It's Susies turn

Well Susie has the creeping crud now and isn't quite up to the task at hand - getting the house in order before her brother (David or Pete - depending on who you talk to) and Ione show up.
I spent about 6 hours yesterday at work - still trying to get the studio built - before the IT guy decided he was going home. The executive decision was that the studio wasn't gonna be ready for the Monday morning show.
The weather prognosticator was wrong again - it was a beautiful day with mostly clear skies and the temps in the mid/upper forties.

New blog name

It was decided to change the blog name and address because the blog was becoming more about the two of us and less about just me.
So that's the big change - the weather again was in the mid-forties and there was some drizzle, enuff to make the car look real bad.

Mocha went home

We met up with Val yesterday and he was happy to see Mocha again. We're sad to see him go but glad to see him back with Val. This is the last pic I took of Mocha at our place. I thought about taking some pix of the reunion but alas I didn't remember to take a camera. It's all for the best though.
Mocha was so excited he lept from the front seat of our truck (a 4x4 Ford F-250)and landed squarely on his head. Except for a lot of dust he was no worse for the wear. He then ran up to Val and barked and ran around and barked some more - it seems to be his way of greeting people since he did it nearly every day with us when we got home.
We had breakfast at the Outlaws restaurant in Parachute (where we met up) and had a good talk. It's sad to see Val hobbling about but his spirits are good and he is moving about - albeit slowly. Best wishes as always on getting back to normal - I'm sure that having Mocha back will speed Val along.

I've had tons-o-fun at work - still building a studio and today I was up the STL tower (a whopping 40' up) relocating an antenna. The antenna will carry the programming for the new station to the transmitter site on the Mesa SE of town (it was pointed almost due west).
Meantime the aging equipment in the house is starting to wear-out. We now have a zone valve, for the heating system, that is failing. Atleast this one should be covered by the insurance since it'll cost more than the deductible. I was hoping that it would hold out the winter then I'd have it checked out and (hopefully) have the whole setup (boiler & valves) replaced.
The weather is starting to get cold here again - the highs might only be in the mid forties tomorrow with the low pushing (but not reaching) the freezing point. A lot better than Michigan where the arctic has moved in (as it does there).

Another Sunday

Well I heard today that Drew dropped the pix of Charles from his site so I killed that stuff below. Drew also told me that Van Java bit the dust - I wonder what Keith (the owner) is doing with himself . . . and where are the speakers that I left behind at VJ??

I heard that curiosity killed the cat but what does it do to the dog?? Mocha has been exceedingly curious about everything from the vacuum to the hair drier even my air compressor (which I've been using to dust out the baseboard heating elements). He is ever interested in our cat Klaus and they chase each other about the house quite often - nobody gets hurt but it does get pretty funny.

I'm glad to hear that Val is back in Breck. I hope that his strength comes back so Mocha can rejoin him. It isn't that we don't want Mocha it's just that it'll be a good thing for Val to get his buddy back.

Susie and I have been working on getting the house organized (finally). I've rebuilt the entertainment center and have started putting the audio stuff back together. I'm a bit behind the curve since I don't have a Digital rated stereo but I've been working on a plan to build one using tubes or otherwise a pure audiophile class rig (I don't wanna spend that kinda cheese - and Susie would probably kill me!!) I've also been looking for some new strings for the upright - the steels on it are a pretty high tension type so they give the hands a bit of a workout. Mebbe I'll try some Pisastro Obligatos, with the skinny bass they should warm it up a bit too. I'm definitely gonna get a pickup for it which will prob. be a K&K Bass Max - good reviews and a decent price.

A week's worth

Last week we took the dogs out for an afternoon of frisbee throwing. Both Kelly and Mocha had a good time - the weather was more like Michigan in the late fall - a solid grey overcast and cool temps. (we forgot both cameras so no pix this time - sorry).

The week was overall a bit too busy for me - spent my time relocating the studio and came up with a nasty bit of a sinus infection - prob. from the dust combined with the cold. I did feel good enuff to go pickin' at the Borders book store here. We (Susie & I) both had a good time. The jam reminds me of the ones I put together at a coffee shop in Lansing - I wonder if Van Java is still in biz.

The next time the jam is scheduled Susie's brother will be arriving in town. We hope he would like to show up to it so we could keep in practice. They also gave Susie a number of compliments and had her follow up after a little girl who brought the house down. A situation that no one wanted to be in. Most of the pickers like the mic that I've been bringing, only one guy didn't use it and insisted on using his own setup.

back at the ranch

Today I started full time on renovating an existing studio for another station - the group is playing musical radio station studios and adding a new station to the group.

I feel better than yesterday but I'm still having fun with phlegm and a bit of a sore throat but not bad at all.

Thanx to Val and Bill for the condolences. Regarding Charles there are a few more pix of him at Drew's website Drew is the big guy in the middle for most of the pix - I'm in the first and last with my electric bass (pre-upright era but I still have and play it).

Susie has a worship committee meeting tonite and she told me to stay home and play with the dogs since the weather is better today (been too wet as of late - rain and snow - a good Michigan kinda snow).

A Sad Day

I was finally starting to feel better after the cold (I'm still not 100% but much better) when we receive word (see below) that a good friend (and great mandolin picker) passed away today. He lived in Nashville MI just west of Charlotte (pronounced shar-LOT) and hosted a weekly jam at his house (for a few decades or so I've heard) that we attended for most of the time we were in Michigan.

Charles Patrick
1932-2005



We certainly wish we could attend the services but our situation prevents it - we will never forget him.

Hello Folks,

For those who may not have heard, Charley Patrick passed away this morning, my understanding is about 8:00AM.

He had Heart Surgery and it seemed all was going well. He went home on Monday of this week, Tuesday he was taken back to the hospital and passed away today.

I know that he will be missed terribly by all of us. Charles was one of the finest, kindest people you could ever meet. His music will be missed, but most of all He will be missed.

An autopsy will be performed, and the funeral arrangements are not set yet. They believe it will be next Monday. The funeral will be ... in Charlotte. ...

Deja and Bonnie

Feeling lousy

I've spent the last few days trying to recover from nasty cold of sorts. All I seem to be able to do is eat, drink (lots of water) and sleep. Today, however, I had to show up to work for a couple of hours because the telephone guy that was supposed to show up this past weekend showed up today. So the phone lines for the studio were moved and the IT guy was trying to move the on-air computers and couldn't figger it out.
It was about the hardest 2 hours of work I've done in a long time. I just don't have any stamina and it gets really old quick watching tv (even with 150 channels to choose from).

Still crazy

Yesterday we went to a church council meeting where Susie was officially introduced as Interim Music Director (she even get's paid for it). The next service is already taken care of (mebbe even the next few - not MY gig) and tonite Jana from church is gonna show up at our place to practice a few songs - what songs? I don't know!
So we have to get the place a bit better organized before then - don't want to make to poor of an impression the first time out!
Klaus and Mocha seem to be getting along a bit better. They chase each other around a bit, but Mocha is still a bit jumpy but that's pretty well the norm for him.
Gotta go and help get the house cleaned up.

End of Year Letter

Hi Everyone,
This year finds us once again in a different location then last year – Grand Junction, Colorado. This could be a more permanent stay (hopefully) for us since we are both working, we bought a house and we like the area.

Robert joined Susie in Colorado in May soon after the house in Michigan sold. After looking for a job and keeping our options open, he landed a gig in September as Director of Engineering for a group of Radio Stations in Grand Junction. At around the same time, Mountain BOCES (Susie’s employer) was looking to expand their workforce throughout the 10 School Districts that they service. So she was able to transfer to an equal position (but more fun) in Parachute.

We still have been playing a lot of music and in the last year have attended Bluegrass Festivals in North Denver, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss, and Douglas, Wyoming. Robert bought an upright bass before he left Michigan.


We took a trip to see Susie’s brother and visit with some of her family in California in July. The weather was a bit too hot for us, but we enjoyed the visit.

Klaus (cat) and Kelly (dog) are still hanging in there. Klaus will be 10 years old this January and Kelly is 11 years old. Both seem to be pretty healthy for their ages. This year we started taking Klaus with us (along with Kelly) in the RV on all our trips. He has taken to it quite well. This came in handy when we had to live in the RV for a month while we waited to close on the house.

We hope this holiday season finds you and your loved ones happy and healthy.

(If you wanna be on the mailing list for next year and didn't get one this year let us know and we'll correct it)

The aftermath

We got to perform at church again and we had a friend shoot a couple of pix. The camera was set-up not to flash so they were a bit fuzzy but here's the best.

It was a transitional service with part of it at the old place (where we played) and the rest at the new place. I had put in a good days work getting a working sound system in the new place and spent most of the service actually tweaking it a bit. I actually got a lot of complements. People kept saying that they could actually hear the service for once. The new place is quite dead and the old was a real live classic church (with lots of reverberations).

After church we went to Sears to check out the disposals that were available. We found out that the one in the house was the cheapest one they made and we might save $20 by using the home-owners warrantee (the sellers paid for the warrantee). We decided to just buy one, this one is all stainless inside so it shouldn't blow-up like the last one did. We both hope that the rest of the appliances will hold out (or at least the warrantee will be worth something with them).

Happy New Year!

We took the dogs out for some frisbee in the park.

Of course Kelly did most of the catching with Mocha doing lots of running around, but Mocha did get it a few times.
We really enjoyed the disposal blowing up on us. I accidently turned it on for a second when I was trying to turn on the light and it made an ugly noise and seized up instantly. I freed it up by hand and tested it (with the water on) and it blew a hole thru the side of it.

Well we survived Y2k5 situation by staying home and watching some of the LOTR DVDs.