Lunch Report, July 11, 2011: First day of vacation!

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi gang,

Lunch
Nothing special. Guess I'll make some sandwiches for which I have to do groceries still. And I love soups, so we might make some minestrone or something.

Wow, a weird morning for me. The last months I have been completely tied up at work to the point of near burn-out. But now I'm enjoying my first morning of a 3 week vacation. THREE WEEKS! And we started off this weekend with a nice camping trip at a site along the North-Cascades Mountain Loop close to Bear Creek. Most of the time will be spent at home and around Seattle though. The first one and a half week will be spent on a lot of reading and playing guitar. And then my wife's niece is coming over with her 16 year old son. He plays keyboards so I hope some jamming is in the future. But we'll do all the touristy kind of stuff here around Seattle: Space Needle, Underground tour, Olympic Sculpture Park, Experience Music Project, Snoqualmie Falls, see Bruce Hornsby and Bela Fleck at Chateau Ste. Michelle, and finally a midweek camping trip to Mt. Rainier. We would like to go to the White River camp ground, which due to its proximity to the mountain is absolutely spectacular but has a first come first serve policy. So for insurance, we made reservations at Ohanapecosh slightly further down the road.

Non-G&L question: What are your plans for vacation did year?

I haven't bought any guitar in 3 months. THREE MONTHS! So nothing I can share there. But westsideduck inspired me when he showed is jamming room. I did buy a nifty thing for my music room, a beautiful full sized G&L banner which nicely covers the right hand side of my workbench:

G&L question (kind of): What does your practice room look like? Have enough space to place all the instruments? Double duty as recording studio?
I would like mine to be twice as big so I could place a recording console somewhere. Although I could replace my old iBook with an iPad and a control service. Saw a nifty ad in the latest Guitar Player for the PreSonus StudioLive System which got my juices flowing. So far I have held off on building a recording studio but that thing is right up my alley. And finding space for all the guitar cases is a nice logistic puzzle that would be easier to solve when the room would be bigger. There is ample room for my 2 rigs but if I want to add drums, they have to go around the corner into the den and fill all the space there. But at least it is MY space where I can rock out any time I want which means everything to me.

Enjoy your Monday and more specifically your summer.

- Jos

[Kit]

Jos, thanks for stepping up.

Usually my family goes on one good vacation a year, but this year is different. I was out of work (first time in my decades of work life) early this year for 3 and a half months. Now I am employed again but in a contract position. Since I don't earn vacation time now, taking time off for vacation means not only spending money on the vacation, but also not getting paid. So we are skipping vacation this year.

That doesn't mean completely doing without though. During spring break I took my daughter to southern California to check out a few universities since she will be applying to college in the fall. My wife will be taking her to Texas next month to visit relatives and also take a look at a school down there. Yesterday, on the spur of the moment we took a trip to the Oregon coast. It was actually a very pleasant day out there and we had a great time.

For having a pretty big house I am short a practice room. I have a bonus room but it is usually occupied by one of my kids watching TV or playing games. I have on occasions taking over the room for playing if another player is coming over for the purpose of checking out musical equipment. There is also a study in the house. I occasionally will play in there, but it is not big enough for more than a couple of guitar players at a time. Since I play mostly unplugged anyway I can play anywhere, any place. Most of the time I'll be playing silently in the same room as my wife and kids are watching TV.

All my guitars are put away in a closet. I may have a guitar out every once in a while, and it normally won't stay out for more than two or three days before I decide to put it away and play another guitar.

Kit

[darwinohm]

Yow, thanks for jumping in today. Lunch was a sandwich and I am laying a bit low as I cracked a couple of ribs yesterday. I heal finer than Frogs hair.

I am on vacation every day. We have not had a particular trip as such but a lot of things going on most of the time.

My guitar cave is my garage which is also the recording studio and guitar case storage. I have about 35 to 38 guitar cases stored on a rack, just below the ceiling in the garage. This is unused space anyhow so it worked out well. I have a picture if any one is interested, just let me know and I will post it. The guitars are all in the house, on the wall and 10 in racks. 1 in a display case. This is were I spend a lot of my at home time.

