Brought Back Memories

Yesterday morning I did a Patriot Guard mission at the CT Air National Guard base in East Granby. It was a send off for the 103rd Airlift Wing on a deployment. The PGR was there to stand a flag line. There were about a dozen of us and although there was media present, none of the local outlets have posted a story. Here is a link to the media advisory from the 103d and below is an excerpt about their mission:

The Guardsmen will provide logistical, mechanical, and mission support to forces deployed within various global combatant commands supporting of Operations Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa.

They regularly fly their C-130s over my house at low altitude every couple of days heading east out towards Cape Cod and I assume Otis AFB. Later the same day they fly heading west back to Bradley. Occasionally they'll fly contour at maybe 500 feet. Some people in town are frightened or annoyed by it and complain, but I think it is way cool! In fact, so many military aircraft fly over my house I believe my house is a navigation waypoint. In addition to the C-130's, I get pairs of F-15's, UH-60 Blackhawks, CH-47 Chonooks, and the occasional C-5 Galaxy, OV-22 Osprey, or CH-53 Sea Stallion directly overhead. Sometimes it's like my own private airshow. 

I had to work until my FD shift ended at 06:00. I thankfully got out on time, went home to clean my chicken coop, shower and change clothes, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and made the less than 1 hour ride to the air base. I did not ride "The Beast" because my driveway went from a frozen glacier to a mud hole suitable for 4x4 races. At this point it will be weeks before "The Beast" comes out of hibernation.

The ceremony was held inside a closed pristine hangar on the base. That required me to give my drivers license info to the PGR State Captain to be forwarded to base security for a background check. Last time I did one of these we had to park outside and walk in, but this time we drove on base and parked in the hangar lot. This also required me to be totally unarmed, because we were actually going on base and would be subject to search at any time. I had to choose between doing this mission unarmed, not doing the mission at all, or taking a chance. I chose to do the mission and not take the chance so as not to reflect badly on the PGR by potentially getting arrested with a firearm, therefore honoring those that deserve my presence. I made sure I went straight there and straight home so as not to regret my decision to be unarmed.

Driving on base brought me back to my days in the military many years before 9/11. Back then, all I had was a DoD decal on the left side top of my front bumper. If the sticker was not expired and I was in uniform, I just slowed down enough for the SP to see it and waved through. If I was in civvies, I would have to stop and hand the SP my ID. If your sticker was expired, you would have to produce your ID and then report to the base security station to get a new decal. On weekends when we Reservists were there, there was a back gate with one SP manning it we could go in and out of. It was even pretty easy for civilian visitors to go in with a brief check at the gate or an escort. There were no physical barriers other than the chain link fence gate that was always open. No zig-zag roads, pop-up barriers, or other post 9/11 modern base security measures. Yesterday, they held us in a special lane until everyone was there. The State Captain verified the list with the SP and we were let in. There were plenty of SP personnel to guide us to the parking area. The ANG personnel in the parking lot was disappointed none of us rode in on motorcycles. They were hoping for a "Rolling Thunder" optic of our arrival. Sorry, not this time of year. We grabbed our flags and headed in to the hangar.

You could truly eat off the floor in that hangar. There were two portable bleacher units brought in for spectators set up at a 45 degree angle to the stage and chairs in front of the one on the right for brass and dignitaries. The open area in front of the stage were for the formation of those being deployed. There was a 4 piece military brass ensemble playing Sousa march and patriotic tunes. We all hit the restroom, assembled our flags, and lined up to the right of the stage. After we lined up, many National Guard brass and dignitaries went down the line to shake our hands and thank us for being there. The first one through as usual was someone I have met a few times before, Major General Francis Evon. He is the Commanding Officer of the entire CT National Guard, a soldier's soldier and a real down to earth guy, starting his military career as an enlisted man. Then several other ANG officers came through. The local state representative came through the line. Then.... I had to suck it up and do my duty to the PGR, because here came US Senator Richard "Da Nang Dickie" Blumenthal; Mr. Stolen Valor himself. If I had been there on my own, I would have waited until he approached me and turned my back on him. But since I was there with the PGR, I did not want to mar the reputation of the PGR. I shook his hand and when he thanked me for being there, I just gave him the stock PGR response of "It's our honor." I don't know of any health problems he may have, but he seems to have become a shrunken little man. He reminds me of a toddler, whose head is too big for his body.

While we waited lined up and looking good, they called for formation. I chuckled to myself, remembering have to assemble for my own daily morning formation in the drill hall so many years ago. It was usually called by SSG Ed Demetrion, but when he wasn't there it was up to SFC Gomez. That was always fucking hilarious. SFC Gomez was a naturalized US citizen from Colombia and he had a heavy Spanish accent and he was also quite the comedian. He would walk down the hall of the Reserve Center repeatedly yelling, "OK, OK, for-may-shon in de drill hall! Le's go, Le's go! Get een for-may-shon!! NO ES-MOH-KINK!" He knew damn well how funny he sounded to us young gringos, and it was even more funny while he tried to emulate a tough Drill Sargent to get us lined up and squared away.

