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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
OT - How are you doing?
OT - How are you doing?
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dchurch
347 posts
Apr 05, 2020
12:20 PM
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I just read an OT post from Tom Halchak. He was asking about chess players here. The thread got me thinking about the fellowship at MBH forum. Although I have only meet one member face to face there are many friends here.
It was great to read that Tom is doing well given the current circumstances. It would be real nice to hear how other members are doing. How has your routine changed? What is it like where you live? What kind of positive (or negative) things are you experiencing?
Naturally this topic risks stepping on the MBH rules of politics... so it may take an extra effort to avoid that issue.
Because I mentioned Tom's post, here it is:
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Thanks Gnarly. All is very well with me. In the past few years, I have managed to orchestrate my life in such a way that everything I want and need is very close at hand. My office is about 2 miles from my house, as is the grocery store, church, Home Depot and Lowe's and my son's high school. And, of course, like everyone else who does harp work, Blue Moon is headquartered in my garage. Aside from the harmonica, my other vice is golf and about a year ago I moved into a beautiful new home right on the country club that I have been a member of for 20 years. So, I don't even have to get in my car to go to the golf course. I just hop in my own cart and drive to my back yard.
The quarantine has affected everybody, but my business has remained open. We are required to by law. I have two of my college kids home so it is nice to spend some extended time with them. Who knows when I will have another opportunity to do that? I'm getting a lot of projects done around the house that I had been wondering if I would ever have the time to do. I'm spending a healthy amount of time in my shop building harps. I'm getting caught up on orders, which is a good thing. I hope that others are also finding our temporary reality to be an opportunity to reconnect with people they love, to be productive and make the most out of an inconvenient situation.
So, thank you for asking. I am doing well and I hope you are too - as well as anyone else who might read this.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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Thanks Tom,
Here's what I have going on:
My wife and I live a few miles from a small town on the Oregon coast. Our daughter is just weeks away from graduating as a Registered Nurse. Her college (University of Portland) closed and she moved home with us to continue her studies online. The collage is doing what they can to see that graduation happens on time.
We are making frequent calls to our second daughter and extended family members. Everyone is healthy and coping well. My wife grew up on Long Island, NY. She has several childhood friends in the NY area. One of our closest friends there is an RN. It's really tough knowing her situation in that area of the US.
We have been doing some extra home improvement projects including indoor painting and outdoor gardening. It's been really nice having our daughter home to help. She is also learning to play keyboard and getting some extra focus on the blues scale lately:)
I'm keeping busy in the shop. It's a short distance from our house (on the same property). I have a pretty good inventory of harmonica products built up. I also have a good supply or raw materials. So, I am volunteering to design and produce 3D products to help reduce the burden of commercial healthcare items. So far the focus has been on face shield parts. My small shop is not designed to produce high volume but there are thousands of capable makers in the world so the product numbers can really add up.
Although our town appears to be safe everyone here is essentially living like it is a hot zone. We've been grocery shopping during low use hours about every 10 to 14 days. The stores seem to be doing fine, but some things are constantly sold out or being rationed. People wait outside of the post office... to maintain social distancing. Some stores will deliver phone orders to your car. We have a local farm that delivers boxes of greenhouse vegetables weekly. The farmer sets up in our otherwise empty movie theater parking lot and carries the prepaid box to your car.
We've been watching/reading the pandemic news reports within emotional limits. A nice fallout of the tough news is a need or good reason to take more walks, runs and bike rides on our place and on the connected forest road system. All of the developed parks and recreation spots are closed.
Stay safe,
Dave
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Sarge
781 posts
Apr 05, 2020
1:44 PM
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Ok here. I live in a very lightly populated area of Kansas. My routine hasn't changed much at all. Most of the corona cases are in the bigger cities of Kansas.
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BronzeWailer
2129 posts
Apr 05, 2020
1:50 PM
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I work from home, currently my brother-in-law's house outside Sydney. We have my 85-yr-old mother-in-law, who usually lives on her own, but needs lots of assistance. Lying low and washing hands often. Walking dogs and riding bike for exercise.
Got a guitar for Christmas, so trying to learn that.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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jbone
3178 posts
Apr 05, 2020
1:55 PM
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Good to hear from you Dave. Sounds like you have a pretty good setup to stay away from mainstream high volume humanity, which at this point is a positive. To be able to contribute in some way to the solution is a huge plus, and good on ya.
For blues content I'm writing a song about this @#$^ing bug.
For Jawbone and Jolene, we're here in the Texas Hill Country for at least a month yet. Circumstances will dictate if we need to move on at the end of the month or stay put. Despite media hype I'm skeptical that we will see a big surge in virus cases in the area in the next week. There is about ONE case in this county.
