Time-Warner Two-step continues.
My previous entry details my experience with trying to rectify my rate for internet service.
A few days ago, I received a bill from TWC telling me that I was to be billed $53.95 for internet service from June 15 to July 14, 2012. This got my attention as this blog revealed that I spoke with TWC and got a rate of $29.99 on May 21.
I called TWC and spoke to Daniel who gave me his employee reference number as 359170. He told me he could not correct my rate but gave me another number, 866-892-0019 to call. When asked, he said that was the number for "retention". I'm calling that number now and will detail the results of that conversation.
I got Dolly who connected me with Julie who is attempting to get my rate corrected. Julie's employee number is 121665. She promised to call me at our home number within the next couple days to confirm whether the rate will be adjusted.
Stay tuned. This process would nearly be beyond the patience of anybody who isn't retired.
ciao, babies!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Internet rate blues
Internet Billing Issue:
This entry is an attempt for me to document my issue with the rate I'm paying for Internet Service. I apologize if all the detail is boring to you. That said, my experience may be of some value.
We have had cable internet service from Time-Warner Cable ever since it became available here in Hingham.
About six months ago, I realized that my $39.95/month rate for internet was expiring in December of 2011 and I called TWC to try and secure a new "promotion". They said they could not talk about a new rate until December. I was not satisfied with this because December is such a busy time and I feared I might just forget. My neighbor next door had switched from TWC to Earthlink for internet and he informed me that Earthlink used the same cable infrastructure and that their pricing was better so I called Earthlink.
After a long time on the phone with first an agent from India (Apparently EL has their call center in India) and then several TWC agents, I was promised a rate of $29.95/month for six months followed by a rate of $41.95 indefinitely. I was told that they would not have to come to my house, they'd use the cable modem that was already installed in my house and that TWC would continue to bill me. Note that we had dropped TWC TV because their least expensive TV package that included a DVR was $80/month. We now have Dish Network and are very pleased with their product and pay about $30/month with a DVR and two boxes in the house and only channels that we value.
Last week, I received a bill from TWC indicating that they were raising my rate for Internet to $53.95/month.
Today, I called 800-817-5508, Earthlink's support number and spoke to John, who spoke with a fairly decipherable Indian accent, and he told me I no longer have an account with Earthlink. He gave me a reference number for our conversation of 161772789. He connected me with TWC and I spoke with Layla who said her employee number was "One hundred and then 87". She confirmed that I had the 29.95/41.95 agreement with EL but she said she could not do anything about it. She told me to call Earthlink. I explained that I had already talked to EL and that they had sent me to her. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After a delay of several minutes, she told me that her supervisor was not available. She then offered me another phone number, 920-991-1693. Sensing I had no alternative, I hung up with her. I had been on the phone for 34 minutes with the Indian gent and Layla.
At the 920 number, I got Nick, employee E156434. I told him the whole story after waiting about 5 minutes to speak with an agent. Nick is based in Wisconsin and communication with him was very easy. After initially expressing concern over what he could do for me, and after I told him I'd gladly switch back to TWC if he could give me a good price, he offered me $29.99/month for 10mb down, 1mb up service for one year. He indicated that the price would go up by at most $5/month in the second year but no guarantee after that. He also said that TWC was charging a $2.50/month "rental fee" for the cable modem and that he would attempt to get that waived since we have had this modem since TWC first came to Hingham.
In the course of talking to Nick, I attempted to log into my Earthlink email account and was informed that the account was no longer active. That surprised me but I've never used the account so it was not much of a concern.
A few minutes after I got off the phone with Nick, he called back to make sure that our internet service was still working. It is!
So the bottom line is that this blog entry is my record of the fact that, as of today, I now again have TWC for my internet provider, my rate is $29.99/month for one year plus taxes and fees and MAYBE a $2.50/month modem rental fee. After one year, my rate for 10 up and 1 down service will go up by no more than $5/month. This rate is good for another year. After that, there are no guarantees.
If you deal with Earthlink, you likely will talk to somebody in India. But they do exist as a convenient price competitor to Time-Warner Cable for Internet Service.
The story has a happy ending, happier than what I expected but I did have to endure an hour on the phone, much of which was waiting for "the next available agent".
Ciao, babies!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Some comments I made in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinal today:
These two comments were made pursuant to a Polifact article that said "Gov. Scott Walker says most state employees could pay twice as much toward their health care premiums and it would still be half the national average."
Polifact rated his comment: True.
I am a former public school teacher. I have listened to the repeated
attacks on the benefits of public employees. My take? Those who attack
unions and their benefits seem to think they have the upper hand now for
two reasons. A) Health insurance and pension benefits of public unionized
employees are out of line with "comparable" private sector employees. B)
The stuggling economy has made SOME people suffer therefore ALL public
employees should suffer too.
