Blog Archive 2020 Jul
Wed Jul 1 = Today I left Hatteras Island. It involved going down to the Billy Mitchel Airstrip in Frisco to charge two cameras, two cell phones and two power packs (see photo),
to save the four videos from last night's comedy to my computer and to update my website, then retrieve all the posters I had put out at 14 locations. I stopped by
Ride Hatteras and retrieved the T-Shirts I left there. Three were sold
- I stopped by the Nags Head Staples to make about 70 show slips for the Ohio venues.
- Got to bed at 10:08 at the Sea Ranch Resort in Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Thu Jul 2 = This morning I went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial and bought a lifetime Senior National Parks Pass. It cost $80. I hope I will get my money's worth.
- After some testing, I determined that the punch button switch I had purchased would not work for my
- LiFeMnPO
- our van's Lithium/Iron/Manganese/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
bypass control, so traded it for a SPST long-handle toggle at the Ace Hardware in Kill Devil Hills.
- Next stop was Dollar Tree to exchange a stapler that did not work properly for a tray that has a cover that I will use as a new snack tray in my van. At checkout, the lady said, "Oh, you're the guy on the radio." What a warm feeling that someone was listening to
Beach 104 early Monday morning.
- I drove on to Sunderland, MD for supper with my daughter and her family.
- To bed at 10:47 in Anne & Robby's basement guest room.
Fri Jul 3 = HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, USA!
- This morning I spent about an hour with Brooke (Anne and Robby's younger) and her Legos.
- In the afternoon Robby and I had a good visit about finance and stuff.
- Before supper I had the privilege of observing Katie's (Anne and Robby's older) acting class.
- In the evening we all watched about two hours of the first-day release of the Broadway production of Hamilton.
- Before bed I organized seven phone calls to make to some Dayton, OH media outlets tomorrow.
- To bed at 10:48 :(
Sat Jul 4 = Robby put me wise to RV Parkie, an app for my phone and a website on my computer that, among other things, can show a map of all the Walmart store locations that allow overnight parking. I think this will be my to-go travel companion.
- This afternoon we went shopping. Everything is a long drive from their
country
home.
- I wired an additional switch to control the
automatic
controller for charging my
- LiFeMnPO
- our van's Lithium/Iron/Manganese/Phosphate/Oxygen
house
battery
. To do the project, I had to rearrange a bunch of things so will need to put it all back together tomorrow.
- I took some test head shots of Katie while she had her practice headshot makeup on.
- In the evening we watched the last 20 minutes of
Hamilton.
- After doing my website, I got to bed at 11:09 :(
Sun Jul 5 = Today's biggest project was to take 171 headshots for Katie. She plans to submit them for commercials, stage, movie roles etc. Good luck Katie.
- This evening during the family movie time (watching
Bolt) I organized things for taking out to my van tomorrow morning.
- To bed at 10:14
Mon Jul 6 = A little before noon, Anne Robby Katie and Brooke helped me carry everything out to my van. Good crew! Then I did my famous $1 challenge, where I gave a dollar for every item they found in the house that I accidentally forgot. Guess I did a good job because they found nothing.
- I got off a little before noon, stopped along the way to fix lunch and spent the night at the Reynoldsburg, OH Walmart.
- To bed at 10:14 back in my little minivan for one of my best nights in several weeks.
Tue Jul 7 = On the way west, I did a medium full-body workout at a western Columbus OH Planet Fitness and some shopping at a Kroger and a Dollar Tree in the same strip mall.
- Then on to Medway OH where I stopped by the AMVETS post 148 met Dave Rockwood (Turkey Dave) and Traci the Post Commander. What a good bunch of people.
- Using their WiFi, I sent an email to GotPrint, who did these magnetic signs. I hope I can get them to print the signs without a faded stool and headshot. Left is what I sent them, right is what I got. Do you think I am being too picky?
- Dave offered to let me spend the nights parked at his place. I followed him out there and we settled on a location by his barn where it would be shady in the mornings.
