Burned fingertip!

So I burned my fingertip over the weekend. Have a nice big blister on my index finger of my fretting hand. It's on the finger pad though, so I can still fret a bit, but the bandaid makes is awkward. I got a few more days of practice before my vacation, so I guess it really doesn't matter. I don't have my computer too, so I haven't been able to look up tabs. So I've been playing the same five songs over and over again. Getting better I hope...

Anyway, as time went on, I got used to playing my Epiphone so that the buzzing isn't as pronounced. Truss rod adjustments aren't doing anything else, so my next step is to go back to light or medium strings. The extra-light strings just aren't doing it for me. Oh well. I'll try to get some new strings later. I'm just focused on my vacay now.

I'm a recovering internet addict

With my laptop at HP for repairs, I am feeling internet withdrawals when I'm at home. It's pretty weird not having the internet at your fingertips. I still get Gmail, thanks to my new phone and T-Mobile, but no Google searches, no Wikipedia, no YouTube.

I feel so deprived. I mean, I actually watched cable. Oh my gosh, I watched cable TV. I rarely use my TV. You know what else I did? I actually sat at my coffee table and had a drink a couple times. So weird to actually lounge around at home instead of surfing. Haha. But it's good. The internet wastes your brain away anyway. And I'm sure my games on Facebook can wait a bit before I actually take my turns. The hardest part really is that I usually surf a bit before I sleep. Now I have to just head to bed and turn the lights out. Geez, who does that?

Well, when my laptop returns, I hope I don't get too addicted to it again. Oh man, on another note, if you don't use Pandora.com to discover new and old music, you are missing out. Go check it out.


What's playing on my Pandora now:
Blake Lewis - Surrender
(Yeah, I like this song. So what? I also like Britney's "Hot as Ice". Don't hate.)

"Education, not isolation"

If you're in the Massachusetts area (and probably outside too), I'm sure you've heard about the so-called pregnancy pact scandal in Gloucester. In a town where the average teen pregnancy rate was at 4 per year, they had 17 this year. That's more than quadruple the norm. What was shocking about this number besides the increase is that there was a supposed pregnancy pact where the teens, most under 16, agreed to get pregnant and raise their children together.

As details emerged, a few points popped out at me. One, the school nurse had tried to implement a program to supply contraceptives at the school. She was overruled, and she resigned in protest. Second, the closest medical facility is supposedly miles away. So there really is no other way for the teens to get contraceptives. Then some are arguing that movies like "Juno" and "Knocked Up" are glamorizing pre-marital pregnancies, and celebrities like Jamie Lynn Spears are making it worse. Now, I sure as heck am not a supporter of Jamie Lynn Spears, but to blame the film industry for "corrupting" our kids is just plain silly.

Personally, I think the lack of education is contributing to the increase of teen pregnancies. I understand that providing contraceptives might come off as supporting teen sex, but guess what, the teens are doing it either way. As one observant teen from Gloucester said in this article, http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/16692720/detail.html, 17 teen pregnancies proves that teen sex is happening. So why not provide contraceptives. If anything, why not spend some money and teach abstinence, BUT also let them know to use contraceptives when abstinence cannot be adhered to? A lot of places either cut sex ed (I know of one city that's done it) or teach abstinence without providing contraceptives. Most people spend so much time shielding their children from "adult" things that most teens don't know how to deal with situations when it comes up. I mean, how dumb do you have to be to not realize that you can get pregnant if you don't use a condom? But as a 14 or 15 year old with no exposure, that can happen ("When she's on top, she can't get pregnant. It's gravity!").

In closing, I say talk to your children early. Or have your schools implement a program where they teach abstinence but also provide contraceptives. Besides, kids nowadays are spending money on clothing and cell phones. So let's make it easier for them to prevent pregnancies.

Venturing into the world of single malt scotch

So, I'm not a big alcoholic or anything, but one visit to my apartment and you will see a decent sized "bar". Ever since going from "eww, alcohol" to "ooh, alcohol", I've collected/stocked my fair share of alcohol. Now, I don't drink everything I have, but I like knowing that I have the essentials to entertain and make drinks. Personally, I'm a beer drinker (I've been into the stouts and porters lately) and enjoy the occasional wine. I'm not that big with cocktails, though I like making them. There's just something slightly amiss about hiding the smell and taste of alcohol (hence, beers and wines).