It has been quite a while since I have been around that many active duty personnel. Some of those females, young and older, both enlisted and officers were quite fetching. We used to call them "Split Tails." Of course since this was the Air National Guard, it is the Air Force, and to me always seemed to attract more females than the other branches.

The ceremony only lasted about a half hour. They posted the colors and the brass ensemble struck up The National Anthem. A military Chaplain did an invocation. There were several speeches, and first up was General Evon. After him was the unit Commander. Then the politicians.... blah, blah, blah. Luckily with my poor hearing, the loudspeakers facing away, and the poor acoustics of the hangar, they all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I did catch Da Nang Dickie complaining of defense budget cuts, spinning the waste, fraud, and abuse DOGE has been eliminating into political gibberish and propaganda. Fuck that piece of shit, gaslighting the young skulls full of mush in the process of being deployed. They then held a promotion ceremony for a few airmen, as well as service awards for others. The Chaplain went back on stage to deliver a benediction and the ceremony was over. The troops were dismissed and the PGR was called to stand down. We disassembled our flags and walked out single file to the lot. The ride home was uneventful and I continued with my weekend chores and errands.

Later in the day, my wife and I went out for dinner at a restaurant we haven't eaten at in over 20 years. The Traveler Restaurant off I-84 in Union, famous for their roasted turkey dinner and a free book with dinner. That's right, a full free library as well as some books, puzzles, games, and greeting cards for sale. The last time I remember eating there was on the way back from Maine when we would go to the State Fair in Skowhegan back in the 1990's. I wasn't going to take a book because I am behind in my reading already, until my wife showed me this:

I bought it for $4.50 to keep at the firehouse. A non-woke children's book from 2010 with large print and cool illustrations where the "kids" are different little animals. A couple of pages were ripped but I taped them as good as new. Sometimes little kids come to the firehouse to visit, but when they get there they are shy and want to hide behind their parents. My plan is to read to the younger ones when they visit to "break the ice." By the way, we both had the turkey dinner with a large side of green beans to share, washed down with a glass of lemonade. The dinner was delicious and filling, perfect for a cold late winter night. Pretty reasonably priced as well and Glypto recommended if you're passing through the area at dinner time.

I Guess This Makes Me A Luthier

luthier /loo͞′tē-ər/

noun

1. One that makes or repairs stringed instruments, such as violins.
2. One who makes wooden stringed instruments, such as violins, guitars, etc.
3. A person who, or a business which, makes or repairs stringed wooden musical instruments, such as lutes, violins, and guitars.
4. A craftsman who makes stringed instruments (as lutes or guitars or violins). 

 

 

Apparently I am, according to definition #3. However, my experience is even more limited than my experience as a amateur gunsmith. Oh well, I will add it to my multi faceted list of skills and abilities.

I have been diligently practicing on my lap steel guitar when I am home alone or if I have access to the big screen TV in the living room. I am subscribed to Troy Brenningmeyer's Youtube channel where he has some great free videos. It's much easier to see and rewind on the big screen than on my phone. Every day I get a little bit better with not making extra sounds or notes, picking strings properly without looking, holding and placing the tone bar properly, hammering the strings, doing ring outs, pull offs, slants, and pick blocking. For example, hammering properly doing multiple notes in succession requires having my ring finger contact the string(s) right before the tone bar hits them and that takes lots of repetition to get right. I will do the same hammer over and over trying to build proper muscle memory. If I plateau and need more instruction, Troy has a website called "Lessons With Troy" that you can pay for more lessons, sheet music, and accompaniment jam track files. I have a few songs I work on one at a time in the Open D tuning by simply copying what he does repeatedly. The Allman Brothers "Midnight Rambler", Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" (actually in F tuning made by using a capo on the 3rd fret), the opening slide parts of Pink Floyd's "Breathe", and "Ghost Riders In The Sky" by Stan Jones. I also work on the "X", "L" and "U" patterns as well as several bluesy licks and riffs, some demonstrated, some I "found" on my own. I am able to do so much more than when it was set up for Hawaiian music, that I am really into it. Sometimes just making sounds and trying to put notes together that sound good helps me learn where things are. A lot of Troy's videos use the dual camera angle, so you can see the picking and tone bar placement.

A photo of Troy's "X's and L's" video on my TV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several years ago I cleaned and restored the guitar. I junked the old strings, took the guitar apart, took apart and re-soldered the electrical connections, repaired the tuning mechanism, re-strung it, played with it a bit, and put it away.

