One of my favorite acts in the variety shows that my parents performed in back in the early 1960s was when the four banjo players would come out on stage and play some really great foot-stomping music. I know that a lot of people in today’s world think that banjo music is for “hicks” but I really enjoy listening to a variety of instruments, and that includes the exciting gold star banjo. Too bad so many people cannot learn to appreciate more genres of music than just one or two.
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My girlfriend who is a nurse on the medical evac helicopter is from the southern corner of Alabama just above the Florida Panhandle. Her own hometown is Enterprise, AL. I would never have heard of Enterprise except they have an annual music festival there and I went a couple of years ago. Had a total blast!
Her mom just installed a security system to protect her home. I was surprised that someone who lives out in the country would need an alarm system, but since she lives alone now she is smart to take precautions. I know it gives my girlfriend some peace of mind, too. If there was an emergency, her mother would have local responders there to help a whole lot faster than trying to get in touch with family members who live an entire state away.
Another issue with living so far out in the country is that you cannot get cable. But many places that don’t get cable can get satellite television service which is what her mom has. I’m glad that she is able to continue living in their homestead and doesn’t have to move closer to town just because her husband passed away. I’m sure she is lonely and misses him, but I bet she likes still being “home.”
Selling a used musical instrument is not easy
When Chuck told me that he wanted to sell his trumpet, I had mixed emotions. We had spent a lot of money on that, and I knew that we would never be able to get anywhere near that price for it. But he has not used it in over five years, and it was just collecting dust. Selling it made sense.
We drove to the nearest musical instrument shop to talk to the owner about how much a reasonable price would be to ask for the trumpet when we listed it in the paper for sale. While the shop owner talked with Chuck I walked around the store and checked out all of the cool yamaha keyboards that they had on display. My father would really have enjoyed playing one of the newer keyboards they have on the market!
Should she take it?
Carol tells me that she has been offered a job that she really want to take, but it would involve moving to Charleston. Although the salary is a large increase over what she is making now, she is reluctant to move to a town where she has no friends or family. I can sympathize with that; picking up and moving by yourself is a really difficult thing to do, both physically and emotionally.
I suggested that she contact a Charleston real estate agent about finding a house that she could rent with the option to buy near where her new office is going to be. She has several dogs and I know that it will be almost impossible for her to find an apartment that will allow her to keep her dogs, and renting a house with a fenced in yard so the dogs could run around loose in the yard would be so much better for all of them.
Even so, in this unstable job market, I think that I would negotiate a contract with the company that would put her mind at ease about getting laid off shortly after moving. I would hate to move to a new city to accept a new job and then end up laid off after I picked up and moved to a city where I had no friends or family nearby!
Planning the new garage
When my hubby and I decided that we would go ahead and put up that workshop/garage in the back yard for him to tinker on his classic cars, he spent days online looking at the different types of metal buildings. Many telephone calls were made trying to get the best deals on vehicle lifts. Trips down to the county planner’s office to meet with the guy in charge of granting the building permits seemed to happen at least once a week. The whole project was a much bigger ordeal than I had expected it to be.