May 7, 2010

Well, today was my last hurrah at my day job.  I’ve had a day job for as long as I can remember.  You know, a day job is one that pays the bills and allows you to pursue working at what you love.  Because generally, working at what you love doesn’t feed the babies.  Not that I have babies anymore, just savings sucking college tuitions that need to be fed.  Even with health care reform, the cost of medical insurance is way beyond our means, so I’ve got to find ways of bringing in bucks to cover costs.

I have a big wad of backlogged repairs, some of which are paid through barter, some of which are paying.  Now I’ve got the opportunity (time) to tackle those in earnest.

Two new repair jobs have come in:  1) a Rickenbacker bass that needs a fret dressing, and 2) a Paul Reed Smith electric which has a body crack at the neck joint.  Stand by for photo documentation of those repairs.

The backlog consists of 1) a Gretsch New Yorker that needs a neck reset, 2) a Parlor that MAY need a neck reset, 3) another Parlor which needs the top to be rebraced, 4) a classical that looks like the surface of the ocean (wavy), and 5) a classical that needs some tuner/headstock work.

I just finished another minor cosmetic repair on a Paul Reed Smith electric for a colleague, which was good practice for repairing and hiding lacquer blemishes.  He liked it so much, he brought me his other Paul Reed Smith (see above) for work.

I left my day job in good standing, AND got a ton of leads on repair work.

Oh yes, all this and finishing 905 and 906 and starting 1001 and 1002.  Better go mow the lawn and get that out of the way before I get started.