A FEW fairly big tasks in diary for today…but the main thing is to prep and set up my debut Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues radio show for rock.scot. It’ll go out Sunday at 7pm UK time.
Pulling together the music I wanna feature is more time-consuming than I expect – and planning the show and timings is quite involved as I have to get my head round the tech and systems.
I take a break for lunch and a courier rocks up with the new guitar – a Klos full-carbon travel guitar. The box is tiny. And lightweight. The guitar builds up quickly and easily and sounds amazing for such a small instrument.I’m keen to plug on and see how it sounds amplified but I need to get some more work out the way first.
Back in the studio I gather some info I need to assess grant applications for the community hydro scheme then I get back to the radio stuff. I set up a Facebook page for the show then post about it – and my upcoming debut – round my existing socials. Be good to have a decent audience to kick things off.
Eventually I get a chance to plug the new guitar in. Sounds great…first impressions are that I’m really pleased with it 🙂
UP EARLY to get my sourdough in the proven…my routine shifted from Monday to Wednesday (overnight oats for breakfast on a Monday and Tuesday now!) but I was too busy to get he dough ready on Tuesday this week.
There’s some prep to do for a couple of guitar students coming later on and I need to order some raw brass for a run of golf ball markers I prototyped yesterday.
In the studio there’s some kinda connection problems between bots of gear which turns into a nightmare to sort out then it’s time for lunch before a doctor’s appointment and voting.
I’m hope in time for the first of my back-to-back guitar students and once they’re all done I go back to the house. The phone rings and it’s the guy from Klos Guitars in Utah…they’re trying to sort out the duty/tax issue but don’t; want me to have to wait any longer for the guitar. They’re suggesting I pay the fees and they will refund me. That sounds good to me.
I call DHL and update them, pay the duty/tax and they say, hopefully, the guitar will be out for delivery tomorrow (Friday).
QUITE a nice day so after breakfast I sit outside and get some work done.
First up, the background image on my website landing page has mysteriously disappeared. I replaced it then set about fixing the menu links for the merch store which have got messed up at some point over the last month or two.
While I’m doing that I run a few batches of ‘Dave Arcari’ bottle opener keyrings. Since I 3D printed a jig to do ten at a time it’s made the process much faster (and easier!).
Next job is to design a prototype brass golf ball marker for a charity event. Takes me a while to create a suitable depth map based on the event’s logo then I get the brass prototype underway.
A message comes in from my pal Diana – she’s in the area with her grandson and wonders if we’re around for a quick visit. We sit in the garden and have a blether over coffee then she and wee Charlie head off.
I go for a walk up the lochside and find the midges are out. In force. Looking like this might be a crazy midge season!
VICKY’S already left on the next stage of the West Highland Way when I get up and out the shower.
John’s up by the time I’ve opened up the studio and office and we chat for a while before he heads off.
I decide to tackle he info point sign I’m making for Betty nd get everything set up outside. Disaster strikes, though – the guide I’m using for the router works itself loose as I’m cutting the circle and the result is a mess.
I haven’t gone right through the wood as I was planning on two or three passes to complete the cut so I turn the wood over and try again. Same thing happens. Game’s a bogey and I’ve ruined the nice piece of wood I sourced for the project 🙁
After my afternoon guitar student leaves we jump in the car and go to see Catriona and the kids – it’s Freya’s eighth birthday today. We hang out a while then head back home.
There’s an order for a ‘blues comes in many colours’ mug so I get it sublimated, packed and ready to go while Margaret sorts dinner. I also manage to get the big hydroponics all set up for some basil and coriander 🙂
MAIN task today is to sort out the taxes on the guitar coming from Klos in the USA. I got a message from DHL on Saturday saying I had to pay. Various duties etc and as far as I’m aware they were all paid up front.
There’s no answer form DHL in Glasgow and I can;t work out if it’s because they’re shut for the bank holiday or just can’t be arsed answering.
After a mid-morning session with one of my online guitar students I get the pork belly on the smoker then get back on the DHL thing. There’s no messages saying they’re shut today and the website suggests the place is open so I some lunch then drive into Cambuslang….only to find it’s fucking shut. Ah well.
When I get back our pals Vicky and John have arrived. Vicky’s walking the West Highland Way and John is driving her ‘support vehicle’. I say hello then hit the studio to edit up some video and prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
There’s something odd happening with the Wildcats’ group tho’ – the ‘I’ll be live later’ livestream I do doesn’t appear on the group page…and when in go live for the main livestream at 8pm it’s not appearing anywhere either – the only way to see it is to click on my account avatar. Weird.
