The Squamidian Report – Feb. 13 / 16
Issue #716
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I hate putting new strings on my musical instruments. Its not hard to
do and doesn't take all that long. Its just that strings start to 'get
old' as soon as they are installed and as you play your guitar or
whatever, your ear adjusts to the sound of the strings as they slowly
age. Therefore, they continue to seem to sound just fine as time goes
by. Then, when you put new ones on, they sound totally different. They
sound fresh and bright and lively but thats not what your brain has
gotten used to. Your instrument sounds like it is supposed to but not
how you have gotten used to it sounding. On some instruments the
difference can be quite startling, depending on how 'dead' the old
strings had become. I know that in times gone by I'd go for a year or
even years before changing strings and given that my instruments back
then were average at best, the result of new strings could be startling
and almost unpleasant. Way too much sound that I wasn't used to would
assail my ears. I've been changing strings on my Martin fairly
regularly and because its a pretty high end instrument the sound does
not deteriorate alarmingly as the strings age but there is certainly a
noticeable difference in string action and response. (As a side note, I
once went 25 years between string changes on my base guitar. The older
the strings got, the more mellow the base sounded. At least in my
opinion). Anyway, I changed the strings on my Martin this week and it
continues to sound amazing.
Now I also changed the black ink cartridge in our printer this week and
I got to thinking about the comparison. In both cases you remove the
old and install the new. In both cases you should be able to experience
a difference. But there is a very real difference between strings and
cartridges. Good printers are relatively cheap and good guitars are
relatively expensive. However, the strings for the expensive guitar are
cheap while the cartridge for the inexpensive printer is expensive. You
might pay under $100 for a printer that works just fine for pretty well
any purpose the average person might have for it. Then when you need a
new cartridge, you can find yourself paying close to 50% of the cost of
the printer for said cartridge, knowing full well it will need
replacing again way too soon. On the other hand, you may pay anywhere
from $1000 to infinity for a guitar and the strings cost a paltry $7 or
so for the whole set. The $50 cartridge was just for the black one,
there are still colored ones that keep running dry too. So, if guitar
strings were marketed the way printer cartridges are, I'd be paying
$2000 for a set of strings. Lets hope the makers of musical instruments
never catch on to the greedy tactics used by the makers of printers.
Another thing that got changed this week was the oil in my truck. Can
you imagine what that would cost if they used the same pricing policy
as the printer makers do? Do the math, no one would could afford to
drive. I guess the bottom line is that when it comes to printers, we
get taken to the cleaners. Oh well.
doug
****
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Man this week went fast! I hope Doug has thought of something to write
about this week since I seem to be drawing a blank! Oh well, I’m sure
this will turn into something worthwhile if I just keep on typing. I’d
tell you about all the snow I’ve cleared off the walkways this week but
we haven’t had any so that’s a bust but wasn’t that interesting? The
light we picked up at IKEA this past week turned out to be too long for
a hallway light so I finally took it back to Burlington the other day
and got our money back. It’s funny though, the evening before I
returned it to IKEA there was an article on the news about a faulty
ceiling light from IKEA that was being recalled due to plastic clips
that held the shade in place that were breaking and allowing the glass
shade to fall and injure home owners. The news said that IKEA would
give a full refund to any and all who returned the light to their
store. I had that in mind when I was driving down to Burlington to
return the fixture we had bought but thought, “What the heck, I doubt
there’ll be many people returning those lights that were on the news
last night!” Boy, did I get a surprise when I entered IKEA’s returns
area! There was a long line up of people ahead of me returning stuff
and I counted 15 out of the 25 or so in line that were holding two or
more of the lights that were faulty! Go figure eh? Also as luck would
have it, there were 6 “Return” desks and only one of them was open for
business. Wouldn’t you think that if this store was expecting a recall
of such a popular item they’d at least have a few clerks working the
“Returns Desks” to handle the surge of the day? It took me almost three
quarters of an hour to get through the lineup and be served. About half
way through the lineup a second clerk finally showed up to help the
poor girl that was facing the crowd alone. The second girl wasn’t much
help though as it took her about 15 minutes to serve the first customer
she called to her register. She must have been new or something. Anyway
I finally got to return my light and get out of that madhouse to head
for home. The one thing about the day that was in my favour was the
weather. It was at least sunny and the roads were clear all the way to
IKEA and home again. I’d have been there and back home in two hours if
it hadn’t been for that dastardly lineup! Oh well, what’s another hour
in the scheme of things when you’re retired? I had made the drive on my
own as Carole stayed home to get a few things she wanted to do around
the house finished up. I really don’t mind driving places on my own it
gives me a chance to just enjoy the ride and not have to have any
particular thoughts in my little pea pickin’ head! Just enjoy the drive
and swear at anybody and everybody that happens to drive like and idiot
during my trip! LOL! You might have guessed it; I did a lot of swearing
and complaining to myself and didn’t have to worry about hurting
Carole’s ears or feelings with my cursing! It’s great when you can
curse all you want and the only person to hear you is one who happens
to agree with everything you say! Hahahaha…… what a great way to vent
one’s frustrations!
Speaking of one’s frustrations, I was up to
Grand River Hospital today to have my kidneys checked with an ultra
sound and had to be there a little while before my appointment. My
appointment was for 1:45pm so I left home shortly after 1:00pm. I
arrived at GRH ten minutes later and parked the Jeep. I went to the
parking meter kiosk to buy a ticket and read their list of rates. The
sign said that the cost of parking was $3.00 for every half hour of
parking. I figured I’d be there for my two appointments in a row, one
for blood work and the other for the ultra sound so with that in mind I
was looking at approximately 2 to 3 hours. Figuring the cost per half
hour, by the time I’d get out of there the parking would cost me the
maximum of $14.00 per day and I’d only be there 3 hours. I thought, to
heck with this, I’m not spending all that good Lotto money on parking!
So, I jumped back in the Jeep and drove a few blocks out of my way and
parked at Central Fresh Market (Formerly Central Meat) which is down
King St a few blocks. The parking is for customers only but I figured
Carole and I shop there once in a while so that makes me a customer! I
walked from there up to the Hospital and after half an hour of testing
and another two of waiting around I was finished at GRH. I walked back
to the Free Parking spot at Central Fresh Market and headed for home. I
am sure I didn’t inconvenience any of their customers and I saved
myself $14.00 in parking fees! No feelings of guilt here, after all a
retiree has to watch his budget!
That’s all for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
In filling out an application, where it says, ‘Emergency Contact’, I put DOCTOR!
Makes sense doesn’t it?
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
|