WE SPEND a while sitting up in bed drinking coffee and dealing with all the emails, socials etc.
In the office I polish up the brass guitar pins I’ve been making and get them ready for back pins to be attached…then back to the house to work on a design for the ‘tap to give’ enclosure for the card reader, display and other gubbins that will, I hope, make it all work.
After lunch we go to vote and Margaret drops me in the village where I go for a much-needed haircut then back home.
I’m a bit tight for time but get back just in time for an online session with one of USA-based guitar students.
There’s half an hour until my next session – and in-person student and his dad.
Back in the house I have a little time to work on the card reader enclosure before it’s time to make dinner.
I’M UP in plenty time to get the sourdough in the oven and baked….but it’s not cooled enough – an hour – to let me have breakfast before my guitar student arrives.
After the lesson – and breakfast – I get out to the office to start making a wee batch of brass resonator guitar pins. There’s only a couple left In the merch case and they’re one of my top sellers at shows.
I’m not convinced the display for my DIY contactless payment device is big enough and have a brainwave – what about an old iPhone? I’m sure I have some old useless iPhones somewhere…
After digging one out I start thinking I could maybe use it not only as a display by using a looping slideshow…it could maybe connect to the card reader and run the payments via WiFi. All goes well until I try it. Unfortunately the Zettle app needs to be running in the foreground to work on the the crucial ‘repeat payment’ function…it takes the first payment OK but won’t reset if there’s another app – ie: the slideshow – running in foreground.
The solution appears to be to write some kind of app that will tie in with the card reader APIs and allow it to integrate the ‘slideshow’ into the payment controller. Mmm…ChatGPT offer some code, but it looks like a right old fanny dance to do something so simple.
I dig out yet another old iPhone (an iPhone 5!) and think I can use it for a display and the other old iPhone to link to the card reader behind the scenes. Another benefit is the old iPhone 5 is a lot smaller so better to integrate into whatever I design to hold all the gubbins…downside is, it’s dead a s a dodo and will need a good while to charge.
We drive to the village hall for a local planning drop in and I walk back home then prep lemongrass chicken for dinner. Betty’s coming later.
Meantime, I manage to get a wee slideshow running on the powered up iPhone 5 and it’s looking good other than a dialogue screen popping up every 20 minutes or so. No time to sort that now…I’ll try and find a solution tomorrow….
Some tight soldering and jiggery pockets…and it works!
OFF into Glasgow early doors – Margaret has an appointment at 8.45am and we need to miss the traffic – and find somewhere to park.
On the way home we pick some bits and bobs of shopping and have a late breakfast at the Anniesland Morrisons then dash back home – I have a live YouTube masterclass at midday.
After launch I start the first of two projects I wanna get done today.
First is a standalone post for the bird table that Mikey made for Margaret’s birthday. I look out some bits of wood, get ‘designing’ then making. First hurdle is the chop saw burning out after just two cuts. I try a new fuse, new brushes but no joy so resort to cutting the rest with a rusty old hand saw.
Other than that, the project goes to plan and the bird table is up!
Next job, building a display panel to go in a (still to be designed!) unit housing a card reader to allow unattended repeat tap-to-pay card payments – no human interaction/help needed. It’s an ambitious idea but I think it’s doable with a few bits and bobs I ordered from Amazon – however, the OLED screed/dispaly I ordered is a lot smaller than I expected. Tiny, in fact.
Nevertheless I do some soldering on the controller board, connect the board and the display module and connect it the computer in the studio to try and program some kinda display/message. Miraculously my soldering is all good and I get the thing working 🙂
GRETA asked if I could engrave names on some keyrings for her coffee morning pals, so after breakfast I knock up a design and process one as a sample then take it along to Betty’s when I go to pick up the car.
Greta loves it and I suggest he drops by on her way home to pick up the rest rather than mailing them to her. There’s only a dozen or so to do and I can do ‘em pretty quick.
When I get back home Catriona, the kids and new puppy Gus have arrived. I say hello then go out to the office to sort the keyrings.
After a coffee with Catriona I hit the studio to sort out the music and prep for tonight’s radio show.
Once I have my ducks in a row I make a video post promoting the show then work on some guitar ideas..then radio time and dinner. Margaret’s made a miso tofu rice thing in the air fryer and it’s magic!
GLAD I made my rolls last night…mean’s I’m not up at 6am on a Saturday!
After breakfast I hit the studio. First on My list today is to try and move the WIldcat song from ‘regular’ guitar to open tuning bottleneck guitar. I mess for a while and settle on an approach then do a little work on it.
Next up, another promo video for next week’s fundraiser show using short clips for the videos we filmed at the Old Kirk.
