A Mixed bag this month

 As the title to this particular blog states, it's been a bit of a mixed bag this month. 

I will get the shitty bit of the month out of the way first so that I can leave you on a more positive ending.

Ok so I have now been off work 3 weeks, after talking to Occupational Health and describing how much I have been struggling at work. They agreed working from home until I can get sorted with a comfortable socket is the best course of action for me.

The pain and discomfort has been going on for months now and following the last Bank holiday I worked, wearing my new socket, I knew I just couldn't keep going on the way I was. So now I am in a kind of limbo, where I keep attending short appointments over at the Disability Service Centre and my prosthetist trying various small adjustments to try and get my socket comfy. The new socket I had made for me is not far off, however I am still uncomfortable, and it gets worse the longer I wear my limb and the more I do. I can no longer wear my current limb for more than a couple of hours at a time.

As for cycling, well I am still at it, riding indoors on my road bike set up on my turbo trainer. My cycling socket is absolutely huge, and it requires me to wear two seals around my liner, even then it gradually slips further and further off, so that is part of the reason I have not been heading out on any biking adventures. I cannot imagine being able to stand out of the saddle using my BTK, as the socket now rotates on my wee leg. It is all rather depressing as I have my new Orbea Cyclo cross sitting in doors just waiting for her maiden adventure. "Ahh well never mind we are still in winter and the roads are manky, the bike looks so pretty I don't really want to get her mucky" I keep telling myself

The Gain going nowhere

   

Baxter either wanting a cuddle or trying to tell me to stop playing

Well turned out Baxter had indeed broke a tooth and must have had an infection, poor little lad. The vet prescribed some antibiotics and painkillers, OMG! £90 odd quid then informed us that Baxter would need to come back to have the tooth removed. "Err how much will that be?" I asked too which the vet replied, "between £350 and £450"... Gulp. Apparently the dear part is the anaesthetic and because Baxter is a fat little git it's costing that bit more. So come Monday the 31st January, Baxter is off to get knocked out, just hope he doesn't have to have more teeth out or dentures fitted.

I'm sure the Universe is conspiring against me this month. My mate John messaged me during the week, asking did I fancy a ride out on Thursday. Ooh a chance for a catch-up. Turns out John then had to work a shift, so he couldn't head out, however that is not all. I had gone to get my bike out of the shed, my Specialized Turbo Levo, intending on washing her, thinking we were going to go out for a ride. Anyhoo I went to turn the bike on to see if I needed to charge the battery. WTF! The bike wouldn't turn on from the frame button. Now, this exact thing happened back in March 2021. I then had to take the bike to Infinity Cycles and get a new wiring harness fitted. After some choice words and much fannying on, I rang Infinity and the lad on the phone advised me to bring the bike down so that they could inspect her and try and discover the problem.

A day later Infinity rang saying it was the same problem as last time, the poxy wiring harness bit, and that the bike was now out of warranty... Great, so I was quoted about £56 for the part with £15 labour, telling them just to carry out the work. Another day went by, and the following day Infinity rang saying they had fitted the new harness, however the bike was still acting up. They had discovered that  the TCU was at fault and this was going to cost £105 to replace, the guy on the phone saying Specialized had given me a 35% discount on the part. Obviously I needed the bike sorting, so the final bill was £190. 

Infinity Cycles and the team have always been spot on, when I have had work done there, like getting my bikes wrapped etc, so I am not miffed with them, however I am pissed off with Specialized as upon reading up on various eBike sites, there have been a lot of issues with the motors and electrics. It has definitely put me off buying another Specialized bike in the future,  if I was going to purchase another bike. Even been thinking about selling the Levo, she is 3 years old now and in really good nick, I already know what I would go for if I did sell her, but I will keep that under my hat for now LoL.

Ooh! my Mikro guitar arrived, eventually, on Wednesday. I had ordered it from Anderton's Music way back in December. I eagerly unboxed it, tuned it, trying both my mini tuner and the one incorporated on my Orange Crush 20 RT and I have to say I was proper disappointed with the sound. It just sounded terrible to me when playing a chord, it sounded like the G string was always out of key and wavering and lingering longer than any of the other strings.

ibanez grgm21m-mgn gio mic

Ibanez Wee guitar

 

I have been taking guitar lessons with a gentleman called Tom Welch, just had my 4th lesson Yesterday in fact. So as I am a total noob with anything to do with guitars, I asked Tom to have a bit of a play around and give me his opinion. Of course Tom could play the wee guitar, as he is a pro, however he agreed the guitar did sound out of tune and recommended taking it to a "Luthier", you see I am learning new stuff all the time. A Luthier is someone who makes and repairs guitars and can carry out tuning and required adjustments or replacements of parts. I will come back to the wee Ibanez in a tick.

