One year ago today: June 12, 2017, remember covered bridges?
Five years ago today: June 12, 2013, reasons bands fail v2012.1
Nine years ago today: June 12, 2009, but bingo took over . . .
Random years ago today: June 12, 2004, Sir Ringo.
Early this morning it was again over to Winter Haven for supplies. What luck, the big box had a $120 ceiling fan, six foot in diameter, for $40. At that price, forget fancy. The catch? They have to be completely assembled, no wonder they wound up having to slice the price. This is Florida, for crying out loud. Limit one to a customer. Stay tuned for how that works out. What’s more, that mini-hurricane that went though here on the weekend took the roofing tiles off one of the most heavy duty formidable bunker-like buildings in the state. My bank.
Next, I took a close look at the ceiling fan wiring connections. I expected a few design shortcuts on such an economy model, but it has all the standard settings plus an arrangement to connect a second switch like I’ve not seen before. Normally, there is none switch which turns on both the fan and light, after which consecutive tugs on a pull-chain will cycle the fan through speeds settings. Another pull-chain works on the light. But the instructions say if you want separate switch controls, run a second switch to “the blue wire”.
I wonder if that is worth it. Or should I simply connect the sconces as my four-way circuit. It allows one dimmer, so that would work for what I need. Basically, my plan is to have all the main controls on the wall beside the hallway exit. Whoever is standing there can see the entire house except the bedrooms. It is the logical spot to locate a control center. Any place else and you would not have a view of both the front door and kitchen door. Not that the view is important, but thinking ahead is.
Virgin Mobile, I still use it. Because the account is ancient by Millennial standards and the service, while not really anonymous which is nearly impossible, but not in a name anybody would associate with my situation. And that suits me fine. I checked my cash balance: 22 cents. I topped it up a month ahead in January. I have all the bonehead features disabled, including text messaging, the most infantile and retrograde concept of this century, I mean no wonder it appeals to the masses. But you cannot disable messages and “thank you” notes from Mobile, which they charge 15 cents each for. So we now know it takes them about six months to nickel and dime twenty bucks out of you.
Yep, that’s the new America’s concept of how to make money. They think if they steal enough petty cash, they’ll get rich. Has it ever happened? Not on a scale I could point to. There’s iTunes but Apple was hardly a startup when they launched it. Let me think on that one. Is there anybody out there who actually got rich—and famous—bleeding people for less than say 25¢ at a time? And I mean millionaires sho got there from scratch, because all the places and persons I know that do it are definitely bottom-rung types. I’m sure there are, but they are such scum their names aren’t household words.
London skyline.
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Yep, I went ahead with the trailer hitch. Another reason I don’t make major purchases near where I live—even though I paid cash, they wanted to see ID. That’s how I found out that while there is no law that says so, they have been ‘advised’ to keep a list’. And then I found out they are also supposed to get ID if anyone pays more than $1,000 in cash. Don’t worry, I’m used to handling that situation and they nothing useful from me. It’s just the way I do business and it has saved my ass countless times so I’m hardly going to change.
But the one that makes me laugh is that wimpy Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. The issue of balding Frenchie Pierre who poinked the local sleazebox Maggie, who went on to beat drunk driving charges in some pretty creative ways. Creative, because they would not work for anybody without the shall-we-say. I didn’t see, but I heard this Justin went on TV to claim he bested Trump in the trade war talks. You get that with Gen X-ers. They think if they are nice than you, they win. What a sorry bunch, but anyway, his complaint was that Trump used facts as if they were “negotiating points”. I don’t get the insult, I mean, is Justin saying something else should have been used? If so, what?
I hope Trump does these trade measures. He compared the world to babies who have been robbing the American piggy bank for years. Of course they don’t like being exposed like that. I think Trump isn’t cutting long and deep enough. Let these third-worlders know if you trade with America, the pendulum swings both ways. This could backfire is these foreign billionaires grind even harder on their workforces to take up the slack, but that’s how revolutions begin. And a good old American style revolution is what’s lacking in most of these banana republics.
I decided against coffee and worked straight through until 9:30PM. Tea and bread topped up my 900 calorie day, which was offset eight solid hours of work. Usually I can’t cope with that, but I had the radio and an hour was required to assemble that ceiling fan. Blog rules say mention it, while I was attaching the motor casing to the overhead bracket, something fell out of the assembly. It hit me on the chest, metallic, like a small machine bolt. I heard it hit the floor and it promptly just disappeared. I went back through the package, parts list, everything, but nothing is missing. And everything left on the motor is a matching set. The rule book says if it is the most unusual thing, for instance, I must record it. Compare that with the high times of your Tuesday.
ADDENDUM
Here is the bathroom fan housing. It’s not finished yet but there’s a feature I want to point out as not sloppy workmanship. Note the gap along the top left portion of the drywall panel against the ceiling. This isn’t a mistake. The wall to the left but just out of this picture is where the new bathroom bearing wall is recessed into the main wing of the house. These two segments settle at different rates. As it stand, the difference between the two foundations is the side of that gap. The frame is attached to the main house, while the trim, when installed, will be rigid against the wing. Thus, no matter how the house may eventually settle, the trim and panel will always appear in place. Clever or what?
Today, I did not play music. How rare is that? But I did listen to Boss Hog at WHNR, 1230 AM on your dial. Cowboy Rowdy music all morning and Heinze 57 in the afternoon. You don’t realize just how many obscure country songs there are until you tune in to this brand of station. I’ve got another trick of the trade to share, lucky you. One of the neglected arts in many bands is the song endings. Without a sound man, it is tricky to fade, although I’ve done it. But not every tune has and ending where you just stop. So I take pride in playing a hundred variations of the Flatt run. Being these are guitar riffs, you’re okay to ask where do I get my material?
Easy, from those obscure country songs. Not just endings, as long as it is a descending run, I’ve swiped, copied, and cloned intros, riffs, lead breaks, and even melody lines. Some bands overdo the big splashy ending, which is okay until the second time you hear the same routine. What I do is start the runs early so the guitar player has time to duh-yup, but I also have a selection of runs that continue after he stops where he waits for the end-chop. Listen to the ending of Hank Jr.’s “Attitude Adjustment” for a sample. I’ve also met a few who really resent when I play those things on the bass.
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