(no subject)

Tuesday at work my neck hurt all day. Sometimes that happens.

Wednesday I was kind of in a bad mood simply because I woke up earlier than I planned. Not anyone's fault mind you, but I felt tired and irritable. But my neck didn't hurt.

Today I wasn't really in the mood to get up early (hey, 11 am is early!) but I'd promised to do so. I crawled out of bed and plopped down in front of my computer, figuring or at least hoping I had some time to read and then maybe take a shower... but the doorbell rang almost immediately. So for the second day in a row I had friends at the door before I'd showered or dressed for the day (not that I answered the door naked mind you).

Anyway Gene dropped Mike off and he started on the kitchen while I showered. The kitchen wasn't really that bad, but Mike put the few dishes left out into the dishwasher, cleaned the countertops and stove top, swept and mopped the floor, etc. It looks much better now. Then while I sorted through our pile of mail (Tom and I have a tendency to just throw mail onto the extra couch and let it accumulate) and did some straightening up of the living room, Mike did the bulk of the work of consolidating all of Tom's stuff that we didn't know what to do with into a single corner of the kitchen.

Tom and I still have a few things to straighten up, but mostly it's dusting and vacuuming left now. And I need to clean out the refrigerator a little and go buy pop/drinks. And I have a bunch of stuff in the back of my car to take to Goodwill or whoever will take it.

But basically... I was in a really good mood today. Not because I got enough sleep, but simply because the house was mostly clean and my computer was working. ^_^

I have wonderful friends. ^_^ Thanks to Mike and Gene, and to Kristin and Charles even though they didn't get the chance to help out.

Oh, another thing... Mike suggested I go to the MSI website and download their MSI Live Update program, and with this installed it was a snap to download and install the correct audio drivers, and my computer sound problem was fixed just like that. Funny how the so-called expert on the MSI message board didn't think to suggest this to me, since it's MSI's own program. ^_^

Crunchy Frog!

My friend Griid from my EQ days (real name is not Griid of course) recently posted to our almost-but-not-quite-dead guild web forum, asking me if I owned any Crunchy cds. Specifically "All Day Sucker" and "Clown School Drop Out".

(Insert Barney voice: I am SO Crunchy the Clown! BUUUUUUUURP!)

What is Crunchy, you ask? It's a project/band by Monty Colvin, former bassist for the Galactic Cowboys and all around man fascinated with clowns for some reason.

Griid had been trying to track these two cds down. I was excited to hear about them, but afraid that they were already out of print if Griid couldn't find them. Well, Griid's research skills pale in comparison to mine... or to most everyone else's, because I typed "Monty Colvon" into Google and promptly found this page:

12 string bass page

Which is a page for and about the 12-string bass and the people who play it. This, of course, refers most notably to Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick, and Doug Pinnick of King's X, but also to a bunch of other bassists including Monty Colvin. There's an interview with him, there, and one with Doug, and other cool stuff. Actually Monty has a series of columns posted on his page there. ^_^

And in the interview you find out that Monty Colvin and Dee Dee Ramone are cousins... heh.

And this page gave me the link to:

Monty Colvin's Crunchy page Which is actually found at either montycolvin.com or crunchy.ws for whatever that's worth.

You can order both of his Crunchy cds right from his web site, and he accepts Paypal. Needless to say, I have two cds that will be heading my way soon.

I was also inspired to track down some other cds... I'm a big fan of The Charlatans and I have one of their songs stuck in my head right now, and it reminded me that they have cds that I still haven't bought... so I tracked down one or two of their older cds at Amazon, and discovered that they also have a brand new cd that is only available in the UK at the moment... I ordered that as well.

And then... there's another band I've always liked, which came out of the same Manchester scene as the Charlatans... The Heart Throbs. They released two cds, but for years I'd heard about a third cd that I wasn't able to track down. I tried once again... and just like with Crunchy, it was a far easier task than I'd expected. First, I located a page that listed their entire discography, including multiple cd singles and 12" singles and releases by the bands that followed their breakup... and it confirmed that they did have a third full cd which was a UK only release called "Vertical Smile". Next I went to Gemm online and easily located several copies of this cd, but most were priced pretty high, for the colletor apparently. It occured to me to visit Amazon UK, and there I found more copies of this cd (and some of their single stuff as well), and was able to order it for a pretty good price... well, I assume a pretty good price, it was under 7 pounds which is what in US dollars? 14-20 I guess. Less than most of the import specialists at Gemm wanted anyway.

Aaaaaaaaaargh!

I left myself a half hour to vacuum before going to work.

The vacuum cleaner (an ancient Hoover, the kind that never dies) doesn't sound right.

I replace the bag, which is rather full, with a clean bag.

It still doesn't sound right, and something smells bad.

I turn it over. The rubber ring that drives the sweeper roll thingy has burned through and fallen off.

Okay, I have an extra handy. I take it apart. This involves, of course, cutting off all of the stringy gunk wrapped around the roller and around the part of the motor that spins to drive the roller. Luckily I have a knife handy as well.

Now my vacuum is back together and working properly... just in time for me to go to work...