Of course we're out of gig work, having had the several dates we'd worked hard to lock dissolve with the recommendations to not gather together. Instead I started a harp players' group on Facebook and that keeps me occupied. Any and all here who are curious, see my thread a couple inches down the main list here. Jolene and I are doing the Sockfoot Sessions as well, where we do a fresh video of a song we've covered in the past at some point, and we post them on Just Play It and ask for feedback on which version is more attractive. Sockfoot since we're spending a lot of time indoors here in the rolling castle.
I'm also trying to figure out streaming video with Youtube's help but it looks like it will need more than we can afford to do it well. Bandwidth is also an issue. So we may stick with single videos and just keep posting them.
Me personally, I've been working at this RV park keeping the common areas disinfected. Lots of bleach and gloves involved.
Aside from all that I've adopted the local hummingbird population! Using a commercial garden type feeder and also making tiny feeders with Coke bottle caps and fishing line. They are voracious little things, and beautiful to watch. I have a lot of pics and vids piling up.
We have an outdoor camp oven and I'm cooking outside at least once or twice a week.
Trips to the nearby small city are by necessity, propane refills and weekly grocery runs. Like you Dave, I'm seeing things work much differently than even a month ago. Due to food allergies we deal with I go in and read labels to make sure we have what we can use on the table. Mask in place. Streets are not totally empty but tourism is nonexistent and this is big wine country here. A lot of businesses will fail in coming months or years due to the crisis this virus has spawned I think.
Coming out the other side, the outlook for live music is diminished I'm afraid. Less small businesses that once paid musicians will mean less opportunities, so the market will be flooded with sellers, and buyers will be greatly rarified. Luckily Jo and I are very comfortable with busking so we may do ok once this passes.
We've ordered a pile of our 3 CD's and plan to get busy working up new material for #4 this summer. More plugging on line we hope will get some mail order business going.
The future is very uncertain for us personally. I have a job on the Great Lakes as of last week and am due to start there in early May. The question is if there will be enough tourism there to support my employer and hence give me work, or if something big will change in the next month. We may be staying in place in this area which will be a hardship. I'm thinking I may need to stop working in housekeeping at least for a while so rent would then be an expense and not something I can swap labor for.
Like a lot of people we are on something of a roller coaster, but we are counting our blessings. There are plenty of folks in worse shape and my heart goes out to them.
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nacoran
10247 posts
Apr 05, 2020
4:38 PM
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I've got OCD that focuses on germs to start with, which has been weird. My symptoms are getting worse but it's weird to watch everyone else doing it too. It's making it hard to calibrate my response.
I don't talk about it too much but my OCD is already a big part of my life. I usually have someone come in and doing some cleaning once a week... OCD is weird... some people compulsively clean things and others compulsively avoid cleaning because they don't want to touch anything dirty. I've cancelled my service for the last three weeks and am trying to decide if I'm going to do it again, but I get the help through my insurance and if I cancel there is a chance they will deem it non-essential. Things are pretty rough with my OCD already and trying to do exposure exercises right now may not be fruitful.
Physically, I had a cough in early February before the virus hit the area. It started when I swallowed something the wrong way and just sort of lingered for a bit... which led, when things got crazy, to me not being able to get an MRI because even although my cough clearly had nothing to do with covid cough was on their no MRI checklist. I've got a possible torn labrum in my shoulder. It's making all sorts of clicking noises and feels like it's popping out of joint. It's particularly uncomfortable when I try to sleep, but just sort of a dull ache the rest of the time unless I try to lift it above level. Thankfully it's my left arm, not my right.
But, despite all that I'm doing okay. My sleep schedule, which always skews kind of late is getting even crazier. I was up until 5 a.m. 3 nights this week, but I'm typically up until 3 a.m. fairly regularly anyway, so the only real downside for me is that my upstairs neighbor starts thumping around just as I'm trying to get to bed. (Also, it means the hours I'm up are not ideal for loud harmonica playing... I've been meaning to do some recording to pass the time).
I'm worried about my brother. He's a cashier at the local supermarket and is having to work through this. I'm talking to my family by Zoom. My dad and step-mom live out in San Diego but my step-sister lives out there too and is doing all their shopping so they don't have to go out. (My dad turned 80 in October). My mom is doing a pretty good job of self-isolating with my cousin. He had quintuple bypass in September and had to move up to N.Y. because he didn't have insurance and Florida didn't have enough emergency coverage for someone in his condition. Both he and my mother are diabetic. The articles I've read say that it's particularly important right now to keep blood sugar levels in check. They say that when they aren't that is what makes diabetics more vulnerable to this, so they are both trying to be really good.
We were talking about going to a local arboretum and having a picnic at a distance. My mom has a frozen pecan pie that she and my cousin shouldn't eat because of their blood sugar that has my name on it, but if my aid comes in I'll have had outside contact so maybe that won't work.