Anyway, I've been trying to get into scotch lately. If you know me, you will occasionally see me having a blended scotch over rocks, usually Johnny Walker Gold Label. But I've been doing some research and scotch lovers seem to rave about single malts. So I stopped by the liquor store over the weekend and had a 20 minute conversation with the liquor manager. We discussed the blends and what a nice single malt would be. After determining that I like the Gold Label, he pointed out the Balvenie Single Barrel and told me that would be at the level of a Gold Label. After some consideration and almost buying a bottle of Blue Label, I left with the Balvenie. It was a bit hefty at $66.99, but the Gold Label retails for $99.99, so relatively it's a bargain.

Now, I'm determined to really see what I like in scotch, so I had a friend pour about an ounce or so each of my Black Label, Gold Label, and the Balvenie into separate but identical rocks glasses. After the prep, I nosed, tasted, and took some notes on each. I then tried guessing the scotches. As the first two were pretty similar with the third having a floral scent, I guessed that the third was the Balvenie. I was wrong. Surprisingly, the Black Label was the one with the floral scent. In the end, I liked the Gold Label best with its smooth finish. The Balvenie had a honey sweetness to it upfront and ended with a slight burn. Otherwise it was pretty similar to the Gold Label, so the liquor manager was correct about his pick.

This also marks the first time I am taking my scotch neat, as recommended by the liquor manager and nearly every scotch lover. Therefore, I had to adjust to the stronger taste. I must say I still have some adjusting to do, but my appreciation of scotch has grown from the first time I ever had it. So far, I can't tell the big difference between the single malts and the blends, but I hope to develop a grasp on the nuances of the scotches. I have read that single malts can provide a lot of variety as every cask can yield a slightly different result; blends tend to stay a bit more consistent.

What's exciting now is that as I continue to explore the vast world of beers, I can also add to it my emerging venture into scotch, especially the single malts.

As a side note, my Gold Label is running low and I've heard that the some of the whiskys that the Gold Label uses in the blend is increasingly rare. This explains the slight bump in price as time goes on. I'm just wondering when would be the good time to buy a case instead of by the bottle. Haha...

How much is 50 cents to you?

I'm sitting in my cube at work the other day when one of my coworkers told me that there's pastries in the kitchen, courtesy of our CEO. So naturally I run over and nab a piece of a canoli and a cookie. Mike's Pastry, if you're wondering. Anyhoot, I comment to our office administrator that I always walk out of Mike's Pastry, because I can't wait that long for a cookie. And here's where the story kicks in.

She tells me that our CEO was in the city presenting a proposal when the meter that his car was parked at ran out. A helpful young man passing by saw the meter person and stuck his own 50 cents into the meter to prevent the ticket. He then left a small note on the windshield kindly asking for repayment of the 50 cents. So my CEO sends a box of golf balls and a note to the young man thanking him for his help. And next thing you know, we get pastries from Mike's Pastry delivered to our office thanking my CEO for the note and gift. Not only this, he's requesting to meet our CEO.

Now, I'm not sure if he would meet the young man, but can you believe this exchange all started with two quarters that would've just wound up in a change jar? Now imagine if our CEO does talk to the young man. He just bought face time with the CEO of a regional company to talk and share ideas...all for 50 cents. Now that's 50 cents well spent.

In other news, I went back to the gym yesterday! It was a pretty good first day.

Back to action!

Finally got off my butt and went to Planet Fitness last night. Made my way in determined to get a good first day in. Needless to say, I was pretty psyched about returning to a workout program since I quit kung fu.

I hadn't run since around January, so I decided I would just warm up on a treadmill instead of doing a 30-40 minute run. After about 12 minutes of watching Two and Half Men on the treadmill (they got HDTV. How sweet is that?), I went to hit the weights. The strength training section was surprisingly pretty packed with men AND women. The wait wasn't long though. For the machines, they had at least two per machine type unlike the YMCA where it was one each. So it wasn't long before I was at it.