You young folks sure seem to put in a lot of time working. I think that is a sign of times if you wish to remain employed. Hang in there Yow and enjoy the three weeks to the max.-- Darwin

[gitman001]

Hey guys,

I am just back from 2 weeks off, a week at sea on the st. Lawrence river and a week down in the great town of Boston. It is good to be back at home catching up with things around here and enjoying a good home cooked meal.

My wife and I share our basement for a teaching studio, but I just got the green light to convert 1/2 of the garage to a full time teaching space and guitar room. BTW Darwin, which guitar hangers do you use? And are you happy with them? That is going to take up some of the free time this summer for sure.

On another note, i got a message from my dealer today saying that my sc-2 ( from way back in february!) was shipped out of California on Thursday. I hope to have it later this week, which may make for a good lunch report. I am so excited that it is almost here

It's good to be back,
Scott

[blargfromouterspace]

Sounds like a great trip, Jos. My girlfriend and I had a week long trip to Singapore recently and had a great time. The food there is something else.

My guitar room is also my study and a storeroom for stuff that wont fit anywhere else in the house. I'm happy to have the space - my last place of residence was a tiny flat (apartment to you Americans) where my bedroom was also my study and music room I had no space! The guitars were kept in their cases in front of the wardrobe, which out of necessity was permanently open, and I had to reach over them to get dressed in the morning. I dream of the day when I have a garage I can use.

Scott - Can't wait to see pictures of that SC-2. It was a sparkley one, wasn't it?

[darwinohm]

Scott, I have used Fretrest hangers and they seem fine. I occasionally check the necks for discoloration and have not had any but the first have only been hanging for three years. I bought 23 of them and paid about $9.00 ea at the local GC at that time. I got a good discount. There are different kinds and range to quite pricey. They are designed to mount on either drywall (Nylon Anchor) or into wood (Wood Screw). I am very happy with them.-- Darwin

[KenC]

Jos,

Enjoy the vacation! It sounds like it will be a busy time. This year I'm going to manage a week of vacation to my in-laws' house on the coast of Maine. My wife and kids usually spend a month up there every summer, and somehow I only manage to get away from work for the last couple of days. This year they are going for two weeks, and I'll be up there for the second week. One month is the max for a summer vacation up there. Any longer, and you'll also be catching the end of spring ("mud season") or the beginning of fall...

Interesting question on music rooms. We've just moved into a new house, and I somehow managed to convince my wife that the smallest bedroom (which is really too small to function as a bedroom) should be my music room. One aspect of playing the upright bass is that the instrument really needs a room of its own. I have yet to see a closet big enough or a bed high enough to stash it away. Unfortunately, the movers managed to destroy the computer desk and one of the two shelves that were destined for that room, so it's in limbo until I can build some new furniture. The room does have a closet that fits eight G&Ls in their cases, and a solitary Epiphone.

The ultimate vision for the music room is to have a desktop computer with a Tascam US-144 interface running into Ableton Live Intro, a couple of mics and a Blues Jr. Percussion will probably just be an old analog drum machine plugged into the recording interface (which is appropriate for the kind of stuff I'm most likely to record). That's all in a box waiting for me to build the desk. In the mean time, I usually have one or two (tonight it's three) G&Ls in their cases in the living room in case inspiration strikes.

Ken C

[gitman001]

Hey Jamie - yeah it is turquoise metal flake.... i have been watching will ray videos all morning trying to imagine how cool the turquoise is going to look on the sc-2!

Darwin, thanks for the info, the only ones i have seen at the local shop are some of the older hercules models. I am glad the fretrest work well for you, i will check them out.

Scott

[yowhatsshakin]

.. I was out of work (first time in my decades of work life) early this year for 3 and a half months. Now I am employed again but in a contract position. Since I don't earn vacation time now, taking time off for vacation means not only spending money on the vacation, but also not getting paid.

