Stuff

[altivo]

Amusing event this morning during the spinning guild meeting. One member was spinning nice white yarn from the fleece of our flock ram, Shaun. On the other side of the table, another member was combing white fleece from Shaun's grandson, Dodge. All my white fleeces for this year have been sold, by the way. Two blacks and one gray remain.

Put feelers out to my preferred Ford dealer and an unfamiliar Jeep dealer about the Escape and the Compass respectively. Ford dealer has yet to get back to me. Jeep salesman e-mailed and phoned to say that the vehicle I want probably must be special ordered (I knew that) but encouraged me to come in and test drive one of their in-stock Compass models. That's all very well, or would have been on Friday when they actually had two in stock, but as of this afternoon their online inventory says both have been sold. Hard to test drive a non-existent vehicle. ;p

Why an unfamiliar Jeep dealer? Simple. Because the three I have dealt with extensively have all earned my dislike by being unreliable and dishonest in their repair departments. Why am I even considering another Jeep? Because I like the one I have, in spite of that, and other than poor quality wheel rims, have had no major difficulties with it other than ordinary wear.

Oh, and I've not posted about the Irish flute I ordered a month or so back. It finally came about ten days ago and has turned out to be very nice for the price. Thanks to a video made by Micky Zekley about playing the flute Irish style, a little light went off in my brain at last and I understood something that previous teachers and writers, including the illustrious Grey Larsen, had failed to make clear to me. In order to get the Irish sound I covet, it is of course necessary to "unlearn" some of my classical training. I realized that. But what I didn't realize is that the key is to omit the tongue action. Articulation on the Irish flute is performed entirely by wind pressure and finger action, resulting in the many classic ornamentations that are heard. I now have creditable renditions of "Lanagan's Ball" and "Lark in the Morning" committed to memory (I hope) and can reproduce them with suitable variations. (No tune should ever be played exactly the same each time.) The instrument itself, while I won't call it a delight to play since there is a reason the modern Boehm system replaced the older keyed flutes, does have an easy responsiveness and a lovely clear sound. Like all pre-Boehm flutes, it can easily play out of tune to the modern ear and requires constant listening and correction to keep the notes close to the right pitch. It's a replica of a 19th century Pratten, masterfully reproduced in ebony wood, and did not cost the small fortune I at first thought I would have to pay, thank goodness.

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

So you did name a ram, Dodge. Did I fail to pick up on that when I was over?
I know a great Jeep dealer, but at 7700 South Western Avenue in Chicago, he's inconvenient even for me.
Wash the wheel of winter salt. I have no problem with mine. Just fight the oxidation. Relentlessly.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right about washing the wheels, though I must say I've never had such a problem with any prior vehicle even though some had been in use for many more years. If I custom order a car, either Ford or Jeep, it will not have steel wheel rims.

You're right, 7700 South Western is a LONG way to go and I'd rather buy from a place where I can take the car back for warranty service. Most dealers seem to treat you as a second class customer if you didn't buy from them originally. (The exception would be the Ford dealer in Harvard, who has been very accommodating and reasonable about working on the Cherokee for me.)

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

At least at 7700 South Western, I get a good deal, and no pressure. He knows I'm there to buy, and will make $300-$400 over his cost. He does have to make his profit, and I get no B.S.
I was one of those who suggested Dodge as a name.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, it dawned on me that Dodge was probably your suggestion as soon as I hit "post" on that.

I don't doubt that the dealer you recommend would give me a good deal, and especially if he knew you recommended him. It's still an impractical distance for me to go, especially when I'm not yet sure I've decided between the Jeep and the Ford. I should be able to drive both without going that far, I think.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

So why not buy a Ford from the dealer in Harvard :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I just did, this afternoon. More about it later.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Staytuned on the station that takes no prisoners listners.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the ram. I forget who suggested that name, but Gary liked it. I did give you all the names, but I'm not surprised you missed that. After all, sheep just look like, well, sheep. :)

Almost all our sheep names contain puns of some sort. The original one, Shaun, is an exception and was named for the smart sheep in Wallace and Gromit's adventure, A Close Shave.

