Blog Archive 2014 Apr
Tue Apr 1 = Today's biggest project was cleaning my van's carpet, which is sort of a hard, dense, pack where I have walked around on it for 18 years with sometimes sandy dusty or dirty shoes. This is in spite of my sand-catching door mat. I applied lots of water (about two gallons altogether), scrubbed it with a steel brush and vacuumed it with my wet shop vac - repeatedly.
- I also went down to Heritage Hats and a shoe shop to check into adding chin and neck straps to my
new
black hats.
- Off and on today I worked on this blog, my new, not-yet-online, Stand-Up Comedy web page and getting things (like my desk and kitchen counters) cleared off to hit taxes again.
- I found this
TV Signal Locator which will analyze your location to determine which broadcast television signals are available in your area. It will compute the expected signal strength for every channel "in the air" at your location, including adjustments for transmitter power, terrain obstructions, curvature of the Earth, and other factors that affect signal availability. This information can help determine the relative signal strengths of stations that are potentially within reach of your location.
Wed Apr 2 = Today included a teeth cleaning by my dentist and, this evening at StandUp Scottsdale, doing a routine on my new Scruffy Look and Farts - from a more or less scientific viewpoint, of course. It was my first time to go without a big-print printed trigger sheet. I developed the trigger notes in pencil at the bar before the show. My set went only OK.
Thu Apr 3 = While my van was at Ken's Transmission for a 30,000 mile transmission service I worked on several projects. On my
new
black, fabric, mesh hat, I engineered and installed a combination hat
band
and chin straps made from 60" fabric boot laces. Using hot glue and flat tooth picks, I reinforced the canopy pins, tail boom and landing skids on my new
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
#7, increasing it's gross weight by about 2%. I used iron-on tape to patch my favorite, but somewhat threadbare shorts in eight places, like pockets, belt loops and tears under the hip pockets. I worked on my income taxes some and on my standup comedy routines.
Fri Apr 4 = Continuing projects from yesterday, plus an appointment with my doctor, Dwivedi, hoping to get some help with my week voice before leaving on my spring comedy/kiteboarding trip.
Sat Apr 5 = Today I did not hear from the Speakeasy and could not contact the Philadelphia Sandwich Company, so did not know if I would have an Open Mic appearance tomorrow, so I prepared my routine for the Speakeasy.
Sun Apr 6 = This morning I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
after practicing on my PhoeniRC Simulator. After today's session I retired Battery N for good, as it was unbinding after 1:40 minutes. My new batteries, R S T worked perfectly. I didn't do much 3-D because I was out of practice, having not flown it for 11 days and it was a little windy: 0, gusting to 10mph.
- I went to LA Fitness, Moon Valley this afternoon - my first time in about a week - combination of being busy and wanting to give my joints time to recover.
- This afternoon Brian of the Speakeasy sent me a text that they were cancelling the Open Mic tonight, so I focused on finishing preparations for my routine at the Philadelphia Sandwich Company. After driving the 28 miles I found the PSC closed up with mail strewn on the floor inside the front door. Supposedly they're open 24 hours. Ah, well... I spent about 1.5 hours in my van nearby, catching up on this blog and updating my Nano flights with T3cDad on my cell phone. Altogether I spent 2:45 hours doing the trip - with no Open Mic to show for it.
Mon Apr 7 = This morning I worked on my
Taxes Comedy Routine. What a contradiction! This afternoon I sunned for 16 minutes, took Arlene to a cornea specialist and rushed down to my otolaryngologist to see if there is anything that can be done to strengthen my voice for the stand-up comedy. We are going to try some therapy - hopefully before I leave on my comedy/kiteboarding trip.
- This evening I adapted a Goodwill 20V 4.5A 90W Dell switching power supply for use with my iCharger. The idea is to use the iCharger's Pb feature to charge my van battery. That way I can take one charger for everything.
Tue Apr 8 = I worked on some more comedy stops for my upcoming trip and replaced the kitchen flood lights' not-working-real-well X-10 wall-switch dimmer with a new X-10 wall switch relay. I saved some time by doing it with the circuit live, which can be done safely if you know what you are doing, are careful and follow good procedures.
- This evening I refined my
taxes comedy routine for tomorrow at Stand-Up Scottsdale. Depending on how it goes, I might use it at Bridgett's Last Laugh on April 15th.
Wed Apr 9 = Yesterday it was electrical; today it was plumbing. I replaced the hall toilet's ball cock fill valve with a new high tech valve that is supposed to be quieter and fill faster. It seems to do both - and shut off properly, which was the problem with the old one. While I was at it I also replace the leaky shut-off valve below the toilet tank. It I had to grind of the copper pipe a little because the socket on the new valve was .015" shallower than the old valve.
