Tuesday, December 22, 2009

This and that

I am still here. Just going through one of those phases when I don't feel much like posting anything. But I figured it was time to scroll that previous post down from the top.

I've been working on cleaning up that record of The Messiah, and it came out quite well. Then I decided to re-rip a record that was one of the first I tried my hand at to see if I could make it come out better. Some of it, mostly side 1, did end up better than the first time. Side 2 has some vinyl damage and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it.

I did my Christmas shopping today. My wife takes care of most of this and I never even think about it, except for gifts for her. Found exactly what she wanted, at Walgreens of all places. All I need to buy now is a halfway-decent chess set for my kids. They've both joined the chess club at their school. They aren't very good yet, but they love playing.

I remember when I was a kid, some cereal box had some cut-out chess pieces on the back of the box. So I cut them all out, but no one in my family knew how to play. So I broke out my grandmother's ancient encyclopedia and looked it up. Taught myself how to play from the encyclopedia. Unfortunately, there was no one to play with, so I didn't get very far. But when my grandmother found me reading about chess, she gave me a small wooden box containing a set of wooden chess pieces that my great-grandfather (her father) had carved. I still have it, but haven't let the kids get their hands on it yet for fear that they will lose pieces.

Tomorrow is the last day of work for the week, and I'm really looking forward to spending Christmas Eve at home. Christmas Day we'll be running all over the country visiting. It always gets on my nerves.

4 comments:

  1. At the risk of sounding dorky, what a precious treasure you have. If I had something that my great-grandfather had carved -- especially a chess set! -- I'd hang on to that thing forever. As it is, I just know bits and pieces of my great-grandfather, and I wish I knew more.

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  2. I also have a large chest-of-drawers that he built, his folding carpenter's ruler, and a book of general reference that he used a lot.

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  3. Lucky you! Our family has inherited tiems, but nothing built, only purchased. Not the same.

    B Woodman

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  4. We also used to have what would now be thought of as a "TV tray." Basically a sheet of wood he had sanded smooth, painted, and finished the edges. He used it to play solitaire on. Many years later, I played solitaire on it too. But I think eventually the edges began to come apart and it got thrown away.

    I also have some small items of his, such as his straight razor. I never have been brave enough to try and use it, though.

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