We have about 700 confirmed cases in our region, much better than down in NYC, but still not great, but I guess finally we aren't increasing in the number of new cases per day (although the total number of active cases is still going up.) I was going to order some delivery pizza to stock up and to support my favorite restaurant but they are closed. It's a family run place, with roots in Italy (including a couple first generationers). I think they probably saw the news coming out of Italy and decided they needed to be safe.
There was an article in the NYT about our mayor and his response to all this (calming emails) and everyone suddenly loves our governor.
I've got enough food to last a while, and enough TP. I wish I had some masks but I'm really not around people anyway. Kicking myself... for years I kept thinking I should get a bidet and never got around to it. I'm more worried about my family than me. I've got a couple more years before I lose that sense of invulnerability that we 'kids' have. (48 is still a kid, right?) I live in a suburb with some long stretches of sidewalk. Once it gets a bit warmer I'll get out for some walks. I may have to walk out into the road to give people coming the other way space a couple times but I do a 5 mile circuit in the summer.
Watched a couple online concerts... Scojo did a nice one the other night, and Ted B. linked to a nice piano concert. I got to that one a bit late but the 2-3 pieces I heard were really nice.
I was socially distancing before it was cool. :)
Stay safe everyone.
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Nate
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ted burke
844 posts
Apr 05, 2020
5:06 PM
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Writing, on line meetings via Zoom, some warehouse work and inventor management at the bookstore I work at, lots of harmonica practice, not drinking because with 32 years of sobriety the buzz just aint worth the bother.
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jbone
3180 posts
Apr 05, 2020
6:37 PM
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Ted, I am with you on that! Even as weird and scary as this latest boondoggle is I still do not feel the pull to go back. Even though there are like 40 wineries here!
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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Spderyak
334 posts
Apr 06, 2020
4:45 AM
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We are retired doing ok. I'm in the north east u.s.
We still practice music most every day and just starting to do some you tube stuff.
We treat everything we come into contact with as hazard waste..
We oscillate between making the best of it and rage.
We definitely feel trapped in this country.
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The Iceman
4065 posts
Apr 06, 2020
4:58 AM
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SE Coastal Georgia, small town called Brunswick. Very few cases in our area.
For Vicki and I, it's almost life as usual.
My food production facility is considered essential, so remains open. Walk ins have slowed considerably, but wholesale orders still go out weekly to area stores.
Vicki runs a cafe inside a very large Toyota Dealership building, is considered a cafeteria serving employees, so remains open as well. Perhaps one of the last venues in the country in which one can come in, sit at counter or table and order restaurant style.
Stores are well stocked with fresh. Some canned items and paper goods sell out, but re-appear after a few days. Very few masks on faces.
Online orders of my Tomato Bisque Soup are up - total comfort food for those sheltering at home.
www.oliveaffairs.com - in case YOU want to make a grilled cheese sandwich and desire something better than Campbells to enjoy.
Very surreal.
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The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Apr 06, 2020 5:00 AM
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bigd
667 posts
Apr 06, 2020
8:05 AM
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I (did) earn most of my income from blowing my swamp trumpet. But I'm also an R.N. living in NYC......So as you might guess: I'm pretty busy! d
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dchurch
348 posts
Apr 06, 2020
8:24 AM
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Hey Iceman, Thanks for keeping the food chain intact. I ordered up some pasta. I've spent a good deal of time in your neighborhood as a student and instructor at the FLETC.
Bigd, no words other than Gulp! thank you and stay safe brother.
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Last Edited by dchurch on Apr 06, 2020 8:26 AM
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Rontana
543 posts
Apr 06, 2020
8:37 AM
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The line I'm currently telling people - paraphrasing a catch-phrase from the old movie "Airplane" - is this:
"I picked a really bad week to get cancer."
Got diagnosed with prostate cancer in early March. That said, on the scale of bad news this is at the good end of the spectrum. It appears so far they caught it pretty early, but it's of the type (one biopsy sample pretty high grade) that does require treatment fairly soon.
What's been weird is going to the hospital for biopsy, a bone scan (thankfully it came back clear just last week) and meeting with surgeon. Lots of hand washing, alcohol wipes, and skittering away from anyone who coughs. Still have to have an MRI, and then surgery.
Because of CV19, we're holding off on that till June (surgeon says that won't increase danger to any substantial degree, and will probably reduce it . . . if the virus risk goes down a bit).
But . . . my surgeon is an expert in robotic methods (over 1000 procedures). And, the hospital in KC is one of the best in the country for this. Luckily, they're on my insurance.
No symptoms (they caught this on a routine PSA test) still doing all my regular nonsense (wood carving, harp, guitar, dogs, weight lifting, etc). Even had had a couple of commissions for carvings recently.
