Last year I took on a new hobby – vintage audio equipment. Since then I’ve amassed a LOT of vintage equipment, including 1970s gear from Sansui, Pioneer, Harman Kardon, Sherwood, Kenwood, and Yamaha. I’ve got about 10 of these now, as I love the sound of 1970s transistor-based receivers and amps. But in buying these devices, I also took on two new hobbies – finding ways to interface modern equipment to the ancient devices, and then repairing them when they inevitably break due to their age. Capacitors, transistors and solder joints don’t last forever.

The first new task – finding ways to integrate old tech into new tech (Bluetooth, DACs, modern connectors) was fun. Chi-Fi (the Chinese industry of making millions of parts/devices for audio, at bargain prices) means that almost anything you can imagine, you can find online. I’ve gotten pretty good at coming up with ways to modify modern speaker cables to work with the panoply of crazy power-out interfaces on old the old gear – every receiver types uses a different speaker connector. And the cream of the Chi-Fi crop is my Fiio K13 R2R DAC – that thing really makes the sound come alive, and gives a way to bridge new tech (Bluetooth and a superb DAC) to vintage AUX interfaces. I like it so much I have one in CA and one in KY.

In my previous life I didn’t have the time or patience to do all this. My stereo ventures from 2000-2024 were new gear, stuff I knew would sound good and not need immediate repair. But now I’m all in on the geriatric stereo gear. So I finally decided to dive into the final stage – learning to repair vintage audio gear. There are VERY few people who actually do this today – it’s complicated, frustrating, daunting in terms of how much one has to learn, requires patience (uh oh), and is a bit expensive to get started in, as you need a lot of repair tools/devices. Sounds perfect.

It helps that I’m a degreed EE – I can understand everything I need to do, but going hands-on with circuitry, debugging it and then fixing it, is something I haven’t done since my very first job at Goodyear Aerospace in the 1980s. At that job I wore a three piece suit every day, replaced the suit coat with a white lab coat once at work, and spent the day tracing and repairing wiring on what was then one of the world’s fastest computers. Wild times.

I really have come full circle. That first job was the time when I was truly happy with work – I learned constantly, and the hands-on aspect felt right to me. I only got into management for the money. And yeah, the money part worked out, but I was miserable for a very long time. Lesson learned, though a bit late.

Sooooo, in the last couple of days I dove in. Ordered a boatload of techie shit from Amazon, and took on my first two repair jobs. One, my old PSB Stratus Mini speakers – I broke a speaker terminal years ago and just let them sit unused since then. And two, my Sherwood 7450 receiver, in which the left channel drops out often and drives ugly noise through the speakers.

I just finished the speaker repair, and it was a bitch. Had to remove the entire crossover from the speaker, and then try to remove one terminal where the lock nut was buried deep in the assembly. Took me hours just to get the broken terminal removed. Here’a shot where you can see the broken terminal, but what you can’t see if how deeply the lock nut is inside the crossover assembly. Very inaccessible. The wrench hanging off the side is a clue.

The replacement terminal I bought on Amazon (from China, natch), wasn’t ideal. Its center spindle was way too long, so I had to come up with a hack to reduce the spindle length poking through into the crossover. The result is ugly (next picture), but it works. It’s ugly enough that I’ll probably re-do the repair with a different terminal, but that’ll have to wait a while. I just wanted to be finished with something before I took on the Sherwood.

The jumpers you see in the picture (the original gold jumpers and a new red one) are because the Mini’s can be bi-amped – you can drive the woofer section with a different amp than the tweeter. When you don’t want to do that, you just bridge them. And I couldn’t use the original gold jumper on the new terminal hack. I won’t be able to sell these speakers until I do a better job with the repair. But on to the Sherwood.

It’s taken me most of a day just to strip the receiver down to where I can get at most of the inside. The physical disassembly of the Sherwood isn’t easy – looks to me like the thing was not designed for easy repair. Getting the faceplate off was tough. The title picture above shows the mess I made just getting set up and disassembling. And here’s a shot of the receiver ready for troubleshooting.

