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Thursday and Friday of the Trip

Monday, March 16, 2009

It is so good to be home from the weekend trip to Huntersville, NC. I have to be honest and state that the weather really sucked: Cold and rainy all weekend. It is still raining as I type this out. I’m glad I sprinkled Epsom salts all round the hollies, camellias and sasanquas before I left on Thursday. This rain will get those salts and minerals to the root systems in no time.

Thursday morning I coxed for the morning row. It was so windy, it was impossible to hold a point. The weather turned chilly, so I was bundled up in my long johns and sweats. I’m truly getting serious as I was bitching at certain rowers as they were slacking. I’m not the coach so it was not for technique, but for certain things like holding the “set” when not rowing. When you are not rowing you are supposed to hold the blades of the oar flat on the water to keep the boat level. Now that we are rowing in sets of six there are only two people holding the set at one time. It is work, and not the “rest” it was when we were first starting out. Some rowers don’t realize that yet…..

It was a routine trip over to Atlanta and then up I-85 to I-77. I got to matt and Jens at about 6:00. It was so good to see them again.

Friday morning I met Billy at Leroy’s house. He had arrived on Wednesday to work all day Thursday to do maintenance work on Leroy’s collection. Leroy has a fantastic collection of music machines crammed into a small dark house. You could not walk into the front room as there was a ladder in the only open space of the room: That open space is only an aisle about 2 ½ feet wide. Everything else is music machines and crap piled up. A huge slag glass fixture hangs from the cathedral ceiling. Five of the six internal light bulbs were dead. Bill was able to get them changed out: hence the needed ladder. Bill installed new 60 watt bulbs. One hundred watt bulbs would have better for light, but the way Leroy’s house is, the chance of fire would be greatly increased with all that extra current draw. Even with all new bulbs, little light escapes from that ugly fixture.

This was my first visit to Leroy’s place in years. Visits there just get me too depressed. His Violano Virtuso was restored a while back and equipped with a computerized “Midi” system. This machine, a violin that is played automatically was manufactured in the first quarter of the 20^th Century. Originally it played off a paper roll. Some years ago the expert rebuilders put together a midi system to operate the mechanical works. The results are so amazing. Leroy is not mechanically inclined so the midi system is a godsend for him. After the first rebuild of his Violano a few years ago, he burnt up the “convertor box” changing the paper roll the wrong way. That was an expensive mistake.

Leroy’s machine is playing pretty well, although it needs a few adjustments to being it up to where it should be. Working on such a piece is pretty specialized. The restorer who did the work will not come back to Leroy’s house. There is so much crap to work around he can’t access the guts!<

The ladder was loaded up and we headed to Statesville to drop it off and load up a Regina Music Box for Leroy to take to the show. He wants to try and sell a rare Rookwood model. They used to go for big money, but I’m not sure what the market is now for them. This particular model of Leroy’s has an open bottom with a sliding rack for the tune discs. It is pretty rare. As pretty as these machines are to look at, they were constructed of the cheapest wood imaginable. These open base models are especially flimsy. Leroy’s machine is no exception. Bill and I carefully load the germ into the back of Leroy’s Jeep Cherokee. First we had to clear out piles of papers, letters, circulars and crap to make room for the cabinet. All that clutter and shit drives me crazy.

We had to stop back at Leroy’s on the way to Mooresville, the location of the phonograph show. Leroy was not up to the trip, and will show up early Saturday morning before the show to unload his music box. Leroy has a score of health problems, diabetes being the major one at this time. You would never know it, as his countertops are filled with half eaten cans of cashew and peanuts along with bags and boxes of cookies. The freezer is stocked with Mayfield Ice Cream and Nestles Crunch ice cream bars. I could write a book…..

Billy and I locate the hall where the show is being held. Dealers are already unloading. Oh my god… this is a long narrow hall with three rows of double tables. The traffic flow for the show will be horrible. Bill has two tables of stuff that got unloaded from the Honda Element without much trouble. We are secretly laughing thinking of how the big console machines will get maneuvered around this cluster f—k.

Supper was at Carraba’s. It was right on the way back to Matt and Jen’s. You would never know there is a recession going on: the place was packed. We were able to get a spot at the bar. I indulged and got my favourite dish of the mussels. The couple sitting next to Bill ordered them too; I made them look so good!