- Next stop was the Fairborn OH YMCA for a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and a shower. They've got some good equipment, so I'll plan on going back while I am in the area. All the little towns around are considered part of Dayton.
- On the way back
home
to Dave's, I worked on my blog for about an hour at a Marathon. They're good because they have Top Tier gasoline, although I did not need gas but DID get my blog uploaded, tethered to my phone.
- Got to bed at Dave's in Medway at 10:52 :(
Wed Jul 8 = This morning I got a tour of Dave's barn with an old souped-up pick up, tools and yard machinery. He introduced me to his German Shepherd who would have taken a bite out of me if we weren't separated by a window.
- After breakfast I went to
AMVETS Post#148;
in Medway where I will be doing my show on Saturday. I met Drew, the manager and others. I spent a couple hours doing some website, email, financial stuff and ordered two 2 x 3' JPG tour posters. Then I went out to my van for lunch.
- After lunch I picked up the posters at FedEx office and did a little shopping in its Walmart. Next poster edition, instead of using a JPG file, I'll use a PDF file. With a PDF, the lettering should not have the jaggies.
- Since the posters did not come in a protective cardboard mailing tube, I chased one down at a UPS Store even further west. I felt like I was on a wild goose chase
- I got to the Fairborn OH YMCA for a medium weight, slow full-body workout.
- Then to hang out at the
AMVETS Post#148;
in Medway,OH where I will be doing my show on Saturday.
- Got to bed at 10:32.
Thu Jul 9 = I hung out at AMVETS Post 148 until a little after noon. My project was to order two magnetic signs, only this time sending a PDF file rather than a JPG. I tried both TIF &
BMP and neither had the good resolution of the PDF and their files were MUCH larger. I also ordered another 2 x 3' poster from FedEx Office, using a PDF file.
- I got around to lunch a little after 2:00 in the AMVETS parking lot.
- Then headed west to FedEx to pick up the poster. The resolution with the PDF file was just about perfect. No jaggies, as with the JPGs. Then back east and south to the Fairborn YMCA for a short heavy, slow legs workout... the first one since I left Phoenix almost a month ago. I
fell
off a workout bench for the first time. The bench was very narrow and rounded and I was swinging a 60 lb easy-curl bar, including the 40 lb of weights for triceps extensions, and I just rolled off onto the floor. Of course I made a big embarrassing crash and nicked my left shoulder on the foot of the workbench. Another member there checked to make sure I was OK. I didn't doctor my injury which was about two cm across and did not bleed much. I figured that most things will heal faster by themselves unless there is something to cause an infection.
- I got bored without much to do on the way back
home
to Dave's so I went through some of my routine for Saturday in the curved driveway of Mr. Lewis' barn, then drove to Crystal Lake and visited with Air Force veteran and fire-fighter Louis out on the pier where he had been fishing.
- To bed at 9:46 for a good night's sleep. :) SleepBot alarm did not sound in the morning, having tried letting the screen turn off on its own.
Fri Jul 10 = This morning after breakfast I organized my stuff at AMVETS Post 148, Phoned WDAO AM in Daton and tried to get on the air and then headed to JB's Auto for an oil change.
- This afternoon Tracie and I set up the tables and chairs for tomorrow evening's show and I set up my four cameras with 110v power, my two stage lights, my PA system and all my merchandise. I needed one more extension cord, so this evening I went to a nearby Ace Hardware store and bought 50' of 18-2
speaker wire
and plugs with which I made the extension cord.
- After supper I phoned Sarah about the show on Jul 25, 2020; 8:00pm at the VFW Post#3360 in Defiance, OH 43512. She mentioned that Jim is on vacation, took my number and will take care of it.
- A trip to the Fairborn YMCA for a short,slow, heavy arms workout and going through my entire show sequence in 17:43 minutes topped off my evening. On the way to a Kroger for a few things, I ran across a small AMVETS post and had fun inviting the three people there to my show tomorrow.
- Got to bed at 10:59 at Dave's. My SleepBot alarm sounded as set in the morning with the ringer turned off.
