WTH did you do today?

[tx-ogre]

22 hours ago, Retired said:

Aren't you close to the Canadian Boarder Jim? I've been in Minessota in the cold of winter before.  They have plug in's all over there for the cars. I went there with a brand new van to a dog show and had a dead battery next morning. The van had no plug to plug in Lol.  Yes, I will always remember that year.  But I figure, people who like living in such conditions must love it or they would move? Haha. 

I grew up in MN and remember some brutal winters.  After 3 years on active duty in the Marine Corps and being stationed at duty stations with warm winter climates, I moved back to MN after I was discharged to attend college.  After three more MN winters, I questioned my sanity and moved back to NC in 1984, before ending up in south Texas and subsequently additional locations along I-10 over the years.
 

Back in my MN days, a lot of people had “tank heaters”  which were spliced into a radiator hose.  The heater was plugged in at night and kept the cooling system from freezing up and also made the heater and defroster work more quickly when the engine was started.  That, and the obligatory piece of cardboard between the grill and radiator.  There was also an additive that you poured in your gas tank that helped keep the gasoline from freezing in the fuel lines.  Forget to use it at your own peril.  Not sure if modern day vehicles make those precautions necessary, but I’m glad I don’t have to research the subject.

As you might expect, I don’t miss those days.  LOL

[mihcmac]

Well it looks like I survived another new year, looking forward to band practice today. 

[Notes_Norton]

Started by playing "Auld Lang Syne" for a bunch of party people at the stroke of 12 - the best way to start a year.

 

Notes ♫

[Mr. Gibson]

On 12/30/2021 at 8:02 PM, Retired said:

Aren't you close to the Canadian Boarder Jim? I've been in Minessota in the cold of winter before.  They have plug in's all over there for the cars. I went there with a brand new van to a dog show and had a dead battery next morning. The van had no plug to plug in Lol.  Yes, I will always remember that year.  But I figure, people who like living in such conditions must love it or they would move? Haha. 

Smack in the middle of North Dakota! Maybe a 150 miles up there. Had give my friend a ride to work as that piece of crap Dodge Ram he has won’t start in -25 F. Ford to the rescue again. 

[Mr. Gibson]

21 hours ago, tx-ogre said:

I grew up in MN and remember some brutal winters.  After 3 years on active duty in the Marine Corps and being stationed at duty stations with warm winter climates, I moved back to MN after I was discharged to attend college.  After three more MN winters, I questioned my sanity and moved back to NC in 1984, before ending up in south Texas and subsequently additional locations along I-10 over the years.
 

Back in my MN days, a lot of people had “tank heaters”  which were spliced into a radiator hose.  The heater was plugged in at night and kept the cooling system from freezing up and also made the heater and defroster work more quickly when the engine was started.  That, and the obligatory piece of cardboard between the grill and radiator.  There was also an additive that you poured in your gas tank that helped keep the gasoline from freezing in the fuel lines.  Forget to use it at your own peril.  Not sure if modern day vehicles make those precautions necessary, but I’m glad I don’t have to research the subject.

As you might expect, I don’t miss those days.  LOL

Minnesota is cold,but we’re the coldest of the lower 48. The coldest I’ve experienced here is -55 F, not windchill either. Last winter it hit -59.7 up north of me. Keeps the riff raff outta here.

[Retired]

On 12/31/2021 at 6:41 PM, tx-ogre said:

I grew up in MN and remember some brutal winters.  After 3 years on active duty in the Marine Corps and being stationed at duty stations with warm winter climates, I moved back to MN after I was discharged to attend college.  After three more MN winters, I questioned my sanity and moved back to NC in 1984, before ending up in south Texas and subsequently additional locations along I-10 over the years.
 

Back in my MN days, a lot of people had “tank heaters”  which were spliced into a radiator hose.  The heater was plugged in at night and kept the cooling system from freezing up and also made the heater and defroster work more quickly when the engine was started.  That, and the obligatory piece of cardboard between the grill and radiator.  There was also an additive that you poured in your gas tank that helped keep the gasoline from freezing in the fuel lines.  Forget to use it at your own peril.  Not sure if modern day vehicles make those precautions necessary, but I’m glad I don’t have to research the subject.

