Ode (?) to a trustworthy tool

About 3 weeks ago, I was getting ready for worship practice in our church's sanctuary. I got set up, pulled my trusty Yamaha FGX412SC out of my case, jacked in, and strummed - no sound. Checked the cable - no sound. Checked the battery - no sound. Tested a different instrument with the same cable and battery - it worked. My unfortunate conclusion: the pickup in my acoustic-electric guitar, which had served me faithfully in leading worship basically every other week for six years, had finally burnt out.

I first bought the guitar my junior year of college after a trip to Guitar Center with a few other guys in my college fellowship for a package deal of about $500 (guitar, case, tuner, capo, strings, picks) and promptly got the action lowered, and in the years since, it's followed me to New York City, the beach, camping trips, and most often, on stage at my church. While it sounded better than average for a mid-range guitar and was nicely low-maintenance, I never developed the loving affection for it like some other friends did for theirs. To me, it was a useful tool that sounded good and performed its function well, but I had no qualms about letting other people borrow it and wouldn't even wince too much if someone banged it into a wall.

So now what? Couple of options:

1) I can check to see how much it would cost to fix the pickup in my guitar. Depending on the repair cost, it may or may not be worth it.

2) I can revisit my previous musing on upgrading to a "last guitar I'll ever need" like the Taylor 414 pictured to the right.

3) In the band setting, I've found that while I have the most experience leading on vocals and guitar, I have the most fun when I'm playing a supporting instrument or singing backup. So perhaps I'll start learning mandolin... or drums... or get better at bass... percussion... the possibilities are endless! (although bound by my finances, darnit)

New shades

After reading this article on how sunglasses work, I'm now thinking of ditching my usual "$10 generic brand at the flea market" sunglasses and investing in a nicer pair. Although the generic ones probably have UV protection, why take the chance on actually making things worse? Quote from the article: "The cheap sunglasses block some of the light, causing your iris to open to allow more light in. This lets in more of the UV light as well, increasing the damage UV light can cause to the retina."

So, I'm planning to either make use of one of my optometrist connections to get Oakleys or Nikes for considerably less than retail, or just go to REI and pick up a pair of polarized sunglasses for around $35 (heard about this from a coworker).

Update 2006/07/24

Yesterday I went ahead and bought these from REI. They're nice, but not so nice that I have to pamper them...

Heat

Here's a map of the US current temperatures from this afternoon:


Looks like the Great Lakes area is a nice place to be this time of year!

Fortunately, the weather in California should start cooling down next week back to the mid-70s we pay so much money to enjoy 90% of the year.

Besides, while driving in my air-conditioned car this afternoon in 104 degree weather, I saw some guys outside on the street holding those arrow signs trying to entice drivers to check out apartments and condos, and promptly decided to try to avoid complaining as much as I have been.