April 5, 2024

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 5, 2023, the hurricane silo.
Five years ago today: April 5, 2019, shivering in Tennessee.
Nine years ago today: April 5, 2015, I’m stumped.
Random years ago today: April 5, 2014, the evil sidewalk.

           eBay. It’s not your grandma’s eBay, I can tell you that. The log on process cannot be used at all without positive taxpayer ID. That used to be patroled by the finance department. My guess is they’ve been stung and now won’t let you even into the system without total security clearance. I’m not the first person to notice people who have no clue often behave exactly as if they hate each other. Individual accounts now must be attached to a bank account with a human name, and both our names are very common. Too common for eBay. I must commend them on an airtight system, they’ve hired some real bad-asses since the last time I used them. And this time, the boys know which books you’ve read.

           Here is an animal being called the first new species from South America in 60 years. This is the sort of headline that blazes right through my filters. But it is mostly Gen X hype. That continent has an unexplored rain forest interior that houses thousands of new species. The truth is, it is the first new species of deer. And even then, it was not discovered. It was reclassified. These sad-sack follow-on generations don’t know they are going to drown in their own bathwater.
           This brand of misleading headlines makes searches nearly useless. Another article from the same source (NewScientist) claimed adding coffee grounds to concrete made it about a third stronger. Bogus. The grounds had to be anerobically heated to over 650F, turning it into a grainy ash called biochar.

           You’ll see some yard pictures today. Since last Wednesday, I didn’t check for signs and this morning found this beautiful cluster of peach leaves on the highest branch on the tree. Two weeks later than average and since that cold spell, I have hopes for some fruit this year. The mornings are still too chilly for yard work until past 10:00AM. So you get pictures instead. Oh, look, there’s what I call the cat flowers. The little orange ones beside the wee carpet lined cabin for the cats when it is that cold. Garfield loves it. The other’s just sneak into the work shed, the most vermin-free spot on the block, I’ll wager.

           There will be no drama this morning unless you let me talk music. Hey, I’m the first guy that wishes the two could be separated. But since they cannot, you can’t have both silence and immunity. Be aware I don’t talk drama to my band people, however I do point it out well in advance of it becoming a problem, which is often too far in advance for some to make the connection. Drama breaks bands up, so my tactic is to peel open the lid and let others draw their own conclusions. Sounds fair.
           So what is the issue today? The big picture is that the longer in advance you are right, the more some people will resent it because your warning pegs their behavior, which they feel does not allow for their personal and usually petty reasons they should be the exception. Wow, that’s a broad slap, let’s narrow it down. The worst thing here is to mistakenly believe I’m talking about a person when in fact I’m talking about a situtation. The confusion is probably that that situation has a name. Bradford. It is well-known to most regulars that Brad does not learn any popular music, can only join in on the simplest of common tunes, is not strong enough go solo, and often does a terrible job. But read my lips: Those are NOT any reasons to quit. Plus, Bradford is really nice when he needs something, like a PA system.

           For more than several occasions including this very week, it is evident Bradford does not get up and play with the band. Strange, since it is his invite. Yes, this gets discussed with the Prez & I every time it happens. The Prez, and rightfully so, is not at all suspicious of motives and yes again, my interpretations can be harsh. Yet as long as my “core group” gets to gig all night, I dodge the issue. I’ve told you stage time for my duo iis gaining synergy by the hour, meaning I’ll go along with almost anything that promotes that. Still, I know Bradford is up to something. But what?

           Another 22 is that the music drama-puzzle gets complicated quickly. So stay with me here. Over the past few sessions, we have openly invited Bradford on stage, without results. Even when we take a break, he’ll leave a gap in the show rather than take over. He did not even play along with the lady xylophonist. Hmmm. Well, ten days ago I gave him a heads-up that we would be presenting a guitar classic that is a custom fit for his guitar style (“Sundown”) which he could not ignore. He did. He witnessed half the room singing along, a spectacle at that club at any time, yet he would not budge from the bar. I’m still just saying what happened, I’ll draw my conclusions in the addendum.
           I know from talk that Bradford only calls me last when all of his buddies let him down. Bradford does go on about the great jams at his house, but we have yet in all these years to see even one of them show up, type of thing. Then, today some more pieces of said puzzle show up. I get an e-mail from the xylophone player, who I had invited to the last jam. She politely explained the jam was “a far cry” from what they were expecting. I imagine so, since I had to run home and rustle up a working PA system before things could commence. She went on to say they only support local artists they like and please let them know when we are playing.
           Hmmm, what were they expecting? Her next paragraph, while indirect, sort of spells it out. They know Bradford, which was not at all evident at the time. Ah, so when he asked me to get a PA system, he had already invited them and got stung when fat boy didn’t show with his PA. She then repeated a series of observations you read here years ago, that Bradford has potential but will not put in the work, adding that talent is not enough. Ah, she knows this business and now it is clear she also knows Bradford and I got ten bucks saying I know how she got the wrong impression of the jam.