The first ewes were named She-baa and Ewe-nice. She-baa had twin lambs, a black ewe and a white ram, who got named Pepper and Salt. Ewe-nice had a ewe lamb named Jetta (another vehicle, but a pun on color as well. Perversely, she didn't stay black, but has turned gray.)

The next year Pepper had Ram-bo (black ram) and Jetta had Ewe-dora (white ewe).

The year after that, Pepper had black and white twin ewes that we didn't name because they were given as gifts and named elsewhere, Pepper going with them. They are in Michigan now. Jetta had Dodge Ram (white ram, our vehicle line I guess.)

This spring Jetta had Baa-baa-Louie (black ram.) Five of the sheep have either been given away or died, leaving us with the seven we still have.

[hartree.livejournal.com]

I heartily approve of the names! The world needs more bad puns.

[hartree.livejournal.com]

(And, of course, the worse the pun, the better to inflict groans on those who hear them. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, fortunately for those who dislike puns, I'm running out of sheepish ideas. We are also running out of sheep. The birth control plan is finally kicking in. Three ewes were given away. Two have died. (One ate something she shouldn't have, my guess is poison ivy; the other, who was never smart, strangled herself in a fence.) The rams, except for Shaun, have been systematically turned into wethers without their knowledge. ;p So we now have only two ewes left. One of them hasn't had a lamb in three years and I suspect isn't going to have any. (She may be too big and mean to let the ram get at her.) The other, Jetta, is still producing one lamb a year, but that isn't going to be a major problem for us to deal with I think.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*is in a fit of groans and giggles over the names*

[linnaeus.livejournal.com]

If you do get a chance to test drive the Compass, I'd like to hear what you think of it. I'm kind of waiting for the Patriot myself.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I'll have something to say about it, though my opinions will be based on my own peculiar attitude. I hate driving anyway and view it as a necessary evil. I looked briefly at the description of the Patriot and couldn't figure out why they are bothering, given what's already in their lineup.

[linnaeus.livejournal.com]

Well, it looks like the Patriot and Compass are pretty much the same car, but with different styling and a more robust off-road package available on the Patriot. I'm not sure why they bothered myself, but if the new line at the Belvedere assembly plant lets them do three cars without much additional investment, then I guess they might as well. I pretty much just prefer the styling on the Patriot, and if it really amounts to them bringing back something like the Cherokee, but with better gas mileage, I may well be interested in one.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I guess you could look at the Patriot as a slightly smaller Cherokee, yeah. The Liberty gets dismal fuel economy, that's for sure, and I ruled it out right away. My Cherokee does well for a 4L engine, getting 23 to 25 mpg average and a little better on highway trips. (Exceptionally better on gas without ethanol, going way over 32 mpg on a recent Michigan trip.) Unfortunately, it's also wearing out in other respects.

The EPA ratings are in now on the Compass, and it's not quite as good as I'd hoped. Even with the small engine and 5 speed manual, it's only 27 mpg highway. The Ford Escape got 29 with similar equipment. I'm guessing that the Patriot will fall in the same range.

I don't really offroad, never have. I'm hoping that omitting the 4WD and attendant complexities will reduce maintenance costs somewhat.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Don't you love those little "aha!" moments that make something musical work better? Congrats on your breakthrough with the flute.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*resists comments about handjobs versus oral, but only with partial success*

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

Wow, an Irish flute. That sounds wonderful. I love Celtic instruments and music and I wish I could learn to play something myself. Have fun with that. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If you have an ear for the sound you like, you can learn to play. :)

[kildoo-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you, music should be play with the soul not with the mind ;)

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

You obviously have never listened to a bunch of tone deaf kiddies playing the recorder they just got.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I arrest you for covetting the Irish sound!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hey, one great-grandmother was pure Irish. I'm allowed.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Then I arrest you for being allowed.

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

On the flute... heh. Funny, that - I used to play the clarinet myself, and somehow didn't get told about the use of the tongue until I'd been playing for a year or more. I'm told it lent a rather unusual style to my playing.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I believe that Eastern European folk performers do in fact play the clarinet with less use of the tongue than classical performers. I've heard Klezmer and Greek or Bulgarian styles that have lots of note bending and long heavily ornamented phrases that seem to rely on diaphragm and finger action entirely (rather like the opening clarinet riff in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.)