Café

Photos seem broken, try this instead

Saturday night brought my (David’s) first Saturday Night Ride since January. Despite it being moderately lengthy, my body suffered surprisingly little from it. I enjoyed the ride back to St. Paul with Nick, where we chased down and humiliated a party of expletive users in a car, and then shared stories with each other of similar occurrences.

Sunday morning I woke up completely devoid of muscle aches and joint stiffness. However I did have a rather harsh caffeine withdrawal headache. I was full of expletives myself when I discovered that I had already used every remaining granule of coffee in the house. So I had to go out in search of a cure. I opted to drive, as I knew my first choice or two would likely be closed seeing as how it was Easter Sunday. It was a wise choice; Swede Hallow Café, that place on Maria and 6th, Black Dog, Magic Carpet, the empty space that used to be a coffee shop on 9th and Robert, they were all closed. I even kept my eye peeled for greasy spoon breakfast joints in the neighborhood that I had yet to discover. For a minute I had considered getting breakfast accompanied by a low-grade cup-o-joe at Café Del Sol (the only place that appeared to be open), but apart from huevos rancheros I had no idea what might be on their breakfast menu.

With disappointment in every direction, I eventually decided on convenience store coffee. What I learned from this experience (apart from it being bad to run out of coffee on Easter Sunday – even if we still lived above a kosher deli I would have been screwed) is that the neighborhood is severely lacking in mom and pop breakfast joints. In the old neighborhood we had 3 such places within walking distance and many more a mere short drive away. In our neighborhood one would have to travel to Payne and Maryland or go downtown to Keys or Mickey’s if one wanted a short stack and a side of hashbrowns (and coffee). So if anyone out there has been considering starting a restaurant but has been deterred by the saturated market in other areas of the twin cities, then try Dayton’s bluff. We’ve got plenty of attractive commercial buildings for sale or rent, and you would have no competition in the AM hours.

Throwing stones at birds

I (David) have finally started working a second job. The BPA needed help with the membership database. Since I already had my hands full as a volunteer, it became a paid gig when I stepped up. The great thing about it is that it is predominantly computer work, so I can do it during the downtime at my regular job. That’s right, I have two jobs and I work them simultaneously. My co-worker is getting jealous, so I might have him stuff envelopes when I’m on vacation in April.

The job only pays $10 per hour, but then an extra $70 to $100 per week without an additional time commitment is fine with me. There is talk of raising it to $15 per hour, but that won’t be decided until next month’s board meeting. Unfortunately most of the time consuming work will be done by then. Even if the wage doesn’t go up as the workload goes down, before long I will have likely earned enough money to pay off our rather substantial debt to the IRS (I thought the silver lining to this hurricane was that Bush was going to reduce my taxes … Just kidding; I know better). Of course, this debt could be paid off even faster if I invest enough time into BPA’s pedi-cab project this summer. This would require an additional time commitment, but it’s not like I’d really be working or anything.

In the meantime, I think I’m going to head over to the Human Resources department and change my W-4 form.

It’s all Mine!

Actually, it is Heather’s. But I (David) am the one who clicked on the “buy it now” feature. Last fall I thought about building Heather a nice lightweight road bike. But the frame I had (pictured above) wasn’t working out for the project. The shifting arrangements and brakes just wouldn’t have been very ergonomic. So I thought it’d be nice to someday find a similar frame and then eventually find some cheap STI shifters to put on it.

Well, that is what I’m doing; only I’m doing it backwards. I still need to replace the frame. So if anyone out there has a comparably sized lightweight steel (or even lighter, less sturdy metal) frame and fork, then let me know. I’d be glad to trade this Peugeot UO-8 clone for it. It is a beauty, light as a feather, and due to an incompatibly French rear brake mount, it would make a great fixed gear or coaster brake conversion.

Broken Cars and Bones

David and I have been anticipating a few costly repairs on our, ahem, MY cars recently. Both the Honda and the Buick are in need of a visit to the shop. I shouldn't really be driving right now anyway. You see, in addition to broken cars, I found out Wednesday that I have a broken bone in my foot. I've been having pain for about a month now. About 3 weeks ago, I went to a regular doctor and she ordered x-rays on my foot. After about 8 different shots, she told me that the x-rays looked fine and that I probably just had tendonitis. She had to consult her orthopaedic manual just to make sure - a sure sign that I should have sought a second opinion right away. She told me to stay off it for a few weeks (like that's possible) take ibuprofen and ice it. A radiologist even called me a few days later to tell me that the x-rays looked fine. After three weeks went by, I was still having severe pain. I decided it was time to see a podiatrist. He took one look at the x-rays from three weeks ago and showed me where my bone was broken! I asked him why the others didn't catch it. He responded by saying, "that's why I'm the expert." So after a few more painful x-rays to show other angles of the bone, he gave me the option of using crutches or an air cast for a month. I picked the cast, despite the fact that I still have crutches from years ago sitting in my garage. So for the next month or so, I will have a big plastic boot attached to my lower leg and foot.