I except a good outcome . . . and I'm trying to view this in terms of "wow . . . the universe has a really strange sense of humor." Just something that needs to be dealt with.
Things could be a LOT worse, and they are, for many people. I've very good friends in NJ and NY. The stuff they're surrounded with is pretty damned terrifying.
2020 is going to be a memorable year; I'm working on a guitar/harp original . . . "got the corona virus prostate cancer blues" has a ring to it.
Stay safe . . . everybody.
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Last Edited by Rontana on Apr 06, 2020 8:38 AM
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Grey Owl
1030 posts
Apr 06, 2020
9:15 AM
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Most folk are staying put in the UK and in the area where I live there has mercifully been only one death due to Covid 19.
I'm retired so I have got accustomed to doing nothing! But it still feels weird to be doing nothing indoors all day. Truth be told there are jobs in the house and garden to do as well as playing harp and guitar and attempting some flute as well. I have been managing to get out early on my bike for some exercise which has been good.
My elderly Mum passed on the 17th March, St Patrick's Day coincidentally the day of her Wedding Anniversary. Plans for a Requiem Mass have had to be shelved and now it is to be a simple graveside burial service tomorrow, restricted just to immediate family. It could be a lot worse because in parts of Italy There are no services for family at all such is the need to bury folk quickly.
Wishing everyone well. Rontana hoping all goes well with your procedures.
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The Iceman
4066 posts
Apr 06, 2020
10:05 AM
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dchurch - your order went out today USPS. Facility is located across the street from Main FLETC entrance in the Sally Cop Shop Plaza!
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The Iceman
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harpoon_man
275 posts
Apr 06, 2020
11:25 AM
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Today starts my third full week working from home, and it's pretty much business as usual for my utility power development day job. I traveled through about a dozen international airports from literally NY to CA during the first couple of months of the year before everything shut down.
I might have had the virus in mid-February, and I felt awful for 24 hours of it but then recovered pretty quickly, except for the lingering cough that stayed for 5 weeks or more. My 92-year-old grandmother just tested positive; however, her case is mild and she does not seem to be in any danger.
The kids are doing high school and middle school from home, and that's going fine. So I personally don't have anything to complain about, still getting a paycheck and all. I feel for those who aren't able to work right now to pay the bills!
Last Edited by harpoon_man on Apr 06, 2020 12:23 PM
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nacoran
10248 posts
Apr 06, 2020
12:57 PM
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Rontana, glad they caught it early. I almost made the airplane joke for my shoulder. It puts things in perspective a bit for me.
Iceman, I love grilled cheese sandwiches but I haven't been able to do tomato soup since I was a kid. I was in maybe 1st or 2nd grade. My dad was sick with a really nasty flu. We were living in Pennsylvania at the time, sitting in the family room watching TV on our TV trays (tuned in to Happy Day waiting for World War III?) My dad had a fever and suddenly went into convulsions. Being a little kid I associated that in my head with the tomato soup, not his fever and flu and refused to eat it anymore. That forced the family to switch to cream of mushroom for our grilled cheese sandwiches. It's weird whenever I hear of someone eating grilled cheese with tomato soup to my ear, but then I remember we're the weird ones.
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Nate
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Gnarly
2767 posts
Apr 06, 2020
1:27 PM
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"Pennsylvania at the time, sitting in the family room watching TV on our TV trays (tuned in to Happy Day waiting for World War III?)"
Nate, is this a reference to Lawyers in Love by Jackson Browne?
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nacoran
10249 posts
Apr 06, 2020
2:03 PM
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Gnarly, yeap... it seemed appropriate once I mentioned the TV trays... and actually we did watch a lot of Happy Days back in the days. It really nailed down the feeling of the time... except the convulsions. (My dad was okay. When I was out in San Diego it was for his 80th birthday.)
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Nate
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Gnarly
2768 posts
Apr 06, 2020
2:26 PM
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@nacoran Yep, I missed you that time.
Thanks for your good humor in this most anxious time.
Particularly for harmonica players!
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John M G
354 posts
Apr 06, 2020
7:50 PM
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Trish and I are lucky to be living in regional/country Australia in Bowral, about an hour and a half southwest of Sydney.
We moved from Sydney 5 ½ years ago and are both so glad we didn’t haven’t to go through this pandemic in metropolitan Sydney.
I’ve been retired a long time now and have settled into the routine enough to get lost in what day of the week it is!
I’m building microphones, sorting my equipment, making new cables and patch leads. I’m going to build a speaker extension cab for the Matrix VB 800 amp. I bought a pair of Celestion NTR08 2009D 200 watt 8ohm speakers for next to nothing on our equivalent of Craigs list. I’ve been sorting problem harps and doing a bit more embossing and gapping. I have 4 BSA 650’s and 2 BSA Bantams to restore. It’s not like I’m going to get bored anytime soon
I’m exchanging sound files with some of the guys I’ve been playing with and making a concerted effort to make contact more of my friends by video calls and old fashioned telephone calls.
