Greetings, whoever-reads-this! It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. My new vehicle is paid for, and with just a pittance still on the plastic. So I'm essentially in the black, as it were.
To digress just a second, being paid-up, if you didn't already know this, is the real meaning behind Black Friday(which I call All Fools' Day). It sounds ominous, but it's really just an accounting thing.
Anyway! Buying a car can be a stressful experience, at least at the end of the transaction.
The easiest part was picking out a vehicle. The first thing they showed me was just fine. Learning the new controls was a little trickier. It's been 21 years since I've bought an automobile, and there have been a few changes.
I know I gave my brother a chuckle- which he was kind enough to stifle- messing with the wipers, having them spewing water all over the place. Not the first time, won't be the last. No, what was truly difficult were the negotiations at the end.
That final bit of haggling- as the salesperson put it, hard numbers- was the toughest stage in the process. I could feel my blood pressure rising. That shot of cortisol to my system. But with all the whittling-down, I ended up paying just a little bit more than I was prepared to lose. Yes, a bit like gambling..
It was the same routine with my roof earlier this year. They start with an “impossible” figure, and then pare it down so that you'll think you're saving a bundle. Sold American!
There's a sucker born every minute. It costs so little and it means so much. Won't you help? (Just imagining P.T. Barnum's words in a different context.}
But as another saying goes, I was born at night but not last night. So I have few illusions about such things. The whole process bore at least a slight resemblance to putting in a day at the unemployment office: you try to get through it relatively unscathed. Without having too much of your ass chewed off.
So now begins the long process of paying myself back. But the big stuff is out of the way.
Music News. Nothing much to report in the way of gigs or anything, but I'm still at it. My Epiphone ES-335 is behaving itself as far as the jack. I've had it repaired twice now, and this second effort seems to be holding. The person who fixed it is Matt at The Music Shoppe, to give credit where credit's due.
I'm still practicing most every day. Scales and arpeggios in all 12 keys, twice through at three different metronome markings. That takes about 45 minutes. Very comparable to an exercise program I put myself through a couple times in a week. And I'm usually whipped for awhile afterwards.
Hopefully more music news and less domestic news next time out. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading. Much love. More later.
