February 10, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: February 10, 2018, comping sucks.
Five years ago today: February 10, 2014, Florida combo pizza.
Nine years ago today: February 10, 2010, contracting is not "a business"?
Random years ago today: February 10, 2012, recalling my college days.

           I didn’t get what I was looking for. Instead, I got a Crate practice amp in mint condition, a laminate trimmer in near new condition, a wireless microphone system (lapel mic), a military grade computer circuit protector, a 12V VCR player, and a grab bag full of household goodies. Forty bucks, and half that was for the amp. I’m going back in a couple of days for a 12” sliding miter saw, another forty bucks. Then all I’ll need is some place to store it. My shed is full twice over. That’s from the Thrift out near Mulberry, and I know the give me really good deals. The skinny babe wasn’t there, but she’s long since worn off. I’d still get drunk with her and show her a better time than she’s obviously ever had. Beyond that, her window is closed.

           Yep, Boss Hogg [radio] is gone. Today’s trip took me within 15 miles of the transmitter and nothing but static. While nothing got done on the room today, I sketched out the plans to complete it within the week. That’s a qualified complete, what I mean is livable with no major repairs needed. I am more likely to fiddle around in the shed in the mood I’m in. I really want to build some wooden boxes, it’s an idea whose time has come. Who remembers my $400 special glasses paid for by the accident insurance last year. The arm came loose and finally fell off today. I’ll crazy glue it and ponder what $400 gets you these days, besides ticked off.

           Here’s the Crate amp with digital signal processing. These can be set to operate with a deep low end, essentially an extra bass amp. I don’t know if I’ll keep this. Trent and I were talking about jamming again today, and I’m all for him taking a break. Get out of town. Bring his guitar, which reminds me, send him a set of my best tunes so he has a reference point. I should remind all that my “boom-chicka” guitar method is easy, but it is hardly universally accepted. It is a big leap for most guitarists to realize how it works. The usual mode of acceptance is when the guitarist has gone as far as his talent can take him, and only then realize that less is more. Trent can tell you himself, while he could play it in the first few weeks, it was five more years until the brain acknowledges that it works better than any fancy finger work.

           Nothing on the news, but there was some major blockage of Highway 60 this afternoon. Traffic backed up as far as the horizon. The only thing behind that horizon from my standpoint is a level railway crossing. Flat as Florida is, people still keep getting hit by trains. Texting? Wearing headphones? I know the countryside well enough to take the back roads. Two hours later, on the return leg, I finally stopped for a diet soda at Hardee’s in Mulberry and waited the thing out. Here’s another picture from the car museum showing the “gas gauge” on an early electric car. You got an amp-meter and a second unlabeled meter I could not identify. The car is from the 1950s and we are still waiting for that battery breakthrough.

Picture of the day.
Luxury horse stalls, Florida.
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           Here’s my nice new lapel mic. The label and design reveal this unit was designed to be attached to a camcorder. It even has a 1/4” camera screw mount incorporated, see it just under my thumb. Make no mistake, the fidelity of these early units is remarkable. This model sold for $80 back in the 1960s or 70s, so call it close to ten times that today. I have not put it through the paces yet. I can tell you these early Radio Shack designs, marketed under the brand name “Realistic” are superior quality compared to the junk on the shelves today. I’ll test it through the PA in a day or two. I’m hoping it is stage quality, since these units have a dozen times the range of new gear and are far easier on batteries.

           Getting home, I decided to make one of my favorite dishes. It’s a curried chicken recipe you spoon over rice. It is conservative with calories, the main sauce ingredients are chopped onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Alas, while the recipe turned out and the house smells fantastic, it was a flop. You see, the sauce is thickened at the right moment by the addition of wheat flour and the curry powder mixed in melted butter. As I reached for my curry, it was not there. Instead, I had two jars of ginger. Argh, what a mixup! You see, while the sauce is still good for days, it over-thickens and if you reheat, then it either sticks to the pan or coagulates in the microwave. Sigh double because there was also two cups of fresh dairy cream in the blend.

           [Author's note: later, this lapel mic has a fantastic full-bass warm analog sound. It was meant as a camcorder attachment, but I'm going to try this on stage. The range is incredible and the FM sound is beyond crystal clear. For the record, today's price in 1965 dollars would be $637. That explains a lot.]

           More on the Admiralty book, I’m finding the passages on naval construction as appealing as the story. The Brits would often use captured war vessels, which is explained by noting the British had long since cut down all their own suitable lumber and had to import it from overseas. My own theory says that even when they built new, the British preferred to produce the most modern, and often untested, vessels possible, never settling on a good model and building in numbers. And I ran across a paragraph that might explain why, in those old pictures of warships, many of them sat so low in the water.
           It suggests that the best ship-wrecking cannon of the day, the 32-pounder, was one heavy beast. To mount them on two decks raised the center of gravity, not good. If I read it correctly, the Brits would often lop off the upper deck of captured ships and thus come up with essentially a powered cannon barge. The guns worked best up close, since they could not really be elevated or depressed all that much. Don’t quote me, this is mostly conjecture and thinking out of the box.

ADDENDUM
           So I get home kind of late. I just felt like driving, which represents my thinking time. And did I need time to think. Never mind about that, but guess who called? Alaine is babysitting her brother’s kids on the weekend of the 16th/17th and they have some kind of tournament in Tampa. Volleyball? I dunno, millennials can’t invent their own sports games either. Our friendship has endured what, over 17 years now. I’m happy the family is visiting because she was apprehensive moving to Punta Gorda. The first one to move so far from home, but I’m happier for her than ever now that the family is back. She was afraid the separation would be too much.

           In other vacation news, I priced out a five-day stay in Savannah, GA. That would be hotel, food, entertainment, and touring the city downtown. The bill would be staggering, the low bid came in at $3,100. One just does not carry that much cash these days. The hotel bill alone, if you want to walk the city sights, came to $1,250 and I saw even that hotel had some bad reviews concerning room odor and slow service.
           Myself, I’d rather spend the money on a nice used travel trailer. Travel in America has always been expensive and kept so by the powers that be. The big players will not allow truly budget hotels to thrive even down to making sure the police don’t respond to problems in adequate time. Next to the insurance industry, hotel/motel price fixing is tops in corruption. Oh, don’t listen to them, for like the phone company, they can justify every penny of their outrageous prices. That’s how they operate.
           And there is a picture of my 12-volt VHS player. Digital tracking, it matches the rest of the hot dog cart. An entertainment center on wheels.

Last Laugh