In response to A), the argument is INVALID because public and private
employees are NOT COMPARABLE. People with the qualifications to be
teachers, the professional certifications, the specific education do not exist
doing the same thing in the private sector. Private school, non-unionized
teachers choose to do that either for their dedication to the religion of
that school or because they are just waiting to get hired in the public
schools. No other kind of worker compares. The right is comparing
apples to oranges and chanting that "black is white" so loud and long as
to convince many that black is indeed white.
In response to B), public employees are not responsible for the decline in
the economy. If the government feels it has to cut costs, so be it. You
get what you pay for despite the bleating of the conservatives that money
does not improve education.
I am retired and it doesn't impact on the livelihood of my family anymore.
But if it did, I would use every once of my talent, power and energy to
make sure that justice was done to me and those like me.
Do NOT expect WEAC, a credible, erudite, strong and intelligent
organization with many resources at its disposal to go down with nary a
whimper.
Just one more point about the APPLES to ORANGES mentality of the
political right: The primary reason that public employees, teachers
specifically, are not comparable to private sector employees is that private
sector employees are not able to NEGOTIATE a contract agreement. In
negotiations the total package is the bottom line. It all boils down to a
number. Now if the union asks (they cannot demand because of the
nature of bargaining) that part of it's "total package" be dedicated to
paying for health insurance and pension benefits so that these are not
subject to taxation, that makes sense for both parties. It does not cost
the school board any more money and it SAVES the union members from
having to pay taxes they would otherwise have to pay on the income
used to pay for their benefits.
Since private sector employees do not and cannot bargain with their
employer, the employer sets how much it will contribute to pension and
health insurance. The private sector employee is powerless to do
anything else.
Thus, public school teachers are NOT COMPARABLE to anyone who works
in the private sector.
Of course, the one way that the right has to "level the playing field" is to
take the right to collectively bargain away from public school teachers.
Governor Walker seems intent on doing that.
Collective bargaining history tells us that the unions fought for many
years to gain this right. I don't expect WEAC to stand by powerless and
watch decades of what they have worked to build be destroyed in one
term by a Republican Governor and Republican majorities in both houses.
It seemed a shame to write so much in the JS comments section never to be seen again....
Ciao, babies!!
These two comments were made pursuant to a Polifact article that said "Gov. Scott Walker says most state employees could pay twice as much toward their health care premiums and it would still be half the national average."
Polifact rated his comment: True.
I am a former public school teacher. I have listened to the repeated
attacks on the benefits of public employees. My take? Those who attack
unions and their benefits seem to think they have the upper hand now for
two reasons. A) Health insurance and pension benefits of public unionized
employees are out of line with "comparable" private sector employees. B)
The stuggling economy has made SOME people suffer therefore ALL public
employees should suffer too.
In response to A), the argument is INVALID because public and private
employees are NOT COMPARABLE. People with the qualifications to be
teachers, the professional certifications, the specific education do not exist
doing the same thing in the private sector. Private school, non-unionized
teachers choose to do that either for their dedication to the religion of
that school or because they are just waiting to get hired in the public
schools. No other kind of worker compares. The right is comparing
apples to oranges and chanting that "black is white" so loud and long as
to convince many that black is indeed white.
In response to B), public employees are not responsible for the decline in
the economy. If the government feels it has to cut costs, so be it. You
get what you pay for despite the bleating of the conservatives that money
does not improve education.
I am retired and it doesn't impact on the livelihood of my family anymore.
But if it did, I would use every once of my talent, power and energy to
make sure that justice was done to me and those like me.
Do NOT expect WEAC, a credible, erudite, strong and intelligent
organization with many resources at its disposal to go down with nary a
whimper.
Just one more point about the APPLES to ORANGES mentality of the
political right: The primary reason that public employees, teachers
specifically, are not comparable to private sector employees is that private
sector employees are not able to NEGOTIATE a contract agreement. In
negotiations the total package is the bottom line. It all boils down to a
number. Now if the union asks (they cannot demand because of the
nature of bargaining) that part of it's "total package" be dedicated to
paying for health insurance and pension benefits so that these are not
subject to taxation, that makes sense for both parties. It does not cost
the school board any more money and it SAVES the union members from
having to pay taxes they would otherwise have to pay on the income
used to pay for their benefits.
Since private sector employees do not and cannot bargain with their
employer, the employer sets how much it will contribute to pension and
health insurance. The private sector employee is powerless to do
anything else.
Thus, public school teachers are NOT COMPARABLE to anyone who works
in the private sector.
