2020 will usher in the seventh decade I’ve existed on this earth. Wonder of wonders, I never thought I’d get to this point. And 2019 showed me that it won’t last forever, so I have a renewed appreciation for God, life, liberty and family.
Despite some of the tougher issues facing me this year, overall I have to say 2019 was a darn good year! The economy has been gangbusters, and this has benefited me in every way: salary, investment, retirement saving! I had some great travels, took some nifty photographs, acquired new guitars and guns, and enjoyed spending time with my family. My daughter blessed me with a new grandchild, and now I have two I can watch grow!
I will start the new year by traveling to California for the annual company meeting. This is not one of my favorite trips, as California doesn’t appeal to me (heresy, I know!), but it’s unavoidable. In March, I plan to once again attend the annual Dalí Museum dinner. After that, we’ll have to see. No long-term plans at this time.
So, that wraps up my end-of-year offering. I discovered earlier this year that there are actually some people who have come across this site, and have read some of the posts. If you’re one of them, I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I bought my first Mac in 1984. It was one of the original 128K, 9-inch black-and-white screen computers that had the names of all the designers and programmers etched inside the cover.
Apple Macintosh, circa 1984
Boxy mouse, chunky keyboard, power button on the back, it was then, a marvel of technology. Today, it’s a bit anachronistic, and what was Apple Computer is now Apple Inc. and the Macintosh is now simply a “Mac.”
Before I got my first Mac, I had already been familiar with Apple computers (lowercase “C”). I had a //e and a //c. The //c was a very sleek computer then, and I think would still be considered so today. But the Mac, with its graphics and advanced technology was for me, the game changer!
Over the years I’ve owned more Macs than I can possibly list. “Fat” Macs, Performas, Duos, PowerMacs, PowerBooks, iBooks, MacBooks and so on. Currently, I have FIVE Macbooks running at home, serving a variety of purposes.
To add to the list, I have three iPads and two iPhones. I have multiple iPods of every generation, a set of AirPods (and another, newer set on the way) and TWO Apple TVs!
But somewhere along the line, and only recently to my consciousness, I’ve become unhappy with Apple. It’s difficult even now to pinpoint the source of unhappiness.
Let’s start with Siri, Apple’s voice-enabled “assistant.” This is technology that is supposed to respond to voice queries, providing quick searches, calculate math formulae, find locations and offer directions.
Siri may work for others, but I’d say my measure of success using Siri is around 10%. In fact, I get so frustrated with Siri responding to my entries with absolutely nothing related to them, that I have disabled it (her?) on my iPads.
Now comes Touch ID. Two years ago, I bought a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. One of the features with the Touch Bar is Touch ID: register your fingerprint and instead of using a password, let the computer recognize you by your fingerprint.
More and more, this feature doesn’t work. When new, it was a fabulous experience: sitting in an airport boarding area, just press my finger on the Touch Bar pad, and presto! Except now, the screen just shudders, and after repeated attempts, tells me I need to input my password. But that’s what Touch ID is meant to bypass! I have reset (deleted and added) my fingerprints, to no avail. What gives?
Similarly, I had a problem with my keyboard. This turned out to be a known problem that Apple would repair at no cost to the consumer. Dutifully, I took it to an Apple Store, and the Genius there said Apple would have to repair it. I left it, and when I received it back, the entire hard disk had been erased. WHAT??!? How in the world does repairing or replacing a keyboard require wiping a hard disk?
No company is perfect, not even Apple. Maybe it’s me, but I think maybe Apple has let some cracks develop in its product design, development and testing processes. That disheartens me, but I still consider Apple’s products superior to the competing products out there. For now.
Jimi Hendrix once sang, “If Six Was Nine.” But this is neither a post about Hendrix, nor about his songs. This is about instruments.
And, before you jump to conclusions (which may make sense, given that I’ve written about bass guitars before), this is about ukuleles and not bass guitars!
Kala KA-15 Concert Ukulele
Let me give a little background: Every time my six year-old granddaughter comes to my house, she gets enraptured by my KLŌS travel guitar. I don’t mind, as it’s made of carbon fiber, so there’s little chance she can damage it, even if she were to drop it or sling it about.
KLŌS Travel Guitar
So, I was walking through a newly-opened Lidl, when I saw they had beginner guitar sets for sale. I stopped to think. This might be a nice Christmas present for her, if she really wants to plunk away. Then, right next to the guitars, were some boxes of Ukuleles. Right size, right price, so I bought one.
Okay, so it’s a cheapie. I figured that if she lost interest quickly, no great loss. On the other hand, it’s my hope that she’ll get interested in it enough to attempt to learn some basic tunes (the bundle I bought includes a beginner songbook and online tutorials). Then it struck me: What if she liked playing ukulele, but was disappointed in the cheap one she received?
That’s when I thought perhaps I’d get a better instrument. And my plan was hatched: I’d give her the Lidl uke, and in seven months, when her birthday came around, I’d gift her with an “upgrade.”
I found a bundle on Sweetwater and ordered it. The bundle includes the Kala KA-15c Mahogany Concert Ukulele, strap, clip-on tuner, and gig bag. A concert ukulele is slightly larger than a soprano, but given the diminutive nature of a ukulele, I don’t think the size will be a detriment for my granddaugher.
And, of course, I get to play with it for the next seven months!