Sat Jul 11 = No one was going to be at the AmVets Post 148 until noon so I went to the Fairborn YMCA early for a poo, shower and short, slow, heavy torso workout and lunch in their parking lot.
- This afternoon I hung out at my office (table at the AmVets Post), paid some bills, and found another fraudulent charge on my Citibank master card of over $1200. Citibank is the worst!
- After supper in the parking lot in my van, I changed to my comedy stage outfit and double checked everything I had set up yesterday for the show. Things were slightly changed for audience entry and my merch sales, so moving a few tables took care of the matter.
- My show started right on time for a somewhat in-and-out audience of 17. A lady I had invited at Kroger came with her boyfriend. They, and others, laughed a lot for the 63-minute show. It was fun. My first regular show since COVID-16.
- It took me 1.5 hours to get everything packed up after the show... a lot later than I wanted and a lot tireder than I realized.
No wonder I was tired. Both before and after the show, I had been the:
- Booker
- Publicity director
- Head of advertising
- Producer
- Audio crew
- Lighting director and crew
- Videographer
- Camera man
- Merchandiser & crew
- Stage crew
- Comedian
- Sales Force
- Van loader
- Van driver
- Got to bed at Dave's at 11:07.
Sun Jul 12 = This morning I worked out in my van until the post opened at noon and then in the Post 148 until the middle of the afternoon on my Past Comedy Appearances' PDF, this website, transferring last night's videos to my computer, downloading my banking statement and paying Citibank... to the tune of a driving cloud burst.
- I got off in the rain, heading for Fort Wayne, IN, and drove to Van Wert, OH for the night. Got to bed at 10:36.
Mon Jul 13 = This morning I drove on to the
Wrigley Field Bar & Grill in
Fort Wayne. Neat place with a big stage and a banner out front promoting the 8pm Tuesday Comedy show.
- Out in the parking lot, I spent about an hour in my van, not too hot with some ventilation, making some booking confirmation phone calls and locating my next stops for today.
- Then across the street to a convenient library to work on my checking account and on Saturday's video and audio recordings.
- After the library closed at 8, I drove about a mile up to a Planet Fitness for a short, light, fast legs workout. They've got pretty good equipment, except no declined bench press.
- I spent the night in the parking lot of an Anytime Fitness after I went in to check the place out. Got to bed at 11:09 :(
Tue Jul 14 = After breakfast in my van, I went in and met Jim and Rachel, owners of the Anytime Fitness and spent two minutes on their
Jacob's Ladder
and did most of a short, light, fast arms workout. Then about a mile north to the Planet Fitness where I did a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
a poo, took a shower and finished the arms workout. I stopped by Target for a couple of grocery items and then drove down to the library to finish processing Saturday's video and update my website.
- The open mic at the
Wrigley Field Bar & Grill was cool. Alex built up my
guest
appearance for the whole show. After the show I sold 5 T-shirts (all profits go to Duet) and got a $4 donation.
- Got to bed in the parking lot of an Anytime Fitness at 11:09 :(
Wed Jul 15 = I was in no rush to get on the road this morning so, after breakfast, did a light torso workout and worked on my blog and redid my Announcement slips to include all of Alaska. The people at this Anytime Fitness are particularly top quality. It seems to trickle down from the owner, Jim Casaburo. He owns several restaurants and runs
Camp Watcha Wanna Do,
a non-profit Indiana corporation serving adolescent cancer survivors in Northeastern Indiana and the surrounding areas. CWWD is completely free for kids surviving cancer and we have never turned a camper away.
- Trying to get my Announcement slips was a challenge. No Staples was near my route today, the two Office Depot locations on my Garmin GPS maps were nonexistent or had been closed. I finally found a printing company in Defiance that did the job on my blue paper, including cutting them - color coded, of course.
- I received a warm welcome at
AmVets Post#1991;
Defiance, OH. They let me put one of my new posters on their easel. A member came in and did not even see the poster, so we put a light on it. Near the bottom you can see the laminated dry-erase area with the event details. We'll see if it does the trick.
