SteveFord

I know, not music related but unwelcome news. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/raquel-welch-one-million-years-200425372.html

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/electric-guitar-parts/electric-guitar-bridges-and-tailpieces/tune-o-matic-bridges/schaller-roller-bridge/

A lot of hot air for "don't know yet".

I like Red Wing boots and ordered something or other from them. Two weeks later I start getting complimentary copies of GQ. You have to write to Red Wing and they have a special department where you request that they remove you from the list where they sell your personal information. WTH? --------------------------- Thank you for contacting Red Wing Shoe Company. We received your request about the data we have stored about you. We are checking our systems for your data, using the information you supplied, and will respond to your request within 45 days. Thank you, Red Wing Shoe Company

I'd keep it. An employee at the store may have taken 5 minutes to adjust the pick ups and screw on the tip, pull the plastic and give it play.

They date code the lighters on the bottom, this one is only 2 years old. I don't mean to be but I'm pretty hard on lighters. The good thing about Zippo is when they're totally screwed up they'll fix it for free - the hinges get floppy after a bit.

The passage of time and the things we hold on to. I've had this Buck Ranger pocket knife for almost 47 years now. Just holding it brings back a lot of memories. This thing has traveled quite a bit!

True, Sgt. Pepper is no more. While he hasn't said so, it would not surprise me in the least if he's saving up to get this one: https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Electric-Guitar/MOD-RAM019946/Sparkle-Orange and then convert it to a floating ebony bridge. It's the meticulous attention to detail that sucked him in. The true connoisseur will appreciate the finely applied overspray, the lack of paint depth consistency and the exquisitely chiseled binding to complement the trend setting mismatched knob. Sgt. Pepper will be a lucky man!

The little model Firebird has banjo tuners, too. Unlike the real one which is NLA anywhere.

I think I'm going to get at two of these, maybe a Flying V and a 335. https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Collection/perfect-pair

White Boxer. Boy, did that dog ever shed, it was continuous. You can not imagine how that dog could jump - I was at the base of a really tall hill and she was running full speed and launched herself from the top of it, it was just amazing to see her flying through the air. Great dog but their lifespans are just too short compared to us. A well dressed tortoise will outlast two of us.

Here's poor old Molly dog, she was a good one: And today a small boa which has been missing for two weeks turned up which was just great! I was so afraid that Water Python ate him or he escaped or something but nope.

We lost our Boxer to cancer, it was a terrible thing to watch. My wife's dog and she waited way too long to have her euthanized. On a brighter note, that Water Python had never seen a fedora before - gotta check your head out, what the hell?

That envious stare would have turned into a murderous gleam in very short order.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/04/weather/winter-storm-northeast-new-england-saturday/index.html

That's iridescence from the way the scales are on that one. Yeah, cool bellies, they're tangerine. That snake doesn't really enjoy being held unless it's inside of your shirt or sweater or whatever and then it can poke it's head out. Like I said, they're timid animals and this way the entire body is in contact with something (no predators can get them) but they can still see what's going on. Anything too scary pop the head back in! Water Pythons are medium size, maybe 6-9 feet total length. I've found them to be really gentle, a young Steve Irwin had one on a TV show and it decided to bite his neck in the middle of an interview. Everything seemed to bite that guy, I think he was too hyperactive for them to feel comfortable. I haven't been bit in years, I'd like to keep it that way. You can see the elliptical cat eyes, they're geared for movement. Put them near a plastic lawn chair and they'll spend forever exploring it, trying to figure out what the hell it is. While I'm blathering away, snakes used to be long lizards and they evolved away the limbs and eyelids. The boas and pythons (boidae) are the oldest living family of snakes and on either side of the anal plate are little spurs which are all that remains of the rear legs. The males have larger spurs and they pop them sideways and use them to tickle the female to get her to raise her tail up for some room temperature sex, hubba hubba. They also have two penises (hemipeni) but only use one at a time so no threesomes. They stay locked up for days and yes, female snakes have a ****oris. The eyelids were replaced with clear scales to keep dirt out. They evolved the way they did to go underground and clear out rodents in their burrows. Cats won't take on a big rat, big snakes will eat them like M&Ms. The males combat in a wrestling match prior to mating and the winner pins the other snake's head to the ground. I've had pythons try to combat with me (I always go Eeeek! and run away so they don't get wimped out) so I think they view me as either a warm tree to play with, the big pink thing with the food or a hideously disfigured rival depending on what's going on. If you work with any of the tortoises, lizards or big snakes you can call them to you - they learn their names fast enough. They are much smarter animals than people give them credit for. Big snakes, for instance, figure out how to work a doorknob pretty quickly and then it's Party Time, let's go trash something!

That's pretty much snake behavior. They bomb around at night, find their spot and sleep during the day. The nature shows feature terrified animals surrounded by strangers, lights, cameras and lots of other threatening objects. They're short and we're like the Empire State Building to them; they're basically timid animals because everything larger than them is out to eat them because they're so tasty. There's exceptions, of course - you've got little weiner dogs and you've got the pit bull that flipped out and killed grandmaw. Same with reptiles. Just remember that snakes have eyesight like Mr. Magoo, what eyesight they do have is geared towards movement, they have the best sense of smell on the planet and boas and pythons have heat sensors on the front of their faces. Be calm, deliberate and wash your hands and face and pay attention to their body language. You can't make any mistakes with really big ones. Always have two exits just in case. Here's that Water Python, this one is really docile:

That would be a hungry monitor lizard. Snakes are laid back animals (except for dinner time, then they mean business). What you see on the nature shows isn't what they're like, they mostly just hang out.

It already moved out. The birds are chirping away, they can't believe they didn't freeze solid.

Kind of like packing a rain suit for a motorcycle trip. That's the best way to ensure clear skies.

It was Big E, the snake, who had the babies. The most she's ever had is 50 and I sell them to a wholesaler and let him deal with the public. For animals her size, it's frozen monster guinea pigs or rabbits. I thaw them out in a bucket and then use a cement rake as a 6' tong so I can't get grabbed by accident. She's a gentle animal but accidents can happen and she's incredibly strong. I'd rather go out like Nelson Rockefeller than be constricted by a big snake.

Post Retirement, I wouldn't mind getting a piddly job. I wonder how much it pays to beat up new acoustic guitars for a living? https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Careers/9200529157029_1/Guitar-Aging-Specialist-Acoustic

-108 Wind Chill in New Hampshire yesterday. Bit nip, pass the bottle...

The top tortoise is Tromper, a male Leopard Tortoise I've had since 1993. He's my buddy. The second picture shows a big female Boa Constrictor named Big E. and Max, a young female Red Foot Tortoise, is happily shoving her way underneath the snake. I've had Max since around 2007, the boa since probably 2009. The boa is full of babies in that picture which was taken 2 or 3 years back. The lizard is Tail Whip, a male Dumeril's Monitor, who is pretty much king of the roost. I got him around 2010 and that photo is probably a few years old. He had a harem but he killed them all so no nookie for him. Right now there's a couple more: a yearling boa from Big E., a 3 year old from Big E., a male Dumeril's Boa who lives in the kitchen (he will kill other snakes), a large, beautiful red tail boa, a Water Python and a male Red Foot Tortoise. That's enough to keep me busy but not overwhelmed with animal care. Here's a shot of the Dumeril's Boa supervising me at work last Summer. I'm working away and I look to my left and he's got his head on my shoulder, making sure I'm doing things right and am not making any mistakes: That's the snake that the cops found, sleeping under a neighbor's car, a few years back...