Monday, August 18, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Uber FAIL by Dominoes. Pizza Hut took care of me.
Not a huge fan of Dominoes nor Pizza Hut, but a huge company like Dominoes should have their stuff together. After getting the "Attention! (our site sucks) popup twice, I went to Pizza Hut and I was in and out in 5 minutes. I hardly ever order from Pizza Hut, and it's been many years (before I owned a computer probably) that I ordered from Dominoes, but we had a crave for some thin-crust, and thought it would be a quick easy process to order online.
We actually do order pizza from time to time, but it's usually Pizza Express, but they have such a ghetto online system. The UI is so clunky and non-intuitive. And, they call you to confirm your order. Call? The main reason I'm ordering online is that I don't want to call and talk to people. Oh well, their pizza is really good, but tonight we went with the big boys.
It looks like the pizza will get here right when the Cowboy game ends. Perfect. I don't want my stomach upset. Actually, it looks like the Boys made a game of it. It's only preseason anyway.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Picked up a beater guitar on Craigslist. It's now ready for the office, beach, campfire, etc.
So I wanted a cheap beater guitar to bring to work and for the beach, campfire, etc. I wanted something super cheap that I didn't have to worry about it getting dinged or worst case scenario, getting stolen. So we’re talking cheap. I was thinking under $100. It’s asking a lot to get a guitar that cheap that will play worth a crap. We bought Avery a guitar for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it’s a cheap Yamaha that we paid around $100, and it plays really well. It doesn't sound that good, but it plays well. The action is low and it stays in tune. So that’s what I’m looking for, but even cheaper.
I have an old Gibson that was father’s, but it doesn't play well, doesn't sound good, and doesn't stay in tune. I've seen similar guitars at guitar shows for sale for $600 or $700, but my guitar is in terrible shape. It has a huge crack in the body, scratches everywhere, and the Gibson decal has long sense been removed. So that guitar is going to just in the corner and hold its sentimental value, but that’s all.
I've been looking on Craigslist for something really cheap that might still be playable. I like the look of the Gibson J-160 and you’ll never guess why. Yes, because of the Beatles. Epiphone makes a really cheap student guitar with that same look, so I figured that’s where I would start.
I saw an Epiphone (PR-150) like I was looking for on CR for $70. I looked around and this price was about right. It came with a gig bag and a stand, so even better. $70 is actually not a smoking deal for this guitar, as it only sells from around $130 off the shelf. I saw a couple on CL. One was $75, but this one had the case and stand, so I contacted the owner.
My plan was to offer $50 or $60, depending on the shape it was in. The person selling it was a young girl. She met me in a Walmart parking lot not too far from my house. She was selling the guitar to save up to go to college. She was nice and friendly and I just didn't have the heart to low-ball her. If she was saving for college by selling off $70 items, then she was hurting for money. Not that it’s my responsibility to help pay her way, but the extra $10-$20 would help her more than it would me.
My reason for going cheap on this guitar, besides that it might get trashed, stolen, etc, is that I don’t have much extra money for more guitars. It’s just not in the budget. But $70 is livable, and having a guitar at work has a lot of value for me.
So I picked up the guitar for $70 and told her to get in school and get another guitar as soon as possible.
This guitar is made so cheaply. The wood, if you want to call it that, just feels cheap and plastic-like. The tuning keys are made out of the cheapest metals on the face of the earth, and the frets felt like scratchy porous metal that you would find in a fine set of screwdrivers from the dollar store. You know the ones where the metal is so soft that one tight screw will smooth out the grooves on a Phillips, or the plastic handle just breaks off on the first turn.
