Shelter From the Storm! (Bay Area on House Arrest!)

[cozmik_cowboy]

... I am a bass playing shoe maker ...

I never knew there were shoes made specifically for playing bass.

Or shoes that play bass.

Peter

[lbpesq]

Or a self-aware bass playing a song called “Shoe Maker”.   Linguistic analysis forever!

Bill, tgo

[pauldo]

Well the story is...
When we bought the farm in the Northwoods of Wisconsin I needed an income and found employment at Weinbrenner Boots.  Was doing digitizing and CAD manipulation of shoe/ boot components and setting up programs for a CNC material cutter... LOVED the job, wore headphones all day listening to whatever satiated me and did anal retentive work.

Sadly the pay was not sustainable, ended up back in Milwaukee (still have the farm property and going crazy trying to keep the place functional) working as a Machinist...  I have no technical training but did spend 12 years in the Toolroom previously doing tooling inspection and AutoCAD work.  So I was familiar with machining disciplines.  Now I run three different engine lathes a couple milling machines, surface grinders, a CNC 3-axis machine and rebuild various components with crazy tight tolerances into 4 decimal places but still at heart am a shoemaker!  It also is comic relief as years ago one of the very competent Machinist who was also a Tool and Die Maker would call any half-arsed work as being ‘shoemakers work - cobbled together’.   We do have a radio/cd player in the rebuild area but there are days when I don’t have the joy of music to help me along. 


The bass player is kinda tongue in cheek as I really haven’t made the time to play since we bought the farm 4 some years ago as there is ALWAYS something to do...  but I still remember way back when I was a Journeyman Bookbinder and my Mom told me that some of her friends asked :
“What does Paul do?”  (all my siblings were educated well off professionals)
My Mom replied:
“He’s a musician, plays bass in several bands.”   
That is one of the reasons my Mom is so loved!

[elwoodblue]

  ...  but I still remember way back when I was a Journeyman Bookbinder and my Mom told me that some of her friends asked :
“What does Paul do?”  (all my siblings were educated well off professionals)
My Mom replied:
“He’s a musician, plays bass in several bands.”   
That is one of the reasons my Mom is so loved!

Hehe...respect 


I spent a few years learning traditional turkish marbling...made some nifty end papers(and T-shirts!),
...would've been great to have a friend into bookbinding.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Dream Guitars is hosting a live concert by finger-picker extraordinaire starting at 7:00 pm Eastern time (that's, like, now), with no paywall - just a "free-will contribution" through PayPal.
The link is
 

Peter (who apologizes for not posting this sooner)

[elwoodblue]

Here's some humor to keep us afloat.
bonus: Stephen Jay is playing an Alembic SC

[bigredbass]

Well, it's here. 

Music City U S A  is now under a mandatory 'shelter at home' order.  I'm on hiatus from work for the next two weeks . . . . . as far as we know today.  After that, who knows ?

Mizz Wilson and I got out yesterday to shore up the pantry (grocery stores were mostly OK) and rode around a bit.  Hadn't seen the tornado damage (I grew up around hurricanes, she'd never seen anything like the shredded real estate we saw), and it was somehow smaller but worse than I imagined.  A one- or two-block wide path, everything on either side barely disturbed.  They always do the strangest things.

Went downtown, and those scores of clubs and restuarants were shuttered.  The big convention center and surrounding big hotels (Omni, W, and JW Marriott and smaller designer hotels) all closed save for the few handfuls of souls awaiting their flights.  Opryland Resort, the Opry Mills Mall, and the Opry House closed.

We are well, have few exposure opportunities, and with my schedule, time at home with her is a wonderful thing.  I really think this will give me time to rest up, take a new start at several things that got sidetracked personally, and I hope to channel that as a buttress against the worry of all this.

My best to you all,

J o e y

[bigredbass]

Plus, I can woodshed some old tunes I never got quite right.  I find sometimes that a different artist's take on a well-known tune can give me a little insight I had not considered before.  Like this, for instance:

[jazzyvee]

“I never knew there were shoes made specifically for playing bass.”
I think Rusty highly recommends Converse.

[edwardofhuncote]

Checking in from Roanoke, VA.

Not locked down here yet, but the City staged street closing barricades at the corner adjacent to the Water Treatment Plant yesterday. (the Hospital is on this same block) Which indicates to me that action can't be far along. So far our staff remains healthy. Governor signed an EO yesterday closing schools for the rest of the year, and all recreational gatherings in the interim, all non-essential service/entertainment businesses are now closed. If I'm reading it correctly, 30 days.

[edwardofhuncote]

I really wanted to work from home, but my wife has COMPLETELY drawn the line about parking my forklift in the living room . . . . . .

Just for you, Joey... I've got some game with my little toy forklift.


(for those who maybe didn't know - yeah, you gotta' have a license to operate a forklift... I nearly flunked outta' the class, but it wasn't my fault!)

[cozmik_cowboy]

(for those who maybe didn't know - yeah, you gotta' have a license to operate a forklift... I nearly flunked outta' the class, but it wasn't my fault!)

I drove forklifts at, IIRC, 5 different places over the years.  Only the last one made me get a license.

Peter

[lbpesq]

Greg, that license is expired!

hehehehe

Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

Sharp eye, Bill... the new card might be in the inter-office mail system. We did the refresher course a while back. We were trying to get our respirator safety training and fit-testing done when the isolation protocols went into effect. Who knows when that'll happen now.


But yeah, I've never had anybody actually check my permit. 

[kenbass4]

Just another bay area local checking in.
Like Greg, I work in water, but BOTH  kinds ( our district is water/ wastewater/recycled) so we are working. However, being in the Engineering Department, we can work from home, and effective today, I'm 55 years old, and will get my full pension of 30 years, so ( planned well before the world went crazy) I'm retiring next week! Not going to be taking any trips but will get quality time with the Alembics