Of course, the one way that the right has to "level the playing field" is to
take the right to collectively bargain away from public school teachers.
Governor Walker seems intent on doing that.
Collective bargaining history tells us that the unions fought for many
years to gain this right. I don't expect WEAC to stand by powerless and
watch decades of what they have worked to build be destroyed in one
term by a Republican Governor and Republican majorities in both houses.
It seemed a shame to write so much in the JS comments section never to be seen again....
Ciao, babies!!
Monday, February 07, 2011
Funny little blip
I went to Sheboygan and picked up a young man that I am helping for the Waldo Intergroup last Saturday. When the event ended, I took him back to Sheboygan. This was after 9 p.m. on Saturday night. He asked me to take him to his girlfriend's residence but wanted to stop at a mini-mart on the way. He went into the Quik Trip while I sat outside in the car. I shut the car off while I waited for him.
When he came out, we drove out of the brightly lighted mini-mart parking area onto the street. I was unsure of where I needed to make a left turn as we travelled south on Calumet Drive and that was what I was focussing on. I made the left turn onto Michigan Avenue and immediately noted flashing lights behind me so I pulled over. An officer from the Sheboygan Police department appeared at my window and asked me for my drivers license and proof of insurance. She told me that I was driving without my headlights on. I quickly turned them on and mumbled, "I'm sorry." I gave her my license and quickly located my insurance certificate which I had carefully stored in the area where I keep my sunglasses. The officer asked where we had been and where we were going. I said we were coming from an AA event in Waldo and that I was taking him to his friend's house. The officer, a young woman, commented, "Well, I guess you haven't been drinking then". Shortly thereafter, she commented that my insurance certificate was expired. Sure enough, it expired on 12/23/2010. Later, I would discover that, yes, I had received the new certificate but it was buried in the pile of paper next to my computer. The officer went back to her vehicle saying she'd be right back. A good ten minutes later, she came back with a warning for driving after dark with no headlights and for not having proof of insurance. Lucky me. It was, however, embarrassing and both of us were more than a little nervous as we waited for the officer to return from her car. My young friend has an extensive record. Mine is completely empty at this time never having included any moving violations.
It's kind of coincidental that the last time I was pulled over, by a Sheboygan County Deputy, one of my former students, it was also on a night I was returning from an AA event near Mauston, WI.
That's my report for today.
Ciao, babies!!
I went to Sheboygan and picked up a young man that I am helping for the Waldo Intergroup last Saturday. When the event ended, I took him back to Sheboygan. This was after 9 p.m. on Saturday night. He asked me to take him to his girlfriend's residence but wanted to stop at a mini-mart on the way. He went into the Quik Trip while I sat outside in the car. I shut the car off while I waited for him.
When he came out, we drove out of the brightly lighted mini-mart parking area onto the street. I was unsure of where I needed to make a left turn as we travelled south on Calumet Drive and that was what I was focussing on. I made the left turn onto Michigan Avenue and immediately noted flashing lights behind me so I pulled over. An officer from the Sheboygan Police department appeared at my window and asked me for my drivers license and proof of insurance. She told me that I was driving without my headlights on. I quickly turned them on and mumbled, "I'm sorry." I gave her my license and quickly located my insurance certificate which I had carefully stored in the area where I keep my sunglasses. The officer asked where we had been and where we were going. I said we were coming from an AA event in Waldo and that I was taking him to his friend's house. The officer, a young woman, commented, "Well, I guess you haven't been drinking then". Shortly thereafter, she commented that my insurance certificate was expired. Sure enough, it expired on 12/23/2010. Later, I would discover that, yes, I had received the new certificate but it was buried in the pile of paper next to my computer. The officer went back to her vehicle saying she'd be right back. A good ten minutes later, she came back with a warning for driving after dark with no headlights and for not having proof of insurance. Lucky me. It was, however, embarrassing and both of us were more than a little nervous as we waited for the officer to return from her car. My young friend has an extensive record. Mine is completely empty at this time never having included any moving violations.
It's kind of coincidental that the last time I was pulled over, by a Sheboygan County Deputy, one of my former students, it was also on a night I was returning from an AA event near Mauston, WI.
That's my report for today.
Ciao, babies!!
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Ok. This one isn't political but it's my opinion. If you agree to play fantasy football, play the damn game! It is truly ok for you to play anyway you want of course but here's what I do. I watch every NFL game that's on TV all weekend even if they are not the Green Bay Packers. PIP works fine when there are two games on at one time. I ache for the start of the next week on Monday when one weekend is pretty much over. I'm chomping at the bit to look at next week's opponent even before the MNF game. On Tuesday it's all about trolling the internet for info on who's injured and who's hot and who's not. I make all my waiver claims and look forward to Wednesday morning when waivers have run. Wednesday through Sunday morning, I'm agonizing over who to start. I look fwd to Start'em and Sit'em on CBS and Love/Hate on ESPN which happen on Thursday and Friday.