That being said, I was determined to make this thing playable. The action was super high. The neck was a little bowed, but it had a truss rod, so I figured I could tweak it. I put new strings on and cleaned the whole thing up. I lubed the tuners, cleaned and oiled the fret board, and put a dab of oil on the nut. Then I tightened the truss rod. I tweaked it as much as I could without it fretting out. This still left it with really high action. So at this point I have two other options that effect the action, the bridge, and the nut. I looked at the nut, but the string height coming off the nut was pretty low. I could shave that a bit, or dig out the string grooves, but I decided to focus on the bridge. The bridge had a lot of material to work with, and I also read that some manufacturers put shims under that bridge. I first checked for that, but there were no shims. So I started sanding down the bottom of the bridge. Since it was a cheap guitar I was too worried about ruing the bridge, but that same reasoning is why I didn't want to ruin it and have to start buying replacement parts.
After quite a while of repeating the process of taking off the stings, sanding the bridge, replacing the stings, I got it down to a decent playable string height. I still want it lower, but I’m bit scared to take off any more of the bridge as it is barely higher than the saddle now.
After spending a few hours on this little Epi it is now in acceptable shape and it serve its purpose. Hell, I even started writing a new song on it.
The only thing now is that frets, but I don’t think I can much about it. The frets just feel like crap when you bend or put any vibrato on a note. I guess I could put some steel wool to them to maybe smooth them out, but I think they are just made out of such cheap material that they will always feel that way. Oh well, I guess I won’t be doing my Al DiMeola impression on it.
Overall, a success. I do like messing around with this stuff, and learn a little more each time.
I have an old Gibson that was father’s, but it doesn't play well, doesn't sound good, and doesn't stay in tune. I've seen similar guitars at guitar shows for sale for $600 or $700, but my guitar is in terrible shape. It has a huge crack in the body, scratches everywhere, and the Gibson decal has long sense been removed. So that guitar is going to just in the corner and hold its sentimental value, but that’s all.
I've been looking on Craigslist for something really cheap that might still be playable. I like the look of the Gibson J-160 and you’ll never guess why. Yes, because of the Beatles. Epiphone makes a really cheap student guitar with that same look, so I figured that’s where I would start.
I saw an Epiphone (PR-150) like I was looking for on CR for $70. I looked around and this price was about right. It came with a gig bag and a stand, so even better. $70 is actually not a smoking deal for this guitar, as it only sells from around $130 off the shelf. I saw a couple on CL. One was $75, but this one had the case and stand, so I contacted the owner.
My plan was to offer $50 or $60, depending on the shape it was in. The person selling it was a young girl. She met me in a Walmart parking lot not too far from my house. She was selling the guitar to save up to go to college. She was nice and friendly and I just didn't have the heart to low-ball her. If she was saving for college by selling off $70 items, then she was hurting for money. Not that it’s my responsibility to help pay her way, but the extra $10-$20 would help her more than it would me.
My reason for going cheap on this guitar, besides that it might get trashed, stolen, etc, is that I don’t have much extra money for more guitars. It’s just not in the budget. But $70 is livable, and having a guitar at work has a lot of value for me.
So I picked up the guitar for $70 and told her to get in school and get another guitar as soon as possible.
This guitar is made so cheaply. The wood, if you want to call it that, just feels cheap and plastic-like. The tuning keys are made out of the cheapest metals on the face of the earth, and the frets felt like scratchy porous metal that you would find in a fine set of screwdrivers from the dollar store. You know the ones where the metal is so soft that one tight screw will smooth out the grooves on a Phillips, or the plastic handle just breaks off on the first turn.
That being said, I was determined to make this thing playable. The action was super high. The neck was a little bowed, but it had a truss rod, so I figured I could tweak it. I put new strings on and cleaned the whole thing up. I lubed the tuners, cleaned and oiled the fret board, and put a dab of oil on the nut. Then I tightened the truss rod. I tweaked it as much as I could without it fretting out. This still left it with really high action. So at this point I have two other options that effect the action, the bridge, and the nut. I looked at the nut, but the string height coming off the nut was pretty low. I could shave that a bit, or dig out the string grooves, but I decided to focus on the bridge. The bridge had a lot of material to work with, and I also read that some manufacturers put shims under that bridge. I first checked for that, but there were no shims. So I started sanding down the bottom of the bridge. Since it was a cheap guitar I was too worried about ruing the bridge, but that same reasoning is why I didn't want to ruin it and have to start buying replacement parts.