Flash from the Past

Despite having a nonstop day last Thursday (work, a meeting, and a 3-hour class) I (Heather) and my coworker decided to go to the SHSK show. We decided if we're going to be tired at work all day Friday, why not be tired together?! We arrived around 10pm and SHSK didn't take the stage till after 11:30. I had the usual responsibilty of being the photograher. It's a hard job because with each flash of the bulb, I wonder if it is in any way blinding or distracting to the musicians. It seems to be more distracting to the audience than the band. The viewfinder just sucks on our camera. Especially in the dark. So with each shot, it's a hit or miss if I actually photograph anything of value. So, perhaps by the next show, David and I will do some research and get a quality camera.

During the show, a guy that I knew back in high school walked in. Actually, he was one of my best friends back then. I worked with him and his dad for a while at Kowalski's. He dated my best friend for a short time also. I didn't say anything about him to my coworker thinking it wasn't really relevant. Then she turned to me and said that she recognized him from the band in a cabaret performance that she had been telling me about earlier in the evening. Small world! So I told her about my history with him and how he and his band played at my high school graduation open house. I have yet to show her the video from my party. He hasn't really changed a lot except for the fact that he has an uncanny resemblance to Elvis now. To this day, I still suspect that he has my Wharf Rat Bar t-shirt from Baltimore but he always claimed ignorance. I actually went back to Baltimore several years later just to get another shirt, but that's another story.

Photos-r-us

I (David) am beginning to think that Heather’s idea of getting a quality digital camera might be worth exploring. But until then, my Fisher Price camera will have to do. The photos from the concert have been published. I also added photos from the Studio recording that the band did over the weekend. All the band photos Heather and I have taken can be seen here, including the photo of Bob and Eric finally learning what “NSFW” stands for.

If I understand things correctly, all three songs from our demo recording will be available to the public before too long. I’m not sure if they’ll be free or cost you money, but either way you’ll be able to learn how to get them if you check back regularly.

Timing is everything

The second Second Hand Ska Kings show came and went. Where were you? By no means do I (David) speak for the rest of the band when I say that the show went poorly. Our new drummer, Private Ryan, did impeccably well. Bob, the bassist, only made a handful of mistakes. Other than that, I heard nothing.

Wednesday evening I decided to seek out my co-workers advice on keyboard amplifiers. I knew he was knowledgeable on the matter for he is a man so fully acculturated in the mass hysteria that is American consumerism, that he may well have written the bible that governs their religion. After an excruciatingly long discussion with this co-worker, in which every conceivable option (that requires a purchase) was covered, I formulated a plan of action. Rather than going through the typical route of ‘mic’-ing my amplifier at a gig, I thought I’d simply run a second line from my keyboard, directly to the venue’s PA system. The result would allow me to not only use my amp exclusively as a stage monitor, but also allow me turn it all the way up without being concerned about the audience hearing all of its distorted, hissy, utterances.

My plan didn’t work. Even with the amp all the way up, I still couldn’t hear myself over the rest of the band. And initial reports from the audience lead me to believe that when the rest of the band would go silent, the audience heard just as much of my keyboard through the PA system as they did from my amp. So the glorious Roland – Rhodes sound most likely resembled a drowning Casio.

All in all, this failed experiment wouldn’t be so bad, but my inability to hear compounded the amount of mistakes I made. But I digress; the mildly inexperienced audience ear (Heather) was unable to hear these mistakes (nor the majority of my playing for that matter). So from the audience perspective, the show was decent, if not good. And I suppose that is all that matters.

Speaking of shows, I’ve been watching the DVDs that my brother lent me a couple of weeks back. The Hunter S. Thompson documentary was fantastic. Though I found it rather eerie that within days of receiving the movie, the man up and shoots himself (anyone have a documentary on George W. they can lend me?). I also found it a bit eerie that within minutes of finishing the first season to the British comedy The Office I see a commercial on network TV advertising the upcoming premiere of an American re-write of this show. There is something weird going on here. Perhaps our DVD player is possessed.

Anyway, recent gig photos will likely be uploaded later today, provided that the new Macintosh-friendly software I obtained actually works. Otherwise, you won’t hear from us until Monday. Don’t worry though, there is no “nextel cup” NASCAR this Sunday, so we won’t be updating you on that.