I am the commish in two leagues now. One just got passed to me this past week and that league has several owners who don't pay any attention to their team. I'm jousting with one owner who knows his opponent, not one of those who are always absent, has two blanks in her lineup at this moment. I doubt she will fill them by herself and am tempted to use my commish power to do so. The still, small voice seems to be saying "leave it alone". Gonna do that. I played against a team last week that had 4 open slots because of an absentee owner and a commish who had no time to tend the league. That's how I got to be commish. Now one owner is complaining that I'm too hand's-on and my ego is out of control. Then there's this little devil on my shoulder who says "Go ahead and insert a RW and a WR off waivers in her lineup because her opponent (the complainer) will never know if it was commish or owner who did it." SSV says "It's still wrong even if you don't get caught."
Ciao, babies!
I am the commish in two leagues now. One just got passed to me this past week and that league has several owners who don't pay any attention to their team. I'm jousting with one owner who knows his opponent, not one of those who are always absent, has two blanks in her lineup at this moment. I doubt she will fill them by herself and am tempted to use my commish power to do so. The still, small voice seems to be saying "leave it alone". Gonna do that. I played against a team last week that had 4 open slots because of an absentee owner and a commish who had no time to tend the league. That's how I got to be commish. Now one owner is complaining that I'm too hand's-on and my ego is out of control. Then there's this little devil on my shoulder who says "Go ahead and insert a RW and a WR off waivers in her lineup because her opponent (the complainer) will never know if it was commish or owner who did it." SSV says "It's still wrong even if you don't get caught."
Ciao, babies!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Updated Guitar story
I'm guessing it was probably about 1966 when I decided to buy my first guitar. I was a freshman in college and, of course, folk music was very popular at the time. We also had this group that played guitar at tne Newman center for the Catholic masses there.
Having a limited budget and not knowing anything about musical instruments (nobody in my family played anything except maybe a little piano and we didn't have one) I went to K-Mart and, for reasons I will never understand, bought a 12-string guitar.
I tried to tune it and it never sounded right so I began messing with the neck. I totally messed up the truss rod so as to make further adjusting impossible and decided to take the guitar back to K-Mart in Eau Claire. To my surprise and delight, they took it back and gave me a total refund. With this and possibly a little more cash, I went downtown to what I think was Day Music store and bought my 1946 Gibson LG-2. I think I paid $75 for it but that was so long ago it might not be accurate. That guitar has been my main instrument up until I started buying Taylors in 2006 so I guess that was about 40 years.
At some point, I decided I wanted ANOTHER guitar and I bought an Ovation acoustic/electric. I didn't buy an amp so there was no way for me to play it electically. The few times I did try to plug it in to someone else's amp, it would not play because the internal 9-volt battery was dead. Not having hardly ever played it that way, I didn't even know it HAD a battery. Then when I found out that you had to remove the strings to get at the battery through the sound hole, I was quite dismayed.
Comparing the sound of the Ovation to the sound of my Gibson always left me feeling flat. The Ovation had a wood top but plastic rounded back and sides and the tone just didn't do much for me. I eventually gave that guitar to my son Geoff and it currently resides in my closet because Geoff is in the process of moving.
The next guitar I bought was a Sigma by Martin 12-string. I thought it's 12-string sound would be good to play in church. I picked it up used at a small music store in Sheboygan. Those were the days before electronic tuners and I never was able to tune it so that it sounded in tune to me. It sat. I didn't play it.
In 2006, I decided that I wanted an acoustic/electric that I could play in church. I went looking at some music stores in Green Bay and eventually ended up at Heid Music. They had a quiet little humidity-controlled room and I was able to sit in there ALONE and play my C-Dm-G-Cmaj7 chord sequence from John Prine's "Hello in there". I HATE going into music stores and hearing young kids playing all kinds of impressive electric rifs while I strum my humble chords. I didn't want to spend much more than $1000 on this guitar and eventually settled on two of them. One was a Takamine with external 9-volt battery access and tone controls on the guitar and the other a Taylor 210e with battery access through the sound hole and no tone or volume controls. I must have switched back and forth between the two about 25 times before finally settling on the Taylor. The nice young sales person did not hover or stay with me. He just answered my questions as they came up and left me to myself. I didn't think I'd ever be able to afford a Taylor because any Taylor I'd ever seen was more than 2 grand in price. The 210e was my choice because I just loved the sound. It is a dreadnought design and has a very satisfying bass sound to it. Surprisingly, I was able to overlook its battery access issue and its lack of tone controls. I traded the Sigma 12-string in on the 210e since I really didn't want it anymore.