I found Tom by doing a quick Google and searching for guitar tutors in County Durham. He has his own website which provides details of his years of experience and what he can offer in the way of tuition. I got Tom's phone number and gave him a call, like I say, a month a go now. 

When Tom arrived for my first lesson with him, he simply asked where I was starting from, and I told him "absolute beginner". It has only been a month like I say, No I can't play any tunes very well, however I have learnt so much and Tom sets me homework to work on each week to help improve not only my use of playing the guitar, but in the understanding of music. By that I mean working on Chords, scales, timing and  how to read tableture, of course there is much more. 

At times, it can feel a bit overwhelming and as I am sure those people who can recall just starting out learning the guitar, you feel you are never going to get it. I think one of the main things is that I am not being too hard on myself, practising each day, and enjoying the challenge, mostly just making a noise Lol. Tom is a great Teacher, who is very patient, and I now look forward to seeing him each week, as he is a genuinely nice fella.

Sore Fingers

Right back to this Wee guitar. After Tom had had a go, and recommended taking the guitar to what we now know as a guitar maker, repair person, I tied to think of somewhere pretty local and thought of J G Windows at the Metro centre. I could see they were open late, as it was 6pm by now. When I rang Windows I got to speak to a very friendly lad called Lewis who said "Just bring it in, and I will have a look at it", "Ok when" I replied, and he said "can you get in tonight?" So Ern and I boxed up the guitar and headed to the Metro and Windows.

Long'ish story short, Lewis had a look at the guitar and said he couldn't find anything wrong with it, saying for a small guitar it was one of the best he had heard. You see the guitar is classed as a 3/4 or travel guitar, the fretboard is only 22.2inches. The guitar actually fits on the parcel shelf of Tango, my Smart car, 

I asked Lewis how much I owed him for his time and he replied "Aww nowt it's ok". I handed him a tenner anyway, as I think it's polite when someone does you a good turn.

Back home I gave the guitar another go and to me, it still sounded dreadful, like an out of tune bagpipe. The following day I rang Steel Town Music and spoke to Matt and asked would he have a look at the guitar. Matt asked me to pop it in, and he would take a quick look at the guitar and amp setup, as by now I was thinking could it be the amp.

As soon as Matt looked at the guitar and had a little play, he commented on the very thin strings and demonstrated how easy it was for the guitar to go out of tune by pressing down too hard on the strings. Well with me being a beginner I am finding I am probably giving the neck of the guitar a death grip as I am trying not to get any buzz or dead sounding strings.

Matt suggested fitting lager diameter strings, I think it had 9's on, and he suggested 11's. "Great" I replied when should I drop it back in, as I knew Saturday was a busy day for the guys at Steel Town Music. Matt was spot on and said "Oh I will do it now it won't take long". Within about 10 to 15 minutes Matt had the strings replaced and tuned up my guitar, he had also adjusted the Truss rod slightly and also the action. Before leaving, Matt plugged my guitar into his amp and allowed me to have a little strum to see if I thought the guitar sounded better, which I am very happy to say it did. So that is another shop I would highly recommend for friendliness and first class service, plus it's local and has a great choice of guitars and other music paraphilia. Cheers Matt for sorting me out.

Oh Ern bought a couple of guitar hangers, after we read some reviews on Amazon. They look canny and when the guitar is place on the hnager it automatically closes to prevent the guitar from falling off/out of the hanger. When reading the reviews the amount of pretty stupid people who were blaming the hnagers for falling off their walls. I mean come on it only common sense to make sure the hnagers are affixed securely. My dad used a hammer drill and some wall plugs pluss longer screws. He has put one hanger in his den for his guitar and another in my bedroom. Thanks Dad.

Hanger keeps guitar out the way and looks neat

Looks neat on the wall

Gives me a bit more space I can pop my wee guitar on the stand on the floor.

 

Obviously, I now have a bit of a music addiction going on, it's not just playing the instruments I have found I take pleasure in how beautiful they look, Errr no not in a weird way. Some of the workmanship and material used are fantastic. The price of some of these guitars and ukuleles is bonkers.

Speaking of Ukuleles I have been doing a sopot of research and fancy investing in one. I have narrowed it down to one of two that are within my budget. They both come from the maker Flight. They are part of Flight's princess series, the Diana and the Sophia. The concerts look way too small for me so I would opt for a tenor.

  

Flight Diana Soundwave Tenor

I will maybe invest when I get a bit better with my playing and of course when the Universe decides to give me a break with sudden financial bills and I can put a few quid away.

 

Flight Sophia Soundwave Tenor

Both Ukes look amazing, love the design of the necks and the soundwave system gives the Ukuleles even more appeal. Slightly drawen to the darker wood of the Diana and the red accents.