E-Bay Day

The challenge over the past three post Superbowl days has been to wisely spend the 100 bucks or so that I was able to clear over the weekend.

It also rained Tuesday night and then again, like cats and dogs, on Wednesday night.

I slept in Stevens spot in the garage under Harrahs Hotel, and stayed perfectly dry, listening to the howl of the wind and hearing how heavy the rain sounded, while Howard, across the river, told me later that he had passed a fitful night under the cover of the ferry terminals structure.

"When the wind blew; the rain came in sideways and there was just no way to get out of it!"

I have brand new Fender strings on the guitar; and I have a 20 dollar pre-paid Visa type card which I got at Wal-Mart and had to pay a 23 dollars for.
I also had to spend 20 minutes on the phone, activating the card and giving them a ton of personal information, to include my Social Security number.

I only bought one pack of smokes

I found an almost full one on the ground last (Thursday) night, after walking a parade route, right after the parade had passed. 

I also found a barely used lighter; as I walked along finishing bottles of red wine for people who might have bought it thinking that it was a "Mardi Gras" thing to do, and then decided that they had not the taste for an Alexander Valley Cabernet.
I was on an all-day bus pass Wednesday (3 dollars, also) which allowed me to go out to the rail yard and retrieve the Samsung laptop, which was still there, wrapped in a winter jacket and a plastic table cloth.
The jacket was damp and moldy and I left it there.
We can have a cold snap at any time in the next 2 weeks; but after that, we will have "turned the corner" and will be headed for spring. Any cold after that will be very temporary.
Last years coldest night would fall upon next Tuesday, just 4 days from now.
More Pertinent Pictures On The Way

I will now attempt to use the pre-paid Visa card that I got at Wal-Mart to go on E-Bay and buy an adapter for the Samsung, and a USB charging cable for my Obama phone, so that I can once again use "live" and current pictures in this blog, taken by me personally in order to tell the story more accurately and saving about 1,000 words for each one that I stick up here.

I'm thinking of doing some kind of overhaul on the blog; messing with the template and coming up with an entirely new look; learning a little more XML and CSS in the process.

More Pertinent Music

To get the Samsung up and running, I have to hope that:

• A: The 20 dollar card from Wal-Mart which I paid 23 dollars for is actually active and that I can use it to buy stuff online
• B: I can actually go to E-Bay and buy something and have it shipped to the Rebuild Center, and not get ripped off.
• C: The Samsung will still boot up with a new adapter after having sat for a month wrapped in a jacket which became damp and moldy, making the Samsung a litle bit damp and moldy itself.
• D: I am successful in putting Ubuntu Linux onto it, including the Audacity audio editor.

I will have a portable studio and will hopefully be able to use the battery to make recordings in remote, secluded and quiet places where I will not have to fear being hit in the back of the head and robbed of the Samsung while I am trying to record onto it.
Hopefully, I can find a place where the acoustics contribute to, rather than hinder the sound quality. Somewhere away from traffic!
Musically
Musically speaking; I have grown an appreciation for the sound of the accordian and the clarinet.
Kalek The Clarinetist
One of those nights, there was a guy, whose name sounded something like "Kalek" playing clarinet along with a soundtrack pumped through a speaker, who as every bit as good as Doreen on the instrument; and the sound track that he was playing over featured excellent music; not your typical karaoke fare.
The guy was just killing it over a variety of music from jazz standards to Motown. I wanted to sit and listen instead of going to my spot to play, which I did for about a half hour.
It made me realize how versatile the clarinet is; and his tip box made me realize how lucrative the clarinet is.
I will have to ask Doreen who he is and maybe link to some of his music here. I'm sure Doreen knows such an accomplished clarinetist.
Heart And Soul

Little Dorien, Doreens Daughter

I would say that he is "better" than Doreen, except the difference seems to be that Doreen holds notes longer; whereas Kalek kind of plays riff after riff and never holds onto a particular note.

He especially didn't come close to holding one note for over a minute like Doreen is prone to do. That creates suspense and makes it seem like she is putting her "heart" into it. Kalek, on the other hand stayed away from the super high register and played precise riffs that all resolved nicely; I guess he puts his "soul" into it.

I'm off to E-Bay to hopefully get the stuff I need.

It will be up to Mardi Gras to supply the needed funds to continue our journey; but at least I won't be carrying around 2 laptops and needing to find electricity to plug into just to record music...

This Just In

I tried to order the Samsung power adapter on E-Bay and I am getting a message: "the bank has declined payment on this card"

Now I have to go and check the balance on the card and see if it was ever activated at all; after I gave them all the personal information, except where I went to kinder garden, that I could.