I've looked at clouds from both sides now...

 

If you said, "From the song Both Sides, Now, by Joni Mitchell, written in 1966, released as a single in 1968," you get 15 bonus points.

I took Murphy out for a walk around the yard this afternoon.  It was pretty gray looking at the sky behind South Mountain.  After being out there a while, a look to the east showed this...

 And this...

 And then the long, low rumble of thunder.  Right now, it looks like South Mountain routed the storm clouds east of us.  Pretty dramatic clouds, though.

And after that rumble, Murphy gave me this look...

 

"I think maybe we should go inside, Dad."

"Good plan, Murph." 

 

The waiting is the hardest part...

 

If you said, "Tom Petty, from the song The Waiting, 1981 (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), from the album Hard Promises," you get 20 bonus points.  Partial credit for partial answers will be given.

Things have changed over the years.  We used to buy almost everything in brick and mortar stores.  At our home in Texas, ordering something from Amazon, with a "2-day delivery" was generally 3 to 5 days.  It was about 15 years ago that I bought my first guitar online... well, to be accurate, it wasn't the first guitar I bought, just the first purchased online, without being able to see and play it in person.  It turned out to be a good experience: the seller set the guitar up to my specifications, and it was about a week from paying for it to getting it in my hands.  And I was quite happy with that.

"Did you buy another guitar, Jim?"  No, but thanks for asking.  Since moving to Phoenix, we have gotten spoiled with "next day delivery" from Amazon.  And frequently, "same day delivery."  It comes with living in the big city.

I have been researching a multi-effects guitar pedal.  You may have seen the post where Mark lent me his latest pedal - I was very impressed with that one.  The company that makes that one has quite a few variants of that.  After pouring through on-line reviews, I decided on one that has the same features and effects, but has what I feel is a better layout (for me) with foot-switches.  It is the Mooer 150 Max li.  The "Max" designator is about the larger footprint, allowing for 8 foot-switches instead of 4.  All the same amp sims and effects as the 150 Pro li (that Mark has).  The "li" means it has a built-in lithium battery, so it doesn't have to be plugged in while using it (one less cord to run).

This model will allow me to make changes by using one foot-switch instead of having to step on two at a time to access some features...

Joan ordered it late last night.  Delivery is supposed to be between 7:00 and 11:00am this morning.  We could have gotten it between 4:00 and 7:00am, but didn't want the "someone is at your door" alert.  We were up at 6:00 this morning, to get ready to head out for Sunday breakfast at Waffle House with Steph and Dan - a once a month or so occurrence, but I digress.

I'm anxious to try out this pedal.  It won't replace my other pedal-board, which is set up for use with my acoustic guitars.  This one will be for my electrics; and convenient to have over 200 amp sims and effects in one pedal.

Also coming in the same order is a set of earphones to be used for in-ear monitors.  No, we don't play so loud that I have to use in-ears, since my Bose PA allows the band to "hear what the audience hears," but these will isolate the vocals so I can hear just the lead and harmony parts while playing.  And should be good for using with my "local guys," who play a lot louder. 

10:01am, and Amazon delivered the gear.  Not too hard of a wait.  ;-)

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I did spend about 3 hours working with this effects pedal today - there is a learning curve, but it is SO much faster to get things dialed in by using the software for the Mac rather than trying to change all those amp and effect options with just two dials.  I'm thinking I just scratched the surface (set up 20 amp/effects channels, out of around 200) today.  But, my brain is full.  Today, I listened to all these options while wearing headphones - tomorrow, I'll be trying it out with a couple different amps.

 

 

Two years ago today...

 

It came up in my Facebook Memories: two years ago, I was trying out the HoverAir X1 (first version) with the CTX in a parking lot at the Event Center on South Padre Island...

 

Not to be confused with the X1 Pro that I am now using, which will fly higher, further, faster.  Sounds like a Keds ad from 1960: "Run faster and jump higher with Keds."

"What's a Keds?"  Did you really ask that?  Well, I guess that ad was from 65 years ago.  (Sigh)  Apparently, Keds still exist - they are shoes.  Mostly sneakers.

