The Sunday Thread: April 16, 2023

[OldStrummer]

It's been quiet here of late. I hope that's a good thing. Meaning, I hope people are out enjoying the change of season, dusting off the outdoor gear and spending time soaking in the Vitamin D that's been missing for months.

I have a goal to close all the circles on my watch's (and phone's) Activity app, so every day I try to get outside and put in at least 30 minutes of exercise. I find it helps the mind as well as the body.

This past week has been one in which I've been conducting training. The week ahead I will be attending a (Zoom) training. Although Zoom had been a great boon during COVID, I'm pretty tired of it now. But this week I'm going to find time to tell my boss that I'm retiring. And that's something I'm looking forward to in more ways than one.

Restringing my Martin OMC-15ME is on my to-do list today. So, after church and exercise, I'm going to try out Martin's own brand of strings, the Monel Retros, about which I've been reading a lot of positives. I'll sit and have baseball on TV while I do so, enjoying the remainder of the weekend.

How about you? Check in and let us know how you're doing!

[Laker]

Since getting the songlist for the charity show I’ll be playing the last weekend of this month and the first weekend of May, I’ve been trying to spend a couple of hours each day getting comfortable with the material. On Tuesday of this week all of the musicians will get together at a studio and spend a couple of days working with the show’s cast to prepare for dress rehearsal. I’m really looking forward to seeing the final show completed.

Once we get beyond the charity show I’ll begin working with the group of musicians I’ve assembled to put together our segment of an upcoming bluesfest at the end of July. This group is made up of friends I’ve worked with in various bands going back for nearly 50 years. This will be the third year I’m doing this and I look forward to sharing the stage with old friends.

[gibsonjunkie]

Had a slow week followed by a busy Saturday. "Summerized" the snowblower and put it away. Got out the riding mower, reinstalled the battery after a good charge and then topped off fluids, filled it up with gas and got it running. The way the weather's been, I'll be cutting it next week. Pulled out summer tires for the Mustang and Subaru. Will drop them off at the shop tomorrow. The Mustang tires need to be mounted on the summer rims. The old tires from last season are shot (except one that was replaced last September), but I'll put on 4 Pirelli preformance tires that came with my '16 Mustang and were only used for about a month. We'll do oil changes on all three vehicles - hopefully not much else. I always have the shop drop the spare tire on the Nissan pickup and grease the cable - the last thing I want is for it to sieze up the one time I end up needing it.

Today I'm changing the strings on my ES 335. I'll need it on Friday. I'm pretty excited. I wrote a song back in the mid-70's and it never quite gelled, although I knew it could be decent if I ever "fixed" it. Well, this week I got inspired, fixed the lyrics where they were a bit cumbersome, and added a kick-ass bridge. I'm finally ready to record it. I also need to revisit the one we recorded last week - I am totally unsatisifed with the bridge on it - I was trying to do the lyrics on the fly and it shows. Hopefully I'll have that fixed before Friday so we can redo the vocals. It's probably not a big deal for most of you guys, you've been doing this stuff for years, but for me this is a brave new world.

Not looking forward to next Saturday. I have to work with one of the most dysfunctional school boards in the state (3 people have quit in the last three months alone due to all the conflict). After doing this work for almost 30 years I'm usually very confident in what I bring to the table but this group is pretty toxic. I just have to keep reminding them that 20,000 children have their entire future depending on what they do. Since much of their work sets the stage for years down the road, they actually influence the future of entire generations of kids. Oh well, I'll definitely need a nap when I finally get home (assuming I survive).

[blackonblack]

Been fighting a bit or a respiratory infection, but yesterday submitted some job apps, worked on the garage some then played a bass gig. Right now I’m between services (playing bass at both). Afterwards, work on the garage some more and work on music for a guitar gig next week.

[Bill Moore]

Supposed to be a nice day here, my wife is already talking about getting the cooler going!
Not a regular IPSC shoot weekend, but going to my brother-in-law's place to play a little. I've been shooting my 45 Gold Cup with the IDPA club, but cataracts make the front sight blurry. I found some fluorescent orange sight paint, maybe I can keep shooting until I get my eye's fixed!

[Michael Smith]

Not looking forward to next Saturday. I have to work with one of the most dysfunctional school boards in the state (3 people have quit in the last three months alone due to all the conflict). After doing this work for almost 30 years I'm usually very confident in what I bring to the table but this group is pretty toxic. I just have to keep reminding them that 20,000 children have their entire future depending on what they do. Since much of their work sets the stage for years down the road, they actually influence the future of entire generations of kids. Oh well, I'll definitely need a nap when I finally get home (assuming I survive).