- Got to bed at 11:00 in the parking lot to the west of the post. The CSX railroad main line had trains all night but fortunately there are no grade crossings nearby so the engines were not honking their horns too close.
Thu Jul 16 = This morning I got all my merch set out and hung around the post,
AmVets Post#1991;
Defiance, OH, much of the day.
- After supper I went to the Defiance regional YMCA for a poo, hot tub, shower and short heavy slow legs workout... the first time since leaving Phoenix that I did a declined bench press. At 130 lb I could only eek out one or two with a spotter.
- Got to bed at 10:37 in my van to the north of the post's parking lot near some shade trees. The post offered to put me up for two nights in a motel, but I explained that it was more trouble to move out and back into my van and its comfortable bed. Instead the post made a generous donation to Duet :) It turns out that the shade was not as good from the trees as just west of the post patio canopy.
Fri Jul 17 = Today was prepping for tonight's comedy show at
AmVets Post#1991;
Defiance, OH. Carissa got the post's video projector hooked to my Alcatel tablet for some video tonight, but without sound :( During the show I couldn't find the input menu on the projector so wasted some time without any video.
- To no avail, I went shopping at Farm Home and also Kroger for floodlight bulbs to replace the post's burned out ones.
- The post went out of its way to arrange things for my comedy show and their weekly meatloaf special was good, including the mashed potatoes and gravy and corn.
- The comedy show was interesting and a learning experience for me. I forgot to turn on my five recording devices before starting the show. Probably most of the people thought it was normal to have a lot of visiting during a comedian's performance - similar to live music. One guy tried to talk louder than the post's PA system and was mostly successful, even after I asked him not to. After the show I spoke to him and concluded that he was a 66-year-old, inconsiderate bully. I had one couple that listened for the entire hour. On one of my feedback sheets (the first time I used them) she said:
Your Humor was Great-
The Sound system sucked and
there were too many disrespectful Big Mouths In The Crowd!
Me? I thrive on some heckling and enjoy some audience interactions, but not people who visit, ignore the show and the right of others to enjoy it. In the future I'll arrange for a bouncer so I, hopefully, won't have to go through this a third time. The first time was at a bar in Billings Montanna. Stuff like this happens when you are breaking new ground.
- Got to bed at 10:19 on the west side of the post.
Sat Jul 18 = Today I drove down to
American Legion Post#69 in
Cincinnati, making some stops for a special audio adapter (which I did not find). I met the good people at the post, worked out some details for my show there in two weeks and hung out most of the evening.
Arizona Lou Ready for COVID-19 Comedy
No, this is actually my niece, a nurse, ready to take care of COVID-19 patients.
- Got to bed at 11:22 :( As a result, my van was getting warm by the time I got up in the morning.
Sun Jul 19 = This morning I went to the only
Workout Anytime I found in Cincinnati, for a shower and slow heavy arms and torso workouts. It is surprising how much good equipment they have in a relatively small space without feeling crowded.
- At Dollar General I bought a laser pointer to use with my videos.
- Using my stage manager hat back at Post 69, I tried my PA system where my show is going to be, in their Dugout, and hooked my
- Alcatel Plus 10
- The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago after my Dell XPS died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps a little.
up to their 48" TV. As I suspected, the LASER pointer completely disappears when aimed at a normal (direct view) TV.
- Most of the evening I was wearing my Booker and Logistics Hat, making arrangements for transportation while I am in Alaska a month from now.
- Got to bed at10:29 in the
American Legion Post#69 Parking Lot. What fine people!
Mon Jul 20 = This morning I drove about two hours south to visit my son and his family. On the way I stopped by a Dollar Tree for some project materials to use with my granddaughter. We had a lot of fun
playing
in her room and watching some of
Star Wars, The Force Awakens.
- Got to bed at 11:28 for a pretty good night's sleep.