The last/latest update on all this is that I think I’ve found the problem through visual inspection – there’s a solder joint obviously missing on the underside of the main control board. I have to wait to get the service manual/schematic before I can be sure, but if that’s it, then I got off easy. No test tones, no oscilloscope work, no laborious multimeter work – just a solder repair. Here’s an up-close shot of the offending solder point – at center/top, you can see the device leg sticking through with no solder connecting it to the circuit trace. Even if that’s not THE problem with the Sherwood, it sure doesn’t seem right. More later.

Happy Moon Day! 57 years ago (!) on July 20th, Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the Moon. We haven’t been back there since 1972, or 54 years. Hard to believe. I think we’ll get back on the Lunar surface in the next 3-4 years, either via NASA’s Artemis or independent flights of SpaceX and Starship. I’m happy to have lived long enough to see us venture back into space, even though the motivation is now profit and colonization rather than national pride. I’m fine with that. It’s unlikely I’ll live long enough to see the establishment of a permanent lunar colony, but I can hope.

The title picture above was taken on July 20, 1969, from the Apollo 11 mission. Earthrise…it’s still profound.

Today could also be called Mars Day, as it’s been exactly 50 years since NASA landed the Viking 1 probe onto Mars. July 20…interesting day for space exploration. The Mars rover/probe landing 50 years ago strikes me as even more sad about the lack of progress we had from 1980 to 2010-ish. Thirty or more years where we decided space exploration was too tough, too expensive to be pursued. Short-sighted, though perhaps we just needed the technology to catch up to aspirations.

Viking 1 wasn’t the first object to soft-land on Mars – the Soviets did it in 1971, but were unable to communicate with their Mars 3 probe after touchdown. Viking 1 provided telemetry from Mars for over six years, and vastly increased our knowledge of the Red Planet.

With all this space exploration in mind, I tuned into the expected launch of another Falcon 9/Starlink mission from Vandenberg this morning. It aborted at T-0, just like Starship a couple of days ago. Weird coincidence…you don’t see many Falcon 9 launch aborts these days. But an abort at T-0 is a helluva lot better than a RUD (rapid unplanned disassembly, aka explosion). So I’ll hang on until Thursday the 23rd, when Starship is now scheduled to launch.

We’re almost at the end of myself-declared birthday month. It’s been great but exhausting. Sunday was another hot golf outing at Standard Club, then Monday we had a beautiful day at Taylorsville Lake (title photo above). Blue skies, murky water, good temps, and lots of futile fishing. Taylorsville is not known for its fishing, particularly in the middle of the day. All while fighting a summer cold.

And our last round of company leaves today. It’s been nice seeing everyone, but as usual, I scheduled too much, too many, people and events. I’m *really* looking forward to some peace and quiet, which will start in Socal tomorrow afternoon.

In the middle of all the events and visitors I managed to complete the basement remodel and buildout. The grandsons seemed to like it, but the real test is when I return in August and see if they want to spend some time here at the house. It’s been fun furnishing/finishing it, and next will come the books, posters, Legos and puzzles that they’ll use to make it their own. The air hockey table is already a hit.

So summer stay #1 in Louisville comes to a close. The weather mostly cooperated, the summer remodel project is over, and I plan to enter a half year of relative calm. First up – a long quiet weekend watching The Open from Royal Birkdale, Scotland. And hopefully another Starship launch.

So. On Tuesday evening I was settling down to watch some TV before going to retrieve my wife, her brother and SIL from the Louisville airport. I had 2-3 hours and a movie in mind. Easy night. Then I got a weird text from Southwest Airlines about my flight being rebooked for the next day. Uh oh. I had booked all their travel (K from San Diego, the others from Denver, all arriving together in Louisville from Nashville), so the message came to me.

I quickly learned that their flight from Denver to Nashville was very late and they were going to miss their connection, so SW automatically rebooked them. On a shitty flight to Chicago and then back to Louisville, leaving at 520am the next day from Nashville. I checked hotels, nothing available anywhere near the airport. I checked rental cars, as the drive from Nashville to Louisville is only 2-3 hours. No rental cars available from anyone. Weird.