Ha, the Texas Education Agency just took over the administration of the largest school district in the state (Houston). Previous school board members were convicted of various crimes, and some of the high schools have had failing grades for multiple years. As you can imagine, the local politicians and teacher's unions are up in arms, even though the mayor and US congressmen (& women) have nothing to do with running the school district. The local media are of course sympathetic to the local politicians and unions. It's kind of sickening. The superintendent and all of the school board members will soon be dismissed and replaced by state appointed members. Hopefully they will get some decent replacements. Of course, the union says the solution is to pay teachers more so they can attract higher-quality teachers.

[gibsonjunkie]

Ha, the Texas Education Agency just took over the administration of the largest school district in the state (Houston). Previous school board members were convicted of various crimes, and some of the high schools have had failing grades for multiple years. As you can imagine, the local politicians and teacher's unions are up in arms, even though the mayor and US congressmen (& women) have nothing to do with running the school district. The local media are of course sympathetic to the local politicians and unions. It's kind of sickening. The superintendent and all of the school board members will soon be dismissed and replaced by state appointed members. Hopefully they will get some decent replacements. Of course, the union says the solution is to pay teachers more so they can attract higher-quality teachers.

This city actually had a state takeover a number of years ago and appointed a replacement board that was high functioning. However, the State Department of Education did not follow the appropriate process (warnings, training, etc) and members of the old board sued for their seats back and won in court. City politics are a different animal altogether. I first served on my local board for ten years before getting a job training boards back in 1993 and have been doing it ever since. It's the most pure version of local grass roots government and when it works well it is amazing what can be accomplished. When it falls apart, however....

In order to keep this from devolving into a political free for all, I'll refrain from further comment other than to say I'm not looking forward to next Saturday.

[DanTheBluesMan]

we had a taste of summer this week, 2 days of 90 degrees. Fortunately the a/c worked once I hit the reset button on the furnace/air handler. This morning I tried running the heat but it only lasted about 10 minutes before shutting down. Oh, well, tomorrow the HVAC people come and start working on replacing that old stuff. Naturally the weather has gone back to seasonal temps which i would normally prefer to have a little warmth added to my environs. Soon, it will hopefully be a given that it will work when and how I want it to.

In preparing for that, I'm moving most everything in the basement into the one corner where no work needs to be done. I want those guys to start removing the old HVAC stuff right away and not have to spend time moving crap to reach where they need to go. Been there, done that. Worked on it yesterday and last night, aim to finish today. Bro is helping his girlfriend move into a new rental house. Hopefully he takes it easy and lets the younguns do the heavy lifting.

[photoweborama]

I've been stick for two weeks. I'm normal again now. whatever that is...

[DanTheBluesMan]

I've been stick for two weeks. I'm normal again now. whatever that is...

[ch willie]

Young Frankenstein is a masterpiece. Abby Normal. Haha

I only filled out HR forms last week but start my new job as a journo today. I'm fairly excited about it. After I stopped teaching, I worked retail, and I did enjoy serving people. It was a humbling experience. For the last 8 months, I've worked as a legal assistant and loved it, learned a lot. Began my professional career as a journalist, worked 30 years teaching writing and literature, and now returning to journalism--circle of life. Hakuna my tatas. lol.

On the music front, been enjoying my SG and AmPro II Strat. I've also been watching YouTube vids in order to learn more about my Apollo Twin and Logic. Great stuff.

[Offshore Angler]

Spent most of the weekend on the water. Band had the weekend off and the weather was spectacular. Don't get much better than that. Saturday PM and Sunday morning on the big boat did a nice brown trout about 12 pounds, then Sunday AM we boated the first silver king of the season. Chinooks look like they're chrome plated this time of year.

Sunday afternoon I was able to hook up the bass boat and satisfy my need for speed. New Garmin Panoptix SONAR is un-freaking-believable! Real-time forward facing imaging is so clear you can see their fins moving. Rarely does the "Next Big Thing" live up to expectations but fellers, this is mind-blowing (albeit not cheap!) technology. I've lived in the rocket surgery, high end aerospace world for decades so not much phases me technology-wise, but the engineers who dreamt this system up and made it work? I tip my hat to them.

On the music scene, been looking to score a vintage Flying V for the pile. Hard time finding a good one.

Chuck

[gibsonjunkie]

Chuck, that Garmin sonar looks absolutely amazing. A far cry from the little pacman-like fish that used to show up on the old screens.

[Tele-Bob]

I've been traveling like a fool and trying to get ready for a band reunion on May 5th.

The weather has warmed up considerably and I have been spending a lot more time in the woods walking and bicycle riding. Motorcycle is next!