NO SATURDAY long lie – we’re off into Glasgow for some shopping and I wanna drop off some Kickstarter rewards en route.
Before we leave I make up the reward packages. Three initial stops, then Helensburgh for coffee with our pals Alastair and Karen.
I’m keen for Alastair to have his vinyl and CD ASAP as not only did he make a contribution to the campaign with ‘your name in the credits’ but he is featured in the back cover photo.
After catching up we continued into Glasgow and do the usual Costco, Tesco, Waitrose stops…plus an extra one at B&Q.
We picked up some stuff for Betty which we drop off then get home and put the shopping away.
After dinner we watch a few episodes of a Scottish Netflix series Department Q…and fall asleep in front o the telly.
I’M BUSY with emails and stuff when the APC courier rocks up with the vinyls of new album.
I got a message on Wednesday saying they were to be delivered yesterday (Thursday)…then yesterday morning at 9.30am I got an email saying my request to change delivery to Friday (ie: today) has been successfully processed.Except I didn’t request a change in delivery day and started to think I was going crazy…or had I accidentally pressed a button when trying to track??
Nope. When quizzed the delivery driver said they(…he? …APC?) had changed it yesterday because they had too many deliveries to do! By fluke our front door security camera caught both him and the conversation.
While on this occasion a day here or there on delivery hasn’t caused much hassle it irks me that I – and, I guess Seabass – have been charged for overnight delivery that didn’t happen. Even more so at the reason being intimated was that it was at my request! Not the case as evidenced by the driver’s statements.
Onto the vinyl. As promised the boxes have been marked so we know which is transparent violet…and which is transparent violet and black marbled. There’s also some pink ones they did before checking the colour with me!
The sleeves and labels are good. The black and violet marbling is OK….but the transparent violet almost looks marbled too – violet and purple tho’. I check some more and it’s kinda weird.
It’s so different to what I expected that I check Seabass’ colour charts and guide on the website in case I’ve missed something – but nothing there about transparent colours being ‘mottled’.
I call Seabass Vinyl to let them know delivery and also to query the transparent violet. Normally I’ve dealt with Dominque but her husband – and partner in Seabass – Dave answers.
He’s immediately flippant about my query and tells me it’s a characteristic of the vinyl they use and happens with some non-standard colours. Some colours are not affected by this mottled finish.
I explain that I’m a bit disappointed – and particularly so that the chance of this happening was not mentioned when I discussed and made my order.
Dave is getting a little short with me and unwilling to take my concern on board, finally telling me no-one else has ever complained about it and that he’s busy and needs to get off the phone.
My disappointment with the vinyl has now developed into anger at the way my query (not a ‘complaint’ as such…not yet anyway!) has been handled and that I’ve been made to feel a fool to expect anything other than what I got.
I email Dominique outlining the situation and expressing my disappointment.
Before the call an apology and an acceptance that this should maybe be flagged on their website and/or ordering process may have kept my dissatisfaction at a manageable level, but the flippant and patronising discussion have minimized by willingness to suck it up.
I await a response.
Meantime, I head out for a walk and some fresh air to try and calm down.
Back home I start packing and sorting out orders so folks will start getting their vinyl/CD/pledge pin rewards next week…
My DIY Still Friends pin options to replace the botched mass produced effort…
OUR pal Beryl in Darlington has asked for some help getting t-shirts printed.
I did the deign for her a few years ago and they’ve been messing around with various digital and transfer printing onto shirts with limited success.
After getting a quote from my pal – and t-shirt maestro – Kenny, I prep the artwork, seek Beryl’s approval then get the order off to Kenny.
Main job today is radio promo for next Friday’s (6 June) release of Hellbound Train – the second single from the forthcoming Still Friends album. I’m using it as a hook for promoting the Glasgow show at The Glad Cafe on 12 June.
Mid-afternoon Paul the plumber arrives to put in an outside tap at the back of the house. I take a break from the promo to finish another wee batch of the Kickstarter/Still Friends pledge pins.
Betty’s coming for dinner and I’m making her favorite – fajitas. There’s no flank steak so I’m using chicken and get it marinading….
ANOTHER relatively early start to get to the village for my 8.30am haircut. Long overdue.
I pick up some stuff from the shop on the way home then get back to the pledge pin production.
Margaret’s having a load of computer and phone issues so I try to start helping. I can’t help but get frustrated at the mess her computer’s in – partly bad housekeeping, but mostly the fact that it’s over 10 years old.
More work on the pins in the afternoon until my guitar student arrives with his mum.
I made a batch of ‘special’ dough the other day to try out super-thin crust Roman-style pizza. The dough itself is really simple and quick to make but it need a good 48 hours in the fridge.
I ball up the dough and put it in a proving tray to sit until we eat later.