The only option other than them riding out the night in Nashville airport (and then possibly getting re-stuck in Chicago) was for me to get on the road and do a “quick” run down there to get them. Ugly choice, but off I went. Six hours of hard driving wasn’t on my bingo card for the night, but by 2am we were all at the KY house safe and sound. I think they understood what I had saved them from, and everyone was thankful.

The next morning I was a zombie, but we still made it out to Hermitage Farm at 10am to see the thoroughbreds – our syndicate’s mares and foals. Was great to visit them, and we got some nice pictures of them in the barn. Here’s one of my favorites. This is Lunar Tunes, our latest mare. She has a sweet disposition and did a lot of curious nuzzling with us.

Let’s hope the rest of the week has no further bad surprises.

Today’s the last day of mostly peace and quiet in the KY house for this stay. K plus her brother and SIL are arriving, staying for a week. After a massive cleaning attack, the house is ready. You’d never know the place was covered in drywall dust a couple of days ago.

In the evenings this week, I’ve really enjoyed catching up on the series Your Friends and Neighbors, starring Jon Hamm. Season 2 is superb. The episode about a family funeral was impressive – deep, thoughtful, hilarious. And it struck a nerve with me.

In the news, Mitch McConnell is still MIA, probably brain dead and on life support as the GOP tries to game yet another political appointment. I had zero sympathy for MM in life, but as he waves goodbye to planet Earth he should be given more respect than his political brethren are giving him.

As predicted, Convict Donny’s rules interference gave Belgium all the motivation they needed to exit the US team from the World Cup. They thumped us. And then the Belgium team trolled Donny by doing his fucked up dance in mockery. Everything he touches dies, including sports teams.

Meanwhile, Trump is meeting with NATO countries and embarrassing us again. He should be kept 1000 miles away from any gathering of world leaders, but…he’s there stirring up shit once again. Plus he and Italy’s Meloni continue to have a high-school fight in the media. Embarrassing.

While he’s not ruining sports or relations with our (previous) allies, Donny is again waging culture war on The Smithsonian. He, or someone in his administration, simply hates the way The Smithsonian tells the truth about the history of America. We’re not saints here, never have been – we have some dark chapters in our past. but trying to rewrite history is solid Orwell/1984 shit. I mean, our younger generations are having enough trouble getting educated without some asshat lying about what really happened over the last 250 years. It’s hard enough to understand the truth about things these days.

As a great example of “it’s hard to know what’s true”, the whole Plattner thing is a perfect example. Is he being “me too’d” by conservative women to get him to exit the Maine Senator race, or did he really do the things that the latest accuser says? It’s become very clear that sexual harassment claims are being used as political weapons, so how can we know the truth? This technique is becoming a standard-issue weapon for conservatives, some of whom will do anything to stay in power.

Annnnnd, as of 545pm EST, we’re back at war with Iran. We just bombed them again. It’s exhausting.

Picture below and title picture are shots I took at cousin Donny’s family fireworks show a couple of days ago. Nice show.

The 4th of July weekend is over but the birthday week begins. Company coming to Louisville, so cleaning and grocery shopping are in progress. Plus receiving new furniture for the new basement and assembling it. Lots to do.

But before diving in to all that work, some political commentary. There’s an incredible rumor/theory that state (fed?) Republicans are keeping Mitch McConnell alive, on a ventilator, until sometime in August at which point the state will be unable to hold a special election for his temporary replacement. (Context – In 2024 the KY GOP took poor Andy Beshear’s right as Governor to nominate MM’s successor, changing a longstanding law. I think this is another case of someone in conservative circles playing the long game again, successfully.) It sounds insane, but right on brand for MAGA – anything, anything at all to hold on to power. And it explains why there has been zero audio or video from Mitch since his heart attack last week.

If true, this is (a) elder abuse, (b) immoral and illegal, (c) absolutely infuriating. In life, McConnell changed the country when he broke the rules and did not allow Obama a SCOTUS pick. In death (?), he and his cronies manage to do the same.

Meanwhile, Donny Convict has managed to tarnish the US football team by intervening and getting our star player re-instated by FIFA. Everything he touches dies, and I predict Belgium will now kick our ass, righteously. Donny doesn’t like playing by the rules, and he managed to show the world that even sports aren’t beyond his corrupting reach. It’s a sad day for US sports and our reputation. Even if we win the Cup, there will be an asterisk.