The sales guy showed me a Fender Acoustasonic Jr. amp which I used to demo the guitars in the sound room and, rather impulsively, I decided to buy it too. This has turned out to be a very good move in hindsight but it did exceed my self-imposed budget.
With the purchase of the Taylor 210e, I became entangled in Taylor's effective marketing web. They gave me my first real exposure to the need to keep my guitars in a humidity-controlled area especially in the winter when it gets so dry. (By this time, my Gibson had already cracked due to lack of proper humidity control) Taylor also hooked me by sending me their quarterly magazine "Wood and Steel". It is full of pictures of beautiful guitars and lots of Taylor-talk.
Thus, I began to yearn for an all-solid-wood Taylor guitar. The 210e has a solid wood top but the back and sides are made of a laminate. It, incidentally, began its life on March 16, 2006 and was the 11th guitar built that day. This can be deciphered from its serial number.
And so one day, on my way back home from Theresa's house near Monroe, I decided to stop at a music store in Madison to look at some Taylor guitars. Having looked at it's website, I zeroed in on Madison Music, Inc., a small store located on the beltline. To my delight, they must have had at least a dozen Taylors in stock including one whose top, back and sides were Hawaiian Koa. To me, Koa is just breathtakingly beautiful and I SO wanted a Koa guitar. I asked the salesman if I could play it and he took it down for me and led me to their acoustic room. At the time, I really had no intention of buying a guitar and since the Koa listed for about $3000, buying was the furthest thing from my mind. As the salesman brought various other guitars in for me to play and without really pushing he suggested that the 714ce-LTD might be worth a look. It is a special guitar as in the spring and fall Taylor makes a limited run of guitars out of woods that normally would be much more expensive if custom ordered. When comparing the Koa guitar to the 714ce-LTD, I much preferred the sound of the 714. The Koa was not as rich and "boomy" and I guess I like "rich and boomy". A seed was planted and as I sat strumming the 714, I got the crazy idea to buy it. It remains my nicest guitar and the one that cost the most. It has a beautiful bright and boomy sound and I love it.
When I decided to retire in January of 2010, the idea came to me that I might never be able to afford another guitar. I had been eying one of the Taylor "hybrid" guitars, the T5. This is a thin-bodied heavier guitar with a 5-position switch which selects different combinations of the three pickups built in to the guitar. You can go from straight acoustic to twangy electric. I decided to spend my last paycheck on a guitar and set out looking for a store that had a T5 in stock. Through the internet, I discovered that the only place within Wisconsin was Jim Laabs Music in Stevens Point. They had two in stock and it turned out that there was special "factory pricing" on each which saved me several hundred dollars over the going retail price. I drove from DePere over to Stevens Point one day and ended up settling on a beautiful clear maple topped T5 custom. It has a much more twangy electric quality which fits certain of my songs better than a traditional acoustic. Thus, I was up to three Taylors.
A couple years ago, I put a Baby Taylor Mahogany on my Christmas list. I had owned a Martin backpacker guitar for a couple years but its tone and body form just did not cut it for me as a travel guitar. The "broomstick" design was really hard for me to hold and it was so small that its tone just barely sounded like a guitar. I gave this guitar to my daughter and she is using it to learn to play.
I never expected to get the Baby Taylor but Liz bought it for me and it has become my travel guitar. It's sound is "decent" for a small guitar and I enjoy playing it on the road as well as just grabbing it to figure out chords for songs that I can't find on the Internet. This became my 4th Taylor.
Having retired and dedicating myself to putting up covers of songs on YouTube, I began thinking about buying a nylon string guitar to play when I wanted to feature my voice on a particular soft song. I had not spent the entire final paycheck on the T5 and there was enough left over to purchase a Taylor NS24ce, the bottom-of-the-line nylon string guitar. I purchased it from a music store in Oklahoma via Ebay and was very pleased to note that though it was advertised as "used", it was virtually indistinguishable in any way from brand new. The price as also less than a new model and it just fit into the amount I had left to "spend" from my final paycheck. This was my 5th Taylor and I hoped it was my final guitar.