We’re off to Betty’s later for dinner with Karen, Mark, Greta and Rachel. Betty’s ’comissioned’ Margaret to help prepare the meal so she’s busy making a pavlova and flambé chicken. I have time to do some prep for tomorrow’s radio show before we go.
A BIT late getting up and our pal Arthur drops by before we’ve even had breakfast.
Having experimented with producing engraving in different colours/shades on slate I get some coasters on the go – an 80th birthday gift for a local pal.
In the studio I prepare a graphic using a nice press cutting about next weekend’s fundraiser show from the Clydebank Post. While sharing round my socials – and like all my other posts and promos for the show tagging Kilmaronock Old Kirk Trust (only admins can post on the page) – I notice that none of my tagged posts have been shared, liked or even feature on the page. In fact, the only reference to the fundraiser show is a share of the event I set up back in July. And on digging further, I see they haven’t even accepted the co-hosting invitation 🙁
Weird – all their other events and stuff seem to get a good airing. Too say I’m disappointed is an understatement…if I was paranoid I’d be thinking they were purposefully excluding the event for some reason.
I think I made it clear when I offered to do a fundraiser that I would provide all sound/light and ‘the show’. Promotion, logistics and everything else would be the trust’s responsibility.
As it worked out, I ended up agreeing to design and have posters printed and set up the ticketting. Of course I’m keen for the event to be a success so over the last few months I’ve sent out news releases to monthly magazines and latterly local and regional press and radio – and generated a fair amount of coverage which I have posted round socials, local community groups and stuff (tagging the trust and event in everything). I’ve also ensured all online listings and events guides have info.
This is in addition to many reels and videos I’ve made to promote the event, again tagging the trust and event each time.
I’m happy to do all of this and want the event to raise a decent mount of cash for the trust….but I’d expect a little reciprocacy and visibility from their end.
I message my main contact and try to diplomatically but firmly point all this out and, to be fair, I get a nice reply saying ‘thank you’ and that someone with ‘sort it’.
My feelings about this may well be well out of proportion but I’m hoping to dissipate my ‘annoyance’ by spewing it all out here!
Undeterred I look out some video that”ll edit into another promo reel to go out tomorrow (Saturday) then go out a walk before my new young guitar student arrives. Eleven-year-old Dottie who’s mad about rock music and has recently got an electric guitar.
The lesson goes well and we get another in the diary then I set about finishing off the late coasters I’ve been working with off-and-on over the day then experiment with some inlay techniques I’ve been thinking about.
Margaret comes home with the shopping and once it’s all put away I hit the studio and trawl through the week’s music submission for the radio show.
UP EARLY to get some camera stuff sorted then I get Margaret to drop me in the village from where I walk up the farm track to meet some of my fellow community hydro society directors and wait for some visitors to the the generator building.
The hydro society is setting up a local energy club and there’s a couple of visits been set up to let interested parties learn about the hydro scheme. This is the only one I’m around for and thought it useful to get some snaps for our archives and also help promote the forthcoming energy club.
All goes well and I enjoy the walk home. Then it’s into the studio to sort the photos then get onto some gig promo.
Although the Mull shows are not until mid-November I need to get stuff off to one of the local newsletters that comes out monthly so I write up a news release and get it off to them – I can use the same news release for other media nearer the time.
I have an online session with one of US-based guitar students then I hit the office to design an 80th birthday gift for a local pal.
When I go back to the house Betty’s arrived and we have some dinner and then watch the first two episodes in the new series of Slow Horses – Betty doesn’t have Apple TV and was keen to watch as she’d seen the last series while staying with us while work was getting done on her house a few months ago.
Fun at Strathblane with my pal Fraser Speirs (right) and Al Fleming(Pic: Martin Shields)
STILL NOT feeling great but I manage to get some work done before our pals from the ‘States come for a visit.
We catch up over coffee and then have lunch – Margaret’s made ‘last minute’ soup. Alison’s been under the weather and chills after lunch and I take Ruben a wander.
Margaret’s taking Betty to Dumbarton early afternoon and gives Alison and Ruben a lift back to Drymen along the way.
The rain’s stayed off so I cut the grass and do some strumming, probably for the last time this year, then David drops by so I can sort some email issues he’s been having.
After a snack we head to Strathblane. There’s a monthly open mic at the bowling club that a couple of pals have mentioned so we decided we’d go and check it out.
The place is mobbed and the lady on the door puts me on ‘the list’….then we bump into photographer pal Martin who’s one of the organisers along with another pal from the village Al Fleming. Then I spot another pal, Fraser, and we grab some seats.
There’s a varied bunch of performers and I’m quite nervous to play but all goes well….and then Al gets Fraser and I up to join him playing Key to the Highway….