There’s a lot more to be upset about in politics, but I’m not up to cataloging it all. I have beds to build and cleaning to do. And I’d like to fit some golf in there somewhere.

Title photo is a stunning mimosa tree in my Mt. Sterling friend’s back yard. A Hawaii native, mimosa’s like the KY climate just fine.

July 3rd. Gateway to the Independence Day weekend. Played some hot/humid golf at The Standard Club with cousin Chris – didn’t play that well, but it was a great afternoon nonetheless. Hit a few solid shots. Thought about Don, who would have enjoyed being out there, heat or not.

Followed up the golf with a good wine and a Louisville-favorite dish, the smoked salmon appetizer at Mesh. Always good. And some nice memories there. Sat at the bar, talked to a few folks, and enjoyed the holiday weekend vibe.

And to end the day, now watching Wolf Alice rock the house in Glasgow just a week ago. Would have loved to see that one in person. Ellie Rowsell, Wolf’s lead singer, is a force of nature. They’re one of my go-to listens these days. Right now they’re playing “The Sofa”, a very tasty tune.

Fireworks and BBQ tomorrow. That should work.

Title photo is fireworks from the OH River two years ago.

It’s the 4th of July weekend. Time to think about patriotism.

First up, flag fetish. Recent pictures of Congressional meetings are staged with about 50 big American flags as the backdrop. WTF? Congress, particularly conservatives, think adding a bunch of flags to their event makes them look patriotic. Even when they’re announcing something anti-American, like an extra $70 billion in the budget for ICE. So stop with the flag fetish.

And speaking of the flag, I want liberals to reclaim it as a symbol. Not in the creepy fetishy flag-hugging style of Convict Donny, but as part of the brand. Rural conservatives have co-opted the flag as their symbol and theirs alone, thanks to Faux News, country music, and sports. Liberals need to make it crystal clear that the flag represents ALL Americans, not just the red states. A great example is this picture (the title photo) I took at last year’s No King’s rally in downtown Louisville. A tasteful smattering of flags among the protestors, along with lots of signs/slogans. The flag represents us, but we don’t do shitty anti-democratic things then wrap ourselves in the flag and call ourselves patriots. It doesn’t work that way.

Donny Convict’s convenient definition of patriots are those who will side with him, bow to him, as President/King. Like the January 6th rioters/criminals/thugs, who Donny called patriots and pardoned. That’s so wrong, so backwards, that I can’t believe MAGA buys it. Patriotism is being proud of your country and being willing to sacrifice something for the greater good. NOT bowing down to the country’s “leader”. Thomas Paine said it best, when he said that the United States is where “law is king”, as opposed to the king being the law. Patriots uphold the law, knowing it’s intended for the good of all Americans.

Patriotism these days means resisting the forces that are trying to dismantle our democracy. Those forces include the entire Donny Convict administration, most of Congress, six Supreme Court justices, the billionaire class that’s buying/bribing Congress and the President, Faux News, and a few deep-pockets funding organizations like the Federalist Society. It’s a lot. So far resisting has been passive – rallies, writing, voting in off-year elections, outraged broadcasting on MSNOW, etc. Pretty low-key and pretty ineffective, except the resistance rallies where protestors actually come into contact with ICE/DHS. I’m pretty sure that to beat back these considerable destructive forces, it’s gonna take a lot more active resistance – money spent, some kinetic interactions at protests, and massive liberal voting. If that doesn’t work over the next two years, we’ll either have a full-on civil war or we’ll sink into autocracy. Both of those outcomes suck, so let’s hope it works out in 2026-2028.

Almost 24 hours now in hot, hot Louisville. Got here late and then got up early. Thankful that the AC is working and the house is habitable after a month away and lots of contractors in and out, working on the basement.

The basement remodel is 95% complete, and it looks great. Blues and grays, nicely finished, new doors and windows, all trimmed out nicely. Plus in the last 24 hours I’ve received massive boxes of flooring, kids room furniture, mattresses, etc. All that needs to be put together/installed in the next ten days or so. I plan to do the big reveal to the grandsons after 7/10.

