Ah, me! Well, it has been quite a couple of days with this computer thing. I wound up taking the CPU and sound system to my friendly local computer fix-it place. This is a different friendly computer fix-it place than I used to use. There used to be a real good one within driving distance, with knowledgeable computer fix-it types who knew how to talk to computer tyros like me. Somewhere along the way they hired this guy who should have stayed in back, conversing with motherboards and printed circuits. But, no, they let him interact with customers. He, unfortunately, had the attitude of " No, you're wrong, and I am smarter than you, and I don't want to do to your computer what you want me to do." It got so bad I complained about him, and I am generally pretty laid back about things like this. Soooo, they moved, reorganized, changed their name, and guess what? Guess who the one guy was that management retained to work in the store! Just guess! Uh-huh!

Ennyhoo, I took my CPU to the new place, and they discovered that the sound was turned down on the Windows control panel. Bless their hearts, they did not say "You musta done somethin'," a phrase I have heard many times in dealing with computer service people. They readily acknowledged that there are times when Windows will turn sound down on its own, or it might have been a website that did it, or ghosts, or...Anyway, it wasn't my fault.

So I brought the thing home and it crawled!! Nothing worked. Every program hung or did a "program is not responding" dance. Back I went to the computer fix-it place. I got a call from the tech with a long-face tone to his voice. It seems that the Windows program had become corrupted and we had to start from scratch. So I lost a lot of stuff in the process, including all kinds of e-mail and programs that had not yet been saved in an off-system storage process. I no longer have my Cubase SL program, which was a bear to install the first time. Fortunately, I got an independent recording system which I am in the process of setting up clearing space for. Hopefully that will be up and running by the end of the week. But, obviously the computer is functional again. and I am slowly restoring all my favorite site URLs. It is just a laborious process to try to restore some semblance of what used to be available.   Wish me luck!

Well, I have bought two condensor mics, one with a large diaphragm ( for voice) and one with a smaller diaphragm ( for instruments) and I'm going  to tackle the Cubase SL manual again. I need to get some stuff written and down and mixed and out! Right now my computer sound system is not functioning and I don't know why. Maybe the sound card jarred loose. That means taking the shell off the CPU, which I relish like I would if someone said " Here's a chef's knife! Quick, you've got to do this emergency appendectomy!" I cannot recall ever having put a peripheral on my computer without having some major issue come up which brings everything to a grinding halt. Maybe it's my tendency to install everything into a computer with a hammer and a Bowie knife. "If it don't fit, MAKE it fit!" That's my motto!! Actually, I usually take it to a computer place and THEM do it. That way, it actually works for awhile. Right now my computer shows that I have limited or no connectivity, whatever that means. I am obviously connected, or I couldn't make this entry. Ah, me......

You know, some of the entries of some of the folks whose "sites I read" really bring me up short. When I think I might have accomplished something, I read an entry like that of ocaptd, and it reminds me of what is important in life: serving others, being there for them, doing good works in the name of the Lord. Wow! Powerful stuff! Thanks, David, for sharing yourself and your ministry. Knowing you as I do, you really need that vacation! Blessings and love! And enjoy the Starbucks!

Well, I sent copies of the video out to two persons whose opinion I really respect. I guess in some ways, I'm asking  "Whaddya think?" In other ways, I guess I'm saying, " Here's a buncha old guys having a good time. We are what we are." We are not the most dynamic act you have ever seen; no flips, no pyros, no flamboyant dance routines. I think I sway once or twice. A lot of things influence that. For one thing, we are not playing that often, and my memory does not always serve me correctly as to what key we might do something in.. Believe it or not, I remember the key we did it in 38 years ago, but our voices are not the same, and so, something we may have done in C major back then we do in Bb major now. There are many guitarists to whom the change would mean little if anything.  I am not among them. I find it much easier to play in C than I do in Bb. Not that I can't do it; I just have to concentrate more, and make sure I don't slip back into old habits. Sometimes it's a big key change, because a different person sings it than used to be. For example, the old Gary "U.S." Bonds number, "New Orleans:" we always did it in C. Now, because a different person sings it, we do it in F! Do you remember the movie "Back to the Future," where Marty McFly does "Johnny B. Goode?"  He gives the band the instruction, "Blues in B. Try to keep up with the changes." I never did check to see if he plays it in B; no reason he wouldn't, but the original that Mr. Berry did is in Bb! What a crazy key for guitar! And nobody is using a capo! Of course, everybody could have tuned down to A, which would have been much easier for the guitarist, but where does that leave the piano?  I don't know. Next time I'm in Chicago, in June, I will make my annual pilgrimage down to 2120 S . Michigan Avenue, ( that's where it all happened, folks!) to see if they have any idea. The history in that building is incredible. It's now called "Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven," a foundation dedicated to the preservation and furthering of the Blues. Quite a place. I have have some photos I'll have to show you sometime. None inside; they don't allow it. 

