Jus’ A Bumming Around
I picked up and old Dean Martin LP at the Goodwill the other day. Strangely I remember all the songs, but I did not remember that Deano did them. The Album is “I’m The One Who Loves You”. It does not have a copyright date on it but I imagine it is from the early to mid sixties. The play list is:
Remember Me (the title song actually)
King Of The Road
Welcome To My World
My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You
Born To Lose
The Birds And The Bees
Walk On By
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Take These Chains From My Heart
Here Comes My Baby
I Don’t Think You Love Me
Bumming Around
All of those are kind of pop-country, not the kind of thing I think of when I think of Dean Martin. The most interesting one to me is the last. Bumming Around, I think it affected my life more than I like to think. From my love of slouch hats, to my casual don’t get too involved friendships, it sounds like me. Don’t have a dime? Yep that’s me. Hit the road; don’t know where I am going? Yep! Don’t have any worries, not even the blues… Wait, that is not like me, I worry about everything. But then, I have always tried to walk away from my problems instead of dealing with them so that is actually pretty similar. Did I base my life on a silly pop song?
While the Pete Graves song was originally done by Perry Como in 1953, the Dean Martin version would have been all over the radio just as I hit adulthood, a very impressionable age.
I copied it to tape and then to the computer and made an mp3 of it, but I do not know how to attach it to this post; otherwise I would set it to play when you read this. However, you can Google it and find the words to it, there are a lot of links to them out there.
Free Web Advice
The strange thing about the internet is how easy it is to get advice. On a speaker forum the other day I asked about some speakers. I got several replies that they were no good. But upon reading them carefully I realized that every single reply was based upon the repliers feelings about the brand, not one of them had actually used or even heard the speakers in question. However they were quite adamant that they were no good based apparently on the low price.
When I went looking for reviews of the speakers they were mostly very favorable. The few that were not could be discounted on the face of what their complaint was; like, “they get dirty”. They are carpet covered public address speakers of course they get dirty if you do not keep them clean.
Any way the point of my essay here is that you get a lot of experts, with no experience whatsoever, giving you advice on the web. However, I guess I should apply their valuing system to what they say; it cost nothing so it is worthless.
A week a month
I live a week a month. The third is payday. Any spare change lasts about a week. After that I am back on a subsistance level. I survive, but that is about all.
This month I got new tires for the Blazer, that was not pocket change. I have been salting something back for months to pay for them. Luckily I got a great deal on them. I am kind of guessing that they were from a cancelled auto manufacturers order. Anyway Goodyear Wrangler Radials 235/75R15 for $65 at the Lenoir Walmart Auto Center. Came to $316 with mounting, balancing, valve stems, and tax. Now I can quit worrying about my tires for a while.
I built LED bulbs for the Kenwood Receiver I picked up at Goodwill awhile back. Had to make my own because the bulbs in it are no longer available. I made them up with two white LED’s each. I had to sand them rough to defuse the light enough to get fair coverage. Total cost about$10.
Today I picked up a Clock Radio/CD Player at Walmart. I have been wanting one for several years, but never had the money when they had them at a price I could afford. I like the idea of waking up to soft music. Decades ago before they were wall to wall commercials up in Detroit there was a FM station that would play a soft song, give the time, play another soft song, give the weather, then do it again all through the morning from 6am to 9am. Nice way to wake up. So I hope this thing will do part of that for me.
What a strange day
OK, it is Monday the 2nd. My Social Security comes tomorrow, however when I checked my account the bank showed it already deposited. Ah, good I think I can go pay my cable bill today.
When I put on my coat it ripped. Now I have had that nice down coat for several years but last spring I took it to the local cleaners as it was looking pretty grubby. After that it keep leaking little bits of down, and this morning the fabric just gave up. So I need a new winter coat. OK, I know no one has one that will do in town so after I go pay my cable bill I will drive down to Hickory and check out the stores down there.
It is springish here in the 40’s, and by the time I get to Hickory it is summer, feels like about 70 actually. I want something warm, long enough to wear with a suit or sport coat, yet casual enough to go with khakis and a polo shirt. Simple, should be all kinds of coats like that around. Nope! I checked out a couple of super Walmarts, and like here all they have are what look like chore coats for farmers, so I wind up at the mall. Nothing at Belks, completely sold out. Same at Sears. Pennys have a couple of coats but are too expensive for my budget. Same with the smaller mall shops, but at Dillards I find a few nice coats.
I wind up getting a pea jacket marked down 75% from $250. I also pick up a light golf jacket to replace the one I ripped a month or so ago. Pretty good deal but a bit more than I was planning on spending. Oh well if that pea jacket lasts five years it will be cheap.
When I get out of the mall a couple of hours later it has clouded up heavily and the temperature has dropped twenty degrees. As I move up towards the mountains of home it gets colder and colder and starts raining. I stop for gas, then stop at a new Captain D’s along the way because I am hungry having not had anything since breakfast. Not my best idea. It is a bit too expensive, the fish is over cooked, the fries are cold, the corn on the cob wilted. The coffee is Ok, if you do not mind paying a buck for a small coffee with their senior discount. It is raining in earnest when I resume my trip and so dark I need my headlights at 3:45pm. As I get up to the Eastern Continental Divide at Blowing Rock the precipitation has turned to what a friend likes to call snizzle, snow+drizzle, and by the time I am home some of the white stuff is sticking. From spring into summer and back into winter again in only 45 miles. What a trip.
But wait that is not all. I discover that the guy at Dillards did not give me a receipt for the coats. I check my bank account on line to get the exact amount to enter into my check register and notice to my horror that the Soc Sec deposit is no longer showing. Instead what is showing is a heavy overdraft. And to boot I realize that 75% off $250 is $62.50 while I was charged $75 with no receipt to take and get it adjusted. Also when I got gas here in town the other day they charged it to the wrong pump, then said they gave me a credit for that and changed me for the correct pump, but on the account it shows charges plus three $1 charges and no credit. I decide I am going to call the bank immediately, then notice it is after 5:00pm and the bank is closed. So there I am looking at overdraft charges for the coats, for that gasoline, and for that really lousy dinner. There is only one thing I can do, so I go read a novel.
Eventually, I realize I can do an online transfer from my savings account to cover what I spent today. I just did that a few minutes ago, now I have nothing in checking, nothing in savings, but I am not looking at all those overdraft charges, and the Soc Sec should be there for real tomorrow.
As I said, what a strange day.