Then the worms started to creep into my brain again. They began to whisper "Twelve-string". I wanted a 12 because of the unique acoustic sound that they offer. I do not see myself ever becoming an electric player and I wanted that twelve-string sound to add to the diversity of my music videos on YouTube as well as offering me another attractive option for playing in church. Naturally, I had come to rely on the quality and sound of the Taylor brand and I began looking online for a less-expensive 12-string guitar. I felt that the bottom-of-the-line Taylor would be plenty enough quality for me and settled on the 354ce. The price that everyone (Musician's Friend, Guitar Center, every other vendor) advertised on the Internet was $1800 and this was for a 2010 model with Sapelle back and sides. I looked on Ebay and found a used 354ce for $1359 plus $55 shipping. It is a 30th Anniversary model limited edition with African Mahogany back and sides. After some discussion, I decided to purchase this guitar and it is Taylor #6. It was made in 2004 on May 14th and was the 50th guitar built that day. It is in excellent condition though the top has begun to yellow a bit. I am very pleased and I just love that 12-string tone!
At some point, I'll probably do another video on my guitars so that people can see what they all look like. For now, this is my Guitar Story and I hope to stick to it!!
I'm guessing it was probably about 1966 when I decided to buy my first guitar. I was a freshman in college and, of course, folk music was very popular at the time. We also had this group that played guitar at tne Newman center for the Catholic masses there.
Having a limited budget and not knowing anything about musical instruments (nobody in my family played anything except maybe a little piano and we didn't have one) I went to K-Mart and, for reasons I will never understand, bought a 12-string guitar.
I tried to tune it and it never sounded right so I began messing with the neck. I totally messed up the truss rod so as to make further adjusting impossible and decided to take the guitar back to K-Mart in Eau Claire. To my surprise and delight, they took it back and gave me a total refund. With this and possibly a little more cash, I went downtown to what I think was Day Music store and bought my 1946 Gibson LG-2. I think I paid $75 for it but that was so long ago it might not be accurate. That guitar has been my main instrument up until I started buying Taylors in 2006 so I guess that was about 40 years.
At some point, I decided I wanted ANOTHER guitar and I bought an Ovation acoustic/electric. I didn't buy an amp so there was no way for me to play it electically. The few times I did try to plug it in to someone else's amp, it would not play because the internal 9-volt battery was dead. Not having hardly ever played it that way, I didn't even know it HAD a battery. Then when I found out that you had to remove the strings to get at the battery through the sound hole, I was quite dismayed.
Comparing the sound of the Ovation to the sound of my Gibson always left me feeling flat. The Ovation had a wood top but plastic rounded back and sides and the tone just didn't do much for me. I eventually gave that guitar to my son Geoff and it currently resides in my closet because Geoff is in the process of moving.
The next guitar I bought was a Sigma by Martin 12-string. I thought it's 12-string sound would be good to play in church. I picked it up used at a small music store in Sheboygan. Those were the days before electronic tuners and I never was able to tune it so that it sounded in tune to me. It sat. I didn't play it.
In 2006, I decided that I wanted an acoustic/electric that I could play in church. I went looking at some music stores in Green Bay and eventually ended up at Heid Music. They had a quiet little humidity-controlled room and I was able to sit in there ALONE and play my C-Dm-G-Cmaj7 chord sequence from John Prine's "Hello in there". I HATE going into music stores and hearing young kids playing all kinds of impressive electric rifs while I strum my humble chords. I didn't want to spend much more than $1000 on this guitar and eventually settled on two of them. One was a Takamine with external 9-volt battery access and tone controls on the guitar and the other a Taylor 210e with battery access through the sound hole and no tone or volume controls. I must have switched back and forth between the two about 25 times before finally settling on the Taylor. The nice young sales person did not hover or stay with me. He just answered my questions as they came up and left me to myself. I didn't think I'd ever be able to afford a Taylor because any Taylor I'd ever seen was more than 2 grand in price. The 210e was my choice because I just loved the sound. It is a dreadnought design and has a very satisfying bass sound to it. Surprisingly, I was able to overlook its battery access issue and its lack of tone controls. I traded the Sigma 12-string in on the 210e since I really didn't want it anymore.
The sales guy showed me a Fender Acoustasonic Jr. amp which I used to demo the guitars in the sound room and, rather impulsively, I decided to buy it too. This has turned out to be a very good move in hindsight but it did exceed my self-imposed budget.
With the purchase of the Taylor 210e, I became entangled in Taylor's effective marketing web. They gave me my first real exposure to the need to keep my guitars in a humidity-controlled area especially in the winter when it gets so dry. (By this time, my Gibson had already cracked due to lack of proper humidity control) Taylor also hooked me by sending me their quarterly magazine "Wood and Steel". It is full of pictures of beautiful guitars and lots of Taylor-talk.
Thus, I began to yearn for an all-solid-wood Taylor guitar. The 210e has a solid wood top but the back and sides are made of a laminate. It, incidentally, began its life on March 16, 2006 and was the 11th guitar built that day. This can be deciphered from its serial number.
