Hey there. Today was a good day indeed. I saw a fight, I bought some music stuff and I got paid.
This morning after dropping the brother off at drivers ed, I went to my place of work to collect my paycheck. It was my biggest payment yet, which was nice. I then went into town to choose some mandolin accessories. I bought a small pickup, which I secured to my new mandolin, and a tiny Roland Cube amplifier. I was very pleased with both my purchases. I decided that It is probably a good idea to get anything I need in the way of musical gear as soon as possible, as I will have far less money when the school year starts. My new pickup sits unobtrusively near the bridge of my mandolin, and my new amp, although powered by either an ac adaptor or batteries is incredibly loud and does the best possible things to the sound of my instrument. It also has some effects, which I played with for hours this morning, including reverb, delay, a phaser and a flanger.. Awesome!!.
Today at work, something cool happened.. One of the customers in the bar area decided that it would be a really fine idea to proposition the bar tender repeatedly; making references to her physical appearance and what he would like to do with a number of her body parts. I think I have mentioned the fat jovial Italian owner of my workplace in a previous post.. However, upon being informed of what was taking place in his fine establishment, all trace of joviality slipped away.. He came running through the kitchen, which was not an easy feat for someone of his girth, and entered the bar.. All of us kitchen people promptly dropped what we were doing, and raced to observe the inevitable confrontation. Alerted by the sound of extremely heavy foot falls, the offending customer had also dropped what he was doing, and lept out of his seat. Our now out of breath boss, still running let out a stream of profanities, which went along the lines of "F**k you, you f*****g sleazy m****rf****r!! Get the f**k out of my f*****g bar!! There was no pause or change in his motion as he ran for the terrified customer, who was at this point running for his car, and possibly his life. Our boss stopped at the door, at this point almost completely out of breath.. He then made a whispered and wheezing apology, which could not be heard over the applause from the other patrons.
Something about conservatives is not clear to me. For instance, how can you say things like "Freedom from government is what this country was founded upon", "Government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem", "Leave us alone!!" and "we want as little government as possible without anarchy", while defending such ideas as the PATRIOT act, no child left behind and energy bills that not only dictate the size of your toilet, but also how you light your home? I do not like this sort of confusion.. It is confusing, and wrong to sacrifice your core principles for convenience, or just getting along. Perhaps I am not the Ditto Head I claim to be, as I simply cannot use my vote to support things that I think are wrong.
C YA..
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Mandolin, Plectra and Habits.....
My mandolin came yesterday.. However I did not notice this, as the UPS guy put it in a corner of the garage I don't visit every day. I found the package this morning, and exercised a great deal of self restraint in it's opening; doing so when I had returned from my visit to town. I opened it carefully, and found my new machine inside.
I was very pleased with what I found. It was very different from my other mandolin; very different indeed. It was a Brazilian style, Mexican made Italian named work of art, but I feel that boring you with details will also bore me, so I will only say that I do not regret ordering it at all and I thoroughly enjoy playing it. The only downside to this new toy is that it is not as loud when I really hammer on it as the other one is, but that problem will be solved when I install a pickup next week. Cool ha? The only modification that I have made so far was to drill a strap button onto the side, which was a much needed accoutrement.
Well, 100 posts.. Thank you for reading them. It is really appreciated.. We have covered a lot over the last few months have we not? I complained about college professors, I complained about democracy, I complained about not being able to find work, and I complained about work. I talked at length about ukuleles, music in general and body hair. Really we did not get past any of those, and nor will we in the coming months. I also transcribed a brand of traditional conservative rhetoric that would make AUH20 blush..(I know Science....)
Did you know that Americans are the best people in the world? It was actually proven.. Americans donate a higher percentage of their earnings to charitable causes then the people of any other country(4 times more then the first runner up). Did you also know that the French are the worst people in the world? It has been proven. Your average Frenchman gives a lower percentage then a South African.. . Did you know that between election seasons, politicians don't give to charities? Did you also know that some politicians think they earn too much, and should be taxed more? It's true.. I guess this is where personal responsibility comes into play.. If you think that the people of this country need help, and government programs are the way to go, why not refuse tax deductions? Why not just pay more?.. You can, and it really is not hard, though I guess you would actually have to have the Ownership, Management, Self Direction and Character to do so.
I was very pleased with what I found. It was very different from my other mandolin; very different indeed. It was a Brazilian style, Mexican made Italian named work of art, but I feel that boring you with details will also bore me, so I will only say that I do not regret ordering it at all and I thoroughly enjoy playing it. The only downside to this new toy is that it is not as loud when I really hammer on it as the other one is, but that problem will be solved when I install a pickup next week. Cool ha? The only modification that I have made so far was to drill a strap button onto the side, which was a much needed accoutrement.
Well, 100 posts.. Thank you for reading them. It is really appreciated.. We have covered a lot over the last few months have we not? I complained about college professors, I complained about democracy, I complained about not being able to find work, and I complained about work. I talked at length about ukuleles, music in general and body hair. Really we did not get past any of those, and nor will we in the coming months. I also transcribed a brand of traditional conservative rhetoric that would make AUH20 blush..(I know Science....)