It was a what I called a CTAL (chest, triceps, abs, legs) day. So I did three sets (12-10-10) of chests presses at 150lbs. Then I made my way over to the dip station and did two sets (10-8) of body weight chest dips. Went to the dumbbell section and secured a bench. Did some chest flies with 35-pounders. Dropped to 30-pounders for triceps extension and a set of presses again. Finally went to the leg press machine and did three sets (10 ea) at 250lb. It was my first day back, so I took it pretty easy. Didn't do much more than that. I couldn't really do abs as I don't really like ab machines and people were already at the mats just standing around (no idea why...). But overall, it was a pretty good first day.

As a review, I'm not that sore today, so I'll probably have to hit it harder next time. Only soreness is at the muscles that were used more during the flies. I knew I should've done some incline and decline presses. But the incline benches were booked up. Next time.

If I go today, it'll be cardio day. Otherwise, if I skip a day, it'll be BBS (back, biceps, shoulders). This week is a bit off, but I plan on going Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. That's a pretty good three-day a week. We'll see how that goes.

131-92 F

#17

Celtics

'Nuff said.

It's official, I hate HP now.

So get this. I have a T-mobile SDA, which is a Windows Mobile powered cellphone. I've had it for quite awhile. There's a reason why I have a Windows-based smartphone. You see, I got a Treo when the 600 first came out. I thought it was really cool and awesome. Then I got it and realized it was more than I needed. However, I loved how my contacts and calendar items are saved to Outlook on my computer. That was when I was running XP.

Then I switch phones, computers, homes, etc. I wound up with the SDA with an HP laptop running Vista. Vista does not allow you to install ActiveSync, which is the program that syncs your smartphones to Outlook. Fine, I have my contacts from a previous sync with my old computer. But it came time to switch phones, and I really need to sync once to get my data onto the computer. So anyhoot, after signing up for the gym, I figure out Friday night how to do it. Got all my contacts and data over onto my laptop, and now I'm a happy camper.

On Saturday, I get my new phone. It's a T-Mobile Dash (yes, another HTC phone. I like them). I'm pretty excited. It's a thin Blackberry styled phone with a QWERTY keyboard; no touchscreen, I don't like them from my bad experience with the Treo 600. I go home, pull up to my laptop and hit the power button. I hear the fan spin up, the harddrive initialize, the optical drive click...but then nothing. The screen remains dead and black. The bios does not initiate. NO WAY.

Here's a little background to my laptop. It's an HP Pavilion dv-2000 series. 14.1", dual-AMD chip. Pretty nice. I got it in October 2007. Fifteen days later the harddrive fails - click of death (Hitachi and IBM harddrives are known for this; mine was a Hitachi according to Best Buy). I managed to convince Best Buy to give me a replacement even though I was out of the 14-day return/exchange period (c'mon it was one day!). I've heard from techies that HP is bad, but I thought they were pretty nice. And the harddrive dying is not really HP's fault. So anyway, I get the replacement, download my backup from Carbonite (great great great backup service by the way. $49.99 for 1 year, and it's saved me a lot of headaches).

Eight months later, I'm here staring at a dead laptop. I'm suspecting it's the bios or chip, because it tries to boot up, but doesn't even turn on the screen. I've tried solutions I've found online, but nothing. Only thing I can hope for now is that HP will take it back and repair it since it's within one year. But let me tell you this: I will NEVER buy HP again. One laptop model. Two failures? In eight months??? Unacceptable. My friend's Dell of two years is running strong. I expect the same. My next laptop will NOT be an HP. It might be an isolated case (two cases for me), but lose your data (I know mine's backed up, but imagine it wasn't?) and your time waiting for your machine to be up and running again, and one isolated case is one too many.

All signed up!

After work Friday, I went to Planet Fitness and signed up for the $10/month membership. They said the special was ending on Friday, so I wanted to get in before they change anything (turns out they extended the special to sometime in July anyway). I mean, there really wasn't much of a hesitation. $10/month is a darn good deal. So I signed up and got a free T-shirt that probably wouldn't fit me.

I plan on starting my regular workouts sometime this week and get back to a routine. I'm pretty excited. I've been doing mini-workouts to maintain what I have, but nothing more. So I am ready to get back to my cardio training and weight training. I did kung fu for a bit, so I haven't ran for awhile. The cardio part is going to hurt. Haha. Weights, I think I'm fine with. My mini-workouts do a pretty good job of keeping me where I am strength and endurance wise.

