Of Cars & Guitars
Aug. 25th, 2010 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingmanSometimes I think I don't have much to write about... Then something happens, but I don't write about it... then time passes & I can never think of anything exciting to report whenever I read others Journals.
So, while I can think of at least two noteworthy events of the last week, I may as well document them for my own records, if not for the dubious benefit of my small (compared to some) readership...
First ~ no good deed goes unpunished, they say. Which is why I shouldn't have been surprised last Saturday night when my long-suffering partner's car broke down in the Eastern Distributor tunnel while I was on my way to give her a surprise lift to work from her mother's home. One second ~ doing 80km/h, the next ~ not... missing the appropriate exit while dealing with a car that went from 80-5 in 5 seconds & coming to an ignoble halt on the next available off-ramp, only to see an LED sign ahead of me telling me to turn on the car radio, to then be advised that there was an obstruction to southbound traffic in the tunnel. I kind of knew that already.
I had time to call my L-SP & the NRMA & wish I'd downloaded Solitaire to my new-ish mobile phone before the 'Incident Response' truck turned up & its driver told me to stay where I was (like I had an option!) & the tow-truck would be along shortly. Why they couldn't just dispatch a tow-truck on its own is not so much puzzling as it is evidence of how insidious the bureacratic practice of double-handling has become, or how much the roadworks crew ethic of one-man-working-four-men-watching has influenced the actions of anyone who wears a day-glo vest for a living.
The tow-truck deposited me at a service station a few kilometres away from the tunnel exit, where I was soon met by an NRMA roadside assistance man & van. His quick diagnosis was a slipped timing belt & another tow-truck to the mechanic of my choice. My L-SP nominated, by phone, a friendly place in Arncliffe... a few kilometres further south, near the airport & I again had time to rue the non-Solitaire-y nature of my phone while I waited for the truck to arrive, entertained only by the antics of the WR-X driving hoons who pulled into the station.
Did I mention that this was on Election Night? I was certainly reminded of that by the non-stop political diatribe of the second tow-truck driver, who extolled the virtues of the various Independents who will hold the balance of power, at least two of whom he claimed to know personally. After wishing hellfire & damnation on "the big banks", he asked if I worked for one... Even if I did, there was no way I'd tell him that now... He took heart from my status as a recently retrenched retailer to further damn rampant capitalism & stopped just short of promising Tony Abbott would be first against the wall when the revolution comes. It was a combination of the increasing lateness of the hour (well after midnight by this time), the remoteness of the mechanic's location public-transport or taxi-wise & my own foolhardy, glutton-for-punishment nature that made me accept his offer of a lift back to the CBD, from whence to find a taxi to get me home.
Fast-forward to today & the expected repair bill for the car is roughly twice that of its cost when purchased. Anybody need a green-painted collection of Toyota Camry parts? Purchase individually, or as a package deal...
There was also some progress made last night on the world's longest-gestating album project, which I've been involved in with varying degrees of activity & commitment for about two & a half years now... & counting. Ensconced in a Lane Cove recording studio apartment, I recorded multiple guitar parts for two songs, using three guitars. I'm wondering:~ if I'd taken all five of my guitars to the session, would I have found ideas & uses for all of them? Probably. If that were the case, would we have finished before the break of dawn? Most likely not. Ron BassBeast (aka![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
floyd277 who needs to start writing in his journal!!), was there, with his impressive electric upright bass & his gloriously offbeat humour which, combined with mine & the quiet, sly wit of the recording engineer, probably added about an hour or so onto the time taken to record the two songs. Sorry Ann!!
So there you are... Aren't you glad nothing much else is going on?
So, while I can think of at least two noteworthy events of the last week, I may as well document them for my own records, if not for the dubious benefit of my small (compared to some) readership...
First ~ no good deed goes unpunished, they say. Which is why I shouldn't have been surprised last Saturday night when my long-suffering partner's car broke down in the Eastern Distributor tunnel while I was on my way to give her a surprise lift to work from her mother's home. One second ~ doing 80km/h, the next ~ not... missing the appropriate exit while dealing with a car that went from 80-5 in 5 seconds & coming to an ignoble halt on the next available off-ramp, only to see an LED sign ahead of me telling me to turn on the car radio, to then be advised that there was an obstruction to southbound traffic in the tunnel. I kind of knew that already.
I had time to call my L-SP & the NRMA & wish I'd downloaded Solitaire to my new-ish mobile phone before the 'Incident Response' truck turned up & its driver told me to stay where I was (like I had an option!) & the tow-truck would be along shortly. Why they couldn't just dispatch a tow-truck on its own is not so much puzzling as it is evidence of how insidious the bureacratic practice of double-handling has become, or how much the roadworks crew ethic of one-man-working-four-men-watching has influenced the actions of anyone who wears a day-glo vest for a living.
The tow-truck deposited me at a service station a few kilometres away from the tunnel exit, where I was soon met by an NRMA roadside assistance man & van. His quick diagnosis was a slipped timing belt & another tow-truck to the mechanic of my choice. My L-SP nominated, by phone, a friendly place in Arncliffe... a few kilometres further south, near the airport & I again had time to rue the non-Solitaire-y nature of my phone while I waited for the truck to arrive, entertained only by the antics of the WR-X driving hoons who pulled into the station.
Did I mention that this was on Election Night? I was certainly reminded of that by the non-stop political diatribe of the second tow-truck driver, who extolled the virtues of the various Independents who will hold the balance of power, at least two of whom he claimed to know personally. After wishing hellfire & damnation on "the big banks", he asked if I worked for one... Even if I did, there was no way I'd tell him that now... He took heart from my status as a recently retrenched retailer to further damn rampant capitalism & stopped just short of promising Tony Abbott would be first against the wall when the revolution comes. It was a combination of the increasing lateness of the hour (well after midnight by this time), the remoteness of the mechanic's location public-transport or taxi-wise & my own foolhardy, glutton-for-punishment nature that made me accept his offer of a lift back to the CBD, from whence to find a taxi to get me home.
Fast-forward to today & the expected repair bill for the car is roughly twice that of its cost when purchased. Anybody need a green-painted collection of Toyota Camry parts? Purchase individually, or as a package deal...
There was also some progress made last night on the world's longest-gestating album project, which I've been involved in with varying degrees of activity & commitment for about two & a half years now... & counting. Ensconced in a Lane Cove recording studio apartment, I recorded multiple guitar parts for two songs, using three guitars. I'm wondering:~ if I'd taken all five of my guitars to the session, would I have found ideas & uses for all of them? Probably. If that were the case, would we have finished before the break of dawn? Most likely not. Ron BassBeast (aka
floyd277 who needs to start writing in his journal!!), was there, with his impressive electric upright bass & his gloriously offbeat humour which, combined with mine & the quiet, sly wit of the recording engineer, probably added about an hour or so onto the time taken to record the two songs. Sorry Ann!!So there you are... Aren't you glad nothing much else is going on?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-26 12:37 pm (UTC)common ground
Date: 2010-08-28 02:49 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kOY6qFKCxc
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-30 01:55 pm (UTC)