As you might expect, I don’t miss those days.  LOL

I don't blame you. They don't even make or sell those type of vehicles here. I guess you have to live in such states to have them shipped there? I bought  brand new Subaru Ascent in November of 2020. It was parked in our garage every day. In January 2021, I went out to start it and it had a dead battery. 2 months old.  It went dead twice on me as I had a quick start in the garage. I took it back to Subaru and had them check it out and got a new battery free. No problem's since. 

[Retired]

5 hours ago, Mr. Gibson said:

Minnesota is cold,but we’re the coldest of the lower 48. The coldest I’ve experienced here is -55 F, not windchill either. Last winter it hit -59.7 up north of me. Keeps the riff raff outta here.

Wow, That is COLD. I've been to North Dakota as a kid but it was in Summer. Think it was only once. 

[tx-ogre]

6 hours ago, Mr. Gibson said:

Minnesota is cold,but we’re the coldest of the lower 48. The coldest I’ve experienced here is -55 F, not windchill either. Last winter it hit -59.7 up north of me. Keeps the riff raff outta here.

When I lived up in MN, I applied with and took the written exams for multiple gubamint agencies.  I did well on the tests and was first scheduled for an interview with a hiring board of one of the agencies at Ft. Snelling in the Twin Cities area.  I passed the interview and one of the members of the board took me back to be fingerprinted.  It turned out he was assigned to one of the duty stations in the Grand Forks Sector (which covered ND and MN stations) and was on temporary duty for the hiring boards.  He went in to tell me that he thought it was only fair to warn me that it would probably be at least ten years before I could put in for a transfer to the northern border.  (All new hires were sent to duty stations in TX, NM, AZ or CA.)  I gave him a strange look and told him that I applied for the job because I was GUARANTEED to be sent to a warm year-round climate and had no desire whatsoever to go back to the northern border.  Then it was his turn to give me a strange look.

Edited January 2, 2022 by tx-ogre

[MissouriPicker]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:58 AM, fortyearspickn said:

Some one might have sprayed you with Lysol. Or bleach.  Or Pesticide.   Each thinking they were following the science !    Fluids and rest.   No migraine I hope...

Yeah….lol….that’s true.  A 2-3 masker would have sprayed me or maybe run screaming from the building. …..,  Anyway, I was fine the next day.   I think I got it from our son on Christmas Eve.  Didn’t have a headache, although my wife said I gave her one.

[Retired]

8 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Started by playing "Auld Lang Syne" for a bunch of party people at the stroke of 12 - the best way to start a year.

 

Notes ♫

Glad your playing on stage again Notes.  I love that song too. 

[Notes_Norton]

10 hours ago, Retired said:

Glad your playing on stage again Notes.  I love that song too. 

Thanks, it's like being fully alive again.

Fortunately, I live in Florida, where we can play outdoor gigs all year.

It'll be in the upper 70s or low 80s for the rest of the week.

We are starting a one-day-per-week afternoon gig on an outdoor, beachside restaurant.

Notes ♫

 

[Whitefang]

So far today I haven't done anything beyond having breakfast.  And probably won't either due to waking up with what I hope is only a bad cold.  Irony being that Monday I was going in somewhere for another Covid test, my second since July, 2020. 

And I'd love to say I feel like crap, 'cause as it is now, it would be an improvement.

Whitefang

[SteveFord]

Hope it's only a cold, my mom's got the same thing going on.  She's in Florida and says forget trying to get tested, the lines start at 3AM.

I was listening to Michael Osterholm last night and the thinking seems to be it's gone from IF you're going to get it to WHEN.  His advice was do what you can to put off catching COVID (no kidding).

I fixed a phono preamp by replacing an 12AU7 which failed the emissions test and ordered some fancy, schmancy Kimber 12TC speaker cables.  Going to get these stereos the way I want them by April if all goes well.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by SteveFord

[Retired]

9 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Thanks, it's like being fully alive again.

Fortunately, I live in Florida, where we can play outdoor gigs all year.

It'll be in the upper 70s or low 80s for the rest of the week.

We are starting a one-day-per-week afternoon gig on an outdoor, beachside restaurant.

Notes ♫

 

I have been to Florida several times in the past. Our son was stationed in Pensacola at one time. It is nice there, other than the humidity. Enjoy that weather because here, for next week the highs will be, 9  to 39 degrees and the lows, 0 to 19.  we also have snow. 