Tue Jul 21 = This morning my son, granddaughter and I went on a neat hike on the Indian Fort Mountain Trail At The Pinnacles in KY and were rewarded by this view (photo by Louis Self using a Nexus 6P cell phone) from the East Pinnacle. 3.6 miles total with an approximately 500' elevation change.
My grandaughter made this list of things to do. She is pretty sharp for a 5.5 year-old. She enjoys numbers and challenges.
- We played a
Shaggy Kush Bal
toss & kick in the living room, went out front for the Hose & Balloon Fight. When I came in I did a poo, a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and took a bath.
- Later we watched the first show of
The Brady Bunch series and finished
Star Wars, The Force Awakens.
- We laughed a lot during my short visit. My granddaughter's favorite thing that we did together was the
Three Marker Challenge
where we chose three markers from a cupful with our eyes closed and then drew something.
- My favorite activity was eating 14 little cuties (appx 150g oranges) together after guessing how many sectons each had. She did not know it, but she was being introduced to data collection and recording and a spreadsheet (using a paper, not a computer).
- Got to bed at 10:33.
Wed Jul 22 = This morning my granddaughter had breakfast with me in my van. It's like a fancy playhouse. Then I got everything packed up and went for the DOLLAR CHALLENGE, where I give a dollar for every item they find that I accidentally left in the house. They found nothing, although I left my long ice tea spoon and Romain Lettuce. As a result I had to replace both at a Walmart.
- My van seemed to be drifting to the left since I hit a freeway pot hole about a week ago. At my son's recommendation I took it to Evan's Auto in Rchmond, KY where Chris Nichols thought it could be an out-of-tolerance camber. It turns out that adjusting the allignment and switching the front tires solved the problem. They recommended rotating the tires, only back to front in the future. They said that the tire wear should be even on each side that way.
- I spent the afternoon in a Richmond library and then drove down to southeast Richmond and bought a few things at Aldi and then on to a nearby Walmart for the night. One of its reviews on my
RV Parky app talked about the noisy trains all night, so I parked on the opposite side of the parking lot. Hardly ever heard the trains.
- Got to bed at 10:00 :) It is good to be back
home
in my van.
Thu Jul 23 = After some Walmart shopping this morning I headed north to Cincinnati and gave Mike at Volume Electronics my stereo adapter to change to a monaural adapter by adding a drop of solder. He was busy and will not be able to do it until tomorrow, so I've got half a day to hang around Cincinnati..
- Since the
American Legion Post#69 where I will be doing comedy on 8/2/20 was
nearby, I spent the rest of the day there and the night in their parking lot.
- Over the last few days I have been typing up a Wikipedia article about myself and, this afternoon, did some research and found that I am not
notable
enough. Also it is not kosher to submit an article about oneself. At least I will have some fodder if someone wants to do an article about me.
- I went upstairs at the post to make some phone calls - alone and quiet. Didn't quite work out because there was no Internet. Instead I added 19 new email address I had collected over the last three months to my spreadsheet. I'll have to make a point to collect more email addresses.
- To bed at 10:31 in the Reading, OH Post 69 parking log - thanks guys. My night was interrupted at 2:49am by my SleepBot alarm which was set for 8:00am and then, about 15 minutes later, by a slow honking train on the little-used track east of the parking lot.
Fri Jul 24 = First thing I stopped by Volume Electronics and picked up my modified mono/stereo adapter. The mod cost me $10. Added to the cost of the original stereo/stereo adapter I am into the unit by $20. Later I filed down the solder so the male end fits into a 1/4" jack.
- Eating breakfast on the way, I drove up to the Lancaster AmVets Post 1985, put up a 2'x3' poster there, Met Sue the bar manager and Mike the commander and spent the rest of the afternoon at the post working on my website etc. Must have ruffled a feather or two because Mike asked me to quit telling people there about the free benefit comedy show I'll be doing for them in a week.
- It didn't work out for me to have the video appointment with my PCP doctor so we did it by phone. This is regarding a PCR COVID-19 test (viral, molecular or swab) with rapid results so I can fly to Alaska to do my comedy shows as planned.
