OK, those of you in the States should have some good weekend reports, since it was a 3-day weekend here
I took Friday afternoon off and watched a football match from the UEFA Champions league, iirc it was Munich v. Madrid. The only place to see it in the States sfaik is on ESPN Desportes, so I watched it at a little Mexican restaurant that is usually pretty dead during the day. Unfortunately, for a goodly portion of the game a trio of what can only be charitably described as "trailer trash" (no offense to anyone living/has lived in a mobile home intended) were seated in the booth behind me. Ugh. 3 adults and a baby. The guy didn't say 10 words the whole time, but the two women talked non-stop, swearing like sailors the whole time and incapable of subject-verb agreement. It was all I could not to throttle someone.
Saturday was my anniversary, but in the morning I had a church praise band practice. If you can call me and a pianist a "band."
I played my Dano Hodad on 2 songs and my Epi T-bird bass on the third.
One of the songs was in Ab, but I talked the pianist into playing it in G instead. Fortunately, I had an old songbook from my former church with the song in it, in that key, out in the Rockmobile, so I went out to the parking lot and fetched it. We ran through the song in G and she asked if I needed a copy of the music (I'd just been playing extemporaneous lead during it). I said no-- if she thought I could get away playing something like what I'd just done. She said no prob, but this was the first time I would be playing a real "rock" lead in this church.
That night we drove up to the little town of High Springs, northwest of Gainesville, and had a nice dinner with an old college buddy of mine and his wife. Here's where we ate:
Apparently it was some local school's graduation so the place was booked up, so we ate in the bar. Food was great, fun evening. No live music, but we were there for food and conversation anyhow.
Sunday morning I played in church. The pianist forgot to get the music director to turn on the PA, so I played to the whole church through my little 2x8 amp-- and she led the singing with no mic. Sigh. Anyhow, afterward a bunch of people including the pastor complimented me, so I guess it went OK. Also, after the service the music director asked me if I sight-read, and I told him no but I could usually figure out something with just a lead sheet. So maybe eventually I'll do something with the choir in addition to the praise band.
After I got back from church, Mrs. Krashpad and I went out looking at refrigerators. Ours is white but our stove, microwave, and dishwasher are brushed chrome, and she's been bugging me to get something that matched. We found a "Whirlpool Gold" (apparently better than without the "Gold") fridge that looks like this, for eleven-something, a floor model that had a tiny dent in one side:
Apparently this was a good price, but the cheap bastard in me still thinks it's crazy to pay that much for a fridge. Because it was a floor model, they asked if they could deliver it Monday (despite the holiday!) because their practice is to deliver floor models next day, so they don't get messed up.
Sunday night I was supposed to have a Crash Pad practice but my drummer bailed so we cancelled it. Stayed home and helped the boy with his science homework and hung out.
Monday morning I did some chores. First, managed to extricate my tree-limb saw from the garage, and used it to pull down a large branch that had broken off a tree but had lodged in some lower limbs. Next I made some space out in the garage for our old refrigerator to go, and then I mowed the lawn. Been having serious problems with the mower, fouling spark plugs like nobody's business and running ssssssllllllowwwwww. Changed plug. No dice. Changed oil. No dice. Finally opened air filter. Looked like a freaking sandbox. Banged all the dirt out, worked like a charm.
After mowing, the refrigerator guys came. They got the fridge installed, but had to take our front door off the hinges to get it inside, and also put the old one out in the garage. Now we have more fridge space than we know what to do with.
That afternoon I went to pick up my daughter and her boyfriend from the movies. His mom doesn't own a car so he rides his bike everywhere, so I took the Rockmobile and brought his bike back to Casa Krashpad. He stayed for dinner and then I took him back to his house. Or as close as he'll let us deliver him. He's embarrassed about not having any money so he insists on us dropping him off at a little strip mall near his house. Fortunately he's a big kid and it's a pretty safe area, but I wish he'd just let us pick him up and drop him off directly. Still, I don't want to make him uncomfortable.
Went home and watched the season premiere of "John & Kate Plus 8" which was kind of a downer, but about what I expected.
OK, that was long. I expect equally detailed reports from the rest of you!
oke:
