Ok . . . . . this is just too good to pass up . . . . . .

Yeah, what the heck is this? It's my neighbor, Jac, with one of his inventions. I'm not sure how many inventions he's had, but actually this one is pretty good. And now you're asking "just what is his invention?" --- and that's for another post . . . . . stay tuned - as they say . . . . . ■ It was a beautiful day today. Warm, or at least warm for this time of year. I did cut the grass and thus mulch the leaves. Much easier to do that than rake the things. ■ Had a gig on Halloween. We played in a place where we had so little room to setup that I elected to not bring in a mic stand, or guitar stand. There just wasn't room. The gig was fine and we made new friends. ■ Had a couple of brews tonight with my neighbors - yes, including the inventor too, and cooked some burgers, brats, and chicken on the grill. I did forget to take my nightly meds, which is why I'm writing this at 12:23 in the morning! I should be fast asleep. Well, I will be soon, since I just took it now. ■

Ooo, another new toy!

Yes, another new toy on my iphone. This one lets me make photo collages from pictures on my iphone and then save those results - like the one above. You can resize the photos, turn them any-which-way, and bring them to the front, or back. You can even draw on them. ■ Had a gig last night - on halloween. We were really crammed into a small space. I decided that there wasn't enough room for my mic stand, so I left it in the car. And we only used one monitor (usually we use 2). I also left my guitar stand in the car and just put my guitar in its case between sets. Talked about trying to setup in a small space! ■ We are hosting cribbage tonight. Holly's downstairs giving the rooms there a cleaning. I'm installing antivirus software on her pc and writing this blog entry. I know it doesn't seem fair, but I've got a gout attack on my left foot and it's kind of hard to walk. ■ In another 1/2 hour I'll have to run and get ice. Our icemaker appears to be non-functioning. Ah, great. Another unexpected expense coming up. ■ I'll also have to start the fire for smoking some salmon, which we're having for cribbage. ■ All for now. . . . . . . . .

At the gig . . .

With all the beautiful women . . .

October . . . . . and it's Orange . . . . . .

At least it seems orange . . . . . . - that's the pumpkin I brought from home to put in the store I work at. (I think my English is wrong!) At any rate it's sitting on top of one of our Orange amps. Very nice amps and very expensive. ■ Still trying to get Holly's pc on our wifi connection. I've spent hours on the wifi connection and more time on trying to get my old printer/scanner up and running - both to no avail. ■ I've got a lot on my plate right now and I've got to organize it a little bit and get the stuff done. ■

Clouds . . . . .

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from . . . . . " Do you remember the words and the artist? I'm not tellin'. You'll have to guess. ■ It's been a great weekend. Two good gigs, got 2 PCs setup (or close), got the grass cut and had ham on the grill. ■ My office is looking much more organized. I moved a lot of stuff out (although it's in another bedroom and needs to be sorted through . . . ) and moved a 2nd pc in. ■ The gigs were fun - especially the one on Saturday night. (check the pics out at www.bullfrogband.com) The venue was a new place for us. We arrived early and had prime rib for dinner there. Very good. Had a nice crowd for the gig and they only left when we stopped playing shortly after 1:00 am. ■ And today was a beautiful, sunny fall day. The leaves have started to turn and fall. I'll try and take some photos of the trees before I leave for work each day. And I'm determined not to have to rake the leaves this year. Last year I just ran over them with my John Deere and didn't have to rake at all - that's my plan for this year too. ■ Time for bed . . . . . .

Out for dinner & the gig . . .

We're at Jimmy D's where we're playing tonight. We're having dinner
and that's Rosie our waitress.

Lots of stuff . . . . .

Yes, I know your question ---- what's that a picture of? It's a photo of the wiring inside of a guitar that's in the store for a pickup replacement. That's a picture of the wiring before it was cut to install the new pickup. Ok, that's one question answered - now on to the good stuff. ■ The Good Stuff: Why did I say "good stuff?" Really it's just stuff. --- I think our water softener maybe ok. Let's all cross our fingers for that. The test will be tomorrow morning - will the water be soft again???? ■ Our wireless network: No good news so far. The hardware I bought was the wrong hardware. I also tested the strength of the signal where my wife's pc is setup and it's not very strong. It's a perfect place for the pc, but with very little signal there it's going to be tough, if not impossible, to make the connection. One good thing in this whole thing is that I have a program on my iphone that allows me to measure the strength of the WiFi signal. ■ Mollie, our older dog, slipped trying to get up on one of the family room couches. She hasn't been able to make it up on our bed in quite a few months and now this couch thing has me worried on two levels. 1 - it saps her confidence in moving around and 2 - I saw our last dog, Maizy, go through some of this a couple of years ago. ■ It's late again. Time for bed. Goodnight.