Hey Kit,

Congrats on finding work again! Can totally see your quandary as far as contracting vs. vacation is concerned. I have always had a paid job and hope to keep it that way. Knock on wood ... But have fun on your college hunting trips. I always enjoyed visiting other campuses when I was still in academia. Every college seems to have its own distinctive vibe with their buildings and student bodies.

For somebody from the Netherlands, the way US companies meet out vacation is somewhat of a shocker. Over there, everybody gets 'vacation money', which in effect is a 13th month of pay, and at least 24 vacation days a year, not including national and religious holidays. When I moved over here, I got 10 plus national holidays. Oh well. Eighteen years later, I'm almost back to 24 again

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

I am on vacation every day.

Howdy Darwin,

You deserve to enjoy your retirement! I'm looking at my dad who is enjoying his too, making trips with my mom, and knowing how hard he had to work for more than 40 years he totally deserved it too. Added bonus is that he became way more relaxed too and is a completely different, better, and nicer person than when I was living at home.

I have about 35 to 38 guitar cases stored on a rack, just below the ceiling in the garage.

I remember the picture and was trying to find it in one of your previous posts. but couldn't find it in the archives

You young folks sure seem to put in a lot of time working. I think that is a sign of times if you wish to remain employed.

Guess you're right. You might have heard about the reports recently published indicating that compared to 4 decades ago people are earning less (in corrected dollar amounts) and still are more productive. For me personally, it is very hard to walk away from a problem while I care so much for the product and people I work with. So you put in more hours to 'get the pee iut of the pool', as my favorite expression goes. What really burns you out is that while you are doing that somebody somewhere else is peeing in the pool. Oh well. I'm on vacation now and I shouldn't think about these things for at least the next 2 weeks ...

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

I am just back from 2 weeks off, a week at sea on the st. Lawrence river and a week down in the great town of Boston.

Hi Scott,

Ah, the great town of Boston. Hope you didn't have the proverbial 'triple H' weather over there: hot, hazy, humid. I got plenty of that during both of my (summer) visits which made me feel good to be back in the more 'mellow' Pacific Northwest.

My wife and I share our basement for a teaching studio, but I just got the green light to convert 1/2 of the garage to a full time teaching space and guitar room.

There you go dude! Some sound insulation and voilà!

And can't wait to see that SC-2!

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

Sounds like a great trip, Jos. My girlfriend and I had a week long trip to Singapore recently and had a great time. The food there is something else.

Thanks Jamie! Nice to see some exotic places. I'm still waiting for my employer to send me to Shanghai to help out the game studio over there.

The guitars were kept in their cases in front of the wardrobe, which out of necessity was permanently open, and I had to reach over them to get dressed in the morning.

I would have thrown my cloths on the floor to have my cases in the wardrobe

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

This year I'm going to manage a week of vacation to my in-laws' house on the coast of Maine.

Hi Ken,

Nice! Hope there is some lobster on the menu; at least once! People always ask me when I take vacation whether I use that to visit family in the Netherlands. My standard answer is: 'Hope not'. Family visits are incredibly tricky especially when you have a big family like mine. You don't have all the time in the world and hence have to pick and choose who will be part of that years 'Tour of the Home Country' and who will not. You cannot please everybody, but still you have to deal with those that are disappointed. And I will not even talk about the pressure my darling mom puts on me to add some unscheduled people to the program. End result is that both my wife and I are completely drained at the end of such a trip. Not much of a vacation indeed! We have found a couple of ways to deal with this: either take separate trips, i.e. not travel together, or rent a house (or swap a house) over there and have family visit you. That last option works fantastic: you don't have to run around the country and you have complete control over who will visit and who not.

BTW, congrats on the house! Like you, I also have the smallest room in the house but I can always use the den as overflow. It is just nice to have your own space whatever the dimensions. My music room comes with natural sound insulation since it is build into the hill on 2 sides, still has windows overlooking our garden, and is just a fun space to be in. My wife once walked in while I was doing maintenance on one of my guitars and she said she could see from behind I was smiling ear-to-ear.

- Jos