Playing it now has me doing things with it I never did before. Like playing strings 1 and 2 very high up the neck, like on fret 21, 23 and higher. I noticed I was losing the sound. Weird, I thought until I did a little investigating. First off, being an older instrument I wish to preserve as well as play, I have a lighter set of strings than would be on a modern instrument. This allows for more downward flex with the tone bar. I discovered string 1 and 2 (but mostly string 1) was contacting the top surface of the pickup, muting the strings when I got that high up on the neck. The reason was the plate the pickup and controls are mounted on was warped and forcing the pickup upwards into the strings. I decided I would disassemble my guitar once again to correct. That was my project for earlier today after getting off work and getting the weekend chores out of the way.

A close up of the "L" shaped chrome plated mounting plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I couldn't remember how the guitar was made and put together, but I knew it wasn't too difficult to work on. Once again, it never dawned on me to photograph what I was doing. DOH!! I used my padded gun bench in the basement to do the work.

First was to remove the strings. To make life easier I removed the chrome plated cover over the bridge. From there I released tension on all six strings, and then unwound the strings one at a time from the tuning machine post. I also discovered the three mounting screws for the bridge were not tight and cranked them down tightly. No wonder I had to constantly re-tune it! Once all the strings were removed, I removed the five wood screws holding the mounting plate in place. There is a wire that goes to the output jack soldered in place. I removed the retaining nut on the jack and the whole plate came away free. Well, looky here... I found the problem! It was either a manufacturing defect, or someone many decades ago changed or serviced the pickup. The pickup mounts to the plate with four tabs, one in each corner, that goes through corresponding slots in the mounting plate and are bent over at 90 degrees. The plate with the pickup lies flat on the guitar body, and there is only a recess under the controls by the output jack. No provisions were made for the pickup mounting tabs in the guitar body! That caused the plate to warp and raise the pickup too high. There were marks from the tabs on the guitar body, so I used a very small chisel and a soft mallet to create a small recess for each tab at their corresponding marks. When I test fit the plate after my modifications it sat flush on the guitar body. I then hand stretched the first and second strings across the bridge and nut and BINGO! plenty of clearance now. I re-installed the output jack and re-mounted the plate to the guitar. I re-strung all the strings and replaced the bridge cover. The clearance between all six strings and the top surface of the pickup looked perfect.

I went and got my chromatic tuner, picks, tone bar, amp, and cord and headed back down to test my work. Tuning with the chromatic tuner is done without the need for the amp. It clamps to the headstock and uses vibration to read the string. You just pluck the strings one at a time, turning the tuning key up or down depending on the readout on the tuner. Once it was in tune, I plugged in and fired up the amp. I was able to pluck the first string all the way up to the very last fret with the tone ringing out crystal clear, even with the lighter strings. I did some licks and riffs and everything sounded normal. There was no change in sound with the minute amount of wood I removed.

My Fender Tuner from eBay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided that before getting any effects pedals, I would get a new amp. Two reasons; put away and preserve my beautiful and rare existing amp, and the one I bought has built in effects and a battery for portability. Nothing big or too fancy, just this Boss Katana 10W amp again off eBay and again from Sweetwater's eBay store. It has built in reverb, tremolo, and has an input gain control I believe will let me overdrive the input to create some distortion without having to buy a pedal. We'll see. It is supposed to arrive via FEDEX tomorrow.... can't wait!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had it in my "Watchlist" for about a week, and they offered it to me for $15 off and free shipping, so I pulled the trigger.

I uploaded these two recordings. This first one is just a strum of all six strings in the Open D tuning.

 

This next one is a strum of all six strings in F using the capo, and a riff from "When The Levee Breaks" that comes late in the song.

 

Those are as close as anyone is gonna get to any kind of "performance"

Don't Do It, Please! Get Help

I deal with EMS suicidal psych eval calls quite a bit, and until recently, those were the only people that ever heard my story. I use it as a mechanism to get them to trust that I truly understand where they are coming from. I finally told my story to a trusted co-worker the other day after yet another suicidal individual went in the ambulance, and decided since my true identity isn't known to post it here. Maybe it could help someone. I have never told my wife or anyone else close to me. It's just embarrassing.

Forty years ago, I attempted to throw away God's Greatest Gift for being in a situation that I thought there was no way out of. Lucky for me, I was not successful. Hell, I was not even injured, and it was the circumstances of that attempt that made me never contemplate such a foolish and selfish thing again. Funny thing was, I had been a gun owner for years and that method never crossed my mind prior to how it really happened.