Shopping for a new cell phone

I've had my phone for about two years now. Pretty long time if you ask me. Anyway, I have the T-Mobile SDA, which I dropped the very first day I got it. Very annoying. But I've dropped it many times since. It's a pretty sturdy phone and works no matter what I do to it. Only thing is, it's beginning to look very banged up, especially since the front face plate is hanging off. So I've been shopping around for phones.

At first, I looked at Verizon phones since I have an employee discount with my employer. Not feeling too hot about the non-GSM phones, but they do have a pretty darn good network. I eventually decided against switching since everybody I know is on T-Mobile and so are most of my sister's friends (I have a 4-line family plan). So no go there. I'm looking at Windows Mobile phones too and Verizon doesn't have that great a selection out there besides the Motorola Q. I hate Blackberries.

So I decided to look back at T-Mobile. I narrowed it down to the Dash and the Shadow. Both made by HTC, a company known for smartphones that lets their customers brand their own phones (The Google phone is supposedly coming from here). After actually playing with them, I decided on the Dash. Problem now is if I upgrade my phones, I need to renew my contract to get a good rate. That's another 1 or 2 years. Not a problem really, but I don't like being locked in. So now the beauty of GSM kicks in. I am shopping for the Dash on ebay now, since I can just plug my SIM card right in and have a working phone. With Verizon, you have to call them to change your ESN and crap. Well, while shopping, I also called this guy that deals with unlocked GSM phones, including overseas phones. I don't really have my eye on anything overseas, so I didn't do any business with him. But if you know anybody looking for an unlocked GSM phone from overseas, let me know!

So, anyway, I'm bidding on a couple of Dashes on ebay. I got my sister's Nokia and my refurbished Olympus camera on ebay, and both times I got pretty good results. I like ebay. So hopefully by tonight, I would have a Dash for about the same price I would get at T-Mobile without signing another contract. Sweet!

Finally got a Wii

So on Sunday morning, I woke up early (at 10AM, but that's early for me) and made my way to Best Buy to stand in line to get a Wii. Those things sell out within the hour whenever they have a shipment. I was one of the first 20 in line and got one. It looked like they had 30 -50 of them, so it was a decent shipment. Funny thing is I haven't opened it up to play with it yet. It was too hot yesterday to do that.

I was supposed to go camping this past weekend, but that fell through. Wound up just doing nothing. I did go to IKEA Saturday to get some candy cars - good stuff. My friends, sister, and I bought some other stuff too, so I didn't just go there for candy. It was hot on Saturday too, so wound up just chilling at my place with the AC on at night.

Didn't really do anything else this weekend. Watched my friend practice guitar and did some mini-workouts. Nothing else. Oh well.

Oh yeah, GO CELTICS! (close game last night)

Fitting mini workouts in

I haven't join the gym yet, so haven't been working out routinely yet. When I have time, I try to throw in a workout or two at home. But when I'm not working out, I try to do exercises while doing other things. Sometimes, when I'm preparing to go out, I would do a couple sets of pull-ups and chin-ups with a heating pipe in my living room. Nice and quick. Other times, I would do pushups while watching TV. When I go see one of my friend's, her back door has this wooden porch, and I would do chest dips on her railings while I wait for the door to open. Sometimes I even do 35 - 40 reps before I ring the doorbell to make sure I get enough in.

You can do this at work too! After I go to the bathroom, I would do squats, lunges, and calf raises. Sometimes I would do pushups and wash my hands afterwards. At most this takes 5 minutes, so it's not a total time killer. But you get to bump up your heart rate a bit, and work out those muscles. Who says we don't have enough time?

Joy of the guitar!

So I've been teaching a couple of friends how to play the guitar. I know, kinda the blind leading the blind. But they seem to be bitten by the bug. One of them is the friend that I lent my Lyon guitar to. She hasn't been practicing, but yesterday she sat down and went at it. She practiced her chromatic scale and a couple of chords. She mainly worked on G and Em; I threw in an E7 since it was the simplest chord I knew and also because it is used in Colbie Caillat's "Realize", which my friend wants to learn. Anyway, my friend went from someone who would be annoyed at me for playing the guitar whenever I saw one to someone who was determined to learn how to play. She sat down three different times during the day to practice, even when her fingertips hurt from the strings (remember, my Lyon has heavier strings). I told her that the first few weeks are harder, because her fingers and arms need to adapt to the playing.