After quite a while of repeating the process of taking off the stings, sanding the bridge, replacing the stings, I got it down to a decent playable string height. I still want it lower, but I’m bit scared to take off any more of the bridge as it is barely higher than the saddle now.
After spending a few hours on this little Epi it is now in acceptable shape and it serve its purpose. Hell, I even started writing a new song on it.
The only thing now is that frets, but I don’t think I can much about it. The frets just feel like crap when you bend or put any vibrato on a note. I guess I could put some steel wool to them to maybe smooth them out, but I think they are just made out of such cheap material that they will always feel that way. Oh well, I guess I won’t be doing my Al DiMeola impression on it.
Overall, a success. I do like messing around with this stuff, and learn a little more each time.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
We had a successful Galveston Trip
Lisa and I headed down I45 for a long weekend in Galveston. For the most part the drive was great. We had good weather and the traffic was not terrible.
Somewhere along the way I started getting a pain in my lower back on the right side. It started off pretty mild but quickly turned in to a terrible pain and I started getting nauseous. I grabbed a plastic bad from the back seat as it was getting really bad. Lisa pulled over and I got some fresh air and walked around a bit. I didn't get sick thankfully, and after a few minutes the pain subsided a little. Lisa was looking up the symptoms on her phone and everything pointed to a kidney stone.
We took back off, but the pain was still pretty bad. I was thinking that the vacation was over and we might need to find a hospital or clinic. I took some Alieve and started drinking lots of water. I tried to just put it out of my mind and just deal with it for a while. About 20 minutes when by and just like that the pain completely went away. I hope that never comes back. It was pretty bad. I have never broken a bone or had any kind of surgery. I've never been shot, given birth, or anything like that, so I'm sure all those things are more painful that what I experienced, but it was pretty damn painful.
Back to the vacation.
We got to the island and checked in to our room at Casa del Mar. The hotel was nothing fancy. It was very nice, but not a super high-end place, but it had awesome rooms and a great view. The rooms were mini apartments with a full fridge and a mini, but very functional, stove. It was stocked with plates, silverware, pots, pans, etc. Everything looked pretty new inside the room. It was very comfortable.
First things first...we hit the beach.
On the first night we went to a little hole-in-the-wall bar downtown called the Old Quarter, and I got in on their "Open Mic" night. I played a few of my tunes. There wasn't much of a crowd, but they all clapped, and told me afterwards that they enjoyed my songs.
The owner talked to me for a little while after my set. He talked about booking me there. It was very nice to hear. It probably won't happen, but it was cool that he liked my set enough to approach me about playing.
The next morning I dropped Lisa off a coffee shop downtown where she went on a walking photography tour. The instructor took her to some interesting sites on the harbor side of the island and some downtown spots. She knew a lot of history about the island and had a great eye. Lisa loved it.
I took off down the beach to do some fishing. I found a spot towards the west end of the island where I could drive on the beach. I fished for a while, but the seaweed was too much to deal with.
I picked up Lisa from the photography tour place and we went have lunch at Fish Tales, which is a restaurant on the seawall across from the beach. It had a great view, fresh seafood, and strong drinks.
The next day we went for a long bike ride down the seawall. We got a little excercise and there were tons of great people watching and the gulf breeze kept the temps down.
Later we drove down the island towards the west end and went back to the place I tried to fish at the day before. The seaweed was much more manageable, and I fished in the surf for probably 3+ hours. I caught a ton of fish. They were mostly small, but it was a blast.
We finished off the weekend with at a really good restaurant called The Gumbo Bar. It was definitely not gumbo weather, but I had some anyway, and it was really good. The Hurricane's were kicking also.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
1969s rehearsal last night at the new space. A bit loud, but good vibe there.
We worked on some new and old tunes. I like the vibe there, but it was too loud at times. The space is smaller than the last room, but it's not cramped. It's nice and cozy. I just have to always remember ear plugs.
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