- This evening I checked Google Analytics and found that in the past 30 days there were 635 visits to my website; 1663 page views; 4 minutes average on my website (twice that average in AZ); 10 languages and 10 countries were represented; 1/3 used Firefox, 1/4 Chrome; 1/5 Safari.
Thu Apr 10 = This afternoon I drove down to Thunderbird Banner Outpatient Rehb in Glendale for a video stroboscopy, only to find that their machine was not working. On the way home I stopped by Duncan's RC for a couple pair of fluorescent main rotor blades or my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
.
- This evening I went to Monkey Pants for their Stand-up show. It was cool to meet both honchos and to see them on stage: Steve Merek, hosting and Jamie Sanderson doing a six-minute set. Also, three of the comics, including the headliner, I had introduced last night when I was the host at Stand-Up Scottsdale. Several others of my comedy friends were there, in the audience also.
Fri Apr 11 = This morning I flew my PhoenixRC Simulator and my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
.
It was a little windy with gusts to 7mph. Steve had his RADAR gun out and clocked my Nano at 25 mph, going crosswind.
- I don't know how it got past me, but, for the first time I went (almost $50) over limit for my low-limit credit card , which I use the most because it gives 1% cash back and has a full-card picture of me kiteboarding in Brazil. I paid it online. I also spent quite a bit of time emailing and phoning, arranging additional comedy stop for my trip in Tennessee and North Carolina.
Sat Apr 12 = Today I got up-to-date with my Vacation Countdown list, arranged more comedy stops for my trip, added five more of them on my
Comedy web page, organized some sewing and made a paper shopping list because my HP Jornada screen is not working correctly.
- I finally got the hall toilet shut-off valve to quit leaking. Since I didn't want to break anything I had tightened the compression nut on the end of the copper pipe fairly tight, but not too tight. Once or twice a day I'd tighten the nut a little more and recheck for the leak with a tray under the valve. Yesterday it leaked .9 oz in 24 hours. I cranked on the valve one more time and today there is no leak.
- This evening I went a to an LA Fitness gym in Mesa to shower and then to the weekly Hamfeast in Gilbert. Good group as always. On the way home I got gasoline, and did my final grocery shopping at Fry's Food and Food City.
- I worked on this blog until midnight (ugh!).
Sun Apr 13 = No comdy this evening, although I worked on some routines. I made about 960 1 x 3' perferated TO DO tabs They help me organize lists and things.
Mon Apr 14 = This morning I had a voice evaluation at Banner Good Sam Outpatient. Amy Baxter was excellent. In fact the whole team there is going out of their way to give me some voice help before my trip. I have a weak voice, you know due to voice surgery about 10 years ago.
- I finalized my comedy routine for tomorrow night and got some necessary sewing done: made a couple of
dead cats,
which are furry microphone covers to reduce wind noise. They work really well.
Tue Apr 15 =
10 Athletes Over 60 Who Can Kick Your Butt went live today and I'm included! Than you, Alex Orlov for a good article - and for finding and including me!
- I downloaded a free Kindle sample book about Alzheimer's. I found it to be mostly depressing. Besides I am already doing and eating what they suggest for prevention and it does not run in my family.
- Brigitt's Last Laugh was a fun experience. I had prepared less material and came got to the end of it a little before my time was up - first time to not run out of time before running out of material. My delivery improved with fewer notes used and responding to the audience more. I still need to punch my delivery more and pick a funnier topic than... taxes!
Wed Apr 16 = This morning I took my van to Ken's Transmission for its regular service. Also I got a comedy opportunity. Brian, from the Speakeasy in Scottsdale offered me a spot Saturday night that just opened up. This will be my first time as an opener for a headliner!
- The Tempe Improv went super well tonight. Brad Ostro had everything well organized. It was my
first time doing stand-up two nights in a row and I was thrilled, driving all the way home. Also it was my it was my
first time before an audience of almost 300! The crowd was very enthusiastic. Fifteen of my invitees came. It was SO COOL! Before my turn I was able to wander around the auditorium and spot various audience members that it would be fun to
pick
on. It paid off. I did more audience interaction than ever before, which is something I have been working on. I think I reached my goal, in this show, of 4-6 laughs per minute and having the audience laughing 30% of the time. Click for
Details. Matt Geiger, was an excellent host - young, relaxed, and just enjoying it. You know you have a good host when his comments after your set get bigger laughs than your set! Way to go, Matt! There was a total of 13 comics and two hosts.
Thu Apr 17 = This morning I took my van in to Ken's Transmission to retighten the pan bolts. Phill there said that sometimes they need to be retorqued after several heating/cooling cycles. That explained the slight red fluid under my van at home.
- This afternoon I had a video stroboscopy, done by Cindy at Banner Good Samaritan Outpatient Services. She was very good.
Fri Apr 18 = First thing this morning I took my van into Auto Tune for the AC. They found a leaky hose and replaced it.
