December 28, 2018

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 28, 2017, basically, she dropped out.
Five years ago today: December 28, 2013, whaddaya'no, more hotdogs.
Nine years ago today: December 28, 2009, iPod spells doom.
Random years ago today: December 28, 2011, it hurts to look.

           I spent half the day in the library again. The brake job means you get some trivia. How about this? Oikophobia is the fear of kitchen appliances. I’m the opposite, in fact my favorite appliances are the fridge and stove. And when I get off my tush, a dishwasher should become another contender. After some consideration, I’ve decided on this door lock. It has a key just in case and holds up to 19 codes, for what I do not know. I’d rather have a feature of a code that timed out, nomsayn? I balked at the Internet operated models. Internet security sucks as it is (said this blog beginning so long ago) that it’s plain loco to have a lock that can be opened by telephone. It’s only a matter of time until that becomes a major crime wave. Or worse, another police protection racket. If you can lock them out, they can lock you in.

           The good news is the brake job cost only $183. The repair was so simple they only charged me for the parts, mind you, they charged the shop rate. I was around town by bicycle again, I spend more time in downtown Winter Haven than where I live. I stopped to price out a hand brake for my blue bicycle, the one speed. This has coaster brakes, which means you cannot backpedal to a good position to start moving again. At $40, I’ll pass until I find a good used pair. Also, the back axle on the bike has a bad wobble, meaning the brake will likely have to go on the front. I biked a good 8 miles today, a bit of a record for me.

           At the library, I examined as many plumbing books as I could find, and except for the final step of removing the toilet itself, I think I can do this. I also picked up four more light boxes for the sheds, two each. Even with the biggest (300W) normally available bulbs, the interiors are still too dark to work in for some reason. But that 30A service is a boon, what a difference from the old days of running a 50-foot extension cord. The treat is the radio. Yes, it is an old mono radio on a country station, but every man has his own work space habits. On the computer, I never have music in the background. The plan is to run in more shelves and move a lot of things out there. I’m still not fully unpacked from the move 25 months ago.
           A doorbell has become a must. I have the wireless remote, but that is going in the shed. Twice now people have told me they’ve been around but I don’t hear them knocking. This is more so when I am practicing the bass. They say they rapped on the window right beside me, but I never heard a thing. Anyway, this weekend the front bedroom gets full attention as the drywall gets finished—providing I can get Agt. R to deliver it. I ran into him downtown, a surprise because he is normally at the Rendezvous this time of year. He makes good money helping set up and tear down, so he’s usually occupied for the entire month.

Picture of the day.
Lunch at the Kremlin.
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           There is a train museum in Nashville. You know me and trains, and so do a lot of other people. One of the gave me this keepsake, notice the size. Yes, she pointed out that the little wheels do turn. The quality of workmanship is amazing. I took the Taurus for a 30 mile test run, long enough for the brakes to seat. At first the pedal was a bit stiff but she’s running fine now. On January 4th, next open day, the front rotors get turned and the A/C fixed. And I want one of those bike racks that fits in the trailer hitch. The ones you can never find when you really need them.

           I’ve re-written a bass line to punch it up a bit. It was already a strong line as recorded, but the bassist was a bit waffly. There’s parts he was skipping because, if you take lessons, there are certain notes plain hard to play. This is why I incorporate the piano when designing these riffs. Piano forces out the right notes to me regardless of finger positions. The song is Elle King’s “Exes & Ohs”. She’s a funny looking thing, how can you just tell she was a naughty little girl? This is the song that brought her into the spotlight. I find it catchy.

           Generally, I have a rule to sing a song without changing the gender. The justification is that is the version people know. If they want to sing along, you do the familiar version. This song, however, gives me second thoughts on that. “I had a boy turned him into a man” can be too easily taken as a message by the wrong people. And every crowd has its share of those creeps. So for me, it is either change the words or find something to say that makes it an obvious joke.
           Another song getting singled out for bass treatment is “Tell It Like it Used To Be”, it can be played as a bass solo. Another idea being kicked around is playing along to a tambourine. I’ve done a lot of my own video tracks to a drum beat and some of it is more than listenable. Also, I responded to two craigslist ads. One is a band in Eagle Lake I never heard of that needs a bass player as in y’day. The other was an elaborate description of some guy explaining why he is a professional, but wants to undertake the headache of a startup. He seems to know what he is getting into, so god bless ‘im. I simply said I would help him put a basic act together to meet the people he’s going to need. That’s in the hopes he’ll decide a duo with me makes the grade. More on that as it happens.

Last Laugh

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