- For the night I parked my van in the NE quiet, shady corner of the Post 1985 parking lot. There is a railroad on the other side of a baseball diamond, but from Google Earth, it appears to not be maintained and likely abandoned. No trains!
- To bed at 10:12 :)
Sat Jul 25 = I spent the first part of the day at the AmVets Post updating this Blog, looking for open mics and updating my Comedy Home Page with an additional appearance. It was cold in there and I was shivering by the time I went out to my van after a late lunch.
- Lunch was a good tuna salad salad at the post's bar and a peanut butter/grape jam sandwich out in my van. Then to a Planet Fitness about two miles northwest of the post for a light, fast 40-minute full-body workout and a little shopping at a nearby Kroger.
- As I was leaving the gym Dale Chubin, in Anchorage, AK phoned me and will pick me up at the airport when I arrive :) When I phoned him yesterday he was out fishing.
- In the shade of a truck in the gym parking lot I phoned Amanda at the
Lakewood Village Tavern. She said the had given me a spot on their open mic on the 29th :)
- Got to bed at 10:43 :( & set mySleepBot alarm for 8:30am, which did not sound, so I got up at 8:44.
Sun Jul 26 = I stayed in my van, in the shade of the trees, until a little after 11, organizing my stops and nights for the rest of this week, considering I'll be making appearances in Cleveland (Lakewood, OH) on Wednesday and Columbus on Thursday. Then I re-parked my van on the west side of the post, where trees will shade it in the afternoon, went into the post for their Internet and 110v for my computer. Thanks, guys!
- This afternoon I checked my Citibank Master Card and found no new fraudulent charges. I also checked that there are no auto-pays from the card. I expect the next fraudulent charge to post on Aug 6th.
- About supper time I drove up to the Lancaster Planet Fitness for a heavy slow legs workout, after which I parked in an isolated part of the parking lot and, out loud, went over about 40 minutes of my full comedy show. Conclusion: My show is too long for an hour. The challenge now is to trim some of the less funny stuff without sacrificing the continuity.
- While still parked there, I did my bedtime routine: teeth and arranged towel for the night.
- Got to bed at 9:39 for a good quiet night with two pees until getting up
early
at 7:26.
Mon Jul 27 = Last night I made an important decision: to do my best to give the post an awesome show on Saturday. I was feeling a little down about the show because the post has given me a very cool reception, will not let me talk about it or promote it to the members and has not promoted the show (nothing yet on their FaceBook page) as they agreed. After that decision I am looking forward to the show.
- This morning I hiked across the baseball park to the railroad tracks and found that the brush was too dense to actually get to the tracks in sandals and shorts.
- At 9:00 I went into the post and met with Mike Foster, the commander of the post about some of details of Saturday's show, then updated my Show Announcement Slips, updated this blog and made a FaceBook post about my four shows this week.
- At 10:30 I headed north to Cleveland, stopping by an Office Max to print my revised Show Slips. I went out of my way to an Office Max instead of going to Staples because they seem to be having trouble keeping its head above water and I want them to stay in business. The guy in the print shop was not very friendly and my experience was not very positive. I couldn't print out my Introductions PDF because I had it in the wrong format. Later I corrected the format and stopped by a
friendly Staples and got it printed.
- I scoped out an Anytime Fitness in Cleveland. They have some unique equipment, although their maintenance leaves a little to be desired. I took a nap in my van during the rain.
- Then on to the
Lakewood Village Tavern to check out the lay of the land for Wednesday's 9pm open mic. They let me put one of my 2'x3' posters up on the wall thanks to Robby, a customer, who called Amanda, the owner, and got her approval. I guess Robby was impressed when I came up first with his search of the Internet for
America's Favorite Old Man.
- Before bedtime I drove back to the Anytime Fitness for a slow heavy arms workout. and spent the night parked in their back parking lot where there would be shade in the morning.
- Got to bed at 10:29.
