The weekend Thread

[Eric***]

^Sounds like fun.

As mentioned in this thread, I moved my wife, my cat, and all of our stuff to Cleveland this weekend. Got the truck at 7:30 on Saturday, started loading at 8:00, closed the truck door around 9:30, hit the road at 10:30, got to Cleveland at 7:00, and finished unloading at 9:20. Returned the truck the next morning and hit the road back to Philadelphia at 12:30. Not much time to just sit around (other than in the car), but I'm very glad to have done that this weekend.

Also managed to get my AL-3100 and TM60 back in my grubby little hands as part of the move, so now I'm free to play again.

[Tig***]

I hate moving, but you sure got it knocked out quickly, Eric. That has to be a load off of your shoulders.


Took Mrs. T to Sunday's game. 2nd row off of the 3rd base line. A rare Astros blanking of a really good Dodgers team, 12-zip.
Wandy Rodriguez was finally pitching at his potential, ending Matt Kemp's 10 game hitting streak.

Final	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	6	3
Astros	12	12	0

We almost finished the big flower bed in the back yard Saturday. Laying down a few layers of newspaper before adding mulch helps prevent weeds from popping up.

[Eric***]

We almost finished the big flower bed in the back yard Saturday. Laying down a few layers of newspaper before adding mulch helps prevent weeds from popping up.

That's interesting. I've only ever seen that black fabric-y stuff when it comes to preventing weeds, but I like the idea of newspaper. I imagine that would just dissolve into the soil eventually.

[sunvalleylaw]

looks like some decent weekends! Glacies, that sounds like loads of fun! Eric, congrats on the safe move. Tig, nice looking garden! My wife typically does the flower beds. I am too ADD to do actual weeding and gardening. Mow and blow for me baby!

Friday - went for a quick MTB ride (first on dirt around here this year), then home, dinner, and watched "Lost" with the fam on netflix. We finished season 4 and started 5.

Saturday - got up early, drove the boys to Boise for soccer league play, and between games, bought my oldest son a good used bike.


(pictured here on the soccer pitch)



Sunday, hung around the house, did miscellaneous chores, and took the boys on a bike ride to test out Derek's new bike:



You can see "Punchline", a new "flow" trail, in the background here. "Flow" trails have man prepared bank turns and jumps, table tops, whoopdedoos, etc. in them. We also warmed up on an gentle climbing single track, and another trail with some smaller jumps. My 6th grader Dane is on the left, my 8th grader Derek, with the new bike, is center, and his friend Ben.

Finished the night with dinner outside on the patio.

[Tig***]

That's interesting. I've only ever seen that black fabric-y stuff when it comes to preventing weeds, but I like the idea of newspaper. I imagine that would just dissolve into the soil eventually.

Exactly!The paper breaks down without a trace. When we built the beds on existing grass, the newspaper went down first. Then, layers of old compost, newer green compost, and finally top soil and a bit of sand.

Recycling comes in many forms and uses I guess.

[Spudman***]

Bicycled 30 miles Saturday night then 65 miles on Sunday. Took some pictures along the way. http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Cycling/2012/

The view for 40 miles



Just some nice scenery



Flatted at 47 miles per hour

[Tig***]

Bicycled 30 miles Saturday night then 65 miles on Sunday. Took some pictures along the way. http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Cycling/2012/

Flatted at 47 miles per hour

Awesome views! I'd be drooling the whole time... Until the flat!

[deeaa*]

Got the wife's tiny laptop upgraded to SSD age, some new RAM and win 7 pro.

Other than that, just waiting for the snow to melt...ground is peeking from underneath slowly and I'm helping it along by shoveling it of driveways and such...kids help too...

[Brian Krashpad]

Fun weekends all round. Biking, gardening, and of course snow from Dee, haha! Congrats on the move Eric!

I had two gigs over the weekend, one with the church band and one with Crash Pad.

Separate thread w/tons o' pics here:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.ph...to-bomb-thread

[R_of_G]

Last night I played with a full band for the first time ever. My neighbor had a party for his wife's birthday. His band was playing throughout the night. They told me to go home and get my guitar and amp, so I did (not the longest of trips since I live right across the street).

I needed a few stiff drinks before I could subdue the anxiety about playing with guys that are way out my league, but I settled down and plugged in. They were about to do "Gimme Three Steps" so I told them that was fine with me. The lead guitarist ran through the changes for me quickly once and since, like most guys my age, I've heard the song 8,000 times, I was good to go. I thought it sounded pretty good and I kept time perfectly with the drummer and bass player.

