DAY
Okay, perfect weather. That explains this pretty picture of our new scroll saw. With the coupon, it was only fifty bucks. I haven’t cut a thing with it yet but I did verify all the parts are present. Harbor Freight was out of the foot controller. I have not yet determined if it is needed. This saw will, according to the manual, handle light metals. That may just come in handy.
It being my day off, I got to work with the guitar. My policy of playing a different strum in each song comes directly from my manner of playing bass. It’s a good thing I paid attention to myself since this guitar thing is made trickier by that decision. I definitely play bass differently than a guitar player would and now this is working in the opposite direction. But it’s okay, it just takes time to “unlock” from the syncopation of bass to the structured rhythm of acoustic strumming.
What’s paying off already is my old rule of keeping a steady chop going through each song. I’ve known so many guitarists that start off great but by the second verse, they are comping. I don’t do that but I’m finding this takes extra stamina. I even have to press the strings harder on the guitar than I do on bass. My maximum time on the guitar for now is around an hour. Don’t suppose this makes me more sympathetic to guitarists. Hell no, I’m rapidly learning why so many of them sound alike.
On top of that, the vocals. There are some parts I cannot keep a steady guitar beat and sing at the same time. I know this can be beaten because I did it on bass. For that matter, the first tune I learned was “Spiders & Snakes” in which the vocals and bass line are almost disjointed. Mind you, I like music like that, where each instrument is played for the best effect rather than subordinate to the song motif. This is why I prefer, when creating a bass line, to not hear the melody. If you know the melody, you tend to play to that, like almost all on-line indie music. It comes across as contrived.
I’m up to 24 songs I can do, but I will have to confer with Trent. Some of these will demand bass lines that pretty much have to be memorized note-for-note. And half the tunes are different than the list back when he was on the guitar. If you want some details, the two songs I’m having most fun with now are “Passionate Kisses” and “Come A Little Bit Closer”. Should some of you discern this is easy listening music for the lounge set, right you are. I’m an old lounge lizard—but on stage, not at the counter, guys.
A word on navigation, on the chance anyone is considering learning it. The industry refers to "sight reduction" as if it is a single process. It is not. There are a number of different publications and they are not compatible. Trust me, you will want to learn the absolute easiest methods that get the job done. Hence, over the next few days (I'm doing a progress review on myself) I'll make a short list of what you need. In other words, don't just buy a set of books thinking all navigation boils down to the same. Some of the more useless books are both heavy and expensive. The two books I now use are the ones printed in England.
NIGHT
Here’s something I never knew existed. A half-price coupon got me this 2” cut-off saw. I looked at it a full five minutes and decided for fifteen dollars, give it a try. I don’t have a lot of use for it, but it does a dandy job. You can just see the bottom edge of the circular saw blade. At first glance it seems like a toy, but this is a 120V tool and it makes perfect miter cuts on impossibly tiny pieces. That’s what the orange clamp is for, the red clamp on the left is not part of this set.
The clutch cable for my Goldwing has finally arrived. It won’t be installed until Monday. So, let’s see if JZ shows up for our planned trip to West Palm. To chase women and look-see at this piece of property that “needs renovating”. There isn’t much the two of us can’t repair so it is a question of whether the job is worth it. I’m remembering that mobile home at the old park on Sea Esta, where the guy gutted it to the shell. In the end it cost him more than new.
On the way home from the mechanic, I saw the door open at the old club. I walked in to find it busier than a normal day when they were open. Remember, it was a real club so there were dart teams and pool teams and a standard afternoon movie. All the regulars were there. It’s not open [for business] so everyone brings their own booze. I bought a case of Budweiser, surprised it was only $11. I have not bought a case of beer in something like twenty years. I had a couple and left the rest, since tomorrow is the last day before the landlord slaps on the padlock.
Hopefully, you had as good a day.
ADDENDUM
My comment on dating women over 40 escalated my ratings. I like to follow up when that happens. So you’ll know, it seems to be related to my non-mainstream comments and revelations, since you can get ordinary opinions anywhere on the ‘net. Let me count how many women over 40 I have really gone out with. Four, and it took me a few minutes to remember them, which tells you what kind of impression they made, nomsayn? I dumped them all, and here’s the scoop.
The first lady was from a dating club (my friend’s, not mine). She had her own house. But you find out that is all she has. She plows her entire paycheck into interior decorations and it is like walking into a palace. But it is a condo on the north end, and because of it, she has never been anywhere or done anything. After the first week you find out she has not even been to Hawaii or for that matter, the seashore. Her life revolved around that condo and I’d be afraid to put my feet on the furniture.
The second was husband-hunting. She wanted that ring on the finger to keep a tight leash on her man. I feel that after a certain age, one should leave their options open, especially in that realm. I’d live with a nice lady but not if she has the ulterior motive of marriage when it is a situation where ordinary companionship will do fine. As for friends with benefits, that is the only arrangement basis for relationships this day. No matter where it goes, that is the starting line. Anything else smacks of desperation.
The third is well-documented elsewhere here. That’s the one who set her cell phone on the table between us in case her son “calls for bail money again”. What a sad sack she was. That’s the one who six months later kept e-mailing me saying she’d pray for me because I could not “handle the complexities” of her life. Yeah, well I can handle the complexities of robots, which is a thousand times (not a hundred times) more intricate an operation than the no-brainer of pushing one’s parental problems on others.
The fourth was too recent so the blog rules say no identifying material, although poking fun is definitely not off limits. I point out that after 40, if you are not the finished product emotionally and a package deal socially, the rules change to opposite mode. Sitting pretty is no longer an option.
(Author's note, I did date two other women over 40, but they were also over 50. My advice is run, don't walk, for the nearest exit. Anybody who tries to make a 50+ woman a girlfriend should remember the last twenty guys despaired of making her a girlfriend. Oddly, I was to repeat this mistake a third time withing the next few months, in a little city in northern Florida. But hey, she picked me up.]
Today’s Togla Treat
Plot twist: an ad for on-line dating clubs?
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