My wife and I added a new puppy to our family December 13th last year. Raffy is a boy Poodle, Cavalier Spaniel, Spaniel cross who is just starting to settle down. About 8 kgs (18 lbs) of sheer joy and delight.
We already had all the toilet rolls we needed so life is pretty much unchanged with the exception of not getting out to play music with my friends.
Stay safe and well everyone and just be patient. Hopefully we will all come out the other side of this and continue our life journeys with a bit more thankfulness of just how lucky we are even under these extraordinary times.
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Gnarly
2769 posts
Apr 06, 2020
8:15 PM
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Hey John, pix of the poodle please!
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dchurch
349 posts
Apr 06, 2020
10:48 PM
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Thanks Iceman, The package will be a bright spot in our day. The 1st time I check through the FLETC entrance was in 1987. I've spent some time crawling through your swamps and palmettos. Love the local history, St. Simons, Cumberland Is... Thanks for the memories.
Thanks Jbone, I feel like every little bit helps. The membership is currently filling an order for 10,000 units. 300 of us can produce that quantity per day.
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Last Edited by dchurch on Apr 06, 2020 11:52 PM
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SuperBee
6571 posts
Apr 09, 2020
4:44 AM
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Things could be worse. I’m working at home. Cashflow is reduced. I’m getting a bit tired of beans and zucchini.
Still employed. My wife is at home, which is a mixed blessing; We have less money, but our garden is better tended. Our dog is happy of the company. On the whole I probably prefer things this way, but that’s a very self-centred and short term view. Personally though, I’m quite well adapted to this way of life. I don’t have to find a parking spot, not burning petrol or wearing out my tyres. I just pick up a harp when I want.
I’m dressing quite casually. We’ve moved the black currants. I’m making all the bread.
The most difficult thing is managing the groceries.
Mental health seemed at risk for a few days, but I’m feeling better today.
I cancelled all my pay TV services. I’m going with free services. Our government/private funded SBS service has some great stuff, it’ll be quite a while before I get through it. Lots of European content, some US arthouse material.
I might take some leave and tart up the living quarters
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jbone
3185 posts
Apr 09, 2020
5:24 AM
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@Rontana especially- Good thoughts and prayers your way bro.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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John M G
355 posts
Apr 09, 2020
6:08 AM
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Hi Gnarly and everyone else that likes a dog picture.
Here's our little boy.
The first one is when we decided he was the one at the breeders house November 2019.
Getting bigger and heavier at the end of January.
And this just a few days ago and 5 minutes from home, Can you see the mob of Kangaroo's over to the left corner of the picture.
His coat is changing and he's going very much whiter on his head. He's wearing the obligatory bucket around his head as he's just had the nip job!
Last Edited by John M G on Apr 09, 2020 6:20 AM
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SuperBee
6579 posts
Apr 13, 2020
2:11 AM
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Rontana, I am feeling for you. I hope all that works out in the best possible way for you.
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Rontana
544 posts
Apr 13, 2020
5:13 AM
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Thanks Grey, Nate, JBone, and Super Bee. So far so good, and I really appreciate your thoughts.
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Gnarly
2772 posts
Apr 13, 2020
7:17 AM
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Rontana, fingers crossed.
John, thanks for the pix!
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Raven
179 posts
Apr 21, 2020
12:28 PM
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I'm with Rontana with an elevated PSA that sent me packing this week to the urologist for a consult and exam. No biopsy yet, just a watch for now and check back in four months. Been retired for over 3 years, so income is not affected by the quarantine stay-at-home situation. Daily practice in the woodshed usually somewhere between 5 and 7p, downloading music, working on home projects and getting the veggie garden started.
Have a friend that is a song writer and plays several different instruments. We were going to get together to work on some arrangements, but his car had a blown engine, so he couldn't get down to my place. He got an engine from the junk yard and got it installed and running just in time for corona to hit, so now it's a waiting game before we can get together. So I'm all alone at home with my microphone...hey, I think I feel a song coming on!
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jbone
3197 posts
Apr 21, 2020
3:11 PM
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Raven, this is where groups like this and social media in general are a plus. Please do stay in touch.
We're retired and full time on the road in our travel trailer, which we began 3 years ago. Jolene and I are music partners which is handy! We play every 2 or 3 days, mostly stuff we want to stay sharp on, and we are recording videos to post through YouTube.
The top url below is my new harp players' group if you care to copy/paste and take a look. It's something else I decided to do when it looked like life was going to sort of contract the way it has.
