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Good call on the 'dad speak'... Billy's probably right. Drive in good health (and your dad's), John. bp

Sometimes it takes another guy to see it from a distance before you can tell what somebody's saying to you...thanks...just finished the Citykings' flyer for 5th Street May 13. We're gonna do a whole night...4 hours...can't wait! Cheers, WC1
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos? ... ity=Vpstmb

Strange gig last night. New venue for Shakedown, we were referred there by the Volumizers, who are friends and they gave us the tip on getting the gig. Me and Willie showed up at around 10 minutes to 8 with Vincent ready to unload. We walked in and the bad vibes hit us like a pie in the face. There were 6 neighborhood losers sitting there drunk, cursing and hurling profanities at each other in a silent bar, watching the NASCAR race on a big-screen TV that was set up right in the middle of the bandstand. The manager came over to us and started in on us right off the top. "What do y'all want?! What are YOU doing here?!" I said we're with the band and we have the equipment, etc...she goes "Well, what kind of music do y'all play?" She's looking at Willie, who has scraggly black hair down to his tits. He says "We play good music." The drunkest loser shoots back..."Yeah, well, We'll SEE..." with a sneer. She says "What SONGS are you going to play?" I said we do Allman Bros, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Heart, Motown, Blues and classic rock...we do a lot of the same kind of stuff the Volumizers do. She said "Yeah. But you're not THEM, are you..." I turned around and walked out. Sat in the van and waited for Lynn to show up. Willie came out and started a nightlong vent. I couldn't say anything to him that he didn't either correct or disagree with, and he was agreeing with me, actually. So I pretty much shut up and just didn't talk much. I've played a lot worse places and dealt with a lot worse people, but Willie really had his feelings hurt by them and he whined all night about it...Lynn showed up alone; he'd gone by Mikey's to pick him up (Mikey's 44 and he has no car...neither does Willie, who is also 44, come to think of it...I drive up to River Oaks to pick Willie up and drop him off at his ex-wife's place) but Mikey wasn't there yet. He'd played an afternoon gig. So the bass player situation was that Mikey'd play the first set and Lynn takes him home, then Tom comes in and finishes up the last 3 sets. Tom's a great guy and he's a pro, so I ain't got no problem with that. The problem was going in there and getting set up to play the gig without getting into a fight. Lynn goes in and smooth-talks 'em into being in a good mood and then he gets us to bring our stuff in and set up. Very bad vibes, derrogatory remarks, insults, etc being said towards us from the bar. The manager came back and asked me if we had a crowd of people who followed us around or something. I said, well, we play the Bay Area, this is a part of town we haven't been to, so I don't know if we're going to have our crowd here. She goes, "Well, everybody's over at the cookoff. I expect tonight to be DEAD...." with that look on her face that says we're not going to get paid...We get set up and I turn on my stuff and play my standard test riff on my keyboard, and a guy at the bar lets out a rebel yell...they all sat up and turned and looked at me with their mouths hanging open and went quiet when that lick hit the air...Lynn went back to Mikey's and picked him up and he came in and set up. Brandi showed up, sober and beautiful; she came in smiling and gracefully sashayed up to the center of the stage and we played the best set we've played in months to 10 people who sat there in total shock. They clapped after each song in amazement. A couple showed up and the guy's girlfriend came up and danced right in front of us and she started getting a little crazy and next thing you know, she's up on stage, ran into my keyboard and knocked it off the stand, then she grabs Brandi and starts humping on her while she's singing...her boyfriend came over (he had interrogated me and Willie earlier about whether or not we were any good and if we had a good singer and good material to offer to him and his woman) and he had to remove her physically from trying to have sex with Brandi while she was singing...actually the chick went after Lynn first but Brandi went over and got her off of him...during the late part of the first set, these 2 very overweight Hispanic dudes came in carrying a DJ system and they set it up over off stage left. We kept playing. The lead guy came over and dropped 5 bucks in the tip jar and gave us thumbs-up and went back to his sound system. When we finished, he introduced himself as Sweet Louie and he let out a bunch of F-bombs and played an awesome series of classic rock tunes on his system...I expected loud, overbearing Tejano music, but not one note of that got played. It was good rock 'n roll. I went over and introduced myself to him (they brought in about a dozen chicks and some guys with them) and he couldn't have been a nicer guy. Next thing you know, the place fills up. The atmosphere clears. It's a big party. I stopped by the bar to say howdy to Tom, who showed up and was getting his swerve on before he played and I noticed the back door was open. I wondered what was out there, so I stepped through the back door and walked right into a drug deal. Crack. I said Oops, 'scuse me and went back in and got ready to play the next set. The Volumizers showed up. Their gig at the 517 bar got cancelled because the place lost its liquor license, so they came over to check us out and they brought their crowd with 'em. We played the show. It went over great. We got paid and tipped good money. Willie could have used a prozac or something to maybe brighten his mood, and all the way home he told me about how and why he's going to quit...I'll hate to lose Willie; he's a pro and a fun guy to hang out with, but he has dark moods and sometimes I feel like I'm babysitting some of these players, ya know. They're either going to do it or not. I don't really need to sit through a litany of complaints. I'm carrying the stuff they need to play the gig with that they're getting paid to do and I'm carrying them there and back as well...Willie does not take it for granted, though, and I appreciate that. Mikey does. He has no qualms whatsoever about us carrying him around. I could rave on all day, but I gotta run. It ended up being a big night and Brandi told me that the manager told her she's glad we're not the Volumizers. That made my day. Cheers, WC1

