A somewhat random thought while at work

Thought of this today, while at work:

I've known Old Roommate for over 30 years.  Yow.  (I am old.)

Which means that I've know him for longer than I've not known him.

Furthermore:  in a few years, I'll have known him for two-thirds of my life.

That's pretty cool.  :)   (He's a good guy.)


--GG

Good book so far

Old Roommate and Belinda Harmless were kind enough to mail me a book as a gift.

I started reading it on the train today, on the way to work.  And on the way home.  Enjoying it.   :)  Well-chosen, folks.  :) 

The book is All Our Wrong Todays, by Elan Mastai.  It's about a guy from a parallel "year 2016" from ours, that actually achieved all of those Jetsons-like innovations (food pills, jet packs, flying cars...).  Apparently he makes it over to "our" 2016:  I'm not sure how, yet, as I'm only up to page 54.


I know a book is good when it has lots of delightful turns of phrases.  This one does.

I like this one (p. 54):  "It was both the greatest kiss of my life and also made me feel like until that moment I'd been kissing all wrong." 

Nice.  :)


--GG

Someday a road trip

Sometimes I get funny ideas in my head.  Like:  I rather dis-like travelling -- but a few years ago I had the notion that it would be neat to live in Norway for a year.  But then I realized that I envisioned myself hiding out and doing woodworking and recording songs -- and I could do that more easily here at home (and not have to ship my tools and musical instruments overseas).

A variation of that occurred a few weeks ago, when I accidentally stumbled across the town of "Bell", in regional Queensland.  It's a few hours west of here, and pretty small:  hypothetically I could spend a few months there, recording and doing woodworking:  and driving there with a pickup truck or van full of tools and instruments would be far more feasible.


My latest thing is this:  I was reading an article in a guitar magazine this morning about ten great guitar shops in the U.S.; one of them was in Chicago; and I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a used guitar from Chicago?"

And the thought developed:  I've never really been on a "road trip".  Family trips as a child don't count.

I drove from Tacoma to Portland, Oregon once, for business (about a three hour drive); and from Seattle to Pullman, WA once (about four hours).  And that's it.


So:  one of these days, fly into Oregon; meet up with Old Roommate; and do a road trip to Chicago.  Stop by a few guitar shops along the way (and whatever is of interest to him); drive, reminisce, stop at some truck stops and diners.

And when we get to Chicago, phone the store to ask how to get there without getting stuck in any of the dodgy neighborhoods.

Aim for getting a guitar.  But if a Fender Rhodes, a compelling tube amp, or some funky old synth, calls to me...

Bonus points if I buy a used guitar from a Chicago pawn shop!!!

Then drive down to Nashville (only eight hours away!  Had not realized it was that close!), book a few hours in a low-end recording studio, and record a demo -- just to say that I've recorded in Nashville.

And then drive back.


Not now.  Maybe in a decade or so -- when I'm about 55 or 58.

Not in the summer -- too stinkin' hot -- nor in the winter -- getting stuck in the snow. Either the fall or the early spring.  Maybe fall, so I can have Thanksgiving with my family before heading back to Australia.


The "fun" part will be trying to ship that stuff back.  Probably by ocean freight, not by air freight.  Depending on the volume.


--GG

Addendum: (3:55pm) -- Bring a guitar or other musical instrument (but one that I don't care about!) to sell at a pawn shop in Chicago.  That way I can also say that I pawned a guitar in Chicago.

Still using the knife

A while ago I posted a blog entry of the pocketknife that Old Roommate gave me during my last trip (June of this year) to the U.S.

Yep -- I'm still using it, every day at work.

As pictured.


--GG

A gift knife

Back in April or May of this year, I had a dream that I was at work (but not my "real life" work) in the break room, cutting up an apple with a blue-handled pocket knife.

When I woke up I decided that I should pick up a Cub Scout pocket knife from eBay.  I asked Old Roommate to bid on it on my behalf, since the shipping costs would be cheaper to send it to him than to me in Australia.

When I visited him in June, I retrieved the knife, and I asked him what I owed him.  He said it was a gift -- which was very nice of him.


As I've mentioned before, I collect pocket knives and small-to-medium-sized multitools.  And I "rotate through" each of them for three months each, just so when my kids finally inherit my things, they'll know that the pocket knives were all "user" tools that I actually used -- rather than simply things that I collected and threw in a shoebox.

So, here's a photo from a few days ago, with the Cub Scout knife entering into its rotation:

(That's my "pocket knife" pouch, on my work pants.  To the left is my -- yeah -- harmonica pouch.)


Most days at work I eat 1-3 apples; sometimes, a pear.  And although I usually eat frozen veggies, sometimes I'll cut up a zucchini or broccoli or some-such, and microwave that.  For all of these, I use my pocket knife -- although there are actual "kitchen knives" at work.

So:  hat tip to Old Roomate.  Thanks for the knife!  :)


--GG

Dreamed about a play

Dreamed that Old Roommate was directing a short play, and I was assistant director, as well as acting in a medium-sized part.

It was the day before the dress rehearsal -- and for some reason I had failed to arrange an understudy for the main role in the scene that I was in charge of. Old Roommate chastised me for that.

AND, even though it was the day before the dress rehearsal, I hadn't even **looked** at any of my lines. In fact, I didn't even remember what role I was!


This is probably a variation on the traditional ''I'm at school and there's a test I forgot to study for'' dreams.


--GG