Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Serial Numbers

A few years ago I found a website that lets you use the serial number from your Gibson guitar to get information about your Gibson guitar. At the time I had two Gibson guitars. I’ll look them up again, then I will look up my two newer Gibson guitars.

First, my Les Paul Custom:

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
on September 18th, 1978
Production Number: 27

Next, my ES-335 Pro:

Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo Plant, MI, USA
on December 5th, 1979
Production Number: 127

Okay then, those are my two older guitars which might technically be considered “vintage.” Now let us check on the two guitars from the 21st century.

Start with my SG Standard:

Well… this is weird. There are two hits.

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
on March 10th, 2012
Production Number: 286

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
in 2018
Production Number: 2258

Right. I bought this one new after Gibson declared bankruptcy in 2018. It actually has a stamp on the back of the headstock right under the serial number that says, “Made in USA 2018 Model.” I guess that means it’s a 2018.

Okay, now lastly my Les Paul Standard 50’s:

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
in 2023
Production Number: 210004

Huh… right… so the guitar that my wife bought me for my 50th birthday back in 2021 was made in 2023… huh… so looks like the app doesn’t know how to handle the serial numbers from 2021. I guess I should Google it to see if I can find anything…

Turns out they changed the serial number format in 2019 and now we have this info:

It was made on November 16, 2020 and is production number 42.

I can tell by the look on all of your faces that you are fascinated by this.

The Weekend is Here

It’s 5:30pm on Friday. Quittin’ time.

The weekend is finally here.

After working in the office four days this week, it has felt like the work week was 50 days long instead of five. It’s just been brutal.

But now it’s over. Time to sign out and go hang out with Jen and Harry.

Finally!

Happy weekend, everyone! (where applicable)

Cellar Dweller

My step son is home for a few days so I cannot work from the desk in his room. I’ve been using that space for my telecommuting needs for months now. When did I move things there? I can’t remember. Was it last fall? Last August maybe? I could search the blog for it but I’m too lazy at the moment.

Not using the desk in his room means I am back at the desk in the cellar. I left it all setup for work use when I moved so the big question for this morning was would it all still work?

The answer? Yes. Yes it does. All of it. Excellent. I had to plug everything into the laptop, and plug the webcam into the USB hub, and turn the speakers on, and that was it. I am now 100% back up to speed. I’m all punched in and off to the employment races.

Technology, man. You gotta just dig it.

Easy Answer

Daily writing prompt
Describe one of your favorite moments.
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There is one favorite moment that stands above all other favorite moments. Obviously there are a lot of favorites over the course of over 50 years, but there is one that is the clear favorite of favorites.

May 30, 2009. I stood at the alter and waited patiently, with the biggest smile ever, as my bride to be walked down the aisle toward me. We then stood together in front of family and friends and expressed our love for each other and vowed to share the rest of our days together.

As favorite moments go, that is the tipity top of the mountain, let me tell you.

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Game Three – Tied in the Second

Game three of the Stanley Cup Final. It’s tied at one about four minutes into the second period.

At what point do I just give up hope and accept the fact that the team I’m rooting for, Edmonton, is not going to win.

Crudsville, population me.

I suppose the Oilers could figure it out tonight and actually score some goals and win a game for a change. It could happen. I mean, they are in the Stanley Cup Final fer crying out loud. It’s not like they suck, you know?

Come on, Oilers. Let’s make this happen.

Day Four

I wrote a post about this yesterday. I am supposed to work from the office two days each week and last week, thanks to a head cold left over from our Florida vacation, I didn’t come into the office at all. That means for the rest of the month of June I would owe two days in the office.

Well… assuming I can survive for the next 3.5 hours or so, I won’t owe any more. Today is the fourth day of the work week, and I’ve been in the office all four days.

I am exhausted.

Prior to the pandemic, four days in the office and one day at home was the norm. Thursday was my one telecommute day each week. The rest of the week I was in the office. It’s not the same office I’m in now, but that’s not important at all. Four days in, one day home. I am pretty sure this week marks the first time since Covid came to call that I will match that schedule. Well… not exactly. Friday will be my work from home day this week. That is not important either.

What is important is that I have made up the two days I missed last week. I am back on track. Next week will only have two days in the office and all will be right with the working world again.

I just can’t get over how tired I am. The commute, the noise, the stress… it’s just wearing me out, man. How did I manage this for 16 years or so before Covid? I can’t wrap my tiny little miniature brain around it.

Tomorrow I will work from home. I have to move back to the basement office because Harry is home and I won’t be able to use the desk in his room. That’s oaky with me. Who knows, maybe if the weather cooperates I might work outside for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try at least, just to say that I’ve done it.

In other news, my House of the Dragon season one rewatch to prep for Sunday’s premier of season two continues. I’m through six out of ten episodes which is nuts given that I only thought of doing this four nights ago. I’m caught up on Star Wars: The Acolyte and loving it so far. Three episodes in and I am coming up with some crazy theories. I’m ready for part one of the two part season finale of Doctor Who which airs tomorrow night. We still don’t know who the bad guy is. I haven’t a clue. The new season of The Boys is supposed to launch today at some point. I’m not sure exactly when. There will be three episodes released at launch. I am probably going to hold off on them until I get through the last four episodes of HotD. I’m not sure though. We’ll see.

No band practice this week. No band practice next week. After that I am hopeful that we’ll be able to string together a bunch of them and start getting some of the songs back up to speed. Not to mention growing calluses on my finger tips so that playing doesn’t hurt as much. I’m really looking forward to that.

Oh good! One of the guys in my group at work submitted a bug yesterday and someone in the Dev group just picked it up off of the queue. Here’s hoping we get a quick turn around! That would be excellent. I love it when things go according to plan.

Until next time… I am so freakin’ tired!

Well… That Doesn’t Work

Daily writing prompt
What notable things happened today?
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Suddenly my usual daily writing prompt workflow seems inadequate. It is 6:35am. The only thing that is notable that happened today is that I woke up and did my morning exercise without issue. There was one moment while I was still in bed where the cat jumped on me and missed landing on the family jewels by about an inch. That would have been notable for all the wrong reasons, right?

I guess I can extend the daily question to include the entirety of the last 24 hours. It’s my blog after all so I can do pretty much whatever I want… right? I guess.

Last night my step son came home. At the start of the day yesterday we weren’t expecting to see him this weekend. Toward the end of the work day we were expecting him to come later tonight. By the time I finished dinner he was on his way. That is notable for all the right reasons. I’m so happy he’s here. I just wish I wasn’t working in the office today, but it’s time to pack up and get ready for the morning commute.

Welcome home, Harry!