May 20, 2022

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 20, 2021, the funny thing . . .
Five years ago today: May 20, 2017, rock tumbling is boring.
Nine years ago today: May 20, 2013, silver drops, ha-ha.
Random years ago today: May 20, 2008, Florida IQ test.

           Up before dawn and exhausted by noon, that’s the pattern for this trip. Work, eat, sleep. I might as well be in my 30s again if that’s what life amounts to. Another long doggie walk failed to perk me up. And the big doggie got into my dinner rolls. Actually, it is a pet conspiracy. Lilly finds the package, Chloe knocks it to the floor. This brings the big dog looking, who can open the package. What he doesn’t like, the rest can sample. They got three of my five remaining soft buns. Speaking of conspiracies, due to recent surges in Trump popularity, it is now calculated Biden will have to come up with 99 million votes to steal November.

           Here’s a twist of events. The parts store sent me the wrongplug, but i bought it and played with it until I go the theory. This impressed the lady at the counter, who used to be a mechanic. She kind of too a shine to me in that I was able to deduce the source of the problem. She asked me describe it in more detail, and she was skeptical that I was able to drive the car 300 miles after the problem occurred. So I described that no after I’d handled the plug, I was of the opinion it had only partially “frozen” out. To me, that is why I could drive it another half day—based on the part I was holding in my hand. Becuase I figured it out.

           She thought it was pure genius because I got this from buying the “wrong” plug. So I jokingly said if it works, I’d “save enough to buy her beers after work”. This morning, I crawled around thd hoses and flanges and got my hand inside just enough to loosen the old plug, push it back most of the way (I felt it move), and tighten it with 36 single clicks on the only wrench I could fit in the available space. My plan is if the car can be driven away, it is worth much more than I planned. The delay has worked in my favor, says the Reb, as these cars are selling for $2,200, that is, twice what I paid for it.
           No pics of the repair since there are no good angles but this is the car, now backed out onto the front driveway and getting a good wash. I’m thinking of asking $1200. Yes, everything works but it has that tire alignment problem which I adequeately warn about in the ad. Ah, somebody asked, what’s the twist I mentioned. Well, I think the lady mechanic now thinks I asked her out. Simple, I’m never going back there.

Picture of the day.
Disappearing Aral Sea.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Before talking music, here’s view of the $26 in tools I bought during the Taurus repair. That’s well within the $180 I had budgetted so now to find out where the Reb wants to go. To this day it knocks me for a loop how unused she is to spending other people’s money, but I mean that is a good thing. Call me any names you want over it, but I’d be pleased to know I’m the only one who gives her a free reign with money. You know the story on that. Why would anyone stead what they can just take? These sockets are color coded, an iffy advantage unless there is some industry standard on the code. The two tiny extensions on the wrench, if you see them, cost as much as the wrench.

           The remaining guitar player e-mailed back. He’s the last of this round but the timing indicates he’s not had luck elsewhere. Normally a guitarist wants another guitarist to strum while he plays big-shot on lead, forgetting that is also what the other guy is thinking. Such people deserve each other. The snag is that it leads to guitar players who consider the bass to be just their accompaniment.

           I checked the web site of this new guy and he’s got some originals posted. Thanks to this friggen “IBM” style computer, I can’ listen to them. It just seem sto me an intelligent design is one that, when it breaks, falls back into a mode that always plays. There’s a term for that, something like fail-safe. When all the fancy drivers and devices screw up, the headphone jack should be hard-wired to work by default.
           More guitar tales. I’m considering canceling one of my guitarist classifications as too rare, and because there is another type that is emerging. This is the guitar player who has 40 songs on his list, but he can only sing half of them. He wants to join your band, not to learn the 20 son’gs on your list, but for you to learn the 20 he can’t sing. As far as learning any of your material, these are otherwise ordinary Type B1. Lazy as fuck, that bunch. Slow learners as well.

           This time, my challenge is to learn the correct bass line to a tune I’ve never heard played live with the correct sound. It’s an old tune, “Tulsa Time”. Just two chords, but like “Memphis”, the bass sound is all about the right technique. Every on-line source gets it wrong. I know from experience is some combination of left hand touch and right hand picking at exactly the split-second that counts. It is not like any other bass line, so the first step is to stop thinking bass. Not so easy after the first 30 years.
           One frustrating hour later I conclude that bass line is produced in a studio. It’s not a normal sound you get from a bass, but I also know that with imagination, all sounds can be reproduced remarkably well. This requires yet another approach. If you listen closely there is a secondary note that appears right after the root. I say it is an octave played funny, but that’s just a partial guess. And this stupid computer has no sound, it is saying no device found. Yeah, well what happend to it since when it used to work when I bought this thing. I never deleted it.

ADDENDUM
           JZ called after nearly three weeks of silence. Ihe’s getting tests for skin cancer. It could he his usual nature because he worries about such things, but he’s been warned repeatedly about working out in the sun as much as he does. We’ll have to get a trip planned to Miami.

Last Laugh