Travel may be dicey. We still hope to get north for summer and out of the Texas heat! I'm sending out feelers on part time work at RV parks in 3 states so far.
Still only one case in this county we're in but when things loosen up I expect the second wave may roll in and bring more.
I'm thinking good thoughts on your diagnosis Raven. Peace.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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Spderyak
337 posts
Apr 23, 2020
7:56 AM
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We are still here in nh. We record every time we go off the property. We treat anything from the 'outside" as hazardous waste etc.
Emotions run from saddnes to rage so we do music to keep our sanity...or at least some version of it.
"Not Dead Yet ..set"
On Sundays we record several songs and put them on you tube.
We dress for the camera much like we would for a gig. (each song we record 3 x then post the best one.)
We know if we get the 'hoax' virus then we will be unable to play.
This way we both can record the songs that we play and the fact we were alive to play them .
So every Sunday gives us a goal and a motivation to continue to practice and play.
oops...forgot to mention I posted a couple of "feel Good" songs in the Begginer portion of this website a few days ago.
not all our songs are feel good songs...some are cry in your beer songs... but we were in a feel good mood...
Last Edited by Spderyak on Apr 23, 2020 8:06 AM
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indigo
591 posts
Apr 23, 2020
11:28 PM
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Down here in New Zealand we are lucky in that we are a group of small islands surrounded by a huge moat(the ocean)
But we have had a strict lockdown for a month now and i have discovered that women have an instinctive nose for "jobs that need doing"
I have never noticed that
A) the roof gutters need cleaning
B)the front door needs painting
C)two kitchen cupboard doors are loose
D)My man cave needs 'tidying up' which in lady language means i've got to dump a lot of stuff and actually find the source of a strange smell within.(probably the remnants of a sneaky hamburger to be honest)
E)I could go on but i'd likely run out of Alphabet.
Harp wise:Checked the tuning on my Harps...that was an eye opener!
Learn't to play again with in tune harmonicas.
Discovered that a neighbour of 3 years is a guitar player...!And you can still Jam even sitting 2 metres apart with a fence between you.
Gotta go we are painting the inside of the garage,apparently she's always hated the pale blue and wants it white.
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Sarge
784 posts
Apr 24, 2020
5:15 AM
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No change in my daily life here in the remote area of Kansas.
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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SuperBee
6600 posts
Apr 24, 2020
5:54 AM
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Tomorrow is a big day in Australia and NZ, and for the first time ever since it started, maybe, there’ll be no ANZAC parade, no two-up, and no ‘swilling piss’ in the pubs.
Not that that affects me much. I’m not big on parades, gambling or daytime drinking.
There’s a thing called the dawn service and it’s generally held at the cenotaph in virtually every town in Australia. In fact, every community centre would either have a cenotaph or an honour roll in the town hall.
Anyway, the dawn services around the local communities won’t be happening tomorrow but people are going to get out front of their houses at 6am and be quiet for a minute.
There’s plans afoot to do things with lights after the moment of quiet reflection.
I got a message tonight requesting I break out ‘the last post’, followed by ‘Reveille’. That’s normally a bugler’s job, and I think it needs overblows on a harp. Normally I think they do that at the service. The Last post comes first, then the minute of silence, then Reveille. Years ago I used to be able to fake the last post but I’ve never played reveille.
I’d have to put an amp on the front deck
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jbone
3200 posts
Apr 24, 2020
7:15 AM
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Here in the Texas Hill Country there is still just one confirmed C19 case and I believe that person is on the mend. We have continued to practice safe society (see what I did there?) and I am still working a few hours a week here. Jo and I are starting work on a new cover- David Bowie's Heroes.
I have sent out job feelers in the Northwest, South Dakota and Montana. Had a call yesterday from a park near Glacier National Park, an off to work out there this season. I decided not to go. They want too much for too little return.
I did get reaffirmed on my Ohio gig also! Early May we will head for Lake Erie and when we arrive we'll self quarantine for 2 weeks. We'd been concerned about getting across 5 states but the route we've chosen will not be a problem.
We've both gained a bit but clothes still fit pretty well. I'm baking or cooking with the outdoor camp oven about once or twice a week. Temps have gotten into the high 80's and low 90's this week.
I recently got a small powerful air compressor and made sure the tires on truck and trailer are all inflated where they need to be for travel, and the new grease gun worked very well on the trailer wheel bearings.