Also, later in the night the singer had already gone home but the rest of the band was still there so they were either just playing their songs as instrumentals or various other party-goers would come up and sing whatever song they were playing. After a couple more stiff drinks, I agreed to sing "Comfortably Numb" with them. It actually turned out to be a duet with my wife who was far more capable of hitting Gilmour's notes than I was. I still can't really sing and play at the same time, but after the last verse when it gets to the long solo at the end I picked my guitar back up and jammed out on the ending with them for a few minutes. For one night at least, I felt like a rock star.

[Brian Krashpad]

A'ight! Way to go R of G! Careful, it's addicting!

Been cleaning Casa Krashpad all weekend. Leaving for ORL in about an hour. Will have dinner w/my daughter tonight. Tomorrow down to Miami, boarding ship and sailing at 4 p.m.

Jamaica Wednesday, Grand Cayman Thursday. Son is staying with a friend down the street for a couple nights, inlaws arrive to keep an eye on Wednesday. Will be off the grid all week. You kids play nice!

[Spudman***]

Great story RoG.

Really windy here in Saturday so Sunday I did a 50 road ride on the bicycle. That's all.

[stingx]

Didn't so as much riding last year as I would have liked to. This season so far is off to a pretty good start. Took the bike out for a 90 mile run last week and about 160 this weekend. Sure wish it would warm up a bit more. Still was comfy though. I guess as long as it's not raining I shouldn't complain, right? LOL

[sunvalleylaw]

Great R_of_G! Pete, that bike looks really cool, but looks like a ***** to pick up if it ever tipped over.

This weekend was mostly around the house. Played some guitar and practiced. Got a mountain bike ride in. Spent most of today at work re-doing a project that somehow got lost in the computer, or not saved or something, and then moving kids around from room to room, taking beds apart and putting them together, hanging clothes pegs, etc. They will all have their own rooms now. Waiting for pizza to be delivered, and hopefully will have a chance to play a bit more tonight.

[Tig***]

A very mundane weekend here. Did a bit of tree trimming and lawn watering. Watched a few baseball and hockey games. The Devils-Flyers game might have been the best NHL gave I've ever watched.

Each week, I feel more tired then the previous. I'm starting to wonder what's going on.

[Katastrophe]

Tig, any new stressors? Lack of guitar playing? Work? Kids? Bills? Sleeping well? Had a recent checkup with the doc? Any combination of those can do it for me, as far as feeling tired and fatigued. I put in a 15 hour shift last night on 2.5 hrs. sleep. I was dog tired by the time I got home.

It's near the end of the weekend, and I've got a test in about 13 hours for my operating systems class. I just can't get into the study material, though. It just ain't sinking in right now.

I'm dreaming about that punchy, Marshall JTM 45 tone, played through a Strat or a Tele. It's seriously occupying my thoughts. I gotta quit it!

[Glacies]

Saw a band on Friday night at a local bar. $10 for tickets, $60 for the beer... Wife and I didn't want the party to stop after it was over so we stayed up a few hours later listening to music and drinking. Saturday was SLOW, but got to watch the NYR win over the Caps. Sunday took care of a bunch of stuff around the house and yard. Then the band came over and we went through a couple songs. A coworker of ours had passed away that morning so we were all kind of bummed out and none of us really wanted to have fun playing but we did anyway. We videoed one song but my main camera was out of batteries so we recorded it on a crappy one. Sound is horrible but I put it on youtube anyway. Will post it once I get everyone's permission.

Tig, I don't know about you and Texas, but around this time of year my seasonal allergies make me feel so run down. If I get on zyrtec or anything it kills my energy level but cures my more annoying symptoms and I just end up feeling like a zombie for a month. Coming out of it only now.

[Eric***]

Went out with some friends on Saturday for my first-ever karaoke night. It was fun, even if I have no vocal range. I was hoarse by the end. Thankfully most people sang on most songs, so you (or at least I) couldn't really hear how much I was howling.

Played guitar in church on Sunday, which was the first time playing in a band context since October or November, and really the first time I've seriously picked up a guitar within that time. Yikes was I bad in the first service -- just embarassing. It was a combination of rust and the yips, but I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Since it was the first time I had played at this church, I wanted to prove that I didn't suck, but I didn't exactly prove that. Anyway, live and learn; probably best to have a short-term memory. Second service was better on the basics, but my guitar wankery was a little less inspired.

This week while practicing for Sunday, I learned that the switch on my Agile doesn't reliably work on the bridge pickup. It works maybe 1 out of every 10 times I switch to that position, and sounds kind of static-y as I fiddle with it. Does that mean I should replace it, or is it just dirty or a loose wire or something?

This Thursday I'll be flying to Spain for a wedding of one of my wife's friends. That should be fun!

[Tig***]

Maybe the 2+ years of working nights is catching up to me. Last week, we took in 2 lost dogs, which kept our dogs going nuts, which killed my "recovery" night of sleep. (The first night that I don't have to work, I sleep like a log for about 10 hours)
At least we got in touch with the owner the next day and the dogs made it home.