Here's an internet article I found:

John Mellencamp used to hang around outside just to catch a glimpse of his musical idols. Minnie Ripperton worked the reception desk. Berry Gordy picked up recording industry tips. Chuck Berry wandered in off the street at a previous Chess location hoping someone would listen to his music. The Rolling Stones recorded "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction" here though they found some by taking their name from a Chess Records song and immortalizing its address in their instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue." But this generation of artists built upon the musical foundation laid by musicians up from the Mississippi Delta who found the opportunity to record through brothers Leonard and Phil Chess. The raw and natural sound they produced turned the music industry on its ear and established Chicago as the "Blues Capitol of the World." The Blues influenced other musical forms as noted by singer-guitarist Muddy Waters when he said, "The Blues had a baby and they called it Rock ‘n’ Roll." Chief among the Blues greats who worked here was Willie Dixon, prolific songwriter, producer and bassist. In his later years, he founded the Blues Heaven Foundation to protect Blues artists of the past and inspire future generations with the straightforward power of the Blues tradition. His widow, Marie Dixon, and other Foundation donors, restored this modest building and opened it to the public in 1997, but further restoration of the recording facilities is still needed to fully re-capture the heart and look of its 1950’s and 60’s heyday. The conservation needs of original sheet music, master recordings, instruments and memorabilia held here offer a glimpse of the widespread threat to the survival of irreplaceable music collections all around the country.

Sounding a lot worse than I feel. I am still coughing a fair amount and my voice is not yet ready for grand opera, but this is coming along. I should be a lot better next week. Originally they wanted me to work tomorrow but my wife told them I just didn't have the stamina yet. So, I also lost Monday! Oh, well, I guess it's for the best. I took my last antibiotic today, so no germ had better DARE come near! I really don't have anything else scheduled, except cooking for Ginny and the gang tomorrow night and Sunday night, and playing on Sunday in church, especially since I missed last Sunday. Anyhow, I'm hanging in, and playing along with my " Best of Lee Rocker" CD. The man is really amazing..

Not to turn this into "Anatomy of an Illness," but it's kind of what I do, right now: heal. So,

I am better, although definitely not my best. I decided to try the old Norman Cousins bit and laugh myself into health. I had joined this DVD rental club, and I have to say, so far I like it. The first DVD I played yesterday was " Shreck 2." It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Even after the movie is over, it keeps going and going and going with more clever stuff. I was enthralled. If you have not seen it, and I realize that I am probably writing to, oh, one or two people who have been under a rock for sometime, get it!

I had really no idea how sick I could get. I darn near found out. I spent 3 1/2 hours in the emergency room Saturday afternoon. I have viral bronchitis with bacterial pneumonia. I was miserable. It has been a long time, almost a year, since I was that sick. I didn't even feel like eating at all until yesterday (Sunday) around noon, and then it wasn't much. Thank heavens I had had the foresight awhile ago to get the store brand of an Ensure-type product. That was my nourishment for most of Saturday and part of yesterday. So I am on an antibiotic and an Albuterol inhaler, which looks like something out of a space museum. ( I had called it something else earlier, but I was wrong. Heck, I don't know. I should just have called it " Al.") I am still coughing a great deal, but that is a good thing, I am told. Doesn't do much for sleep, however. I am sort of on the mend, but am not ready to go dancing yet. I am still very weak, but I guess I will get over this.   

In the words of that great philosopher, Me, " Hoo,boy, have I been sick!!" December, January, and February have always been difficult times for me. During those months, over the years, I have sprained an ankle, broken my shoulder, caught the flu after a flu shot, and became very ill last February, going from a GI thing to a full-fledged upper respiratory gunk festival. Well this year, I once again went from a tummy problem to a major coughing celebration. I have this condition called post-nasal drip which is  impervious to any kind of over-the-counter remedy, be it cough medicine, nasal spray, cold pill, whatever. It all started Tuesday with a really sore gut; I mean, sore to the touch! It then progressed to a cold-type condition, which got worse as the week progressed, culminating in an all-night dry hacking session Wednesday night, from which there was no relief.  No sleep, either. I went to see the doctor yesterday, who discovered I had a 101.9 degrees temperature. That's funny; I had the chills real bad, yet I had a fever that gave me the same body temperature as my cats. So he prescribed some industrial-strength cough medicine which came with three pages of warnings, basically saying, this will knock your socks off. Uh-huh, sure. Can you say " ineffective," boys and girls?  My ribs are so sore from coughing,  I screw myself in all sorts of positions to make it hurt less when I cough or sneeze. I look like I'm having a seizure. I must admit that I do feel a little bit better; some of my stamina is back, so I am scheduled to work today from 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m., and I'm going to go in and do it. After all, I am the relief driver, and what kind of relief do you get if the relief driver isn't there? Hey, I just got a call! They want me to work from whenever I can to 4 today. Thank you, Lord. This is better! 

