Notes_Norton

Many years ago I decided to see what being 'normal' was. I quit playing music full-time and became a musical "weekend warrior". During the week I was a telephone repairman. This was back in the days when telephones had wires connecting them to the network. (Normal for me is soooo overrated so I went back to full-time gigging for a living). I had a call where a house had a lightning event. The telephone drop wire that went from the pole to the house was still there, bit it had no copper in it, just a brittle neoprene jacket that bending it would break. At the house the metal flashing around the eaves was melted to the hook that the now hollow drop wire was attached to. On the wall there used to be a telephone company lightning protector. There was only a black mark on the wall where the protector used to be. Parts of it were found about 50 feet away on the chain link fence. The protector used to be connected to the power company ground rod by a 12 gauge plastic coated copper ground wire. There was a black line where the wire used to be. The cable that went from the protector to the phone was still there. But the 4 wires inside were fused together and the colored insulation plastic was dripping out of the cable jacket here and there. The phone was a wall phone, and there was just a bit of soot around the dial. I took the cover off and the inside of the phone was melted. The home owners told me they were sleeping, the bang woke them up and they were being pelted with something. When they turned on the light there were two holes in the plaster ceiling exposing wire-lath about 2 feet in diameter. This is what fell on them. They lost their TV and a few other appliances and needed a couple of electric circuits replaced. They told me the power company had been out already and it was determined that the lightning probably either hit the power mast or the power drop wire. That's another reason why I unplug when not in use. Insights and incites by Notes PS Like Craig I also use a power conditioner on my band gear, either at home or on the gig. I use TrippLite brand, but Furman units offer the same protection. This keeps voltage spikes and dips out of your precious gear and makes them last longer.

Just a nice day with my beautiful wife. We're still self isolating. Since we lost all our gigs from March through October, there is no sense going out to spend money. Instead we are having lots of fun at home. It's a great day. Happy father's day to all the dads out there. Notes

That makes a lot of sense depending on where you live. I'm just the opposite, but I live in a place that has a lot of thunderstorms. Almost daily in the rainy season and often during the dry season too. And they come with little or no warning at times. First of all I use a good UPS for my gear, it keeps the spikes and dips out. Next I turn on the gear first thing in the morning and shut it off either when lightning gets close or before I go to bed, whichever comes first. I've had a lightning hit tear up gear, I lost a modem, a printer and a computer. I left it all plugged in and went out for lunch. One of those instant thunderstorms came up in a hurry while I was in the restaurant. I got home and could smell the damage when I opened the front door. Along with the computer went the data on the hard drive. To me that's more important than the computer. If lightning hits close, no surge protector in the world will help, but unplugging it will. I saw a phone company map for frequency of lightning strikes in the lower 48 once. There was a oval-ish shape between Tampa and Palm Beach that had the most lightning strikes per year in that area. Another oval-ish ring around that was second, and I'm in that ring. Looks like they are building up to the west of us, where the east and the west sea breezes are clashing in the middle of the peninsula. At least they aren't sneaking in today. Insights and incites by Notes

"The Boys Of Summer" - Don Henley

If crop circles are real, does this mean that aliens have designs for our planet?

El Raton - Cheo Feliciano - Jorge Santana (Fania All Stars) That's Carlos' brother on guitar

I'm giving up drinking for a month. Oops, that came out wrong. I'm giving up. Drinking for a month.

"You Too" - Chase Atlantic

"Until I Met You" - Manhattan Transfer put words to Count Basie's "Corner Pocket" and did a nice job of it.

I decided to quit my job as a personal trainer because I don't feel I'm fit enough for the job... I’ve handed in my 'Too Weak' notice.

When the drug dealers got divorced, they agreed to joint custody.

OK they don't have to be musical, but it's better if they are. To start I'll post some fractured Johnny Cash lyrics.

Shakey Ground - Etta James She did IMO an improved cover of the older Temptations song and the rhythm section on that cut played brilliantly

"Slip Slidin' Away" - Paul Simon

Chega De Saudade - Eliane Elias

"Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman

Obviously the neighbors don't share their taste in music with me either.

I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters

You really have to hand it to her.

Did you hear about the blind pr0st1tute?

Hmm, there are a lot of tunes I need to go back to listen to. I've been working on new Band-in-a-Box styles all day. "Words" - Bee Gees

When you play music for a living, you gotta play what pays. I've played a lot worse than Disco ? Actually for a sax player, Disco isn't all that bad. I got a lot of extended, self-indulgent solos. Mostly on alto though, but I prefer tenor. I filled in for a friend playing bass in a country band for a couple of months. He broke his arm and I was between bands at the time. Can you say ||: 1 - 5 - :|| ??? (repeat ad infinitum) But going to work with a cowboy hat on was kind of fun. It was a rough crowd, the bartenders had loaded guns under the cash registers. Fortunately the band was on stage behind the bar. When the fights broke out, we kept playing. And there was a time when I played jazz with famous dudes that made me feel like a beginner. The guitarist in the band taught at the University of Miami and heavyweights like Ira Sulliivan (who he also played with) would come and sit in. All in all, even Disco beats any day job I can think of. I may be a Ho but I'm a good Ho ? Notes

Great Pun emeraldsoul - it took a few seconds for me to get the association. - - - I used to play this song in a Disco band, and I enjoyed a long, self-indulgent alto sax solo because we were new, short of material, and thus stretched out all our songs while we learned new ones. Sun Goddess - Ramsey Lewis with Earth, Wind and Fire

Compared To What - Les McCann & Eddie Harris