Picture of the day.
Icon of the Seas.
World’s largest cruise ship.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           I’m gpomg to break with tradition and go have an afternoon beer, then siesta. Here’s a yard lizard with much the same idea. He’s examining my new paper shredder setup. You can still see the $5 price tag. It was brand new, and beneath it the old potato bin. Works just fine. Still no word back from eBay what their problem is, but at least my packing material is ready.

           Asking around, several people have the same ff-balance symptoms, but accompanied by chills and the trots. I’m okay in both departments but the odds of the other indicators being random had me try to schedule a medical. I say try, because ten-fifteen years ago I told my people to switch to e-mail for their appointments, that I would no longer give my birtthdate, social insurance, or other private information over a cell phone to “verify” anything. Oh no, they said, there were no problems at their end.
           That was, I take it, before the $5.5 million dollar HIPAA fine they could have avoided by listening to me. The point is, you can no longer make an appointment except by email. Does that fix things? Nope, because they then took and bastardized the email system. It is not in their office, but subcontracted to a third party who is not bound by any privacy restrictions. To force patients to use it, they quit answering the desk phones, which are still hard-wired.
           The way around is to text them. For now. The ultimate goal is to have all your communications filtered through a single government-controlled data center that will take care of all your needs—and the sooner you quit with your silly resistance and conspiracy theories, the better.

           One hour was all the nap I could manage. So I went over to the club on 17th with a song list and talked to the owner. It’s hard to get a perspective on that place because it has two distinct sets of clientele. There’s the regulars, an older crowd who loves any live music and country gets them going. But then a seemingly random younger bunch who play tribal chanting on the jukebox a lot.
           This was also the first club around here to break the $3.50 per beer barrier.This puts them into the dreaded “375 pricing” of California infamy. It concerns the tip. A quarter is too cheap and $1.25 is too much. I know the staff there from the original Shipp Lake Pavilion, who tell me the price hike is totally the breweries. What is not commonly known, the bars don’t pay liquor tax, which is around half the price tag. That’s a lot of leeway for the breweries, and if capitalism worked, the price would probably go down.
           She reports lately the product comes in flimsy paperboard containers, not even real cardboard. They are so cheap, they’ve even removed the paper dividers that used to keep the bottles from rattling around. Time for a “reverse retirement” calculation. If beer goes up 25 cents per bottle, now much do I have to invest to just cover that at 7% APR. I can do this, Elliott, because I have a budget. We’ll have to make some allowances here.

           For instance, we’ll use the 2023 budget, since it is complete. That says $250 per month (for all entertainment), and we’ll presume the Reb & I don’t go to $50 movies, that most of it is spent on Yueng-Ling. At $3.50 per bottle, and I usually leave the change for a tip, we’ll round it off to 12 bottles per week, and a serving is four bottles if I do go out, call it 50 bottles per month. No, I hardly ever go out for one beer, for me it is a social event where, if I don’t meet Taylor, I’ll at least stay 90 minutes and write a letter or design a circuit.
           Are we still together here? I spend an extra 25 cents on 50 beers, that’s $12.50. How much extra do I put into Caltier to break even on that, ignoring taxes. Y’know, in the four years before I retired from the phone company, I literally did this calculation for every known aspect of my life. Forgive me it I can’t suppress a chuckle over my co-workers who said I was overthinking the situation. Most of them would just about now be retiring and I guaranty you every one of them will remember me when it happens.
           Why? Because I pointed out they would work, on average, another 28 years to gain just another 36% over what I get now. And, if I waited until 55 to take my money, they would have to all live to be 88 years 4 months old to get as much as I will in total. It is well-known phone company people die from stress-related conditions before they turn 70.

           If I can’t be a millionaire, what do I need to keep pace? Let’s crunch some numbers. What dollar amount will produce $12.50 per month, or $150 per year. It’s $2,143. Yes, I can do that. In fact, who remember I was looking at the Caltier Reggae fund? I was wondering what amount to test those waters. What say we do it? Half now, or maybe a thousand, the rest if it looks good. Show of hands? That’s what I thought. I’ll bet some of you would vicariously like to follow the results. It’s a deal.

ADDENDUM
           So, what is Bradford’s now evident ulterior motive? That’s twice in a row he’s called me at the last minute for the PA. Why the last minute? Because he knows I will be there and when that happens, the other guy is never the star of the show. That’s a statement that would rile Elliott, but some of us do have a lot of experience being the smartest guy in the room, it just depends on which room. What do we know? Bradford invites people, but he has no PA system. He calls me to jam, but then does not participate. He has also, for no reason, in the past severely criticized my management approach to band problems while at the same time knowing the results I produce. How does this all tie together?
           My guess is Bradford has pretentions of taking over the jam. If so, his link with the club owners is weaker than I thought. And he is not going to easily change his guitar style which is more suitable for the studio than the stage, where mistakes can’t be recorded over.

           What’s my next move? Right now, change nothing. Whatever he’s up to, let it fail by itself or let him continue asking for help every time. I did say to him back in 2016 that if he did not move into live stage work soon, he would miss the window and wind up “45 years old without ever having played in a substantive group”. He can’t seriously be looking for a band at this late age, he lacks all the formation skills that would make a difference around here. This is an observation, so maybe he could surprise us all.

Last Laugh