I enjoy these FaceBook Memories - kinda like looking back at a photo album and "remembering when."

 

Go soak your...

 

If you said, "head," that would be the likely answer.  But, I'm talking hot tub again today, so you'll drown if you do that.

I was out checking the balance on the hot tub this morning, prior to getting in for a soak.  While I generally prefer to soak at night, so I can look at the stars and watch planes fly over, after the HOA board meeting ran until almost 9:00 last night, I wasn't up for that.  I still had to get something to eat and wind down.  So, this morning it is.

I opened the lid on it to compare the temperature on the hot tub info and what the floating probe said - they are always pretty close, but the floating thingy reads down to the 1/10 of a degree.

Fortunately, I had help...

 Murphy is a curious boy.  He will frequently come visit me while I am in the hot tub (during the daytime).  He will also hop up on there when the lid is closed.  Or when it is open and the jets are running.

No, he has never joined me in there.  Well, not yet.

 

That Year Went By Fast...

 

One year ago today: we said good-bye to the Winnebago Aspect and welcome to the RoadTrek Chase 50...

Has it been all we hoped for?  Thanks for asking.  It has been a real change.  For the first time since we retired in 2006, we did not take an extended summer out.  While life and time commitments kept us around home more, we never anticipated our more typical (in the past) 3 months away.  We have done some trips with it, but not as many as I expected.  Hopefully, we'll get away more in this next year.

That said, the RoadTrek has been what I expected - it is good as an "around town" driver, since it does fit into most typical parking spaces.  It is great as a traveling machine: I enjoy driving it; the view from the windshield reminds me more of a Class A motorhome than the view from the Aspect.  It is capable - the lithium battery system (with solar panels, the under-hood generator, and 3000 watt inverter) allows us to have our amenities without the need to always be plugged into shore power.  The beds are comfortable.  The storage is compact, but we are considering some kind of additional exterior storage solution on the back.

While it has the amenities of a typical RV (I have jokingly said: "All the amenities of a Class A motorhome, but you can reach 'em from the driver's seat."), it goes down the road like a big SUV.  I have the option of driving the speed limit, even when the speed limit is 80 mph; couldn't do that with the Aspect.  It gets 16 to 18 mpg, but I can fit in any gas station.  And if we want to go into a restaurant for lunch, we can turn the coach air conditioner on, running off the batteries and inverter, and Murphy is living large.

So, yeah, pretty much what we expected, and why we made the move to this size RV.  Now, we just need to make the time to get away more often.  :-)

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I'm about to sit down for the September HOA board meeting.  Not near as much fun as playing music, traveling with our van, riding the scoots... or almost anything else.  This should wrap up the budget discussions and vendor contract votes.

Joan has suggested that she might put something in my Caffeine Free Diet Coke this evening: "Hey, dudes, I have a proposal for you..." 

Gearing Up...

 

I wish I was going out on one of the bikes, but not that kind of gearing up.

Tomorrow evening, we have the last of our HOA board meetings to deal with the 2026 budget and vendor selections.  This has been a lot of work.  More than should be necessary due to contention, that also shouldn't be necessary.

I spent the day researching the last of the bids and making notes for tomorrow's meeting.

 

A Music Respite...

 

After a morning filled with HOA related phone calls, I was more than ready to get together with Mark and Podge today to make some music.  We have gigs coming up in October and November, so we need to stay up on what we'll be playing.

In the category of "time flies when you don't know what you're doing," it has been one day shy of 4 weeks since we got together.  That went by fast.

We worked on a couple new songs.  Challenging songs.  Both on the guitar and for vocals.  I had to lobby for a key change to put the complicated vocals into my range.  Whew.

I used Mark's effects pedal again today - yep, I like that.  I will need to get something similar (or maybe the same).   

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Home for the evening; saw the last rays of the day while getting Murphy some outdoor time...

 Not stormy, just some intense colors with the bottom of the clouds being lit by the last bit of sun.