[Notes_Norton]

15 hours ago, Retired said:

I have been to Florida several times in the past. Our son was stationed in Pensacola at one time. It is nice there, other than the humidity. Enjoy that weather because here, for next week the highs will be, 9  to 39 degrees and the lows, 0 to 19.  we also have snow. 

Funny thing about the humidity.

I had a gig in Colorado that lasted a few weeks. I flew home on the red-eye, landed in West Palm Beach and when I deplaned I hit the Jetway, it had just rained, and that warm, human air, hit my nose and lungs, and I noticed myself smiling - this feels like home!!!

Pensacola is OK, it has some nice beaches. Down on the peninsula, we call that part of Florida, LA (Lower Alabama). 😄

I like the southeast coast the best, because when the weather gets hot, we get the trade winds blowing from the east to keep things from getting too hot.

The coldest I've ever been was in Ishpeming, Michigan. We gigged at a bar that was halfway between Northern Michigan University and K.I.Sawyer Air Force Base. It's where the single, young people came to party.

On a day off, the guitarist, a couple of girls we met, and myself were driving and my car quit. It was 35 below zero (Farenheit), a blizzard just passed, and the wind was gale force. We were about a mile from the nearest anything that was a bowling alley. We walked there, called a friend to get rescued, and had my car fixed the next day. It was a bad solder connection on the ignition switch.

Back in Florida, my attitude is "anything under 70F is too cold for man or beast"

Notes ♫

[Whitefang]

18 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

Funny thing about the humidity.

I had a gig in Colorado that lasted a few weeks. I flew home on the red-eye, landed in West Palm Beach and when I deplaned I hit the Jetway, it had just rained, and that warm, human air, hit my nose and lungs, and I noticed myself smiling - this feels like home!!!

Pensacola is OK, it has some nice beaches. Down on the peninsula, we call that part of Florida, LA (Lower Alabama). 😄

I like the southeast coast the best, because when the weather gets hot, we get the trade winds blowing from the east to keep things from getting too hot.

The coldest I've ever been was in Ishpeming, Michigan. We gigged at a bar that was halfway between Northern Michigan University and K.I.Sawyer Air Force Base. It's where the single, young people came to party.

On a day off, the guitarist, a couple of girls we met, and myself were driving and my car quit. It was 35 below zero (Farenheit), a blizzard just passed, and the wind was gale force. We were about a mile from the nearest anything that was a bowling alley. We walked there, called a friend to get rescued, and had my car fixed the next day. It was a bad solder connection on the ignition switch.

Back in Florida, my attitude is "anything under 70F is too cold for man or beast"

Notes ♫

Yeah, it can get mighty cold up in that part of MI.  But I gotta know-----

What made you sure it wasn't inhuman air?  

Whitefang

[Retired]

1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

Funny thing about the humidity.

I had a gig in Colorado that lasted a few weeks. I flew home on the red-eye, landed in West Palm Beach and when I deplaned I hit the Jetway, it had just rained, and that warm, human air, hit my nose and lungs, and I noticed myself smiling - this feels like home!!!

Pensacola is OK, it has some nice beaches. Down on the peninsula, we call that part of Florida, LA (Lower Alabama). 😄

I like the southeast coast the best, because when the weather gets hot, we get the trade winds blowing from the east to keep things from getting too hot.

The coldest I've ever been was in Ishpeming, Michigan. We gigged at a bar that was halfway between Northern Michigan University and K.I.Sawyer Air Force Base. It's where the single, young people came to party.

On a day off, the guitarist, a couple of girls we met, and myself were driving and my car quit. It was 35 below zero (Farenheit), a blizzard just passed, and the wind was gale force. We were about a mile from the nearest anything that was a bowling alley. We walked there, called a friend to get rescued, and had my car fixed the next day. It was a bad solder connection on the ignition switch.

Back in Florida, my attitude is "anything under 70F is too cold for man or beast"

Notes ♫

Interesting in different peoples thoughts on weather they prefer. I worked with a guy who said, "The Hotter It Is, The better I Like It."  For me, nothing higher than 80F. I hate the heat & humidity. We went to Hawaii on our honeymoon in November of 79  and that was perfect weather we thought. It hit over 100F and it felt  no higher than 75 to 80. 

[mihcmac]

My sister and her husband are snowed in, in Utah. They tried to get out of their house in my sisters Jeep a few days ago, slid down the street and had to get the Jeep recovered, so still stuck at home.

