Post by RobertW on Jun 17, 2021 5:41:56 GMT -5
The Journey - Chapter 4: Epiphany
That title seem a bit pretentious but let me explain. The 2014-2015 were 'interesting' to put it mildly. I suffered a number of TSIs (mini-strokes) and I spent a lot of money. How did a frugal person such a myself get so loose with money?
For 10 years or so the governments of Quebec and Canada had been putting about $1000CAD in my saving account each month. This money was not used to manage household. It just sat there. My wife is phenomenal saver and investor. That money was not needed for her retirement after I die. I came to the realization that perhaps I should treat myself.
We once more were in a situation where we needed a 2ed car. (I had lost mine in the Ice Storm) I was going to buy a Mazda 3, but when i was about to sign I discovered that if I wanted split back seats, I had to take the sun roof/mags etc. package. For $5000 more! This disturbed my sense of worthiness. So I walked away. My wife suggested I check out the Elantra sale at the time. $5000 off, heated seat and ,mirrors, 4 wheels, tire changes for life, ABS etc. etc. etc. for $17,000. $8000 less than the Mazda 3!. I bought the car despite the fact I did not like the style. I finally did the thing so many always wish they could do. I paid CASH. Ii was a wonderful feeling.
A month later I had a stroke while driving and got t-boned in front wheel. Over $5000 in damage and no driving for a month. Karma?
Ok so isn't this supposed to be about guitars? Hang in there. When I bought the car I vowed to use the $5000 I had saved to buy those kinds of guitars I had always wanted; jumbo, 12, parlour, resonator, mahogany, mandolin, banjo. I was goin to allow myself to have more than 2 guitars. I was never going to sell or trade a guitar to buy another again!
The first purchase was a Fender 12 String, a Tim Armstrong custom. It was also a Mahogany., another one the wants on my guitar bucket list. I quickly came to hate it because string spacing way too tight. Around the same time I bought an Epiphone Special II, to see if I missed my rock days. Seems I did not
0 for 2
I took the Fender into the shop where I had I bought my two Seagulls and was ready to trade it in, with cash, for a Martin HPL, but when we took it out of the case we noticed a discolouration on the bottom around the strap pin. Trade dead off
But I bought the Martin anyways. I thought about trying a Norman 12 string.
But I was pissed off, and took the issue up with Fender. Fender refused to honour warranty on this. The Fender dealer however, offered do a trade-in at the Fender purchase price. I happened to notice a Gretsch Mahogany Resonator (2 checks on my list!) with a marked price about $100 more than the Fender. He gave me the deal anyways. I packed the hog in the trunk of my Elantra and headed to my Seagull dealer to tell the manager about the deal.
As I walked towards his office, I noticed clerks hanging new Seagulls. One was a Coastline Cedar 12. I stopped and said (and I'm still amazed to this day of my hubris, "Pack it up in TRIC case, I'm taking that home. The clerk freaked out. He had just unpacked it and tuned it 15 minutes previously.
I didn't get a chance to show my resonator but I mentioned it. After that some called me the "2 axes a day guy" or variants of that.
Next Chapter 5 - That Bucket List
That title seem a bit pretentious but let me explain. The 2014-2015 were 'interesting' to put it mildly. I suffered a number of TSIs (mini-strokes) and I spent a lot of money. How did a frugal person such a myself get so loose with money?
For 10 years or so the governments of Quebec and Canada had been putting about $1000CAD in my saving account each month. This money was not used to manage household. It just sat there. My wife is phenomenal saver and investor. That money was not needed for her retirement after I die. I came to the realization that perhaps I should treat myself.
We once more were in a situation where we needed a 2ed car. (I had lost mine in the Ice Storm) I was going to buy a Mazda 3, but when i was about to sign I discovered that if I wanted split back seats, I had to take the sun roof/mags etc. package. For $5000 more! This disturbed my sense of worthiness. So I walked away. My wife suggested I check out the Elantra sale at the time. $5000 off, heated seat and ,mirrors, 4 wheels, tire changes for life, ABS etc. etc. etc. for $17,000. $8000 less than the Mazda 3!. I bought the car despite the fact I did not like the style. I finally did the thing so many always wish they could do. I paid CASH. Ii was a wonderful feeling.
A month later I had a stroke while driving and got t-boned in front wheel. Over $5000 in damage and no driving for a month. Karma?
Ok so isn't this supposed to be about guitars? Hang in there. When I bought the car I vowed to use the $5000 I had saved to buy those kinds of guitars I had always wanted; jumbo, 12, parlour, resonator, mahogany, mandolin, banjo. I was goin to allow myself to have more than 2 guitars. I was never going to sell or trade a guitar to buy another again!
The first purchase was a Fender 12 String, a Tim Armstrong custom. It was also a Mahogany., another one the wants on my guitar bucket list. I quickly came to hate it because string spacing way too tight. Around the same time I bought an Epiphone Special II, to see if I missed my rock days. Seems I did not
0 for 2I took the Fender into the shop where I had I bought my two Seagulls and was ready to trade it in, with cash, for a Martin HPL, but when we took it out of the case we noticed a discolouration on the bottom around the strap pin. Trade dead off
But I bought the Martin anyways. I thought about trying a Norman 12 string.But I was pissed off, and took the issue up with Fender. Fender refused to honour warranty on this. The Fender dealer however, offered do a trade-in at the Fender purchase price. I happened to notice a Gretsch Mahogany Resonator (2 checks on my list!) with a marked price about $100 more than the Fender. He gave me the deal anyways. I packed the hog in the trunk of my Elantra and headed to my Seagull dealer to tell the manager about the deal.
As I walked towards his office, I noticed clerks hanging new Seagulls. One was a Coastline Cedar 12. I stopped and said (and I'm still amazed to this day of my hubris, "Pack it up in TRIC case, I'm taking that home. The clerk freaked out. He had just unpacked it and tuned it 15 minutes previously.
I didn't get a chance to show my resonator but I mentioned it. After that some called me the "2 axes a day guy" or variants of that.
Next Chapter 5 - That Bucket List