Rock-n-Roller Coaster

Last week saw thing 3 in a fight at school to the next day scoring 5th grade plus on a math assessment (he's in 2nd). Death of a pet to thing 2 setting his PR in long jump and his leg of the 4x200 and 4x400 and then getting a call that he was awarded another scholarship. Shelly on the verge of a meltdown because of work and being overly busy at home too, to picking up a sweet cherry red Epiphone Dot Studio. Or at least it is sweet now. The the week ended with word that one of our soccer families, people we have know since we were kids, lost their youngest daughter to suicide. She was only 12. Our hearts ache for them.

Life is hard. Plans never seem to go as planned. We are over worked. We are over stressed. We are under slept.  How do we deal with it? How do we change it? Everything expects everything of us and in the end there is often nothing left for ourselves and closest loved ones. I don't know the answers. We try to make the best of what we can. I may feel helpless but not hopeless.

Longjump

I was a jumper in high school. Both the long jump and high jump resulted in a good deal of success. School record in the high jump and just a few inches shy of the long jump record. Ethan started jumping this year. Without much coaching or specific training he was jumping pretty well, in the 17' range. Last week I got to a meet to see him jump (the usually start the jumps before I can get away from work, so I had not made it yet). A couple things jumped out at me as I watched him take his first jump. Gave him some advice which he turned in to a TVC 5th place and PR jump beating his old PR by a full foot!

Humbucking

I have been watching for a guitar with humbuckers for a while. I love to play my Telecaster, but I would never describe it as a warm sound. I wasn't sure I wanted a Les Paul though, they are so heavy and I am not exactly a shredder. I love the looks and the feel of the PRS guitars I have held, but that is big money and seem to rarely show up used. A few weeks ago I saw a posting for an Epiphone Dot Studio. This is the less expensive version of the Dot which is the less expensive version of the ES335. The fret board does not have any inlays, no pick guard, and a single pot for volume and one for tone rather than one for each pickup. These are made in Asia to keep the price down and have less expensive pickups (open coil Alnico classic humbuckers).

I email the person and did not hear anything back. Oh well, must have sold it.

Two weeks later I got an email saying that he just found my message. The supposed story is that the guitar was won in a song writing contest by a friend of his who played and even gigged with it until this person bought it. It then sat in the case for a couple years.

Condition: dirty. The fret board, fret wires, bridge were green. The neck pickup was missing the springs to set the pickup in position and the trim ring was a mess. The first owner had put tape on it (I would assume to hold it in place since the springs were missing). But aside form a couple scratches/nicks the finish was in great condition, the neck straight.

A couple hours with some mineral spirits, 00 steel wool, cleaning rags, and elbow grease got the guitar in pretty decent shape. I had to sand the trim rings smooth and then spray with a clear enamel since the seller tried to clean the tape off with acetone. PSA: never use acetone on a plastic part. It will soften the plastic!

I noticed when I checked it out that the pickups did not seem to be original. The good news is that they had been swapped out with a set of Gibson '57 Classics! A trip over to StewMac for some pickup springs and I was back in business. A good, careful setup of the neck, bridge, pickups made for a really sweet, warm sounding guitar.

Finished out he weekend working the State Road Race Championships p/b Team Athens out at Lake Hope. I have worked this event for years (even raced it a couple times). Largest field of women and junior ever! Great to see. I am tired of hanging out with a bunch of up tight, well-off, 30 year old white guys. (I know that includes me, except I hope I am not up-tight and I am certainly not in my 30's anymore). Diversity is good for the sport. (Sorry, no photos from me as I worked registration. Didn't get to see any of the races).

Hope you can get outside and love others. Rock on.

Winter Updates

So winter can do a pretty good imitation of spring. February was unseasonably warm. It didn't boost the number of miles on the bikes that much, rather it did mean less of riding on rollers. Plus I was trying to get over the pain in my left leg (hamstring) and knee. The knee has generally healed up but I continue to fight tightness and pain in my hamstring. Oh well, on to better things!

First up, a new guitar. I have been 6 string electric-less for years now, only playing my basses and acoustic instruments. But with a change in team members at church, the opportunity has opened up for me to fill in that role some. Plus, I have been wanting another electric almost since I got rid of my last one. I often stop in Blue Eagle Music in Athens anytime I happen to walk by since you never know for sure what might be hanging on the wall. Well, one day, this was.

I think I went back up two or three more times before bringing it home. Good deal, great guitar, and I am having fun. It is a 2014 MIM (made in Mexico) Fender Telecaster, sunburst with a maple fretboard.  Of course, now I might need an amp, hmmmm. I also picked up a b-stock Ibanez JD9 (Jet Driver) overdrive pedal off of Reverb. I like the pedal, maybe a little higher gain than I need but plenty of head room. However, apparently they did a couple different board layouts for these. This one pops loudly through the amp when tuned on/off. Turns out the LED light causes it. I added a resistor and capacitor to the circuit to limit the pop which helped a lot. Still not exactly a silent switch.

Just to show that I wasn't making up the whole warm February thing, I present Brock, eating bagels on the college green in short sleeves.

A highlight of February is always our wedding anniversary. This year, after once again not going to the mountains, I made reservations at Pleasant Hill Vineyards. On Saturday evenings they do a multi-course meal. When I called, they mentioned some of the menu which included pasta and meatballs. I have to admit I was a little worried that either 1) it would be a pretentious gathering or 2) the food would be mediocre. However, neither would be true. Oh, there was this one table of folks that drank too much and were less than classy in their obnoxiousness, but we enjoyed a great dinner (the food was excellent and there was plenty of it). I highly recommend attending one of their meals if you are looking for a way to celebrate something special. For more information, check them out http://www.pleasanthillvineyardsllc.com/.

Table for two.

Since I wasn't crushing the miles, I hauled and shoveled almost 4 tons of crusher run for the driveway. Amazing how much that feels like a shovel at a time and how little it really is spread over an 8th mile long driveway.

One of two loads.

I did get to ride a little bit, and even got back on my single speed. It felt good, so good. All before the rains came as March roared in like a lion.

A dry and sunny February gravel road ride.

Work parking lot full of water and the grass covered with snow. Well played March.

And in closing, here is a picture of Ryan with a big cup.