General Music Chat

they are predicting a devastating ice storm for the Atlanta area, Mike, please get some drinking water stored up, and get plenty of eats to last for a while.. hopefully the good Lord will have mercy on you..

Today's small ice storm is nothing compared to what's coming there tomorrow (and heading this way for Thursday), but at least here it should all be snow.
Last big ice storm we had here my power was only out for a day, I was ready with enough gas for my 8500 watt generator for about 2-1/2 days. Previous big ice storm a few years before I only had a little 1250 watt generator, house temperature was down to 42 when the power came on 3-1/2 days later.
We were lucky in both: most recent storm there were people less than a half mile down the (main) road from me who went 5 days, and the prevoius storm some folks went 2 weeks.

i'm trying to figure out what to do about tonight's gig. roads are no problem at this point but i usually pull the van up the front door to make loading my vibraphone easier.
but w about 8 inches of snow on my my front lawn that ain't an option. guess tonight it'll be me on gtr and malletKAT and the vibes get the night off.

Thanks for the warning Dane. But trust me, I'm prepared. What I fear is a power outage. I have a solar charger for smart phone and laptop and it's all charged up - so they'll find my frozen body smiling as I hit Bandmix the final time.

A power outage makes being off work suck - no guitar, no bass, no heat...

Actually I'm prepped for a couple weeks with some extra in case my neighbors get in trouble.

With all my planning the last storm caught me minus one very important element - beer!

Talbot

Thanks for the warning Dane. But trust me, I'm prepared. What I fear is a power outage. I have a solar charger for smart phone and laptop and it's all charged up - so they'll find my frozen body smiling as I hit Bandmix the final time.

A power outage makes being off work suck - no guitar, no bass, no heat...

Actually I'm prepped for a couple weeks with some extra in case my neighbors get in trouble.

With all my planning the last storm caught me minus one very important element - beer!

Talbot

NO BEER! That shows an indefensible lack of preparation. Your neighbors will lynch you, if they find out you have food to share... BUT NO BEER!

I guess you like to live on the edge.

By the way they still make these guitars that don't need electric to play...
Let me see... What are they called?... Any body else remember? I know they still have them.

That's mighty noble of you to freeze to death trying to bring up band mix... There is a solution for that, called firewood.

(All in good fun Mike, stay safe, this has been a strange winter indeed).

Geeze. What was supposed to be a small rain event, HERE, has turned into a 6 to 9 inch forecast with a change to rain to really screw up the roads and then a change back to snow. I can deal with that, but all the folks in the south don't have the equipment to deal with this.

Any one in the way of this please be careful. This isn't fun anymore.
One stupid little mistake can be deadly.

Mike,

Too bad you aren't into electronics. I have about 5 amplifiers rated at 100 to 200 watts RMS that run on 12VDC or 110 volts AC. I made switching power supplies out of old computer power supplies and they have very little drain on a 12 volt battery. I would be more than happy to share the "how to" with you if you are good with a soldering iron.

I have a 24 volt supply for my computer, a 12V dvd player, 12 volt amplifiers, a Tascam "Port a Studio (12v), and an array of high bright led lamps for the power outages that will come due to potus killing our electrical grid.

I am prepared for all except the dreaded E bomb.

Thanks for the reminder Slacker - I do actually have a mini-marshal prac amp that can run on batteries.

Talbot

Glen

Just for the record - I finally figured out what you were talking about: acoustic guitars! And you thought I was a dummy...

Aren't they used by folksingers or something?

Talbot

No Mike, I would never think you a dummy. I think you are pretty cool.
I was just putting that in a funny way.
Be safe Mike.

You can always play an electric guitar without amp/power. It just isn't very loud!

OMG this is for Glenn. I was thinking you'd be laughing if you were "a fly on my shoulder".

I am so sorry. (head down again)

We ran out of heating oil last night at 11pm.

I fell asleep at 8pm because I was dog tired and no one told me.

I woke up at 5:30 am to 48 degrees on the inside.
(I started praying.)

I ended up basically having a Chinese Fire Drill afterwards. (Please excuse my terminology, no offense intended.)

