I just spend two months studying. Argh, how could I get it so wrong? Then, I realized it is like learning anything that is fiendishly complex. That’s just a phase that tells you things are okay, you are learning. As I plowed onward, it again turned out to be more weak instructions and general bad writing. Whew!
EVENING
I was going to redo the above entry, but statistically it shows quite well how this haphazard day progressed. So it gets left as is. You can see how my handwriting reflects my waning confidence as I near the page bottom.
I made it to see the band in Davie, and I was in for a whole lot of astonishment. Here was the band I said didn’t exist in Florida. Every member working as a unit, filling in the blanks, even the bass player was using a pick. I waited for the break and told the new guy I had no idea how far into the music they were. I told them they were so west coast they didn’t know it.
We jammed a group of tunes, them singing, me following, and I didn’t do that great of a job. Usually due to those floating fourths, each group kept adapting to the last mistake, which put us out of synch. They want to hear my big band, so I invited them to the Legion next month. The two locations are only three miles apart.
I met an old guy who plays tenor guitar. If you’ve never heard this dandy little instrument, please watch the video. Not to be confused with a ukulele, it is a “Hawaiian” instrument.
What’s this? I hear from the left wing that “not not” is a double negative. Really, Patsie, stand up so we can have a look at you. A double negative, you say. Listen, since you are such an ardent math whiz, I’ve got a couple of formulas here that I . . . . Hello? Hello? Patsie? Where’d you disappear to? Damn, you suddenly sound like you are 727 miles away. Yes, nautical.
ADDENDUM
What have we here? Because of the West Marine fiasco, I got them to sell me another book at half price, the “Nautical Almanac” mentioned y’day. All available literature states two books are necessary, actually, three books. I’ll explain. The three books that are needed [for celestial navigation] are
“Nautical Almanac” for the current year. These books change annually on January 1, but are available as early as September the previous year. They are the “bus schedule” of the sun for the stated year.
“Sight Reduction Tables, Vol. II” There are three versions of this book, each covering a band of latitude 15° wide started at the equator (0°). Ft. Lauderdale is roughly 26°, hence volume II. Most of the USA is the next book.
“Sight Reduction Tables, Vol. III” Covers the band from 45° to 60°, which encompasses most of the sailable North Atlantic. These books, like multiplication tables, do not change year to year.
[Author's note 2015-08-01: a year later, I still do not have a copy of the Sight Reduction Tables. As luck would have it, as soon as I wanted one, the stores quit stocking them. GPS has dwindled the demand to zero. Sailors are like Yuppie mathematicians. Why learn algebra and theory when you can buy a cheap calculator. And whine to FEMA when the batteries go dead. The drama. The tragedy.]
Bonus. They contain only raw data, so you have to know what you are doing, but hey, who do we know that takes to things like that?
So give me a few days. Since this saves me $45, I’ll do my study in the coffee house. Sit in their air conditioning. I used to pretend to go into grumpy mode to be let alone. But at Drunkin Donuts, that just makes you fit right in.
The “Sight Reduction Tables” are a list of figures that you look up plotting information based on calculations you got from your time and sextant readings using the “Nautical Almanac”. This is simpler than it sounds. You read take your readings and consult the Almanac, which gives you two factors, the ground point of the sun and your latitude. These are then looked up in the “Sight Reduction Tables” to find your line of position—by performing brain surgery. I showed my barber the formula and he ran inside and locked the door.
Still with me? Okay, Vol. II of the “Sight Reduction Tables” is the most useful to me, as it is used in the Caribbean, where most of the sailing and racing takes place. What? Funny you should ask. Rich Europeans don’t race their yachts. They know what a big boat is really for.
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