Today I played 18 holes of golf in the hot, humid morning (97 degrees when I finished), then cooled off/napped at the house, then began installing the padded flooring for the basement. And carrying all the packages downstairs – that’s a bigger job than I expected. Quite the day. Tomorrow will be a repeat, though I’m playing golf mid-day. We’ll see how that goes.

I was really grateful for the birthday visit of my high school buddy Mike. He’s one of a kind. We had a nice day at the beach then a nice day in the mountains. Here we are hiking in the mountains, about 6000 feet up Mt. Palomar. Title photo is the awesome 200 inch reflector scope atop Palomar.

Last week’s sunny, pleasant weather and time in the pool is now a nice memory. Here are the grandsons enjoying all that. Happy in the moment – we need to bottle this and sell it.

Spent the day yesterday using the pool as it should be used. Great fun. We only get a crowd here a couple of times per year, and it’s always a good day.

More of the same today, just fewer people. It’s shaping up to be a fine weekend.

We get the next wave of visitors today at the Socal house. About 18 people, mostly family, will join us for BBQ and pool fun this afternoon. Big crew. After that we’ll have 5 of them stay with us for another 3-5 days. We’ve moved a lot of food from Costco to our pantries, so we’re ready.

But before all that fun, one last look at what Convict Donny and his team of fools are doing to the country. SCOTUS had a field day yesterday, ruling that immigrants seeking asylum, following all our rules and laws, can now be immediately deported. Laws be damned, we (MAGA/SCOTUS) don’t need to follow them. And that no new asylum seekers will be allowed. America, via MAGA, has decided that immigrants are evil and we want them out. Especially the non-white ones. This head line says it all: Stephen Miller says ‘America’s doors are closed fully to asylum seekers’ after Supreme Court rulings. So much for the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

That ship has sailed.

SCOTUS also decided that Bayer shall have no financial responsibility for damage done by Roundup. And that Hawaii’s attempt to get some control over handguns was illegal – Second Amendment “trumps” what a state’s citizens want, it seems. So much for all that “states rights” noise that the GOP made for years.

If that’s not bad enough, Donnie’s OMB Director Russell Vought wants to control every federal dollar based on MAGA priorities. That’ll be a disaster. From The Nation:

This is how things are supposed to work: We pay our taxes. The IRS collects them, and they are deposited into the US General Fund. These dollars from the General Fund are then disbursed to agencies according to what is authorized and appropriated to them under law by Congress. Agencies then dole this money out to state and local governments, or to community organizations and other partners, through grants or contracts. Some agency allocations decisions are formula-based (e.g., based on population or other criteria), while others depend on expert advice to make these adjudications.

But if Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought gets his way, this long-standing process will be put in the dustbin. Under proposed revisions to the Uniform Guidance that governs the expenditure of federal funds, decisions on all grants will now be in the hands of political commissars rather than subject-matter experts. The new proposed rule is over 400 pages long, and there are many other terrible provisions within it.

The new rule affects everything from healthcare, transportation, education, and food assistance to, of course, scientific research. This means grants to rural hospitals, for mass transit and road and bridge repair, for special education programs and Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and cancer research would now be subject to the whims of Russell Vought and his cronies.

Little by little, Convict Donnie’s team is reshaping how things work, attempting to leave MAGA hooks in every aspect of the federal government. We may never get a rationally functioning government back in place.

Not to be left out of the destruction, NY Democrats just elevated an absolutely crazed person to be their next US Representative. Darializa Avila Chevalier is as batshit crazy as Marjorie Taylor Greene ever was – just in a different direction. She will supply Faux News with headlines about crazy Democrats for the next few years. I can’t accept ANY of her stances – you’ll have to look them up; it’s too painful for me to list them – so we’ll have to find a way to distance her from any mainstream liberal messaging. It doesn’t help to have a lunatic like that as part of our brand.

All in all, it’s a grim picture. Congress and SCOTUS have enabled a malignant narcissist, a power-mad sociopath, to carve his way into the world’s biggest budget and take what he wants. The corruption and destruction is mind-blowing.