I'm still getting heavy rain about every other day and can see snow on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa when not covered with clouds.

Working on the Monterey version of Ball and Chain with my band, smoothing out some of the harsh lead intro to make it more pleasant for my singer.

Edited January 3, 2022 by mihcmac

[Retired]

The 3rd or 4th Snark tuner broke again.  Seems they last about 2 years and break.  I'm not buying another Snark. It's the 4 small pieces on each side of the ball that rotates that break.  Once the 2nd one breaks, It's history for the tuner. So I just bout a D" Addario Eclipse tuner to try out. So far I like it as it zeros on the correct pitch easy.  I'll see how long this one lasts.

[jdgm]

2 hours ago, Retired said:

The 3rd or 4th Snark tuner broke again.  Seems they last about 2 years and break.  I'm not buying another Snark. It's the 4 small pieces on each side of the ball that rotates that break.  Once the 2nd one breaks, It's history for the tuner. So I just bout a D" Addario Eclipse tuner to try out. So far I like it as it zeros on the correct pitch easy.  I'll see how long this one lasts.

Yeah that happened with mine...think it was hardly 1 year old.

I didn't get another one either.  I got a couple of these as they were dirt cheap;

https://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/magnetune/

Surprisingly enough they don't fall off the headstock (so far).

But last year I also got a Boss tuner pedal for my board and now I think I should have done that years ago.

Edited January 4, 2022 by jdgm

[Retired]

43 minutes ago, jdgm said:

Yeah that happened with mine...think it was hardly 1 year old.

I didn't get another one either.  I got a couple of these as they were dirt cheap;

https://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/magnetune/

Surprisingly enough they don't fall off the headstock (so far).

But last year I also got a Boss tuner pedal for my board and now I think I should have done that years ago.

I like that Korg Magnetune. Don't think I saw one in our store? I know Guitar Center carries more than Dietze Music does.  Yeah, the D" Addario Elipse I just bought works great for now but it was cheap. $13.99. When you get blue above and below the letter it is perfect. But it looks cheap. Thanks JD. 

[Notes_Norton]

On 1/3/2022 at 11:18 AM, Whitefang said:

Yeah, it can get mighty cold up in that part of MI.  But I gotta know-----

What made you sure it wasn't inhuman air?  

Whitefang

Nah. Humid is human. Didn't ya know?

---

My superhero name is Typoman - (writing all wrongs). I even have Type O blood 😄

---

I like humidity, and I like the temperature between 75 and 85 the best, 90 is OK, but hotter than that I get uncomfortable.

I don't use the Air Conditioner. I have shade trees and a bright white roof. It never gets over 85 in my house in the summer.

Under 70 and I'm uncomfortable, too. Under 70 and the heater goes on.

---

When on the road in a Rock band we played the same lounge in Ispeming MI in the winter and again in the summer.

Highs in August were in the low 70s and later in August there was frost overnight.

It was beautiful country back then, I hope it's still nice.

Notes ♫

 

 

[Whitefang]

Yeah, folks still make annual treks up that way for the colorful Autumn leaves viewing.  My last time up that way was back in the '70's to view the trees.  We stayed a night at a motel in nearby Marquette. 

Personally, I wouldn't complain if the temp was 72F year 'round.    Day AND night.

Whitefang

[Mr. Gibson]

22 hours ago, Retired said:

The 3rd or 4th Snark tuner broke again.  Seems they last about 2 years and break.  I'm not buying another Snark. It's the 4 small pieces on each side of the ball that rotates that break.  Once the 2nd one breaks, It's history for the tuner. So I just bout a D" Addario Eclipse tuner to try out. So far I like it as it zeros on the correct pitch easy.  I'll see how long this one lasts.

I’ve had the same problem, broke in the same place. The last one broke a few weeks ago so I used good electric tape on it and holding together so far. I think I’m on the 4th one.

[Retired]

10 hours ago, Whitefang said:

Yeah, folks still make annual treks up that way for the colorful Autumn leaves viewing.  My last time up that way was back in the '70's to view the trees.  We stayed a night at a motel in nearby Marquette. 

Personally, I wouldn't complain if the temp was 72F year 'round.    Day AND night.

Whitefang

Yes, now that would be perfect temperature! Even 60 to 75 would would  be fine with me.