I ended up having to have an emergency oil guy visit in the am while it was snowing full tilt.
(still praying)

Wow, was he mad. He was really good though. He explained what was going on directly to me. He whupped me good though and my ears were stinging. (kept praying silently)

On the upside, he was a really awesome fellow.
He left nothing out in his directions.
He told me that he was notating this account as to the fact that I was responsible for following his explicit directions and I was all ears.

I got the whole history on the house, including the dummies that were before me. And then he went to town on me. I professed my ignorance from the beginning and apologized profusely. He told me that the first time is ok, any time afterwards is going to be a hardship in the future and if I thought the lecture I got this time was bad, I should brace for impact if ever this happens again.

Then he made me carry the heating oil up the hill, a very steep hill.
15 gallons in 3 cans. (oh my aching back.)

And then he replaced the filter and a fitting that was leaking.

He asked me if I liked being "cold". I just looked at him and winced.
He laughed and told me that the furnace needed to be replaced 10 years ago. I nodded and said "ok". (prayers, more prayers)

He then came up and gave us our bill. (PRAYER)
I thought it was going to be A LOT MORE. I asked him about it.
He told me that he wasn't going to blast me because he had just educated me and that I was going to be responsible for this furnace in the future, regardless. I shook his hand and said "thank you". (prayed for him)

We then paid the bill and he was running for the door.

I called out to him and tried to to give him $ as a tip and because without his help, we'd no doubt have had ruptured pipes and a giant mess.

He waived me off and then asked me if I was ready for the bad news.
I thrust the $ at him again and he yelled at me and asked if I was deaf. LOL

I said "ok" as I stuck the $ back in my pocket.

He told me that as soon as he left, I was going out to buy 2 yellow diesel cans and get 10 more gallons of diesel to put directly in the external tank.
(more prayers)

I told him that we are kind of stranded with no way to get around and he laughed again.

He hesitated for a sec and said, "you don't think I am coming back here tomorrow, do you"?

I said, "no sir".

He then says, "you got troubles, you do what I say or next time, I'll be busy when you call me". "Do you understand me, mister"?

For a second there, I felt like I was on an officer's quarter deck AGAIN.
"Loud and clear", I responded, "everything is 5 by 5".

He chuckled, nodded and left, (with a prayer).

I then started to walk. I walked for about 20-25 minutes in the worst part of the storm. It was actually pretty quiet, although I fell on the ice layer underneath several times. I just rolled with it.

I got to our local Lowe's and bought 2 yellow diesel cans, 5 gal.

I then started back out across the parking lot. It was a "ghost town" with no real amount of vehicles going anywhere. I couldn't help thinking that anyone with a quarter brain was inside their homes, safe and warm.

As I was going across to a local highway to walk to get to a station to get diesel, I fell on ice again. This time I cracked my head on a curb. I did a half roll and both my yellow "buoy's" went flying.

Someone drove by and screamed a primal "YARD SALE" at me. I laughed and picked myself up off the ground. I was a little woozy, but not bad. I've seen much worse on me before.

And then this guy in a 4x4 pickup pulled up to me, as I was picking up my cans.

Long story short, he asked to take me to get diesel and drop me near the house. I was shocked. No one acts like this in NJ. I was worried.

I just looked at him and asked him "why, would you help me"? "I am sorry, but I don't know you and I don't have much money", I bleated like an animal ready for the slaughter, almost choking out something that sounded like a cry of pain.

He just shrugged and said, "get in I don't need a reason".

So he helped me to the station and I got the 10 gallons more of diesel and he dropped me very close to the house.

I asked him how I could repay him and he said, "you'll see someone on the side of the road or otherwise and you'll know they need help". "You know what to do now, right"?

With that, he did a doughnut in his truck and took off with a cackle and that was the last I saw of him. (prayer for him as he sped off)

I then struggled with the cans, stopping frequently as I hauled them the remaining way home. I hauled them up the hill, stopping 4 times as my back was sending me "Morse code".

I took a short break when I go to the top to have a little cold coffee and to rest my back which was now trying to emulate a tap dance rhythm.

I went outside and drained each 5 gal of diesel into the external tank with a prayer and as I walked back to the porch.

