Cozy Tales: 2. A Pup Chooses Us

GAD Leave a comment

NewfPup3
As the weeks went on, the pups grew and grew, progressing from the little black potatoes we first saw into fluffy bright balls of energy hell bent on discovering, chewing, and otherwise making a mess of everything with which they came in contact.

We went back often to play with the pups and watch them grow. Since the pups would be ready to leave their mothers at eight weeks of age, time was running out for us to make our choice. Since all of the male pups were spoken for, we were excited to learn that we had the pick of the four females in the litter. This narrowed our listed choices down to two: the blue and the white collared puppies. They were both very energetic and both seemed very bright, but how to choose? (more…)

Antenna Rigging for the Lonely Ham

GAD 12 Comments

In this article I will describe how to install a dipole antenna fifty feet up into the trees without any help. Why? Because self-sufficency is a good thing, especially if you’re lonely.

First, let me set the stage. The first thing you need to know is that I am an idiot. Now, I’m not your typical idiot who is blessed with something as simple as a low IQ. No, I am a special type of idiot: one in which my measured intelligence is in the top two percent of those measured, but whose propensity towards doing stupid things nears infinity. (more…)

Cozy Tales: 1. Indoctrination

GAD Leave a comment

NewfiePup1
The year was 1997; Bill Clinton had just started his second term as president of the United States, O.J. Simpson had been found liable for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson in civil court, and the Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest visit to Earth spawning hoards of amateur astronomers — myself included — to stay up all night gazing at its beautiful tail. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published. Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident, Mother Theresa died, the first color photo appeared on the cover of the New York Times, and James Cameron’s film Titanic was released to become the largest grossing movie in history.

It was a different world than the one we live in now. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City were still years away, and we were all blissfully unaware that such a horrific event could transpire on American soil. (more…)

The Yellow Box of Power

GAD 10 Comments

After Hurricane Sandy, I became slightly obsessed with alternative power, but focused most of my energy on generators, always remembering that I can only store so much gas. The natural alternative to engines and gasoline is solar power, but I wasn’t sure I was looking for a whole-house solution since we don’t have room for batteries and I’m not a fan of selling my surplus energy back to the power company. An idea for a portable solar solution rattled around in my head for years, and while studying for my Amateur Radio Extra Class license exam (K2GAD/AE!), plans started to germinate that resulted in what you see here. I present to you the Internet unveiling of The Yellow Box of Power.

The Yellow Box of Power is a very yellow Pelican box (size 1550) loaded up with 36 amp-hours of 12-volt battery capacity that can be charged by way of normal 120V household power or through one or more solar panels. It is mostly self-contained, is completely portable, will charge laptops and phones, run a ham radio station, or just light up a room. It will even float! Actually, it won’t float for long since I cut a bunch of holes in the side, but it’s pretty darn water resistant. Read on to learn how I made it after a quick rant about the term solar generator.  (more…)

Cozy Tales: Prelude

GAD 1 Comment

As I stood over the freshly dug grave, I had no way of knowing the awful truth: my father had killed my dog. So far as I knew, my beloved Saint Bernard dog, Brandy, had snapped at him, supposedly because she was in pain. Because of this most heinous of crimes, and in accordance with the initial conditions of her purchase, my father had issued the order and had my dog “put to sleep”. Sadly, and unbeknownst to me at the time, none of what he had described had actually happened.

I was an only child, and Brandy had been my best friend for nine years. We had bought her in 1973 when I was in third grade, after which she had remained my constant companion until her untimely death in the spring of 1982. I was 17 years old when the doctor gave her the fatal injection in the back seat of our car. I was sitting with her when she collapsed, her massive head falling into my lap. I ran my hands over her lifeless face, recalling the vet’s words about involuntary muscle contractions as I watched my dead friend swallowing again and again during the ride home. Perhaps, I wondered, there was wonderful cool water to drink in heaven. (more…)

Cozy Tales: The Online Experience

GAD 1 Comment

This is just a quick note to announce that I’ve decided to release my memoir, Cozy Tales, one chapter at a time on my blog.

Why? Honestly, because the manuscript has sat on my hard drive for years, and I’d love for the world to experience Cozy’s many tales. Well, that, and I just read “The Martian” which was terrific and originally released as web serial which has inspired me to do something similar.

I will be releasing each chapter on Friday of each week here on my blog.  Oh, and the pic? That’s Cozy “woo wooing” her approval.

Teller Signed my Lemon

GAD 2 Comments

Being in New York City for work from time to time, I’ve often taken advantage of the ability to score great seats for Broadway shows when buying only one, and this time I scored a seat in the front row of the center orchestra, the day after Penn & Teller on Broadway opened at the Marquis Theater in Times Square. Though I assumed I’d have a good time, my evening turned into an unexpected tale of the kind I like most: one that is fun, and just a little bit left of normal. (more…)

Replacing Pickups in a Guild Nightbird

GAD Leave a comment

I was given the unique opportunity to replace the pickups in a Guild Nightbird. This guitar came with Fender HB1 pickups but the owner had managed to get some NOS Guild HB1 pickups in matching gold from the world’s finest purveyor of hard-to-find Guild parts, Hans Moust. When asked if I would do the work to replace them, I jumped at the chance since I love Guilds, I love HB1 pickups, and this guitar was one that I used to own. Not only is this a beautiful guitar (that I was foolish enough to sell), but I knew that it would go from amazing to freaking amazing with the inclusion of Guild HB1s.

The Guild Nightbird is a very cool guitar. Yes, it looks like a Les Paul, but it’s hollow with a very unique internal design which makes for a wonderful sound. The problem with Nightbirds is that they usually shipped with Ken Armstrong or EMG pickups which don’t hold a candle to the vintage Guild HB1s in my opinion. I originally bought this guitar because of the lure of real HB1s in a Nightbird, only to be disappointed when I opened it up and found Fender HB1s. I then sold the guitar, after which it was sold again to the guy who I originally bought it from, who then contacted me to see if I would do the work to upgrade the pickups. We Guild collectors tend to work together, so this bit of provenance is only slightly unusual. (more…)

Change over Dollars

GAD Leave a comment

Something evil has happened in retail, and I’m not talking about the latest glut of sub-standard merchandise from China. No, this is something far more sinister, and it affects us all, or at least all of us that still use cash.

For some reason, whenever I buy something, my change is now handed to me bills-first, followed by the receipt, with the change placed carefully on top of the pile. With the change delivered to me in this fashion, I am then dismissed and expected to get out of the way for the next customer who is no doubt eager to pay for her venti frappa-cappa-chupacabra so she too can be on her way. The problem is that I can’t, because I am now immobilized with indecision as to how to deal with the pile of financial paperwork in my hand. (more…)

Guild Pickup Wiring

GAD 8 Comments

I’ve owned many Guild guitars, and due to the fact that I have a soldering iron and I’m not afraid to use it, I’ve learned a fair bit about various Guild pickups and their wiring. Since there seems to be little information on the Internet about this topic, I decided to write up what I have discovered.

Though I’ve covered the cosmetic and size differences of the various full-sized Guild HB1 pickups in my article entitled Guild Full-Sized HB1 and SD1 Pickup Variations, this article will cover the wiring of the pickups as opposed to the means of identifying them.

There are many different Guild guitars, and there are almost as many wiring schemes. Instead of covering each scheme here, I’ll describe the pickups themselves, and how they might be wired into any guitar. Other articles, such as The Fascinating Guild S-200 Thunderbird and Replacing Pickups in a Guild Nightbird will cover wiring specific to those guitars. (more…)