Introduction & A Piece of Ham Lunch Report

[asphalt-abate]

Day 2 of 2012.

A quick introduction: My name is Tom and I live and work in Renton, Washington USA. Renton is the birthplace of every Boeing 737 and it is the final resting place for James Marshall Hendrix. If you are ever in town I’d be happy to show you around. I’m 51 years old, have three kids and a wife and not enough time to play guitar.

I’ll be on the road today between Beaverton, Oregon and Renton. There is a leftover ham in the refrigerator at my house so lunch today will be a slice of ham pan fried and placed between two slices of toasted bread with horseradish and mustard.

I’ll start my Lunch Report duties at the same point were Sam left off – a hike.
Last Tuesday I took my kids out to Dungeness Spit to walk out to the light house. This is a popular beach hike here in the Puget Sound. Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the US and extends 5 miles into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. The hike from the trail head to the light house is 11 miles round trip. Here is a shot of my kids as we are just getting started. The hike was a bit rough on my two youngest but we all managed and I’m happy that I was able to spend a day outdoors with my kids.

[timage=]
Dungeness Spit Hike Dec 2011 by teletom60, on Flickr[/timage]

This is where I was going to do my whole New Year’s resolution bit but I was beaten to the punch by Zapcosongs. But that’s ok, he was timely. So we’ll have a simple contest instead, a completely irrelevant contest.

Today’s Contest: I snapped this picture of a freighter coming through the Strait of Juan De Fuca on its way to Seattle or Tacoma. It’s so odd looking that at first I couldn’t figure out what it could be carrying but after thinking about it for a while I figured it out and confirmed it on the internet. Question: What cargo does this ship carry? The winner receives nothing. No looking on the internet before you answer. Good luck.

[timage=]
Dungeness Spit Dec 2011 Frieghter by teletom60, on Flickr[/timage]

G & L topic – If you could make an information request to G & L, what would you request? I’d love to see the production records for 2011, in a format that can be queried. How many Legacy models were built? How many Forrest Green ASATs? How many ebony fret boards were installed and on which models? Stuff like that could be fun to know and provide insight into the G & L product.

Happy lunching!

[darwinohm]

Tom, great hiking photos and I hope you enjoy the ham sandwich today. They are always a hit with me. The weather has turned in Minnesota and it is cold and windy, not good for hiking or really anything!

I have no clue what is in the freighter but it is very bulky and different looking. It may be full of the styrofoam beans used to fill cardboard boxes when shipping. It looks empty as it sits so high in the water.

I don't have any specific wants from G&L but the numbers of builds would be interesting to know. That is a closely kept secret I would bet. I would like to have a Black Pearl pickguard for my Red Z-3. Have a great day-- Darwin

[louis cyfer]

my guess for the cargo would be vehicles.

[KenC]

I'll guess the ship is carrying automobiles or heavy equipment from Japan or Korea. This is very similar to the car carriers I used to run across in my sailing days. Whatever is in there won't fit in shipping containers (like you see semi-trucks hauling on the highway) and needs to be protected from the elements.

I took an aircraft carrier through the Straight of Juan de Fuca in the late 80s. The scenery was breathtaking, but the currents were pretty nasty in some places when we headed into the Haro Straights. I would love to get up there and see it again.

The one bit of information I would love to see from G&L is the parts order records from the early days. In particular, I have an ASAT with body and neck dates from the first full month of production (May '86). It's in great condition and doesn't show any signs of modification, but the pickguard is black crinkle (which didn't go into production until late '87) and the bridge and control plate are chrome (which didn't appear until '88 on other instruments). I would love to be able to figure out whether these may have been prototypes, or if it was a case of a previous owner updating the cosmetics.

Ken

[zapcosongs]

I'm guessing that the ship is carrying Dreamliner parts.

Beautiful hike and family, Tom. I have visited your area of the world (ok, once) and was blown away by the scenery in every direction.

Records request: I'd like to see Employee records for the Leo era to confirm my suspicion that Leo seldom took a day off.

Great start! - ed

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

Hi Tom,

You are living where I wanted to live most of my life. Oddly, where I am now was so close but I avoided it until a set of circumstances brought me here and I realized I had to live here if I could not live there.

Awe.........nice bunch of kids and scenery.

The tanker, I have no idea aside from those that have been provided by people here earlier. The boat does look sort of like the ferries used between the San Juan Islands so it increases the odds that there are cars in there.

I like that idea of seeing the production records for each year. I would be surprised if G&L were that organized to have the information available to generate on some form of report. I am sure it could be culled with some head scratching even though "G&L" and "organized" are oxymorons. The different widget guys probably have a few notches scratched on the wall they could count and share with the other widget guys. I would not rely on a yearly figure because it is too much to ask them to keep the notches separated by year........(oh and lunch today is a bit of hyperbolic cynicism for the new year )

[blargfromouterspace]

Hey Tom

That hike sounds and looks really nice. I'm curious about the wood on the shore there - is there a forest there too?

I think that ship is full of G&L production records or maybe other ships.

I wish there was leftover ham in my house!

[cmguitar]

The boat who knows! I am 300 miles from the coast.

G&L question...... I asked almost the same question when I did the LR .
I was told they keep those numbers under wraps.
I am sure it nothing near the Two Headed Monster (FMIC & Gibson)
I would like to see more G&L ' s out in the world .
I have the feeling Fender should not want to see a line of Tributes in Guitar Center.


Chet

[gitman001]

Hey Tom,

We spend a lot of time boating in the summer, and although i don't know what is in the ship, i do know if i came across that on the open water i would crap my pants!!! That thing is hugh!

Lunch was a quick grilled cheese sandwich - we spent most of the day getting rid of christmas.... Tree down, stockings away, that sort of stuff.

G & L

Great question.... I would love to request information on the timeline of a build. Specifically the new SC-2 that i got this year. I would love to know how long the flake actually takes, how far apart the neck and body are finished and how much time it spends getting stuck together.

Scott

[asphalt-abate]

Thank you everyone who responded and thanks for the kind words. Most of you were correct. The ship is a vehicle carrier. It's name is Supreme Ace. Did you know that you can track ship movements online? I'm sure that this is a hobby for some people.

Ed - nice try with the dreamliner parts. Japan is a big supplier to the Dreamliner program.

Ken -why were you taking a carrier through the Haro Straight? Were you going to Victoria or Vancouver?

Jamie - Yes the forrest does come to the beach and its common for trees to fall onto the beach. The waves pick them up and float them arround. You have to keep an eye out if you are a boater.

Thanks everyone. Talk to you tommorow.

[sam]

Hey Tom,

Great start and hike with the family, always fun!

Would love to find what ASAT's were produced on one of my birthday's, or even production on one of my kids birthday's, could give them a brthday guitar with one of their birthday stamps. Always looking for dad points.

I missed on a guess before it was given. Used to see many cargo ships in Savannah.

Looking forward to the week.

[Kit]

Hey Tom, I did not know you were in the Portland area over New Years and missed a chance to get together with you. The last time was fun, and we need to do it again.

Kit

[KenC]

Tom,

We had just been a "show boat" for a maritime festival in Seattle - Sea Fair, if I remember correctly - and were heading up to Vancouver for a port call.

Ken