My other friend has been practicing on my little First Act guitar. That guitar does not hold tuning well, so I'm pretty sure it's frustrating for her. One time I went over to fix her sister's computer, and while there for about an hour, I had to tune that thing four times! Geez! I'm pretty sure it's more frustrating for her too because she is jumping straight to learning pop songs. I told her before that it took me a few weeks to learn the chromatic scale and chord changes. Took me another few weeks to learn a song (plus its barre chords) and get the tempo right. But to each their own.

Anyway, between my friends and cousins, I know five people that I play or is learning to play. Pretty sweet.

Dim Sum and sushi

Two nights ago, I met up with a couple of friends after work for some fresh dim sum at Gitlo's Dim Sum Bakery. I have heard of recommendations from family and friends, but I had yet to try it out. There weren't a lot of people when we got there, so we got seated right away. Menu was all in English with less than 50 offerings. We ordered several dishes and waited patiently for our food.

The wait was a bit long, but they make their dim sum fresh on site. When they sell out of a certain item, that's it for the day. The dim sum arrived at the fresh from the kitchen and not steaming from a push cart as I was used to at dim sum restaurants. Let me tell you, the wait was worth it. There were some interesting twists to certain "traditional" dim sum. From seaweed shumai to fried daikon cake, everything we had was mouthwatering and delicious. Prices were decent as well!

I couldn't really fill up on dim sum, but through no fault of Gitlo's. I had been having a lot of "heavy" food lately and craved some sushi. So as one friend went home, I went to Kotobukiya at Porter Square (I had to pick up some stuff in the area anyway) for some economical sushi. I've been going to this place since high school, and quality can be inconsistent, but that night it was good. We got in a little bit before closing right between customers, so our sushi arrived minutes after we ordered. Not sure if it was because they were not busy, but it was the sushi I remembered from high school. Good quality with a low price. I had some nigiri and three types of makis, and they were all pretty good. Kotobukiya is setup as a sushi bar, so you just go over and sit down and they take care of you. Great place if you're in the area and you don't want to pay big bucks for fresh sushi.

Epiphone update

So after a couple of truss rod adjustments, my Epiphone still buzzes on hard strumming. It is mainly the 6th and 5th string with the buzzing around the 12th frets. I had incorrectly diagnosed it as buzzing at the first few frets (although I am keeping track of the action by sliding a pick at the first and second fret to see how tight it is). I made another adjustment this morning, so I'll see how it goes tonight or tomorrow. I know I've been making a lot of truss rod adjustments, but I did switch to extra light strings, so they might be vibrating more than the heavier strings that were on it before. My Lyon is fitted with heavier strings too, so that would explain the difference between the two. If truss rod adjustments won't do any more, I might switch back to heavier strings. At worst, I'll just take it to a pro and get it adjusted.

Learning has been a bit boring lately. I'm working on suspension and barre chords, but haven't found any songs that utilize them in an easy way. On the website, I learned a 12-bar blues, new strumming patterns, and a variation of the chromatic scale. Just playing with all those now. Still working on my voice too. Still suck at singing. Haha. Anyway, I still practiced everyday, but a vacation is coming up, so that might be a nice break to relax and step a way from a bit. Not too excited about possibly losing my callouses though.

Obama 2009?

So I guess Obama has the Democratic nomination. All I can say is that this was a looonnnng democratic race. My gosh that took forever. Even now, Clinton is not conceding (strategically supposedly). I'm not going to tell you who I favored, and I don't care who you favored. However, we all need to unite together and support our nominee. None of this "my candidate didn't win, so I'm not even going to vote". That's like saying, "Yankees beat the Red Sox, so I'm just going to cheer for the National League Champions." This isn't baseball. This is potentially the next EIGHT YEARS in American Politics. So step up, put the past behind, and support the Democratic nominee.

Anyway, last night I checked out a gym, then I had some nice froyo for dessert. Overall a decent night.

FroYo anybody?

So after a nice long walk around town in flip flops, a couple friends and I decided to head to the Super 88 food court to get some YoBerry. What's Yoberry? It's a frozen yogurt place that specializes in supposedly Korean style frozen yogurt. From what I've heard, it's pretty close to the Pinkberry chain in Cali. The frozen yogurt tastes more like yogurt than traditional frozen yogurt, which tastes closer to soft-serve ice cream. The "vanilla" flavor has a tartness to it, and they usually offer a special flavor as well. Last night, they had wild strawberry. You can add a variety of toppings to the yogurt; I added mochi bits to mine (previously I swore by mango chunks).

