There is an old joke about a unit of soldiers lost in the desert.
The men, tired and filthy, with no water to drink, let alone bathe.
Realizing his troop’s demoralized state, the colonel calls everyone to attention.
“Men” he says, “I have good news and bad news.”
The solders clamor to hear more.
“The good news is, we are finally going to have a change of underwear.”
The men cheer.
“Now for the bad news. Jackson, you change with Thompson. Wilkins, you change with Smith. . .”
I am in similar straights.
The good news is my electric banjo is back.
The bad news is the main issues are stemming from bad wiring. Bad household wiring. Ugh.
This is a repairable scenario. The first thing is to have an electrician fix the house wiring. I can modify my electric rig. I can swap out my single coil pickups for humbuckers. A power conditioner will help with some of the noise. When those things are in place, things should be up and running. It’s an easy checklist, but an expensive one.
The guitar store in Salisbury is interested in selling my Dobro 33D.
It’s a one-of-a-kind guitar that has traveled with me across America, Ireland, England, and a big chunk of Europe. I can’t play it anymore with my hands jacked up, so it’s silly to hang onto it. We should be able to get close to what it’s worth, and that would cover most of what I need to get the electric banjo going.
Still, as much as I try not to hang onto things, it will hurt to let it go. With no support, it looks like I have no choice.
While I am figuring out what to do, we will keep going with the acoustic banjo for a bit.
I uploaded a rough track of The Rolling Stones’ No Expectations only for patrons today. More fun stuff is on the way.
I am thankful I can keep going with the acoustic, but it is hard on my arthritic hands. I dropped my Somerset twice today. The arthritis hurts almost as bad as the neuropathy.
It’s been a long and kind of sad day. Pain is out of control. Need to get some sleep as I have a dentist appointment in the morning.
At least I have clean underwear. . . Or do I? The way this day has gone, I better go check!
God bless,
— Patrick