Without the details, I thought it was a real bad situation with no good way out of. I was still in the Army Reserves, had a good paying civilian job, and my wife was six months pregnant. This day was a few weeks after the "situation" and I was in a deep depression over it. I was working for Northern Telecom normally assigned to CT Bank & Trust, but there was a large project going on at Aetna so they were pulling guys in off other sites for a two week stint to help out. They were renovating the upper floors of City Place in Hartford for new offices. I was was putting new phone jacks on cables that were being re-used and was working all alone on the 34th floor. I did not have a radio to listen to so I was alone on this large quiet office floor with my thoughts. I started thinking about where I was, and wondered what if I were to take the one-way high speed trip to the sidewalk? I kept thinking about it, then dwelling on it, and all the time not thinking about my pregnant wife or other blessings. Just trying to make the depression and thoughts of the situation go away permanently. ENOUGH! I'm gonna do it.... RIGHT NOW!

I looked out the windows to see which side of the building was best. I did not want to land on the roof of an adjacent building so I chose the Haynes Street side of the building which would give me a clear shot 34 floors down to the sudden stop on pavement. The plan was to take out the window with a heavy object and follow it out. I grabbed a large office chair on wheels and heaved it at the window.

It turns out, high-rise office windows are tempered glass, not plate glass. Tempered glass doesn't break with large blunt force unless it is truly overwhelming, it needs concentrated force like a spring punch or a bullet to craze it into little squares like a car window. The chair simply bounced off the window, landed on its wheels, and spun around a few times. It was like it was laughing at me for being so stupid. I sat down on the floor, alternately laughing and crying for the next hour and took it as a sign from God Himself to never do such a foolish thing again.

I was still depressed but no longer suicidal. I decided to tough it out and take it like a man. I wanted to meet my new daughter, be with my wife, and continue to live.

Well, it turned out to be a big nothing burger after all that was resolved without much fuss. I have since been in a couple of similarly bad situations, but taking the permanent solution NEVER entered into the equation. But prayer did and based on these situations, the only reason they eventually worked out or became nothing I can only attribute to God hearing and answering my prayers. Chose to believe or not, but I do.

ALERT!

Working in emergency services, I have the ability to declare an MCI.... "Mass Casualty Incident" any time resources are overwhelmed by casualties. 

Therefore, I am declaring a nationwide MCI right now, for all the Demon-Crap Libturd heads exploding coast to coast after President Trump's impromptu press conference yesterday.

"Riviera of The Middle East"... indeed.

The winning continues unabated.

Time To Pick This Up Again

 My 1946 vintage Regal lap steel guitar in Sunburst with matching amplifier. It was my Mother's. She started playing when she was 8 which would have been 1946. It spent a couple of decades in the attic of my parent's house. I have messed with it off and on since I was a teen.  Several years ago I restored it to what you see in the following photos. I replaced the strings with a set of John Pearse Am6 which gives it the "Hawaiian sound." I want to play blues on it, so it is going to get a new set of John Pearse "Open D" strings set #3160 from SteelGuitarShopper.com. It uses lighter gauge wire for older or delicate instruments.

The original case. The loose fasteners were all repaired

Dig that purple soft fur inside

A closeup of the headstock and original Regal decal. The original tuning keys were Mother of Pearl, but had crumbled away to nothing. I replaced them with faux Mother of Pearl for the original look. They simply press onto the spline of the tuner set.

The next photo is the business end. I disassembled everything, cleaned the pots, rewired and re-soldered all the connections. No more static or hums. I polished all the bright work and the pickup. While it was down to the bare wood body, I gave it a wipe down with Murphy's Oil Soap. It made the Sunburst finish pop. It also got a new 10' cord with gold-plated plug ends. The original was made of stiff wire and used telephone switchboard plugs. I kept it along with some other old parts.

Now I have seen these guitars for sale online anywhere from $299 to $800 depending on condition. The condition of mine put it with those at the higher end. I have never seen the matching amplifier that I have which still sounds great. I saw different Regal lap steel model with a matching amp and I believe it was like $1500 for both. I have no desire to part with any of this. After my demise, my wife can do whatever she wants with it.

The amp with its fitted cover on the left

The rear. The rubberized cord is like new

 

And finally, the stack of original music books she had. On the right were song sheets she bought at the local music store with pop songs and Christmas carols. Up on the top left folded up is her music stand.

I don't have any interest in playing the Hawaiian music that was popular when my Mother was young. Hawaii was not yet a state but was a cool and exotic place so everyone was into it. Her music class was quite large. I have a photo somewhere and there were like 20 kids in it. 

This is the video that got me interested again. I never knew my guitar could make such wonderful sounds, and so easy to play! He explains the tuning which is D-A-D-F#-A-D but his guitar is more modern than mine and can take the heavier strings of like a John Pearse #3150 Open D Heavy. I am also considering a different slide bar in place of the solid round stainless bar I have now. I like this Dunlop 928 Ben Harper Signature Tone Bar but I may be able to pick one up locally. It seems easier to hold and control. Maybe later add some effects like distortion and reverb.

Don't expect to see any music videos for a long time if at all. I haven't touched it in a long time, and with the cold dry air my fingers are cracked and painful.