New Look. Still the Teleblogster

Decided to avail myself of the new Template maker for Blogspot, and came up with this. New logo image, too. If you look closely, you'll see it's a B-bender, too.

You Can Keep The Dime

I work in a sub-basement. Down in the the bowels of the earth where the cellphone signal doesn't go. This is point one.

Point two is that I don't have a phone on my desk. My first computer job since 1998 where this is true. Co-worker/supervisor right next to me has a phone. Has said I can have people call that number, but twice my wife has called and been told she has the wrong number. This is not a solution.

And, if I could receive calls hat the office with my cellphone, that's no problem, but see point one.

I have Google Voice. If people leave me a voice mail, it gets transcribed and recorded and left in my inbox. That's great. But it is not reaching me directly, which is what I want.

One thing you can do with Google Voice is set phone numbers for it to forward. I set the office number (which is not ringing off the wall by any means) and the forward. So far, two people have called and gotten the office line. Neither liked it. I was able to talk via voice, so I liked it, but if they now won't call me,

So, what is etiquette? Have I breached Miss Manners' guide for the 21st century? Is it right and good for me to keep my phone pointed at the voice mail even though it could ring directly down?

Also, I have a new AIM account and email. The name of the account is the name of the blog, so if you want to try to contact me ... well, it might work.

Joy and Illness

So, I got home, got a blanket, sat on the couch and fell asleep. At some time in the evening/night, I threw off the covers, took some clothes off so I wouldn't be so sweaty, then went back to sleep. At 4am, my alarm clock went off and I went to lay down on the bed for a while. I got to work an hour later than I normally do these days, and I was a bit bleary on the ride down, but I'm at work and feeling much better.

And three months ago, gas was pushing at $4/gallon. At the place I normally fill up, it was $1.98.

Joy and Sadness

There are really two people who you can blame/credit for me joining the world of guitar blogging.

The first is melodic shredder Lori and Play Like A Girl. The second is Ig, whose IgBlog was the hub of great community of guitar lovers. And, yeah, folks who drooled over Tal Wilkenfeld.

Both left their blogs for a few months. Lori to go manage Arjen Lucassen. Ig went to handle his housge getting hit by a hurricane.

Ig just closed his WordPress account. I'll miss him.

Lori just posted again after way too long. Welcome back!

In other news, my eldest stayed home sick today. Right now, I'm tired with chills. I think I'm sick now. Grr, eldest!

Send Me Silly Notes

I mostly use this blog as a notepad to store all the things I'm pining for, and as a log of my practice. The How To Not Suck series fills an external need, sitting between How To Play The Guitar and How To Play The Guitar Like Some Big Famous Guy. I like that I can get really random here, too.

But I got to thinking. Stratoblogster has a Strat-o-the-week each Friday, so, as long as he can find an instrument, he has at least one post a week without too much of an investment of creativity. So I'm trying to think of what I do that I could roll into a regular, once-a-week thing, an obligatory standard go-to type of thing. And one that, unlike my practice notes, wouldn't bore everyone silly. And I didn't want to go with the Guitar Porn angle with it, because, as I said, that's Strat's deal.



However, I found this. This is a Peavey Power Slide, a lap-steel built to be played standing, like the Melobars. I'm more and more finding that lap-style is my preferred way to play metal-bar guitar, and if your guitar has legs, like mine does, you're stuck in one spot like a keyboard player. I can't tell you this is a player, but I can say that Peavey has a reputation for cheap-but-good gear. Some of the best players I know, from Hiland to Satriani to Junior Brown (since we're talking steel guitar) endorse their amps. But, Mr. Peavey, if you want, I'd be glad to take one for a while and give it a review.

Why Do You Come Here?

This blog is fairly haphazard. I find Youtube videos I like, I put 'em on the blog. I like a guitar or don't like a string, I put 'em on the blog. I find great pictures of pretty Telecaster-style guitars, I put 'em on. I play out or practice, I put 'em on the blog.

I'm opinionated and an introverted extrovert. That's why I do it. Why do you come and read? Do you like my "How To Not Suck" series? Do you, like me, enjoy looking at well-made and interesting guitars? Tell me what you like. Tell me what you don't. I'm at a teachable point right now.

The Person Has Spoken

One person has said he or she would participate in this blog if I take off the Blogger/OpenID restriction on commenting. So, I have.

But I will reinstate if it begins to be a problem.

Assorted Notes

FullCompass.com is having a deal on Moog gear. You know it's pricy if they can afford to take $100 off.

To the right is an attempt to get to know my readership. I discovered/realized today that this blog is locked to people who don't have a Blogger or OpenID account. This keeps out the spammers. It also keeps out people who don't want to create a Blogger or OpenID account. Those who would spam are automated and annoying, but unlikely to read my poll. Those who would comment are much more likely to read it and respond.

The musical director wants to expand from two bands (Sunday and Wednesday) to three, so the Sunday band can switch off on occasion. I'm looking at tryouts next week. Yay me!