And so one day, on my way back home from Theresa's house near Monroe, I decided to stop at a music store in Madison to look at some Taylor guitars. Having looked at it's website, I zeroed in on Madison Music, Inc., a small store located on the beltline. To my delight, they must have had at least a dozen Taylors in stock including one whose top, back and sides were Hawaiian Koa. To me, Koa is just breathtakingly beautiful and I SO wanted a Koa guitar. I asked the salesman if I could play it and he took it down for me and led me to their acoustic room. At the time, I really had no intention of buying a guitar and since the Koa listed for about $3000, buying was the furthest thing from my mind. As the salesman brought various other guitars in for me to play and without really pushing he suggested that the 714ce-LTD might be worth a look. It is a special guitar as in the spring and fall Taylor makes a limited run of guitars out of woods that normally would be much more expensive if custom ordered. When comparing the Koa guitar to the 714ce-LTD, I much preferred the sound of the 714. The Koa was not as rich and "boomy" and I guess I like "rich and boomy". A seed was planted and as I sat strumming the 714, I got the crazy idea to buy it. It remains my nicest guitar and the one that cost the most. It has a beautiful bright and boomy sound and I love it.
When I decided to retire in January of 2010, the idea came to me that I might never be able to afford another guitar. I had been eying one of the Taylor "hybrid" guitars, the T5. This is a thin-bodied heavier guitar with a 5-position switch which selects different combinations of the three pickups built in to the guitar. You can go from straight acoustic to twangy electric. I decided to spend my last paycheck on a guitar and set out looking for a store that had a T5 in stock. Through the internet, I discovered that the only place within Wisconsin was Jim Laabs Music in Stevens Point. They had two in stock and it turned out that there was special "factory pricing" on each which saved me several hundred dollars over the going retail price. I drove from DePere over to Stevens Point one day and ended up settling on a beautiful clear maple topped T5 custom. It has a much more twangy electric quality which fits certain of my songs better than a traditional acoustic. Thus, I was up to three Taylors.
A couple years ago, I put a Baby Taylor Mahogany on my Christmas list. I had owned a Martin backpacker guitar for a couple years but its tone and body form just did not cut it for me as a travel guitar. The "broomstick" design was really hard for me to hold and it was so small that its tone just barely sounded like a guitar. I gave this guitar to my daughter and she is using it to learn to play.
I never expected to get the Baby Taylor but Liz bought it for me and it has become my travel guitar. It's sound is "decent" for a small guitar and I enjoy playing it on the road as well as just grabbing it to figure out chords for songs that I can't find on the Internet. This became my 4th Taylor.
Having retired and dedicating myself to putting up covers of songs on YouTube, I began thinking about buying a nylon string guitar to play when I wanted to feature my voice on a particular soft song. I had not spent the entire final paycheck on the T5 and there was enough left over to purchase a Taylor NS24ce, the bottom-of-the-line nylon string guitar. I purchased it from a music store in Oklahoma via Ebay and was very pleased to note that though it was advertised as "used", it was virtually indistinguishable in any way from brand new. The price as also less than a new model and it just fit into the amount I had left to "spend" from my final paycheck. This was my 5th Taylor and I hoped it was my final guitar.
Then the worms started to creep into my brain again. They began to whisper "Twelve-string". I wanted a 12 because of the unique acoustic sound that they offer. I do not see myself ever becoming an electric player and I wanted that twelve-string sound to add to the diversity of my music videos on YouTube as well as offering me another attractive option for playing in church. Naturally, I had come to rely on the quality and sound of the Taylor brand and I began looking online for a less-expensive 12-string guitar. I felt that the bottom-of-the-line Taylor would be plenty enough quality for me and settled on the 354ce. The price that everyone (Musician's Friend, Guitar Center, every other vendor) advertised on the Internet was $1800 and this was for a 2010 model with Sapelle back and sides. I looked on Ebay and found a used 354ce for $1359 plus $55 shipping. It is a 30th Anniversary model limited edition with African Mahogany back and sides. After some discussion, I decided to purchase this guitar and it is Taylor #6. It was made in 2004 on May 14th and was the 50th guitar built that day. It is in excellent condition though the top has begun to yellow a bit. I am very pleased and I just love that 12-string tone!
At some point, I'll probably do another video on my guitars so that people can see what they all look like. For now, this is my Guitar Story and I hope to stick to it!!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend Camping at Peninsula State Park
The weather this year was unbelievable for a Memorial Day weekend. Forecast for Fish Creek was 79 on Saturday and 82 on Sunday and it was every bit of that. Just to make it interesting though, we got a thunderstorm on Sunday night just so all of our stuff had to be packed up wet. At least it didn't rain during the day.
