Christmas was a fun day. It was a little sad since it was my first Christmas morning not spent with my family, but I spending it with the Boyds was fun. They open their presents all at the same time, which differs greatly from my family's method of taking turns. It does go faster, that's for sure, but I felt like I didn't get to see what other people got.
After presents and breakfast we spent some time with Kristi's grandmother and then left to spend time with my family. My sister was only able to be in Greenville for a little bit due to work, so it was nice that we got to see her. We also saw a few family friends that stopped by. Christmas lunch or dinner or whichever it was was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the seasoning my mom used on the asparagus.
That evening we went to see Marley & Me as a big group, including my family, the Boyds, and some others. As could be expected I really enjoyed the movie. I went in expecting an enjoyable cheesy movie about a pet, but it was better than I expected. For one thing, it was much more about Marley's family than I thought it would be, and there were also quite a few witty parts which made me laugh. I thought that what Owen Wilson tells Marley at the end of the movie supported the statement I made the other day about why people enjoy their pets so much. I also enjoyed the interaction between Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston as husband and wife. Kristi and I got home from the movie pretty late, and after putting all our new things away went straight to sleep.
Today was a good day, although a little frustrating at times. We didn't really need any Christmas paraphernalia, so neither Kristi or I got up early to go shopping. Last year I got up early, but I have to admit it was a little weird being one of the only males in Target at 7 AM. The pets spent most of the morning playing and tearing up the Christmas tree, so after sleeping in Kristi started removing ornaments while I got ready and left for Guitar Center. I was excited to buy the Fender amp, which I decided to go with, and I also needed some drum heads and a strainer for my Ludwig snare. After all of my 8 gift cards and an American Express gift card, I only had to pay $4, which was pretty sweet.
After Guitar Center I met Kristi and mom at Oriental House for lunch. My fried rice was delicious as usual, and it's always fun to eat lunch with my mom. She had been shopping all morning, so she was almost done. From lunch I stopped at Lowes to get some metal cleaner to clean my Ludwig snare, and then headed to the mall to keep Kristi company while she ran some errands. Traffic was so crazy that Kristi was done by the time I got there, so I ended up just coming home.
When I got home I was excited about trying my new amp. I plugged it in and let it warm up, and then began to play it. It seemed like every time I played the B string, I would get a high pitched rattle or feedback tone. This worried me because I have read several places online that state that Blues Jr.'s sometimes have the bias too high on some of their tubes which cause them to go microphonic. I actually talked to the guy that fixes Fender amps in Greenville last week to ask him about that. He said that if it seemed like there was a problem you could lightly tap on each tube. If one made a loud high pitched sound when tapped on, it was microphonic, which could be a bias issue. So, I tapped on the tubes, and sure enough one of them was very loud, much more so than the others. I read a little more about the subject online, and then went back the amp, and there was definitely something wrong with it. I called Guitar Center and they said to bring it back it. I had to take Lucy to the vet at 4:10, but I hurried and left so I could be back in time.
I don't really want to get into the story in excruciating detail, but the experience at Guitar Center was not good. The assistant manager that helped me was not very kind, and didn't think there was a problem with the amp. I don't do well with conflict, and I was just kind of standing there while he told me why there was nothing wrong with it. At first I showed him what I was talking about, but he didn't really seem to be interested. Not really wanting to get into some discussion where I was trying to prove I was right, I just told him that I had bought it this morning, and I wasn't even trying to get my money back, I just wanted to exchange it. It's not like I had had it a few months and wanted my money back or something. After calling some other people over, who heard what I was talking about, he begrudgingly exchanged the amp and I was on my way. I drove home feeling kind of sick to stomach and remembering why I prefer to do my shopping online. You can always get what you want, and usually if there is a problem the customer service people are just friendly.
I got home and tested the new amp quickly, which sounded great and did not have the same issue. I then left to take Lucy to the vet. I needed to get her heartworm medicine, but they said that according to what my old vet gave me I had missed a month, so I needed to have her tested for heartworms first. I didn't think I missed a month, but it wasn't a big deal. Lucy is actually really good at the vet because she is scared to death, so she just sits between my legs and shakes. She doesn't even growl at the vet assistants when they pick her up...she just shakes. Everything was fine with her, so I bought the medicine and we came back home.
Tonight we ate with Chad and Jamie, and then went over to their place so I could try out his Line 6 M13 and he could try my new amp. His new M13 is pretty sweet. It is a bunch of boxes rolled into one unit where you can program different settings in different banks, but then everything can be turned on and off like pedals. It's like a multi-effects processor except it sounds good and its way cooler. You can read more about it here.
Hanging out with Chad and Jamie was fun, but all good things must come to an end, so we came home around 10. I spent some time finishing up cleaning my Ludwig snare and then we got into bed. Leno was a rerun tonight, and it had that performance I posted again, so that was kind of exciting. Tomorrow Kristi and I don't have much to do, except I think we are going to her cousin's house tomorrow night for dinner. Sorry that this post is so factual...I'm just not feeling too inspired tonight. Until next time...
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