When will the sheep wake up?

Well. After five straight days of golf fun, today is a day of R&R. That’s rest and recovery, sorely needed. I can’t remember a busier time. First the two-week trip to the UK, then the week-long drama of my brother’s passing, then a frantic day and a half going to the Rush concert, and finally the five-day golf, eating, and drinking binge with my KY cousins. That’s pretty much a solid month of unusual activity.

We get a couple of days for R&R, then it all starts again for a week. Huge crowd coming here post-World Cup event, then Em and the gang for a few days, overlapped by my high school buddy Mike coming by for a birthday visit. Mike and I travel together back to Nashville on the 1st, then I hop over to Louisville where I plan to hole up and truly rest a while.

This is all kind of a side effect of my recent attitude of “why wait, do it now, you may not have tomorrow”. Like most anything I dive into, I tend to overdo it. Just a little too much fun all at once. But I’m surviving, if not thriving.

In retrospect, three of the four golf clubs I took the cousins to were a big success. Rancho Santa Fe, Torrey Pines (shown in the title photo), and Pechanga were all hits. The local club, not so much. Here’s a shot of the 7th hole at Pechanga with its magnificent view.

Here’s a picture of La Jolla, the land of pelicans. They have absolutely taken over La Jolla Cove. The smell of their droppings is intense – a strong ammonia smell. We had a nice meal that day at Eddie V’s, but the pre-meal walk around the Cove was a bit much.

We’ve had clear skies the last few days, so the evening activity of stargazing through K’s telescope was a big hit with everyone. Here’s a shot of Jupiter and a few of its moons.

All in all, a great start to the birthday month. Next up, some fun in KY if it ever stops raining there.

We’re entering Day 3 of the great 2026 golf adventure with the Louisville cousins. After a bad start at Golf Club of CA (long story), we had a magnificent day at Rancho Santa Fe Country Club. Perfect weather, beautiful course and a lot of fun.

The food and drink is taking its toll, so I’ve gotta find a way to cut back. I’ve dusted off the old cooking-for-company skills, and we’ve had two straight nights of excellent meals with very good wine. I feel it. Turns out that celebrating a 70th birthday is gonna require some discipline.

Today we play Torrey Pines, and I’m really looking forward to that. Torrey was one of the courses I got to introduce my brother Don to, many years ago. Here he is at Torrey in 2004. I’ll dedicate today’s round to him – in a better world, he would be playing with us today.

It’s been quite a day. A so-so buffet breakfast at a hotel. Then we had a lot of time to kill, so we took a drive and did some sightseeing along the Ocoee river and lakes. That entire area, up through the Cherokee National Forest, is really something. Beautiful. I can see why Don wanted to settle here. Here’s a picture just below one of the dams as the sun came out and caused a small rainbow due to the mist from the waterfall. No pot of gold, though.

It’s a beautiful forest and river valley. Good drive for a sad day. Then we went back to the hotel, got dressed and headed out for the funeral service. Plenty of people came out to honor Don – his friends and family. Lots of nice remembrances and stories. Beautiful flowers.

I came away with a renewed decision to ask for a party, a wake, rather than a traditional funeral. I hope the people I know get together with plenty to eat and drink, and good music. I’ll make sure at least one Rush song is played – have to think about which one that should be.

After the service we retired to Don’s home for some food prepared by relatives and some small talk. Then, a short drive to the hotel, where just as we arrived the heavens opened up with a fierce display of lightning and torrential rain. Fitting, somehow.

Title picture is an old shot of my brothers and Dad back in the 80s. Don is the one in the middle. Just hard to believe he’s gone.

Loved this Rolling Stone review of Rush’s night two performance in LA. I am sure lucky to have been there. This Reddit thread on the show isn’t bad either. The two old guys and the new drummer knocked it out of the park.

Catching up on sleep a little at a time, though the time zone delta is large – 9 hours difference between the UK and Pacific time. The rule of thumb, that one can expect to shift an hour or two per day, is holding true for me this time. My sleep patterns, bad as they are, got waaaay out of whack this trip. Tomorrow’s trip to Nashville, 3 hours delta, should be a bit easier. But the return on Monday will put me back in big delta territory. I’ll then be in a single time zone for 15 whole days. Woo hoo!

