2,000 Miles . . . and all of 'em to go . . . .

I've begun the process of planning our trip out to the east coast and back. The trip starts in Cary, IL (letters A & F - the F is covering up the A), goes to Petersburg, WV; then Midlothian, VA; then Nashville, NC; onto Louisville, KY and finally back home. ■ It's going to cover over 2,000 miles. And gas keeps getting more and more expensive! ■ I've been promised gig pictures tomorrow, or is it today - as the clock just passed midnight. ■

Lake Geneva for lunch.

A late afternoon post today. Our friend Vicki was visited us this weekend. She left her contacts here when she left to go back to Milwaukee. In order to get her contacts back to her as soon as we could we decided to meet in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - a good half-way point. That's Vic in front of the restaurant where we had a nice lunch. The food was good and it was a delightful lunch. ■ With the trip to Lake Geneva I'm a little behind in some of the things I want to get done. Heck, that's life. ■ It's been raining on and off most of the day, so it hasn't been dry enough to get out and cut the grass. That's for tomorrow, I guess. ■ No pictures from the gig yet. ■

The bar - at least the outside of it.

This is the bar we played at last night. Hopefully I'll have the gig pictures to put up tomorrow on the Bullfrog website (http://www.bullfrogband.com). ■ Just did 5½ minutes on the treadmill. Not much, but a start. I'll do much more tomorrow. Promise. ■ It's a rainy Sunday. I had planned on cutting the grass, but that's not going to happen today. Hopefully tomorrow though. The grass has grown quite a bit since I cut it on Thursday. ■ Well, we're off to a graduation party. ■

Tired and sore.

It's morning. I initially got up around 7:30 am. Stayed up for a little while then crawled back in bed and got another ½ of sleep. It's not enough sleep, but it'll have to do until tonight. ■ My hands are sore from playing. Playing for 3+ hours is hard unless you're used to it. Lots of string bending, chording and riffs over the stretch of a gig and I'm just not used to it. I'm doing another gig with Bullfrog in a couple of weeks, so I'll have to start practicing. ■ And as I stretch my shoulder muscles I find that they're sore too. Having a guitar hang from them for 4 hours is something I'm not used to. Practice, practice, practice . . . ■

Home after the gig.

3:20 am - We played until 2:00 am. We broke down, packed up and everyone was on the road by 2:30 am. I made it home in 30 minutes. Not too bad of a drive (about 23 miles), but it rained the whole way home. ■ Not a big crowd. I think the rain and the siting of tornadoes kept people home. I'll have to check the news tomorrow and see if any touched down in our general area. ■ One person at the bar just loved the band and the music. He was dancing with anyone who'd dance with him and alone if need be. He also spoke only Spanish. But music is a common language and he went crazy dancing when we played Santana's "Evil Ways." I wish I had video of it. ■ I've been asked to fill in at Bullfrog's next gig in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. This one was a blast. ■ Maybe pictures tomorrow - I mean later today - maybe. ■

All packed up . . . .

. . . and ready to go. I've got to change my shirt, put on my boots, and put my Les Paul in the car and then I'm off. The set lists are printed, stapled, and packed; my amp, cords, monitor speakers, mic stand, guitar stand, etc. are packed. ■ This gig is probably a good 45 minute drive from here. It starts at 10:00 pm! Man that's late for me. I don't know if we play 'till 1:00, 1:30, or 2:00 am. I don't expect to arrive home until probably 3:30 am. ■ Off I go. More tomorrow.

Songs and set lists

I've been working on the set list for tonight. There it is. Go ahead and click on it and see if you can recognize any of the songs. ■ Recognize any? You should. We start off with a little Stevie Ray Vaughn "Pride & Joy" and we end the night with the classic "Louie, Louie." ■

Getting ready . . . the process

I'll be giggin' with The Frog tonight. It's a process to get ready for the gig - especially since I haven't done this on a regular basis. I need to make sure my ax (guitar) is ready. Since I change strings on it a couple of weeks ago for a gig I know the strings are good, but I will need to check the neck to see if it needs any adjusting. I'll also need to check cables - guitar, mic, and speaker to make sure I have 'em all + backups. And batteries . . . . . ■ It's another hot one today. The temp is about 80º right now and expected to get close to 90º. ■ I need to jump in the shower and get dressed and get some things done. More later on . . . . ■

Day is done . . .

The day is almost over. The sun is going down. Soon the Cubs will be
starting their game in LA. I'll be going to bed. ■ 11:05 PM - Going to bed??? I didn't make my 9:00 pm bedtime. The Cubs are losing 2 to 0 right now. ■ I'm playing with my old band, Bullfrog, tomorrow night. It'll be fun. I do miss the band. I miss playing music with the guys and with other people. And I miss the ol' "Bullfrog Family & Friends." That's the group that's been showing up to gigs for the last almost 10 years. I've got lots to do tomorrow in preparation for the gig. I've got to check my guitars to see if they need to be adjusted; bring up the monitors from the basement ('cause I've got to bring monitors to the gig); load up speaker cables and mic cables, etc. Lots to do. ■

Oil change time.