Some people don't like the tart taste of the yogurt. Others love it. I guess it's really a matter of taste. Anyhoot, I like it because it tastes light and tricks me into not feeling guilty. I've never looked up the nutritional value of the treats, so I can cling to the YoBerry-isn't-bad-for-you conclusion.

In general, it's a nice light dessert/treat.

$10/month? Hmm...

So I didn't make it to the Y yesterday as I planned. Instead, a friend convinced me to check out the Planet Fitness in town. I went in and was blown away by the amount of cardio machines. We took a quick tour, and I was impressed by what was there. They supposedly do not cater to "meatheads" (they said it, not me) or bodybuilders, so they have a "lunk alarm" if anybody grunts or passes judgment. If you have the lunk alarm sounded on you twice or something like that, they revoke your membership.

Overall, the place was nice. Cardio machines with a TV on each one out front. Weight machines in the back in the not-so-pretty purple and yellow Planet Fitness scheme. Free weights on the side wall. There's even a 30-minute workout section equipment with a selection of machines, steps, and a red and green light to tell you when to start and stop. Pretty cool. They don't have as much stuff as the YMCA (track, courts, swimming pool, sauna, classes), but I didn't really use anything more than the cardio and weight machines when I was a Y member anyway. Besides, $10/month sounds pretty cool. They do have a black card membership for $19.99/month, but the extra privileges plus the 12-month commitment is not selling me.

So, I'm going to think it over, then I'll make a decision. I still want to learn to swim, but I don't have to be a member at the Y to take that class.

I'm on hold...

I'm on hold right now at work, waiting for what seems to be a very busy customer representative. But anyway, lately I've been thinking about financial freedom again as I usually do when the weather is nice. Maybe it's because I haven't found my calling yet, but work is usually only interesting in the first few months when I'm learning my duties. After that, I get bored and think about what else there is.

Ideally, I would like to do something for myself, like start a business or manage my own properties. Or if I can somehow amass enough passive income, then I can quit my nine-to-fiver and either work at something fun (rock gym?) or volunteer my time. I just think that life is too short to devote 91, 520 hours to work. That's just counting work hours; let's not forget commute time, time to unwind from stressful days, time to prepare meals, time to change and prep, etc! No wonder older people are out of shape. They don't have time! I know, running a small business or managing properties is still work, but it'll be my work. You know what, it's not even about not liking work. It's about not having freedom.

Have you ever woken up one day and think, "Boy, today is a great day to grab the trusty old mountain bike and tackle a nice 20-mile ride"? I know I have, but what happens? "Oh wait...I have work." I want the freedom to decide when I would work and when I would just take a day for myself. I want the flexibility to spend time with my family, old and new. I want the time to fit workouts in without neglecting other friends or duties.

I think about how I can achieve this a lot. I save, I invest, I brainstorm small business ideas, I save for a down payment for an investment property. But I'm just not there yet. I need to get to the crossover point. Don't get me wrong. My job's nice. The people are great, my boss is great, the duties are not too stressful. I just wish it was not a job. Blah, I'm babbling now. End.

Back to the gym!

As I thought about before, I have chosen to terminate my lessons at the kung fu academy. I had a real hard time making to class due to my schedule and my lack of desire to be forced into a schedule. During my four months with kung fu, I thought back of simpler times when I was at the YMCA. I go workout whenever I wanted. I could work on cardio or on weights. I can even sign up for classes. What a variety! What freedom!

So I've decided, I will rejoin the YMCA. The monthly fee is less, yet I can go seven days a week, anytime they're open. Pretty sweet. One of the other main reasons I'm going back to the Y is that I need to sign up for swimming lessons. Believe it or not, I cannot swim. Well, unless you count floating on your back or the doggie paddle.

After work tonight, I plan on going there to sign up. It's time I get back to a regular workout schedule. And I need to learn how to swim. It's embarrassing. Haha.

