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I work at a place that at some point in the past decided that the week between Christmas and New Year was pretty much a wash, and decided to just shut down for the week (usually with a couple of extra days depending on how the holidays land.

This year, there were three days of “work” the week of January 2, and like many of my peers, I succumbed to the pressure to just add the three days and make it a full two weeks off.

It is now Monday, January 2, 10 days into this 17 days off, and I can state confidently that:

1. It was the right choice. Sure, a week off is nice, but it takes about 5 days to unwind, and that leaves just a few days to really enjoy the time off.
2. Being sick for the first week of the shutdown sucked. I picked up an old fashioned cold in early December, that settled in as a non-producing cough, a bronchitis. Boo.
3. All the Tech projects that I had planned went much smoother than expected.
4. Taking time off when the whole company is shut down is amazeballs.

And I still have 7 more days to relax.

This is the way to do it!

Something happens when you hit middle (or late-ish middle) age. You have these fond memories of how things used to be. I am no different. My fond memories are around two subjects, guitars, and motorcycles. Activities that I used to participate in as often as I breathed. Both are either memories, or fading.

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One of my favorite all-time movies is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Sure, it is somewhat corny, but it is a genuinely fun romp, Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard are outstanding lead actors, and the story is fun and feel good.

But one thing has always bugged the fuck out of me. Mr Yunioshi, Holly’s upstairs neighbor, ostensibly a Japanese photographer. A fine character. That is not the problem. It is the casting of fucking Mickey Rooney in this role.

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From a peak of 7 guitars in my collection, I had pared it down to just three. One electric, one steel string acoustic, and a student grade nylon string classical in the stable.

But with the pandemic shifting work habits, and the no-commute benefit translated into my picking up the guitar again. In 2021, I was playing more and more, realizing that my 60 watt Fender amp was WAY too loud for my office/den, I talked my wife into buying me a 15W Orange amp for Christmas last year.

And the new gear-itis bit, making me look long and hard at getting a “Super Strat” back into the rotation. One thing I really missed was playing my mid 80’s vintage Charvel Model 4 that I sold when we left Tucson in 2012.

Thus, I found myself browsing the Charvel website, and came to focus on the Pro Mod series. No, it isn’t made in the Fender factory in Corona (those start at about $2,300) but instead in the Mexico facility. I ordered one that was near new from a seller on Reverb, and I was delighted when it came in. It is the Robin’s Egg blue, with an ebony fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, a compound radius fretboard, and a Floyd Rose tremolo.

There are three pickups in an H-S-H configuration, and the switching give access to tons of tonal variations.

Some of my observations of 9 months of playing pretty regularly:

The Floyd Rose: I was largely terrified of the prospect of keeping a floating tremolo in tune, and worse yet, the hassle of changing strings (you have to clip off the ball ends to replace strings). Turns out that this was a non-issue. The locking nut, and the locking tailpiece makes the tuning super stable, that after the strings stretch in, the thing is just in tune. All the time.

The Neck: the reason I loved my 80’s vintage Charvel was largely because of the neck. Super thin, fat frets, and unbelievably fast to play. This nails it, and when I was shopping, I looked at a Fender American Professional Strat (that was about $800 more) that felt like a log. The neck is the reason to love this axe.

The Electronics: while not active, the three Seymour Duncan p’ups are high output, bright, and versatile. A great sound, with tons of tonal variation that gives you a huge range of sounds. Want to play some gritty blues? Check. Some blistering melodic lead lines? Check. Some grungy metal power chords? Check? Back off the tone pot and play some soft lush ballads? Check. If you want to play it, this guitar can get you there.

In short, it is an amazing package, at a fair price (I paid just shy of $900 for this) that just plays like butter. The Tom Anderson is safely tucked into its case, while the Charvel is what I reach for.

It has been a very long time since I have posted here. Tons of reasons, but in short, it is largely due to a diverting site that I had been using as an outlet. But in a drive to simplify my life, this holiday shutdown I have made the decision to pare that out of my life, and to refocus my energies here.

Glancing at what I was writing prior to my shift has brought a smile to my face. Plenty of posts on RC Cars, and my at the time passion for watching car repair videos (the pandemic has brought a lot of weird passions out in the open).

What has been happening in the last 19 months since I posted here?

• I began regularly playing guitar, bought a new amp and a bunch of pedals, as well as a new guitar
• My father passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease (most lousy experience, not recommended)
• I have left Twitter
• I still mostly work from home – a trend that will continue it seems for the foreseeable future
• I have moved my professional blog to Substack and it is (slowly) growing readership
• I have gone through 2 bosses and am on a third – yay! I guess
• Avoided the ‘rona, mainly byu masking in public and by being vaxed up the wazoo

and likely much more.

What does reviving this blog mean?

First, I will be posting regularly. Expect to see posts on guitars, guitar playing and other pursuits in the mix.

Second, I might look to make it more enticing. Maybe re-theming it. It is a WordPress blog, so there are lots of options.

Third, I plan to write about some of the high level goings on around the world of Tech. Musk buys Twitter, and Tesla shits the bed, you know, shit like that.

Fourth, I will probably use a lot of salty language. Sorry, it is who I am.

Hope you enjoy the ride!

I have a confession to make. I stumbled onto The Humble Mechanic on Youtube when I clicked on a video where he tore down a Volkswagen W12 engine. I had heard about that, and I had owned a 2000 Jetta with the VR6 motor so I knew that VW had some mojo for exotic engine design.

And it was addicting. Watching him to disassemble it, show the cool bits, and the strengths/weaknesses was intoxicating. Since then I have watched a ton of his videos, especially as he rebuilds a well abused VW R32. Teardown, finding bad things, fixing them. All good gear head stuff.

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