Tue Jul 28 = My SleepBot alarm did not wake me up at the set time of 8:00am, but did sound at 8:40 am and again at 9:39am, neither time which I had set. The reason I keep putting up with SleepBot is its ability to keep track of my sleep and sleep notes.
After breakfast I went in to the Anytime Fitness, did a
- poster trim
- weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
took a shower and did a slow heavy torso workout. It is a good gym with a better-than-average selection of equipment.
- I spent most of the rest of the day at the Madison Branch Library in Lakewood where I noticed that the post now has a poster about Saturday's show on their FaceBook page.
- I drove back to the Anytime Fitness for the night, this time anticipating the morning shade of a tree. I'm proud of my strategy. I'll check the shade tomorrow morning to see where it is the best and lasts the longest. With the
Lakewood Village Tavern Open Mic starting at 9:00, I'll probably be getting to bed late.
- To bed at 10:44
Wed Jul 29 = The tree shade, in the second parking slot this morning, was the best at 95% and lasted until 10:05. Second best was the fifth slot back of the bank which was 100% but only lasted until 9:45. Also some morning traffic would be driving past my van there. Using this information for spending the night after the tonight's comedy show was not necessary since I would stay in the bar's parking lot.
- This afternoon I parked on a side street in the shade of a tree and made some phone calls to four American Legion posts in Alaska to finalize transportation to their posts and to remind them to publicize their show; both in their post and online presence. They appreciated it when I told them that they were not the only post that
forgot.
- Library policy, you know. All it took was three minutes of closing my eyes with my head down for the security guy to arouse me since I was
sleeping.
I get drowsy anytime I am sitting still. After the library closed, I hung around their parking lot and walked around the adjacent park playground. I thought about taking a swim in the public swimming pool in the park because it was three hours before the comedy show. I decided eating my supper was a higher priority.
- The show was a lot of fun, with an audience of 34, I got 6.4 laughs per minute and they were laughing 19% of the time, not quite my goals of 6.0 and 30%.
- As expected, I got to bed late, but had a pretty quiet night and shade in the morning in the bar's parking lot to the west. Thank you, Amanda
- Got to bed at 11:48
Thu Jul 30 = I drove down south to Columbus and arrived at the Tree Bar about 2:00pm. I drove by it down an alley three times before I located the bar... in the alley behind a tree. I found that it would not open until 4pm so I did some shopping at the Market Place Giant Eagle and found a place to park and work on this blog in my van
office.
- When I went back to the Tree Bar, Tyler the bar tender there, informed me that the comedy open mic had been canceled. It would have been nice for them to include that information on their website before I drove to Columbus for the event.
- Since there were no gyms handy, I drove in the rain, down to
AMVETS Post#1985 in
Lancaster for my usual morning-shade spot by the trees to the northeast of their parking lot.
- A comedian does not feel real good when he can't do comedy because a show has been canceled without notice, but that is part of the business.
- Got to bed at 10:36
Fri Jul 31 = In the post parking lot in the shade of their trees this morning, I spent about three hours working on my show for them tomorrow night. I focused on
Louis Self's five-minute opening for
Arizona Lou and the one hour show with some trimmed material. I'm looking forward to the show.
- Then into the post for email, blog & website updating and researching the revised COVID-19 requirements for Alaska.
- In the afternoon I met Gary Brooke, of First Impressions Printing ((740) 243-0784). He recently moved his whole operation to his residence. He is an interesting guy and a true entrepreneur. Gary showed me his awesome operation, including a high speed electrostatic
printing press
and an even higher speed folding machine. Gary bought T-Shirts for him and his wife and plans to come to the show tomorrow night.
- On to the Robert K Fox YMCA in Northwest Lancaster. They have pretty good equipment (although not new, which is fine with me) and showers. No time to shower before their 8pm closing, but I did get in a short heavy slow legs workout.
- On the way back to the post, I mailed a thank you note to Lakewood, did some Kroger shopping and did my bedtime routine.
- Got to bed at 10:56 :( but slept until 8:50.