wow another night on the town !! yep we have walked into a few gigs just us no crowd with us and have gotten the same stares, comments and such. every joint/ function has their own regulars that act like they own the place just because they sit on a stool night after night letting the fat ugly chick take all their money and call them a cab... those guys are the hardest to deal with.... but if the show is good that guy will tip and start acting like he has known the group from infancy

Just remembered that before the gig I was sitting in Vincent outside a convenience store at the apartments off Memorial Drive where Willie is staying right now, at his ex-wife's place, and I got to talking to the store manager, who comes outside and chain-smokes when nobody's in the store. He noticed that I was driving a different van than the one he usually sees me in and I explained what was going on with Ludwig. He said well, the same thing happened to me with my car...it'd just up and die on me in traffic and there was no explaining it...finally took it to a mechanic and he replaced the ignition coil is all it needed...my eyes lit up...I said I think I can do that. I have the Chilton's book and I have cousin Bert on the phone if I need him...I'll give that a shot. That's a $20 part and you pay $80 or so for labor to replace it...I think I can do it myself...wish me luck...then I was suppposed to go to Galveston today to pick up my Dad's 2004 Ford Focus wagon, but he called and told me that this weekend is Beach Party Weekend for the African American kids, and there's 350,000 of 'em all over the place and traffic is at a virtual standstill from Houston all the way to Galveston and back. I asked when my stepmom's surgery is scheduled and he said it's for Wednesday...I told him I'd be there Wednesday to be with him. I'll bring Kyle and we'll pick up the Focus. He told me if it isn't the ignition coil in Ludwig and I need to put the van in the shop, just do it and he'll take care of it. I raised hell about that, but he insisted that money isn't any part of his concerns in life. He's got money. Lots of it. And he doesn't want to keep it all to himself. He doesn't see that it is doing him much good anymore. That's why he offered me the car, now he's going to get Ludwig fixed if it has to be...this is not something I asked for. He called me and he is demanding that I do this. I accepted the offer. But if I can fix Ludwig myself, I'll sure feel like I'm worth something. Life is good. WC1

Cat, if your dad wants to help you out allow him the opportunity to do so. When my dad was towards the end of his life he always wanted to buy for all of his children and grandchildren. I felt uncomfortable with this as I was taught to pay my share then he said something that made sense to me. He said " I won't enjoy my money when I am gone and to see the smile of gratitude on my kid's faces or to see how I can help them out while I am still here is something that makes me feel good". He would always give his grandchildren several hundred dollars when school was over so that they could go on vacation during the summer, or if they mentioned something they needed or wanted (one time it was a vacuum cleaner) he would have them go get it and he would pay for it. When I would go to visit him we always took his car, he always paid and he always smiled or laughed before I left. You are always one of the philosophers on our board so please accept this as a bit of wisdom passed on. God bless. Jack

Thanks for the update, Cat. This stuff is great and I love reading it, but it belongs on its own blog attached to your site... say the word and I'll set that up... Oh, and I'll COPY it from here to there so that we don't miss a word here!!! bp

Thanks, BP! I'd love it to have that feature...great! What do I need to do from this end? Just keep going? Thanks!

Good advice, Wheelz, and I will do this with my Dad. Throughout my entire adult life, he has been there for me, but I haven't asked him for anything and he has offered many things and I have not accepted. This time I'll go along with his wishes. I'm taking Wednesday off and going to Galveston to be with him during my stepmom's surgery. They are aged now and he needs me there, but HE didn't ask...That's how it is with men. Anyway, I thoroughly searched the Chilton's book for ignition coil/1993 Chevy Astro Cargo EXT van/4.3L engine, etc. Nowhere is an ignition coil either shown or listed in that 2,000 page book. Nothing. They must think folks should know where the ignition coil is, I mean heck, it's an ignition coil. You just do it...they have exploded views of the instrument cluster, the cruise control system, etc. I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts online and they show 5 ignition coils for a 1993 Chevy Astro Cargo EXT van with a 4.3L engine. You can buy the cheapo for $25 or the AC Delco for $51. It's a cute little plastic box that screws onto something somewhere on the van, but like I say, Chilton must have forgot to show it or something, or they just figured heck, who needs to know THAT?... Unbelievable how the forces of nature seem to line up sometimes, isn't it! Cheers, WC1

I too love reading John's happenings !
Always good..........

wc... just trace the center wire from the dist cap to the coil .. it looks square ....