Yup, time to get the oil changed. Years ago I used to do this myself,
but it's much easier to have it done by the experts.

Drawing . . . it's coming along

A second post for today! The drawing I've been working on is coming along. Still lots left to do, especially with the trees. And then it'll need some sitting time. ■ I've got guitar lessons to give in a few minutes. More later. ■

Working ok the Vette

That's Jac, my neighbor, working on putting the engine back together in his '90 vette. He had to take the engine apart (no problem!) and replace a head gasket - and now is in the process of putting it back together again (problem!). Ok, it's no problem for Jac, but I'd be totally lost working on an engine. ■ I've been working on a drawing this morning. I hope to finish it maybe tomorrow. ■ I need to get the oil changed in my car today. I don't put many miles on it, so instead of changing it every 3,000 miles, I change it every couple of months. ■

Cardiologist appointment day.

This is a picture, actually 2 pictures stitched together, of the Kalo Foundation board meeting last night. It's a hard working group and I'm proud to be part of it. ■ I've got an appointment with my cardiologist in about 45 minutes, so I've got to get moving here. I wonder what the diagnosis will be. ■ 12:30 pm - I've been back from the cardiologist for awhile; had a little lunch; worked on the drawing and now checking email, etc. The cardiologist said my ejection fraction is up and that the blood is flowing through my heart well - so I guess that means the valves and so forth are fine. The biggest thing I have to do is lose weight. And don't I know it. I've been eating less for quite awhile (maybe not enough, huh?), but need to eat even less AND I need to exercise. ■ And on a lighter note - it's raining today and hopefully it'll wash the rest of those "helicoptor seeds" down into the gutters. ■ I'm hearing the sound of shoveling outside. I look out the window and the village is out shoveling those "helicopters" out from around the drains in the street. Yup, that's how thick they are this year. ■

Monday & busy.

(Picture is of the flowers on the bushes by the side of our garage.)
Let's see: I've been on the treadmill for 7 minutes. A little bit each day - or should I say a little bit more each day? I've continued work on a drawing; I've cleaned out the rest of the gutters as best I could. The new ladder is a breeze to move around. Really makes it a lot easier to do the gutter cleaning. And as I said the other day - we've got a bumper crop of those "helicopters." I think we've got easily twice what we've had normally and really maybe 3 times as much. We're supposed to get rain this week, so that should wash the rest of them down from the roof into the gutters - and then I'll be cleaning again on Friday, or Saturday. ■ I've got the Kalo Foundation meeting tonight. I've got to take 30 minutes and get stuff together for that. The drive to Park Ridge is a 60+ mile round trip. At 26 mpg that's about $10 worth of gas. Trips to anyplace are no longer inexpensive. We filled up both cars this weekend. Holly's took about $60 worth of gas. Holly filled my car up and I know it wasn't empty, but it was probably around $40 - a total of $100.00. ■ We've got a wedding to go to this month and the round trip will be in excess of 2000 miles. Earlier this morning I was trying to figure out our route, mileage, etc. It's gonna be costly. ■ 10:25 pm - I'm home from the Kalo Foundation meeting. I've already modified and emailed the foundation's ad that we put in the Park Ridge Fine Art Society booklet. That's one item ticked-off the todo list for tomorrow. Done. ■ As I write, the Cubs are tied 3 to 3 in the 4th inning. Can they keep their winning streak up? ■

What a beautiful Sunday.

This picture is from early this morning - ok, maybe not so early - around 9:00 am - I took it when I went out to get the Sunday paper before breakfast. It's been a gorgeous day - sunny, temps in the mid 70s, and medium humidity. ■ The tree you see in picture is a silver maple. It sheds it's seeds - commonly known as helicopters, about this time of year. And, boy, do we have a bumper crop of them this year! They're just thick on the driveway, patio, and lawn. We bought a new, smaller (16'), extension ladder at Home Depot so I could (and I did) clean the gutters. The gutters are filled with the helicopters. I have a 24' extension ladder, but it's just too heavy to move around for cleaning my gutters. I still need it 'cause it's a 2-story home, but all my gutters are at the 1st story level. ■ Jac, my across-the-street-neighbor, asked me to come over to see his corvette. He has to replace one of the head gaskets and he's disassembled the engine. He knows my famed mechanical abilities and wanted me to see it. I'm impressed. I've never seen the inside of an engine before. I think I could take one apart (-easy - just unscrew things), but putting one back together - not gonna happen. I need to get some pictures. ■ I've been working on an update to the Kalo Foundation website (www.kalofoundation.org). I'm putting together a historical places map of Park Ridge. And while I have addresses and names, some of the people listed - all important - don't have anything I can find about them via the net. I'll check tomorrow at the Kalo Foundation meeting to see if anyone has the data I need. ■ Did salmon on the grill tonight. Delicious. All for tonight. ■