So about 10 more days and away we go again! The area we're headed to is a resort-y place right on Lake Erie, lots of RV parks, beaches, boating, and restaurants. I'm planning to be very conservative about even getting out to talk to venues for some time yet. Possibly we will be playing at home into next year. If one takes a long view of the virus progression in coming months the possibilities of a second and worse wave of cases seems very real and maybe imminent even. So we're going to act carefully whatever and wherever we go.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1109912442677135/?ref=bookmarks
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bluzmn
119 posts
Apr 24, 2020
3:13 PM
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@SuperBee - Hopefully, I'm not too late; I don't know what the difference is between the time zones of California and Australia. Anyway, I'm pretty sure all the bugle tunes can be played on the first 4 holes of the harp in second position. I don't know the titles, so I don't know which one is Reveille ( I've never even heard of that other title), but to be sure, I just played the "wake up" and "good night" tunes on a harp, and those 4 holes are all you need. Unlike the trumpet, which can play the whole chromatic scale, IIRC the bugle can only play those 4 notes.
P.S. I just looked it up, and actually the bugle can play 5 notes; C G C E G. But the 2 tunes I just tried out only use the 1st four notes of the harp in second position. OK, I also looked up the titles; Reveille is what I called the "wake up" tune; but the "good night" tune that I'm familiar with is Taps. The Last Post might be used exclusively by Commonwealth military; but you can still nail that in 1st position.
Last Edited by bluzmn on Apr 24, 2020 3:47 PM
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SuperBee
6601 posts
Apr 24, 2020
5:57 PM
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Ha, shows what I know about bugles. So 2 Cs and 2 Gs plus an E?
So presumably the Cs and Gs are an octave apart? I better look it up. It’s years, like 20-25 since I learned Last Post (approximately) and I was sure it was (approximately) for practical reasons, and then I realized that reveille was also a necessity and at that time it was all a bit much. I’ve retained the vibe that it was beyond my ability but I’ve come along a good way since then.
I didn’t go there. I don’t think my neighbors really needed to be subjected to my indulgence on what is a solemn occasion. The person who requested I join in I think probably knows their neighborhood better than mine.
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BnT
260 posts
Apr 25, 2020
12:12 AM
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I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area but in a town of "5,000 people and 3,000 horses" . Having retired 12 years ago it's routine to wake up with nothing to do...and go to bed with it half done. But I sub in high school special education so I'm missing the kids, and proctoring AP testing.
Haven't been in a store in almost six weeks. Fortunately, we've had access to farmers market produce and groceries with curbside pickup.
With 42,000 cases and 1,600 deaths the 40 million people in California, I'm glad we've been self isolating. I have managed to practice harmonica 1-2 hours a day. As one who never practiced regularly that's one of the few pluses of the pandemic. The other is unemployment payments because schools were shut down. Typically summer is a financial dessert since there's no subbing for 3 months. Nice to be healthy but realize economic stability, playing in or going to clubs could be a long ways away.
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BnT
www.BluesWithAFeelin.com
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Mahcks
108 posts
Apr 28, 2020
1:06 AM
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I'm growing peppers from seeds. It's my first time growing anything, so I'm pretty stoked that I've got my first few fruits starting to show up on my cayenne. I'm also growing serano, habanero, ghost, trinidad scorpion, and carolina reaper. Pests have been both a curse and a blessing. I'm grateful for the distraction in researching and mitigating them, but, man, are they annoying. I'm really looking forward to making some hot sauce, though.
I'm also refinishing my coffee table. It's... getting there. Let's just say I have a new found appreciation for coasters, and leave it at that!
Haven't been playing much harmonica lately with the lady friend around all the time. She wouldn't complain, but I've chosen to spare her the shrill wails of my, er, liberal interpretation of what music is. She can't escape the clacking strings of my bass, though!
We've been doing a lot of bonding over home repair projects together, and we're learning to cook together.
Still, the stress is getting to me. I hadn't had a panic attack in over a decade, and now it's almost daily. I started getting a bad feeling about the virus in February, and that's when they started. Had all the tests done, and I'm fine. I immediately cut out caffeine, started eating better, started exercising, and cut back on smoking, but the effects haven't really materialized.
Aside from the terrifying financial and health ramifications that leave me wide eyed at 3am, I'm genuinely happy most of the time. Regardless of how it works out, I think I'll look back on these weeks as a fond memory.
Cheers to the lot of ya, and would someone start another thread about overblow physics? It's been too long since I pretended to understand that topic.
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jbone
3205 posts
Apr 28, 2020
8:55 AM
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@Mahks, I grew a lot of habaneros last decade. I didn't manage to get any of the real hotties to come up but the habs were great. These days we're full time on the road and no time or space to continue. My fridge door has 6 or 7 different sauces in it most of the time.
It sounds to me like you are dealing well with current events. Anxiety is likely a valid response to the latest stressers. Having projects to keep you busy and improve your life quality is definitely the way to go. I put out a hummingbird feeder and posted pics and vids for a few weeks, now they've pretty much moved on. Since we're about to travel again shortly I've been making sure our travel trailer and truck are ready to go.
