Pandemic Pauses

Hadn’t quite realized how quiet I’ve been here for the past year and a half… not so much that I had been silenced and more shifting of gears. Shifting gears as in bringing back my music, which I have neglected since leaving the States. That has changed.

I’ve slowly been putting back together pieces that will allow me to create the music I had been making before: adding guitars, software, pedals, and even computer upgrades (tho’ I’m STILL looking to find a used and affordable Godin smoke gray xtSA that I loved so much and wish I hadn’t given up in coming here).

https://www.thomann.de/fr/godin_xtsa.htm

As listed, locally available… nearly triple what I paid in 20+ years ago

The painful thing about the Godin is that all these years later, the price of a used xtSA is actually more than what I paid for it new! The cheapest ones I’ve found, in the US, are still over $200 (or more!) more than I paid and that’s before the shipping costs of getting it here. So it is scrimp, save, sardines for lunch, and no dinner delivery.

The computer upgrades were driven by teaching needs: the twelve-year old MacBook Pro had simply reached the point where it could no longer handle the video demands of Microsoft TEAMS which, unfortunately, is the de facto for a number of my corporate students. I’ll simply say that Apple’s M1 chips, even with the most basic configurations, can be pretty impressive. The fun part is that I can retire the MBP to be a dedicated machine — just need to decide how best to use it.

Here’s a couple recent photos that reflect the mood amongst some of les citoyens locaux:

… behold The Sabby Tabby!