So Saturday was an interesting day. Terri worked most of the day so I was hanging out with Gage. He let me sleep in til almost 9 and then we got up and had breakfast. We watched a couple cartoons and then headed out to a store called Volkwein's. Volkwein's deals in all things musical. They sell a variety of instruments, do repairs, give lessons, have music related stuff (pens, pencils, blankets, etc), and sell sheet music for all instruments, orchestras, and marching bands. For those of you that don't know or didn't remember, for more years than I care to remember at the moment I played the clarinet. Yes, I was a band geek. Well my mom was asking me whether or not I knew where my clarinet was since she wanted to organize something at her church and wanted to know if I might want to play. My first inclination was to say no since I haven't even opened the case in three years or so. However, I decided to haul it out and see what the situation was. Turns out, it needed a good cleaning, some keys tightened, a cork replaced and some pads re-done. I looked it over and estimated about $50 max. So, that's why we headed to Volkwein's.
I walked over to the instrument repair desk and asked the woman behind the counter how long it would take and how much it would take to repair the clarinet. She said it usually took about a week and they charged $210. I politely pointed to the sign behind the woman that offered brand new clarinets for sale starting at $325. I asked why I would spend $210 to refurbish what I had when I could just spend a little more and get a brand new one. She said, "Well, that's your choice." I asked if they sold repair kits. She laughed and said no. So, I laughed right back, said I'd pick up one on the internet and do it myself. Oddly enough, it turns out that I can, if I'm so inclined. I've found several sets ranging from $25 to $85 which should take care of all my problems. I'm shocked that people would pay that kind of money at Volkwein's. Granted, I like to think of my time being valuable, but a few drops of glue, some cotton wadding, tiny pliers, tiny screwdrivers, and about four strips of corking shouldn't cost me more than the instrument did initially.
Once we left there, Gage and I headed back home and took a nice nap. Then when Terri finished work, we headed up to Randy and Elizabeth's house for a nice cookout. When we got there Randy was in the process of digging up the backyard to replace a natural gas line that was out of code. So, the grill was still sitting in the basement. Randy got the hole dug, the line hooked up, we tested for leaks and then he and Ben went to grab the grill while I filled in the hole. Good burgers I tell you. Katie and Gage had fun playing with a neighborhood boy named Luke.
I also found out that Ben actually played on the album that one of my quotes was taken from. The first quote on the page comes from an album named Glutton's Dozen and Ben played Bass on the album. Small world.