This was perhaps our largest ever DeKeyser-Possley-Wolfert gathering. Attendees this year:
Shirley Wolfert of Sheboygan Falls, WI, her son Chris and his wife Marla who live in Chicago.
Jim and Kathy DeKeyser (Currently Jim lives in Trabuco Canyon CA and Kathy lives in a suburb of Chicago near the airport and the expectation is that Jim will soon relocate there as well), their son Bill and his wife Michelle (due to give birth in January) of Trabuco Canyon, CA, their son Nick and his fiance Melissa (due to give birth in August) of Houston, TX, Nick's son Andrew(5) of Dallas, TX and their son Daniel of Trabuco Canyon, CA.
George and Liz Possley of Hingham, WI, their daughter Theresa and her husband Robin Nelson of Monroe, WI, their two sons, Conner (3) and Reece (1), their son Geoff and his wife Laura of Oshkosh, WI and their son Carter (9 mo).
That's 20 people ranging in age from 9 mo. to 62+ years and arriving by air from all over the country.
It was again a wonderful reunion and a good time was had by all. We camped at Tennison Bay 202, 206 and 207. It would appear that next year we may need 4 sites but that remains to be seen.
George, Chris, Geoff and Dan played golf on Saturday at the Peninsula State Park Golf Course. Scores were 42, 52, 54 and 64 on the front nine and they played 10 and 11 just to take advantage of a little of the twilight rate.
Nearly the entire group attended Mass at Stella Maris Parish in Fish Creek on Sunday morning. After the traditional Sunday breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fruit salad, a hike was made to Not Licked Yet Custard Stand in Fish Creek. About half the party braved the 3 mile hike back to camp after stuffing themselves on custard creations of all kinds. The Flavor of the Day was Red Raspberry.
This is the 24th year with only one or two interruptions that these families have camped together on Memorial Day weekend and of course, we plan to do it again next year when our ranks may swell by the two children that are being carried by Bill and Nick's mates.
A highlight of the weekend was when Andrew and Conner danced like whirling dervishes while George played "Gloria" and "Midnight Hour" on his guitar. Such dancing has never been seen before! Pictures may appear on FaceBook soon.
That's it for now.
Ciao, babies!
The weather this year was unbelievable for a Memorial Day weekend. Forecast for Fish Creek was 79 on Saturday and 82 on Sunday and it was every bit of that. Just to make it interesting though, we got a thunderstorm on Sunday night just so all of our stuff had to be packed up wet. At least it didn't rain during the day.
This was perhaps our largest ever DeKeyser-Possley-Wolfert gathering. Attendees this year:
Shirley Wolfert of Sheboygan Falls, WI, her son Chris and his wife Marla who live in Chicago.
Jim and Kathy DeKeyser (Currently Jim lives in Trabuco Canyon CA and Kathy lives in a suburb of Chicago near the airport and the expectation is that Jim will soon relocate there as well), their son Bill and his wife Michelle (due to give birth in January) of Trabuco Canyon, CA, their son Nick and his fiance Melissa (due to give birth in August) of Houston, TX, Nick's son Andrew(5) of Dallas, TX and their son Daniel of Trabuco Canyon, CA.
George and Liz Possley of Hingham, WI, their daughter Theresa and her husband Robin Nelson of Monroe, WI, their two sons, Conner (3) and Reece (1), their son Geoff and his wife Laura of Oshkosh, WI and their son Carter (9 mo).
That's 20 people ranging in age from 9 mo. to 62+ years and arriving by air from all over the country.
It was again a wonderful reunion and a good time was had by all. We camped at Tennison Bay 202, 206 and 207. It would appear that next year we may need 4 sites but that remains to be seen.
George, Chris, Geoff and Dan played golf on Saturday at the Peninsula State Park Golf Course. Scores were 42, 52, 54 and 64 on the front nine and they played 10 and 11 just to take advantage of a little of the twilight rate.
Nearly the entire group attended Mass at Stella Maris Parish in Fish Creek on Sunday morning. After the traditional Sunday breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fruit salad, a hike was made to Not Licked Yet Custard Stand in Fish Creek. About half the party braved the 3 mile hike back to camp after stuffing themselves on custard creations of all kinds. The Flavor of the Day was Red Raspberry.
This is the 24th year with only one or two interruptions that these families have camped together on Memorial Day weekend and of course, we plan to do it again next year when our ranks may swell by the two children that are being carried by Bill and Nick's mates.
A highlight of the weekend was when Andrew and Conner danced like whirling dervishes while George played "Gloria" and "Midnight Hour" on his guitar. Such dancing has never been seen before! Pictures may appear on FaceBook soon.
That's it for now.
Ciao, babies!
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