Charmed life

[altivo]

Well no, not me. But Harvard apparently has a weather charm. All day there's been a freezing rain advisory, with mixed rain, snow, sleet, and freezing drizzle predicted for the darkness hours.

Pavements in Harvard remained dry. They were still dry when I left work at 8 pm. Four miles south of town though, the ice begins. The rain was freezing on the windshield, the road was slippery. It continued to worsen all the way home.

I was surprised to see the price of gasoline go down all of two cents in Harvard today. Now it's at 2.85. So I checked when I drove through Marengo. Yup. In Marengo it went down three cents, widening the spread between Marengo stations (now at 2.66) and Harvard to 19 cents a gallon. Distance from one to the other? Less than 15 miles.

Gary got his hurdy gurdy back from the repair shop in Michigan today. He had used a large rigid plastic cooler as a shipping crate and they returned the instrument in the same crate. The mail delivery guy said everyone in the post office wanted to know what kind of musical instrument (it was flagged "Fragile Musical Instrument" on the outside) needed to be kept refrigerated.

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

I should ask if either of you know for a place to get my mandolin fixed. It's gourd shaped, and suffered a "bonk" which caved in a couple thin boards on the back. Not cracked, just misaligned.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We actually have a professional luthier with a shop here in Marengo. His name is Martin Brunkalla, and he is reportedly very good. That probably means not cheap, but depending on the value of the instrument, might be worth it. He's a nice guy and I'm sure he'd give you an estimate on it for free. Not that Marengo is exactly close for you. There used to be a guy in Evanston, too, named Ken something or other. I don't know who might be down in your end of town, though.

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Rather go to Marengo than Evanston. At least I can visit IRM.

Allegedly, it's quite old. Might be worth it. I'll be in touch.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Marty's shop address is:

Martin Brunkalla
104 S. State (Rte 23)
Marengo, IL 60152

It's right next to the Cruisin' restaurant, in fact.

His e-mail: martin@brunkalla.com
His website: http://brunkalla.com/

You can tell him that Gary Plazyk suggested him to you, if you like.