Organize, wifi, soft water . . .

My office is a mess! Before chili fest we tossed a bunch of stuff in there (maybe I should write here as that's where I am) and it's just a pit. I was going to take a picture of it and post it here, but that's too embarrassing. Not only does it have to be organized, but I've decided to move my studio into the same room. Maybe I will post some pics. Let me think about it. ■ Wifi: We just purchased 2 new pcs. Mine is hooked up directly to the net, but my wife has to depend on our wifi for her connection. The old pc would connect just fine, but the new one only sees a weak signal and won't connect. So today I went and bought a new wifi router. Tomorrow I install it. Then we'll see if she can connect. If not I may purchase a wifi extender, or we may have to physically relocate it to another spot in the house. We'll see what happens. ■ Soft water - or the lack thereof. Our water softener is not working. I've tried everything I know, but no soft water. So tomorrow morning I'll call the watersoftener guy. More money down the drain . . . . . you knew that was coming, didn't you? ■

Rib Fest is on!

The ribs were great!

So that's where it went!

I was wondering where that guitar case went. It was right under the table in my office. I painted the case years ago when we were visiting my parents in NC. It's now held together with duct tape and prayers. I guess I should replace it. ■ We've got rib fest to go to this Saturday. Should be a lot of fun. The weather is supposed to be nice and I know the food will be fantastic. And we're all bringing guitars, so there should be a lot of music. ■ No gigs this weekend, but we have two the following one. That gives me time to brush up on a few leads. ■ Time to hit the hay. ■

Food, turkey and weight loss . . . .

What the heck does that mean? We've got a contest going at work to see who can lose the most weight. It's a weekly weigh-in. I lost a pound and a half this past week. Not much, but every bit helps. I've been trying to eat less. Now I've got to add exercise to my daily schedule. And turkey? That's a quick pic of the turkey I did on the grill on Sunday. I think I over-cooked it a bit. We'll make soup out of it. ■ Working at the local guitar store for me is like being a kid in a candy store. Ooo, look at that guitar. Look at that amp. I have a strong constitution, however, and have only bought 1 new amp . . . . so far. I do need a decent acoustic-electric guitar, and there's a telecaster that's caught my eye . . . and that tube amp might be just what I need . . . . . If only my toys weren't so expensive. Ah, well, what do they say . . . "He who has the most toys when he dies - wins!" ■ One of our guitar playing friends, Tony, just had a heart attack. He's going to be alright, but we're concerned about him. Heck, I think he's younger than I am. ■ And last, but not least, rib fest is coming up this Saturday. I gotta stop writing about food. ■

A cold gig & fireworks . . .

Had a gig last night and boy was it cold. A guitarist's fingers just don't work correctly in the cold. In the middle of our gig they put on a great fireworks show. Well done, Johnsburg. ■ I'm doing a turkey on the grill today. It's 17 lbs and should take about 3½ to 4 hours to cook. Which means that I'll have to start the fire pretty soon. ■ More later . . . . . .

Four Bullfrogs and a Tadpole . . . . . .

I have 1 guitar student right now. That's him on the left. He's been taking guitar lessons since around the 1st of the year. Long-story-short - Jack played with our band, Bullfrog, at Chili Fest XV - and did a fantastic job. We'll get him up and playing with again at a gig. ■ Bullfrog has a gig tomorrow night. It's an outside gig, so it's going to be cooold. Burrrr . . . . . I hope my hands can take it. Heck, I hope all our hands can take it. Playing with cold hands is no fun. ■ I'm working tomorrow and I need to cut the grass. I'm hoping I can get that done on Sunday - before it rains. It's bedtime. ■

Fundraising . . . . . etc . . . . .

I opened a letter from the Kalo Foundation, which had been buried in the mail for a few days, and was suprised to see that my donation of a commission to draw a home had a winning bid of $1955.00! I'm a little shocked too, but pleased that this will help the Kalo Foundation. ■ And the band has another gig booked for November. It's an annual Packer-Bears game party. It's a big gathering and a lot of fun to play. Can't wait. ■ Time for bed.

57 this morning . . . .

It was 57 degrees in the house this morning. We're determined not to turn the heat on until November. ■ Bullfrog has an outdoor gig on Saturday. Saturday is supposed to have a high of 61 degrees. Far too cold to play outside. What are these people thinking? ■