Did you know that Americans are the best people in the world? It was actually proven.. Americans donate a higher percentage of their earnings to charitable causes then the people of any other country(4 times more then the first runner up). Did you also know that the French are the worst people in the world? It has been proven. Your average Frenchman gives a lower percentage then a South African.. . Did you know that between election seasons, politicians don't give to charities? Did you also know that some politicians think they earn too much, and should be taxed more? It's true.. I guess this is where personal responsibility comes into play.. If you think that the people of this country need help, and government programs are the way to go, why not refuse tax deductions? Why not just pay more?.. You can, and it really is not hard, though I guess you would actually have to have the Ownership, Management, Self Direction and Character to do so.
Tiple, Taste and Tornado
Hey there. Post 99... Wow.
This morning I got up and went to work. I arrived early and started cleaning dishes. I also met the owner of the hotel. Actually I had met him on several previous occasions, but I had just assumed that he was the fat jovial Italian that is required in any self respecting kitchen.
Speaking of work, I had an interesting day. I was pulled away from my usual duties, when someone spilled bleach in an obscure corner of the kitchen and noticed a considerable number of flies making a speedy exit from the scene of the crime. It was then my job to spray Raid behind every fixture in the fine establishment, as well as sanitize the walls, the garbage cans and every door. It was not too exhausting however, and did interrupt the monotony of cleaning silverware. I was pleased to learn of something that is not my responsibility. It is the most disgusting job in any kitchen, which apparently causes many first time workers to vomit profusely. It is emptying the grease traps... I do not really know what a grease trap is, but I am very happy that I do not have to learn. Every year someone new is asked to volunteer for the task, and a sizable bonus is given to the unlucky hero.
Apart from grease traps, the only other creepy thing I can think of that I have noticed is the creepy flirting between 17yr old servers and cooks old enough to be their grandfathers. Well, actually there is one other thing. Today some very creepy insurance salesmen came to offer everyone in the kitchen a disability insurance policy. I rejected it outright, because I have learned from my father to listen very carefully to such people. The plan he offered me was cheap. $3 a week.. Unfortunately it expires after 30 days, and the total amount of coverage that can be given is one payment of $500 upon a full medical inspection. Indeed... I would have 30 days to find a way to disable myself while scrubbing plates..... But as the injury must occur at work, I would have more like 12 days.. So I would lose $12 to the insurance company...Lose my job and after a full physical that I must pay for in order to qualify, as well as the examination after the injury that I must also pay for.. I would have about $20 left over... He did make a really good pitch though, about how the money would help me to get on my feet after the accident, and would be a great help to my dependents.. I am pretty sure that he had the wrong guy.. Wow you can't make this stuff up. Unfortunately for the company, they failed to sell a single policy to anyone I work with. I get much better offers from Bank of America, who not only use threatening language to try to sell me life insurance, but also do not charge me any fees to keep my money with them.
This morning I got up and went to work. I arrived early and started cleaning dishes. I also met the owner of the hotel. Actually I had met him on several previous occasions, but I had just assumed that he was the fat jovial Italian that is required in any self respecting kitchen.
Speaking of work, I had an interesting day. I was pulled away from my usual duties, when someone spilled bleach in an obscure corner of the kitchen and noticed a considerable number of flies making a speedy exit from the scene of the crime. It was then my job to spray Raid behind every fixture in the fine establishment, as well as sanitize the walls, the garbage cans and every door. It was not too exhausting however, and did interrupt the monotony of cleaning silverware. I was pleased to learn of something that is not my responsibility. It is the most disgusting job in any kitchen, which apparently causes many first time workers to vomit profusely. It is emptying the grease traps... I do not really know what a grease trap is, but I am very happy that I do not have to learn. Every year someone new is asked to volunteer for the task, and a sizable bonus is given to the unlucky hero.
Apart from grease traps, the only other creepy thing I can think of that I have noticed is the creepy flirting between 17yr old servers and cooks old enough to be their grandfathers. Well, actually there is one other thing. Today some very creepy insurance salesmen came to offer everyone in the kitchen a disability insurance policy. I rejected it outright, because I have learned from my father to listen very carefully to such people. The plan he offered me was cheap. $3 a week.. Unfortunately it expires after 30 days, and the total amount of coverage that can be given is one payment of $500 upon a full medical inspection. Indeed... I would have 30 days to find a way to disable myself while scrubbing plates..... But as the injury must occur at work, I would have more like 12 days.. So I would lose $12 to the insurance company...Lose my job and after a full physical that I must pay for in order to qualify, as well as the examination after the injury that I must also pay for.. I would have about $20 left over... He did make a really good pitch though, about how the money would help me to get on my feet after the accident, and would be a great help to my dependents.. I am pretty sure that he had the wrong guy.. Wow you can't make this stuff up. Unfortunately for the company, they failed to sell a single policy to anyone I work with. I get much better offers from Bank of America, who not only use threatening language to try to sell me life insurance, but also do not charge me any fees to keep my money with them.
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