There’s some help required with the local hall website. The folks that took it over aren’t particularly savvy and have made a bit of an arse of what should have been some simple admin. I’ve had a shout for help.
Time for a short walk up the lochside then I get the pizza oven lit and prepare dinner. While I’m a big fan of artisan Neapolitan dough, Margaret’s not so keen on – hence tonight’s experiment with Roman-style thin crust. I’m pleasantly surprised how good they are!
WHILE my sourdough cools I take a look at Karen’s guitar to find out what the problem – no sound – might be.
I try the obvious and plug in with a decent cable. Nothing. A bit of shoogling, though, and I hear a crackle…a crackle of hope!
On removing the jack plate the socket is wrapped in insulating tape and there’s various oddly placed lumps of solder. Not only is one of the contacts held on with the tape, but a huge dollop of solder attaching a random piece of flex has burned through the core shielding and seems to be shorting out the while shebang. A bit of a fucking mess.
There’s not much spare wire and it’s a tight space but I decide risk cutting off the botched wiring, unwrap and strip then add some heat shrink before resoldering the jack socket. It works!
I’m finished just in time for my first Zoom guitar student of the day.
Karen comes to pick up the guitar which, incidentally, is a rather nice 1978 USA Fender strat then I get on with making the pledge pins. Still some way to go.
After lunch pin production continues and I edit up the video from Friday’s BBQ rib prep to spin into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
I have a break when my late afternoon guitar student arrives at the same time as the plumber to look at putting an outside tap at the back of the house.
No time for a walk –besides, it’s horrible weather – as I need to get my ducks in a row for the livestream…
AN early start to make some headway with the Still Friends pledge pins.
Some good progress before our pals Tom and Helen arrive with Tom’s folks Leen and Willie. We’re recording Willie singing Travel These Ways – which he sang beautifully at Tom and Helen’s wedding last month.
We have fun in the studio and a nice afternoon chatting before they head off and I get back to the pin making.
In the evening we wander along to Betty’s for dinner – she’s got Greta, Karen and Rachel staying. Karen’s brought her guitar – a rather nice USA Fender strat – to see if I can fix it…no signal/sound…and it’s not been out its case for about 35 years! I bring it home to investigate in the morning.
Great to see my pal Alastair on his West Highland Way walk…
AFTER breakfast I’m straight onto pledge pin production. I need to make sure I can come up with the goods before I blow out the manufacturer.
The prototype is looking good so far and I’m just putting the final touches to the fin ish when my pal Alastair arrives.
He’s doing the West Highland Way and we couldn’t have him passing our door and not have in for a coffee and some lunch.
Great to chat and catch up, then I walk along to Milarrochy with him and bid him farewell on the rest of his walk.
I wander home and spend the rest of the afternoon casting blanks for the rest of the pledge badges. I get a good number done before the midges get the better of me.
A pal is bringing his dad to the studio tomorrow (Sunday) to record a song so I do a little prep and tidy up before starting an edit on the video footage I shop while smoking Friday’s beef short ribs.
UP EARLY to get the smoker ready and beef short ribs prepped.
All goes to plan other than a cut finger trimming the ribs – except I managed to cut myself when I wasn’t actually trimming them!
I’m trying to film the whole process – prepping and smoking the ribs, not cutting my fingers – as folks in my Wildcats group have been asking about BBQ.
The badge production folks have come back to me with a good offer to help sort my screw up but it’s still gonna be expensive. I set about trying a DIY prototype.
After lunch I have a hydro society meeting which goes on a bit longer than intended. At least I can now monitor the smoker and contents from anywhere and be fairly confident that the billows fan will do a decent job of managing the temperature in the pit.
I get a little more work done on the badge prototype then remove the ribs from the smoker when they’re done.
Duncan and Irene are coming for dinner and Betty’s also joining us…the ribs can sit in a faux cambo for an hour or so until it’s time to eat.
I GET a little work done before Fiona arrives to go for a paddle.
After a nice hour or so on the water I get back and have time for a quick shower before Eva arrives for a photoshoot in the studio.
All goes well then I have the first in a bunch of video and phones interviews. First up, Helen St Helen on Speakerbox. You can see the result here!
Margaret goes into town for some shopping and I get busy with various bits and bobs of work.
The new badges arrive – pledge pins and general release pins for Still Friends. Except I’ve cocked up – they say Devil May Care instead of Still Friends. Doh!
I did send the production folks the correct artwork and visuals…but when they sent the proofs back of an OK I didn’t notice they;d used the art work for the past badge order a few years ago. I was checking for flaws and color.
Ultimately my fault but I can’t help feeling a little peeved. I email the production folks and let them know, accepting the blame is mine but to see if they can accept a quantity less than their minimum so I can at least get the Kickstarter backers’ pledge pins done without haemorraging more money. We’ll see what they come back with.
I may have to try and make them myself…although last time I attempted that it was a fail.