I am in the middle of an illness! Rats! My gut really hurt yesterday, to the point where I felt I had been injured. I mean, when your tummy aches, usually it doesn't cause increased pain to press on it! This did! Ouchy! And I have been practicing my cough, and am getting really good at it! Howsome-ever, I had things to do. I didn't post my Wednesday/Thursday/Friday experience with the lawn tractor/snow-blower battery, but suffice it to say, when you buy a new battery, it doesn't necessarily mean you have bought a GOOD battery. With a mechanical aptitude of zero, I got pretty good at removing and installing a battery! Necessity, you know.

So now, I have a flat tire on the snow-blower, and the tire actually came halfway off the rim. Not a good thing. So, I took my jack and jacked the lawn tractor up and proceeded to try to take off the wheel! Yeah, right! The instruction book says, " Remove the axle cap." It doesn't say how. When I called the Sears line, the guy, who had been honing his attitude of superiority for several hours before I called, let me know that all I had to do was pull and it would come right off. Well, no! Then he told me that it was obviously because I had not removed the axle cap since I bought the lawn tractor in 1998. Silly me! Of course I should have done that, even though I would have had absolutely no reason to do that until now!

SO, I went out and  bought a bunch of stuff at Home Depot, including a large pair of pliers, hoping to be able to grip the cap and pry it off. I got it to wiggle, but that was it. I also scored the cap quite badly in the process. Remember, this was all happening while I was feeling bad! And there I was, lying on the cold, cold ground!

It got dark, as it is wont to do every night without fail. SO, back to Home Depot I went to get a halogen worklight, which, once I assembled it, cast a bright light on the site of my failings. I finally gave up and put out a call for help to the folks across the road, who have saved my hide on any number of occasions. Sure enough, one of the sons came over on his ATV and joined me on the ground, using one of his gripping pliers. I would like to report that he pulled the cap right off. The truth is, he had a real struggle, too. But he did it!! ( Of course, I had softened it up for him!) Thank you, Adam! Of course there was grease all over the place, which apparently I have to re-grease when I put the wheel back on. He explained to me, in words of one syllable, how to reassemble the wheel mechanism, and I think I can do it. So now I will take the wheel over to my tire place, who are great people, to see if I need a new tire or what! I just hope the snow holds off until I get the snowblower back in action!

I guess I should be getting used to the fact that mechanical projects that take most folks 15 minutes take me 6-8 hours. It has happened many times. When I hear people start out with " All you have to do...",  it makes me wish it were proper and Christian-like to throw something heavy at them.On those rare occasions when I have been able to get help, they discover that it is not the piece of cake that they thought it was going to be. I wish I had a nickle for every time somebody said, " Gee, I never saw anything like this before." Yeah, I know.

I have started working out on the electric bass again! When I really started playing music again back in 1998, I was playing bass in the praise band. Then, when another bass player came into the congregation and joined the praise band, I kind of let the bass slip and started concentrating on guitar. And, of course, my instrument with the Starfires is the guitar. Roger does very nicely, thank you very much. But I have these nice basses which have just been sitting there! Well, I have decided to do something about that, even if it's only in the privary of my computer room! There is this cool website, http://users.cis.net/sammy/lyric.htm, which has a whole bunch of tunes on there which I can play along with. I have to admit, that there are some songs on there with which I am not familiar, but a lot of them I know. Sammy has done a great job with "Bohemian Rhapsody," which has always been one of my favorite songs, and there are others which really get my nostalgia button pushed: ABBA, Stealers Wheel, etc, even some disco!!. So, anyway, it's fun!  Of course, I can always download some songs through iTunes. What's the old Martin Mull song, something about getting licks off of records? Yeah, that's me. I guess one problem I have with the younger folks who can do all these blazing riffs on their guitar or basses, is that they can't sit down with a bunch of guys/gals and play a  whole song! Wha hoppen to the jam session? You know, if you listen to a lot of blues, you discover that many of the songs are done over a three-chord progression. I recently bought the DVD of the "Crossroads Concert" that Eric Clapton did last summer in Texas with a lot of other renowned guitarists. Great stuff, but a lot of it relies on three-chord progressions. Nothing wrong with that! It's just interesting!

I read somewhere in one of the bass magazines that one bass player recommends that bassists play some guitar, too. There is a lot of wisdom in that. Having the background in guitar really helped me in learning the bass, and prevents me from doing just the I-V pattern, although that is a good pattern to know and use. But I "walk" quite a bit, just doing guitar riffs on the bass. It gives me a different groove.

( Who's this guy Kilo Ali, anyway?