October 18, 2021

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 18, 2020, a reasonable $12.50.
Five years ago today: October 18, 2016, 5 yrs still no cherry-picker.
Nine years ago today: October 18, 2012, tinkering with transistors.
Random years ago today: October 18, 2010, it lasted 6 years.

           Yeah, might have known it. As the first gig draws nearer, the other band members want to schedule more and more rehearsals. Good, I feel like mentioning that about now. This sort of rehearsal does not work, it is similar to cramming for an exam. It works in a narrow sense, but creates more work down the line. I’m sort of fence-sitting because they call the band a democracy, but I know from bitter experience that is never the case. Here’s a pic of the female doggie about to get breakfast. They never ate so good as around here. The hillbilly? Well, humans can fend for themselves.

           I used the morning cool to get more kudzu out of my way and kind of Mickey Mouse the deck on the north shed. My hired help didn’t show so it took six hours to get two hours work done. One wall it up and braced, at which point I called it a day. There’s band rehearsal in a few hours and the shop called to say the Yamaha scooter is ready. It sounds like they had it running with in a few minutes, but take money. This is Florida. Which reminds me, I found that $100 bill I keep for emergencies, it was under a DVD, but in the right place.

           The walls at eight feet high give the shed the appearance of a granary, if you know what that is. The entire assembly is put together with two sizes of wood screw. Even if the walls are removed, the flat deck is still usable for many things. I had fun building so far, no mistakes, all went smoothly as if I knew what I was doing. On the way home last day, I scored a beauty of a pallet, six feet long and some of the best lumber yet. It took an hour to dissemble the pieces and that’s without cleaning the nails. Watch for a super-box of some sort. Not big, I mean, but with great joinery and finish compared to my usual.
           The doggies, Cash and Hot-Girl, were over first thing in the morning. They know when I’ve made chicken, they get a helping of broth. They also know which parts of my yard are the coolest and shadiest so I can always tell who is home across the street. This is where the peace and quiet is. I’m putting the hillbilly to work on the roof and maybe he can do something about the larger tree limbs. I foresee the day soon when the trees themselves have to be trimmed back to thirty or so feet.

Picture of the day.
Nancy Pelosi, long ago.
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           Houston, we have a problem. The Parson called and the drummer canceled rehearsal again. That’s four times in a month with less than a half-day’s notice. Today, I would have kept working on the north shed, but I stopped at 1:00PM and packed the tools away. The appointed time was 4:00PM, he canceled at 2:00PM. Thusforth, I had a long chat with the Parson, explaining that now the guy is costing me money and that was not part of the deal. Once again they want to move it ahead one day, but I explained now I have to cancel my plans for Tuesday. Here’s the shed progress, which I had to cut short due to this change of schedule.
           His explanation is that the drummer is a weekend warrior. To me that only explains his lousy drum playing, not the inconsideration for other people’s time and schedule. I basically said if this happens again, I’m not quitting or saying he has to go, but that I can no longer rely on him to provide the space for rehearsal. That is nearly a forty-mile round trip. This blog does not block band gossip, so here’s some more details.

           Dom, the guitar player who died, talked with me on the phone for three hours before I auditioned. I see now when he said the band was together 22 years, he meant only himself and the drummer. Also, he used to chew the drummer out for all kinds of this poor behavior. Now that Don is gone, there is nobody keeping Randolf in check. (Did I mention the drummer’s name is Randolf?) That makes partial sense, the way he’s been acting. But nobody warned me. This time the excuse is that the rehearsal space had some contractors working on the building. Well, Randolf lives right across the road, should he not be right on top of this.
           I can’t really say no moving the time ahead one day because those guys need the mileage. Here’s how things tentatively stand. Parson and I know the problem is the drummer. We also know he’s learned he cannot gallop the drumming any more because now there are two of us who won’t follow. There is plenty of talk that clubs are hiring again and I’m trying to balance two factors. One, do we get out there now and risk getting a reputation for sloppy music? Or wait and potentially miss a great opportunity because COVID has wiped out a lot of the competition? I would rather play mainly based on the fact that delays in the music business are never good regardless of how well anybody can perform.
           The good news is I’m not firing anybody or insisting on anything. This is their band and they will soon discover that any headaches they create will be their own. For instance, I may develop a policy of not even leaving home until I get a confirmation they are there in advance. Another item may seem odd to an outsider, but the other guy with Nashville experience, Parson, is fully aware my motives and talents, such as they are, run a parallel but separate course. For example, he made up CDs for the upcoming gig. Took him all day and he did it wrong. They were the wrong format and stuck in a playlist, which not all CD players will handle.

           It’s another broiler of a day, the heat index is way over 90°F. Expect progress anyway, as the north shed site is where direct sunlight is only a factor around four hours near noon. I vote for a long siesta instead of going over my song list. I know how this first gig is going to turn out. Parson is also a rhythm player, but he’s worse at it than I am. Nonetheless, I cannot discount the value in that and twixt us we do 90% of the vocals. He’s old school big band. Then again, until I showed up, he thought a rhythm guitarist was a necessity. I’m never above making contingency plans.
           It’s now 3:30PM and siesta wins the draw. I’m still reading “Stigma”, they have now discovered there is funny stuff going on at the vaccination lab. And the theory of using stem cell and DNA to boost immunity over a spectrum rather than one strain is consistent with how far I got reading up on the topic some five or six years ago. Drat, the reading got too technical in a field I don’t care for and now I regret that I didn’t force myself to finish those books. But five years ago who know the Democrats were going to pull this stunt?
           The latest from the radical left? They are claiming the impending food and supplies shortages are proof that Joe Biden’s miraculous recovery is working so well the shipments can’t keep up. Believe it or not, there are Americans so stupid they believe this bull donkey. Most of them live out on the coasts.

           The evening turned surprisingly cool, so I rigged up the trouble light and worked until 9:00PM. We have two walls up but not yet squared. What it will lack in strength, it will make up for in convenience. There will be enough shelf space along one wall to take everything out of the house and the shed that needs indoor keeping. Finally. For now, the siding may be tarpaper, but it’s no worse than the condition the sheds are in. My assistant did not show up today, so all the work was my own. The snap with tarpaper is misleading, that does not happen until tomorrow, but this is a before and after.

Last Laugh