Back at the house the pork has turned out good and we have a grand evening of food, drink and chat.
UP and breakfasted at a decent time – Martyn’s coming up this morning to go for a walk and catch up.
We have a good walk and blether – nice to see him – then he heads off and I get busy with some video editing.
I also finish off the replacement stoppers/numbers for our toilet seat. The soft TPU filament for the 3D printer has worked 🙂
We have visitors coming to stay tomorrow (Monday) and I’m doing pork belly in the smoker. The two slabs I took out the freezer yesterday have defrosted so I trim and score them, add a rub and put tem in the fridge ready to go on in the morning.
After a little more video editing in the studio I go back to the house for dinner and we watch our pal Billy’s livestream from Florida.
NOT sure why, but I decide to try and rejig the studio desk space so I can sit properly and get my knees under the desk.
I mess with a few options and get sorted then go back to the house and start to prototype replacement ‘bumpers’ for the toilet seat. The existing rubber ones have started to perish and look a bit shabby…and are a bit of a magnet for dirt etc. Margaret had looked online and couldn’t find replacements so I ordered some soft TPU filament for the 3D printer to try and make replacements myself.
The soft TPU filament is rubber-like and notoriously difficult to print with. My first design doesn’t come out great so I make some changes both to my design and the printer settings and get it sorted 🙂
In the studio I finish sorting out the video footage from Finland and Estonia then finish of some bit for my pal Kevin.
WE ENJOY watching the squirrels while we have breakfast then one of my young guitar students arrives.
It’s a nice day and the wind is light so I head out onto the loch for a paddle and go to Port Bawn at the far end of Inchcallioch. It’s quite aside from a couple of lassies who’ve also paddled from the village. I get some video with the Hoverair Aqua and make way back to dry land.
After a late lunch in the garden I have a shower then Matty rolls up. He’s staying over tonight.
In the studio I gather some bits of video footage from the FInland and Estonia trip ready for editing over the weekend.
AFTER breakfast I check the rotary drier ground spike/mount I concreted in yesterday. It’s good. I take some measurements and start designing a cover to 3D print.
The first version isn’t quite right so I make some improvements to the design and print up another. Success.
I don’t want to venture far as I’m waiting on the doc calling to discuss the mystery vomitting etc and I want Margaret to be on the call too…she always has lots of questions!
There’s a load of onions that need transplanted from seed trays so I get that done then remove the chilli and micro tomato plants from the hydroponic system and plant them out. They’re well established but the hydroponic unit needs a good clean out and I need to get the tomatillos going.I clean the unit out, remove the pump and fit an air stone but realise I don’t have the right baskets and sponges.
I order more then look out the old, smaller hydroponic kit and plant the tomatillo seeds.
In the studio I do some video work for my pal Kevin then play guitar for a while before going back to the house and marinading the duck and ginger for our brouchette de canard for grilling later.
UP IN time to get some work done before a 9am online guitar lesson. Feels like I’m getting back into my ‘normal’ routine!
Then it’s straight onto a local hydro society board meeting which takes me up to lunchtime.
I have some personalized trekking flasks to finish off and an order for a custom magnetic leather bookmarks to make up. There’s also some euros to be sent off to the foreign exchange place and some set lists to be submitted to the overseas collection societies before a coupla venues will accept invoices for my shows.
It’s a nice day so I take the opportunity to get some weed killer down but run out before I get to the front of the house. Refill ordered.
Next job it to dig out the ground spike/base for our rotary drier. It’s been in for about ten years, but the guy that put it in didn;t dig deep enough and it stood a good six inched above the gravel meaning folks were constantly tripping over it. Also, more recently, the grandkids have taken to filling it with stones and other shit, so the drier doesn’t go into the bae far enough and is a bit wobbly.
Of course anything involving digging around here is a nightmare as the topsoil is only a few inches before you hit rock, boulders and stuff. Plus the ground spike has been concreted in a huge lump.
Takes me a good coupla hours with a heavy ground breaking bar and hole digger – always annoys me that I need to make a 18-inch diameter hole for four-inch ground spike/base/post etc. Anyway, I get a suitable hole dug, empty out the socket of stones and stuff and postcrete it in. I’ll design and 3D print a cap to keep stones etc out, especially now it’s flush with the gravel.
In the studio I record some more idents for my upcoming show on Rock.Scot radio and upload some tracks to my library.