Adjusting guitar string action

So my last guitar post on my main blog left off with me adjusting my second guitar. The 6th string still buzzes a bit on the 1st through 3rd frets. So last night I loosened the truss rod a bit again. I checked this morning to see if the adjustment settled, but it doesn't seem to have yet. The guitar was in tune and the action is the same. I'll check it tonight to see if anything's changed. I might loosen the rod again a bit. I just want to be careful not to do too much. I don't want buzzing, but I don't want the action too high either.It might just be the strings too. The strings I put on Sunday are extra-light. So they might vibrate further than the heavier strings that came with my Lyon. I'll see how it goes as the adjusting process goes on.

Second guitar!

So last week, out of impulse or out of plain wanting one, I was on craigslist looking at ads for acoustic guitars. I sent out emails to a few of them and gotten responses, but they were all pretty far away. Saturday, I stopped by the local thrift/consignment store and saw two Epiphone (a division of Gibson, like Lyon is a division of Washburn) guitars. One was an acoustic electric with a tag of $225. The other was a regular acoustic with a tag of $30 (It turned out later it was actually $130, which makes more sense for model). After playing with it for a bit, I bought the regular acoustic for $80.

The guitar was a standard size Epiphone PR-150. There were some dings on it, but it came with a strap. One of the ads I answered online was for the same model for $75.00 no strap. Anyway, the Epiphone is in a black finish with a sunburst design. No pick guard, but I play with no pick anyway. Rosewood neck (no black paint!), spruce top, chrome parts. I brought it home and tuned it up. It sounded dull compared to my Lyon LG1PAK. The 6th string (E) buzzed when I strummed harder on 1st to 3rd frets. Sunday morning I restrung the guitar with the extra strings that came with my Lyon. Sounded better, but the buzzing was still there. So I adjusted the truss rod to loosen the tension a bit. It brought the action higher, but the Lyon guitar had even higher action. I went home a couple times during the day to tune the guitar as the truss rod adjustment slowly settled. The buzzing is a bit better, but I might make one more adjustment to be sure. It does sound much better now.

Meanwhile I lent my Lyon guitar to a friend who is now learning guitar as well. The Lyon guitar served me well. It was rich in sound and held the tuning pretty well. I like to tune once a week or so, and each time, it's minor adjustments. Only thing I didn't like about it was the painted fretboard, which left my fingers and nails black after playing hard. The Epiphone doesn't have the painted neck, so all I'm hoping for is for the buzzing to stop and the tones to be nice as well. So far, the high tones are not as resonant, but the new strings do make a difference.

This Epiphone is still an entry level guitar. I didn't exactly want to put too much money down on a guitar since I don't exactly know how to shop for a nice one yet. But $80.00 for a second guitar is not bad. Just like the Lyon guitar, I won't cry if I damage it, and I definitely would not mind taking it on trips like camping. My next one, which will be further down the road, will be slightly nicer, but I don't foresee myself purchasing anything else too crazy. I'm just not the type to drop $500 - $1,500 on a guitar.

Peanut butter

Ever since I've moved out, no scratch that. Ever since college, I realize that time is a precious commodity. I also realized that friendships are like plants. If you don't tend to them, they die. But what happens when you know a lot of people and they all don't hang in the same circles? You can't exactly spend a little bit of time with everyone, because then the time spent won't be quality time. How do you choose who to spend time with when? Then you throw in family - parents, siblings, cousins. What a mess.

I went through a period where people were annoyed at me for ditching them or not spending enough time. This was when I realized relationships are like bread, and each individual the limited peanut butter. Sure you can slather the peanut butter all over the bread, but with the limited quantity, the layer would be thin and the so-called sandwich would be generally unsatisfying. You can lump the peanut butter on certain spots, but the other spots would be neglected. But then you add in time (in the metaphor it would be other slices). What if you focus on certain spots on one slice, then other spots in the other slices. Then when the slices are put together into a sandwich, each bite would have some peanut butter on it.

I know, this metaphor is getting way too out of hand. But throughout life, there will be times when you have to decide who to spend more time with and when. You can only hope that in the bigger picture, you have enough frequency that the person won't feel neglected. But don't think it's not tough. While focusing on one person, you will invariably miss out on another. You can hang out with your friends, but forget your family. You can hang out with your significant other and forget about your friends. The trick is to remember to rotate. They won't mind. If the people you're with are truly your friends/good family members, they will not be too selfish to keep you all to themselves. They have their own peanut butter to spread.