We've been playing and practicing a few times a week here at the rolling palace too. I'm terrible at the solo practice thing but I manage to do well every time out live. Any time I can play with my partner it's a plus. We started the Sockfoot Sessions last month, doing new videos and matching them with the older videos we did some years ago and posted on YouTube.
I started a harp players' group on Facebook a month ago and it's growing.
Today I touched base with the folks who'd booked us to play at their places this past spring, asking to rebook for the fall season. We lost several dates with the C19 of course but Jolene and I agree, it's a good idea to try and get a foot in the door early for fall/winter.
Things are beginning to open up here in Texas but I suspect it will be a while before live music will get back really rolling. My job on Ohio this summer is in a resort area but again I don't know how many venues will be hiring, so I may be focused on my day job and Jo and I will be trying to polish up some new originals so we can get the next CD out.
Inactivity is not a good thing these days. If we do things to make life better we are validated and can rest easier even when the worry looms large.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1109912442677135/?ref=bookmarks
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Buzadero
1353 posts
Apr 28, 2020
9:09 AM
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I'm in California. Very little changes in our corner of the State. We are all convinced that "it" came through here back in the early Holiday Season.
There was an illness that blasted through and everyone was describing it as "this season's cold is a bad one".
Started as a fever, dropped into the lungs and chest, coughing like a bastard. Several of us agree that it may have been the hardest hitting cough and 'shallow lungs' we've ever had. A couple of my neighbors related coughing fits where they thought they had broken a rib.
For me, it was a cough that would stop me in my tracks. So lightheaded that I'd have to reach for something to stabilize, sit down, or even drop to one knee. I've never had a cough like this one. There was a handful of days where the cough was so hard hitting that it felt like my head would bust a vein. Similar characterization by just about everyone around here.
Super contagious. You could sense that early. But. we live in the wide open country and everyone treated it like the yearly disease of the season. You shrug your shoulders and assume your own household will all get it. You stay home as soon as you realize you've got a bug, you keep people at a distance and announce that you "have something", and you try to get through it.
Anyway, this was well in advance of The Great Virus Scare of 2020, before the monster had a name.....
Did I have the dreaded "It"? Who knows. I'd love to have an antibody test and see if the actual Corovid-19 that launched in Wuhan shows up in my body, but I imagine that opportunity will come along eventually.
What I do know is that our county only has a handful of people with symptoms identified within the 2020 Fear Window and those three have already come out of it. There have been about 40 "tested positive" people that were tested due to proximity or interaction with the three that had symptoms, but all are asymptomatic.
According to our local doctors at the hospital, they are operating with the hunch that "asymptomatic" may very well mean previous experience, and have been doing a low formal study and question battery to this effect with those tested. Like I said, we're a small community.
Now, I have been to Reno a couple of times and that urban area is carrying out the standard population compliance. But, having worked in hazardous environments a few times in life, I can say that the vast majority of people have no idea how to properly use a face mask, skinner gloves etc. But, if it makes the masses feel better, that's a big part of it.
Back a few weeks ago in late March I did drive a pickup and an empty trailer across the US, loaded some equipment we bought from the US Navy in Panama City, Florida and hauled it back across the country. Carried all my own food, slept under the stars, and used my credit card at the fuel pump. All very isolationist quarantine. Literally interacted with only the guard that checked me onto the base and the two people that loaded the trailer. Three people over almost 6,000 miles. Someone used the word "surreal". Absolutely concur. I came through Houston at 0800 in the morning on a Wednesday, and was able to travel 70 mph pulling a 14,000lb trailer. That's NEVER going to happen again. Same with Las Vegas. A smattering of vehicles across the entire urban basin. Wild.
The economic hit is the scariest part of this thing. My business is questionable. My two partners and I are terrified.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
MBH poseur since 11Nov2008
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Mahcks
109 posts
Apr 28, 2020
10:43 AM
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@jbone I'm in TX too, and have some gigging friends that are pretty bummed out. What's your take on livestreaming shows?
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jbone
3206 posts
Apr 28, 2020
3:36 PM
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@Mahks- I tried that, very basic using YouTube and onboard cam and mic. Terrible. Choppy and not good sound at all. $$ is tight for extra recording gear. So instead we're recording individual videos and putting them on YT and on the harp players' page occasionally on FB. Decent Canon Powershot camera and easy upload. Good enough.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1109912442677135/?ref=bookmarks
Reverbnation
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Spderyak
341 posts
May 05, 2020
4:02 AM
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We do much the same I think it's about 26 songs we've put on utube these last few weeks (5 sundays)
Not all of them are visible some we keep unlisted while we work on them.
Mostly for general entertainment..
A couple tunes might even reflect what we currently actually think about things.....gasp...but just for friends and family most likely on those...
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