It’s definitely a rough stretch right now. Sleep problems, some long travel days, stress/sadness over my brother’s passing, and yesterday we learned that we have a bad case of identity theft to deal with. Someone is using K’s name/address/SSN to file fraudulent tax returns and attempt to get refunds. I’ve been in touch with the IRS, they’re aware now and say they’ve stopped the fraudulent returns. But now there’s a huge cleanup problem involving banks, credit agencies, the IRS and Franchise Tax Board, Social Security….ugh. It’s a mess. I’m well equipped to deal with all the online steps one needs to take to clean it up, but there will be lots of time on hold with various agencies. And now we’ll have to change most financial passwords and enable two-factor authentication for everything.

Scanning the news this morning, it’s pretty awful. Convict Donnie and his flying monkeys continue their destruction of everything they touch, and continue their right-out-in-the-open looting of taxpayer funds. It’s depressing. I’ve gotten to the point of wishing a terminal health event on the central figure, ASAP. If he exits, much of the evil infrastructure he’s installed should crumble or at least weaken. Don’t get me wrong, Vance will be bad, but Convict Donnie is a once in a millennium locus of chaotic evil.

On a positive note, I got my new/vintage Harman Kardon 330c receiver yesterday, hooked it up this morning, and it sounds great. I can’t A-B it with the Sansui 505 yet, but when I get back from TN I’ll be able to. Its sound is clean, understated. Plenty of punch, but not in-your-face like the Pioneer in KY. But I’ll know more when I can have a real A-B session with the Sansui. Here’s a picture of the setup in the living room listening room, facing southwest. The 330c is the equipment on the left side.

Title picture above is another Rush shot from Tuesday night. Quite the memory. Need a few good memories lately.

Exhausted. Running on fumes. That’s my status for today. I’ve been living out of a suitcase (a small carryon, in fact) for 18 days. Never more than two nights in any single place. That one’s on me; I didn’t think about how hard that would be and didn’t know what would happen at the end of the Europe trip.

So to recap, I originally planned to fly back to Socal on the 6th, giving me three days to recover until going to LA for the Rush concert. Then I decided I wasn’t comfortable waiting until mid-July to see my brother again, as sick as he was, and changed plans to swing through Nashville on the way west. On the day we were flying back into the states, I heard from my brother that he would prefer to not have company that weekend, and he asked me to delay my visit. I wasn’t happy – a lot of effort had gone into the travel changes – but I had to honor his request. I pinged him once more gently when we were in Nashville for a night (his place is 2.5 hours east of Nashville), but no go. So we drove off to Louisville for a quick visit with the grandsons and a check on the construction work at the Louisville house.

That all went fine. We got to Louisville on Sunday the 7th, visited family and got ready to head to Socal on the 8th or 9th. Then on the morning of the 8th we got word that my brother had died. I’ll never know exactly why he waved us off a visit on the 7th, but at this point I suppose it doesn’t matter.

For 24 hours I agonized over the next steps. Stay in KY for a TBD funeral date? Go west as planned? Attend the Rush concert? Ultimately I decided to carry through with the plan to head west early on the 9th, hustle home (an hour+ north of the SD airport), then head for LA with my friend Tracy to the Rush show. Celebrate life while you can. And a big factor was that Don was a Rush fan just like me, and I think he would have wanted me to go. Loud music and golf were two passions we shared. Tracy and I toasted him multiple times, a mini-wake, and it was fine. Though exhausting. The 9th was a 21 hour day culminating in a three hour Rush extravaganza.

I’ll have to say the Rush show was spectacular – they haven’t missed a step or a note. Geddy and Alex were honoring their own fallen family member, Neal Peart. And the music – you could feel it deep in your chest. Here’s a couple of pictures from it. We were 12 rows back on the floor.

Next up – 2.5 days of rest, then a rapid trip to TN and back Saturday-Monday for the funeral service. And here’s a picture of a younger, happier Don. The way I want to remember him.