- I got my iCharger to charge a Lead-Acid battery, so now can use it on any battery I am taking on the trip, only needing to take one charger.
- It took me two hours to get my van put back together after shifting the bed and taking off the D-panel covers to replace the right rear wing motor. The hardest part was getting the rear AC ducting back into place. Thanks, Ken (my neighbor to the east) for giving me a hand with that.
- I got the new, defective, X-10 wall switch relay packaged up. I had to go into the Post Office to send it First Class Mail, which cost $3.58. The only thing offered online would have been Priority Mail costing about $23. What a crock, USPS!
- At 2:00pm I had my first voice therapy session (with Jill). My previous session was an evaluation.
Sat Apr 19 = Today was a comedy day, rewriting, practicing and performing. My
first time to open for a show with a headliner, my
first time to be heckled, and the
first time I saw a heckler removed from a show. I didn't realize I had been heckled until I listened to the video (second one on my
Comedy web page). The crowd was small (it was a 10:00pm show) but it went well.
Sun Apr 20 = Happy Easter! In between organizing things for my trip, I drove over to Mesa to visit with
- George & Cindy
- younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona
and their friend, Bill. We fixed and ate Easter sandwiches, potato salad and Swiss chard.
- Back home, I finished my two-speed cealing fan for the van - a little squirrel caged jobie. The SPDT switch with a center off and Voltage-reducing diodes, I had gotten from Radio Shack.
Mon Apr 21 = Today was a busy one. Herman came over and we signed an agreement or him to keep my yard weed-free for a year. Just didn't have time to spray and water in the pre-emergence again before leaving. I took my van in, again, for the AC. They were going to replace a pressure cut-off switch, but got the wrong one, so we did nothing for the pesky, intermittent AC problem. We'll see how it works on our trip.
- I phoned The Green room in Flagstaff and found that they were cancelling their Tuesday open mic due to a special event - confusing. They said they have open mic EVERY Tuesday... except this one.
- I had my final voice therapy session (with Lisa), who gave me things to work on during my trip. Everyone at Banner Good Samaritan has been very helpful.
- It probably didn't make a lot of sense, but about sunset, I scrubbed my van tires, washed the van and its windows inside and out and buffed the headlights. It surely feels good driving a sparkling van.
Tue Apr 22 = I got everything pack and
got off a little before noon and spent the night in Grants, NM. Had a tail wind most of the way.
Wed Apr 23 = I could have kiteboarded, but didn't know it! It was windy all day. I arrived in Oklahoma City about 4:30 so drove out to Lake Hefner and visited with the kiteboarders there - about six on the water at a time. Unfortunately there was not time enough for me to take advantage of the wind, since I was scheduled for comedy tonight at the Loony Bin.
- The Loony Bin Comedy Club had a drawing to see which comics would go up tonight and had me scheduled to be first. Unfortunately, there was not enough of an audience to have the show. I would have been happy to play to just the other comedians. The good news is that I got to bed a little earlier, spending the night in a Walmart parking lot in Shawnee, OK.
Thu Apr 24 = Hail on the way to Memphis, TN. The P & H Cafe is quite a dive, with restrooms decorated with all sorts of writings on the walls and BYOTP. The group there was diverse, enthusiastic and looking forward to the roasting of Mike McCarthy, being his last night before moving out of state. It was a good group and they seemed to enjoy my 6:08-minute set.
- I got to bed about 1:20am, smelling like cigarette smoke, as it seems like everyone in this part of the country smokes EVERYWHERE.
Fri Apr 25 = On to Knoxville and Sassy Ann's. The organizer asked me if I would be willing to go first since no one else wanted to. Of course I said, "Oh sure!" I took my set to exactly eight minutes, which is what they planned for me. It was my
longest set yet. You can see some details for 4/24/14 in the
PAST COMEDY APPEARANCES PDF on my
Comedy web page.
Ann
took a big old three-story house and turned it into a combination eatery and comedy studio with two bars.
Sat Apr 26 to Wed Apr 30 = These five days I appeared on four different stages in Knoxville and Nashville. Some of the other comics and I ended up going to the same clubs - sort of a fraternity. I did my introducing old guy thing and seem to be getting it better, with more laughs. You can see more details on my
PAST COMEDY APPEARANCES PDF, which link is on my
Comedy web page. My
little
HP OfficeJet 100 printer has come in handy for printing out my Trigger Notes, which I revise for every performance and location. The printer is battery operated and wireless (bluetooth) so is actually fun to use.
- Each night found me in a Walmart parking lot somewhere, figuring how to park my van facing into the sun or in the shade the next morning. This is necessary since, as a comedian, I tend to get to bed late and sleep late. There have been days of rain showers, wind and forecast low night-time temperatures down into the low 50's, so my queen-sized comforter has come in handy.
