Josh's Not-a-Blog

A couple of months ago, I decided to buy a mandolin. Work has been a little...interesting, so I was looking for a way to relax and unwind.

I'm classically trained in piano, and know my way around a pipe organ, but neither fit in the car or strap on my back very easily. I've given guitar a few shots over the years (James, do you still have my 12-string Washburn?) but even that can be a little cumbersome (and expensive). So I decided to get something a bit smaller. Mandolin won over ukulele because I'm a bluegrass fan.

I started with a cheap Rogue, just to see if I'd like it. The Rogue was actually a pretty good value, but I ran into its limitations fairly quickly. The action was really high; high enough to create intonation problems. Island Music in Neenah, Wisconsin fixed this for $25 by resetting the nut, so for a total of $65, it's really not a terrible instrument.

Then my birthday rolled around. I'd been shopping for mandolins for so long that I think it was obvious to Nancy what to get me.

I finally settled on a Kentucky KM-162 from Elderly. It's a honey-amber A-style instrument with a carved spruce top and maple sides and back. The finish is really nice, and the tone is richer than I expected. I'm not very good yet, but it's much more gratifying to play than the Rogue.

Even Scout approves.

I bought a new truck today. Yes, they said I never would, and I really wasn't planning to buy until a couple of months down the road, but the dealership gave me a free coffee, so I felt obligated.

Bergstrom [Every Brand] of [Everywhere in Wisconsin] had a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with the exact (lack of) options I was looking for, and had it just down the road from where Nancy and I were staying in Appleton on a short vacation. It's a 2WD W/T (work truck) model, regular cab, 8' box, with only two options: locking rear axle and cruise control. It does come with some nice standard options, like A/C and an AM and FM radio, but that's pretty much it. Motivation comes from the 4.3-liter V-6, which is what I was looking for as this will be my commuter car when I'm not driving my 5.7-L Blazer.

The rebates were pretty slick, though not quite as slick as those on the remaining 2010s last month. $5005 worth of rebates and a $500 Visa gift card put it right around $16,800 (plus tax and title). I can live with that, and it leaves me plenty of room in the budget to add some baubles, starting with Line-X bed coating.

So with that, I finally enter the ranks of people with modern cars. Albeit in my smug non-conformist way. HIPSTER PICKUP ALERT.

What is this thing marked "airbag"?