It was strangely silent as I realized I was being watched yet again.
I prayed again and thanked him for the help that I had so sorely needed in my time of need.

And as I neared the front door, I heard something not verbalized but almost whispered as if by the wind, "Never, ever, during your trials and testings did I leave you. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you, just like today in the snow".

I said a prayer of thanks and choked back a sob and went inside.

May all of you be as blessed in your time of need.
Someone does listen, you just have to learn how to hear him.

Oh my goodness. Sorry I didn't see this and I would never laugh.
This has been life threatening and property threatening weather.

This snow is not going away. It has been so cold that it is accumulating 6 inches at a time. The sulfur has been mandated removed by the federal govt. Because of that the BTUs from a gallon of oil has dropped and people are creating much more CO2 because they are whipping through the oil.

In the meantime the federal govt has mandated a 2% biofuel mix. Not only does it NOT BURN CLEAN but it is causing all sorts of corrosive havoc on oil seals and gaskets. It is a small nightmare that has been shoved down the throats of those STUCK heating with OIL.

I work in a very hilly area and take extreme care to remind customers of impossible delivery situations. What has become unusual about this winter is that it has remained below freezing for so long, that I am still dealing with snow from a month ago. Yesterday I did everything that I could to get oil to a customer stuck in this winter trap. I spent an hour or more filling cans for them and helping them get the other 200 feet up a hill to give them heat.

Sounds like you ran into an employee that has been pushed to the limit. It is a dumb mistake, but not enough reason to get mad at a customer.

I hope you are OK. This is one nasty winter

By the way... Thanks for writing that. I would never laugh at something like that. This is serious stuff.

Sorry Capt. That was pretty rough of me . That was actually a beautiful post you just wrote. Stronger things happen all the time when you say a prayer or accept the help from the strangest places.

My ex driver is a retired PO. He is 58 years old. He came to me a few weeks back and was honest that he wasn't capable of dealing with all the bad weather coming down. IT'S TOUGH AS HELL. OK so I'm stuck covering deliveries and backing up my son in law on service. Let me explain so you understand my deal.

Forget about driving on iced roads into back roads that are worse and driveways that are absolute nightmares. Trucks have been banned from some roads altogether. Top that off with crunchy snow that breaks through with every step into 5 inches of powder. EVERY STEP PULLING 175 feet of hose out is bone jarring. Forget going up on steps or stoops, way to easy to bust a leg or ankle or your head. THEN...

I love this one... Call from the office... Mrs so and so just bounced a check, should we call her?

UMMMM... I'll call you back... RIGHT NOW I'm trying to slide the truck out of a drive way with out rolling it down the hill on the side.

I've had people poke fun at what I do. They don't have a clue.

The point being Capt I understand exactly what you had to do. NOT EASY.
I have a lot of respect for that. AND that was a beautiful post. Hats off to you... You definitely are not a whimp!

Glenn, he didn't bother me one iota.
On the contrary, he set me straight.

It was snowing like mad when he showed up.
I wouldn't have wanted to do what he did and the fact that he was honest with me made me feel like he was taking the time to teach me. ( I never look down on someone trying to teach me something under any circumstance. )(No one is obliged to teach anyone anything and most do not.)

At the end, I even offered to ride along with him and do emergency deliveries for free. (I am sure my 3 p/t jobs wouldn't miss me as long as I wasn't scheduled to work.) I figured maybe I could worm my way in by being useful to the point of being someone he might miss the day after, but to no avail. It's so bad out there, he wouldn't even consider it.

But I am still swinging for the fence and I honestly believe that someone, somewhere needs human capital like myself and others in a reasonable situation to work and take up the reins/slack. I just have to find them and let them know it's me that they are looking for. lol

The only other thing that relates to this is "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". Life doesn't reward you for being a prince or princess, stand up and do what you have to do or don't you ever whimper about getting a raw deal.

Life is full of raw deals, but to whine or whimper about it isn't going to heat your home or help you in any way.

Fortune favors the bold. In general, be bold or go lay down and die.
Those are your choices.

I was born bold, no other options apply.

And Glenn, I have no idea what you are apologizing for but that's ok, I am not mocking you.