Drizzly Tuesday
Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio69F today. Still cloudy, but we didn't get any rain. I let the sprinkler system run as normal, last night and this morning.
No grass seed delivery either. It's status was, running late, and Amazon said it could take four more days to get here, so I cancelled the order.
I slept in late today, so... I've gotta leave in about 20 minutes now.
But I do think I may stop at Home Depot and get more seed on the way home.
------------{=0=}------------
7:15PM
It started sprinkling as I drove to work, and then continued to drizzle on and off the rest of the day.
While cleaning room 202, my mind was on the idea of possibly recording some of the old songs, and song ideas I'm finding in these old audio journals.
How is it even done these days?
And after a little phone research, I learned the term, DAW, or, Digital Audio Workspace.
It's a blanket term for any PC software designed for digital recording.
And the DAW I've settle on is, FL Studio Fruity Edition.
It's plenty fancy enough for what I'm looking to do... with built in drum machines and synthesizers... and the ability to kind of build up a song fairly easily.
And it's only $99.00.
This is compared to a fancier DAW like ProTools, which is subscription only, and $99.00 per year!.. screw that!
I haven't bought FL Studio yet, but I plan to.
--<>--
However, that $99.00 is for one instance of the DAW, and as I got back to cleaning chairs and desks in 202, I started thinking about which machine I'd need to put it on.
But Dad's computer down here, and my old desktop upstairs were out! Too old! So the real question was, could my all-in-one upstairs handle the processing demands?
It's only a couple years old, but... it's the only all-in-one I've ever bought, so I don't know what the life expectancy is on it.
Desktops last forever, and laptops die in two years, so... what do all-in-ones do?
--<>--
I decided it might be time to get a new desktop, with an actual tower, so I looked at BestBuy online.
I shopped for refurbished units because they're cheeper, but they're always fine.
And they did have some for just under, and just over $200.00, but... I do have that new credit card with the $4000.00 limit, right?
So I settled on a refurbished Dell 7050, for $360.00, mainly because it has an, Intel i7 Core... rather than the i5 that the cheeper refurbs all had.
I paid for it with the new card, and with free shipping, it'll be here next Tuesday.
So... that will be the machine that has FL Studio installed on it.
------------{=0=}------------
On the way home, because it was rainy, and I knew I wouldn't be doing anything out in the yard... I decided to run some errands.
I went to an AutoZone near the school to finally get two quarts of the oil I'll need for the wood chipper.
And then I fought traffic back over to the Naperville Home Depot to get one more goddam bag of grass seed.
After that, I stopped at Burger King to get some food, and ate it in a parking lot.
Then, back at home, I put stickers on the lawn bags, and brought the bins out to the parking.
------------{=0=}------------
I stopped recording in 2008 for two reasons; 1) my digital 8 track gave up the ghost, and 2) at 38, I just didn't have any good song ideas left.
Years later, living here with Dad, in 2017, I did try my hand at recording some instrumental music, using a cheep casio keyboard, and a tiny Boss BR Mini, digital 4-track... and I had some fun...
But it was cramped upstairs, and the old cats kept walking on the keyboard. I had to do it in headphones, so as not to disturb Dad.
And both the BR Mini, and the keyboard used AA Batteries... and it was really difficult to get the sound off the 4-track and onto the computer.
So, with replacing batteries, getting the headphone cord snagged, and cats walking on the equipment, it all just got to be too much of a hassle.
--<>--
These days, I still don't have any new song ideas. But what I do have are a lot of old song ideas from my 20s, on tape.
My singing voice is still the same as it was back then. I'm a little rusty, but it'll come back.
And my production skills didn't go away.
Also, now I live alone again, and have plenty of space!
I feel like it would be a lot of fun to set up in Dad's room... as that was the room where I did all my original ping pong recordings, back in the early 1990s.
In fact... if it weren't for Brian and Sabrina, back in 1997, I would've done my first digital multitrack recordings in that room as well!
I'll have to get speakers... and a small midi keyboard... and some kind of mike... but it should still wind up being the smallest, least complicated setup I've ever worked with!
------------{=0=}------------
12:40AM
I talked to Tim for a while on the phone and then after we hung up, I took a look at the latest new credit card offer.
PenFed Credit Union said I was pre-approved for a PENFED GOLD VISA card, so I went online and filled out the application.
Instead of instantly approving it, they wanted some documentation!
I had to do a little work, uploading proof of identity and residence for them, and after I did it all... they said, "We'll be in touch."
So I did a little research and... oh!... the, "pen," is short for PENTAGON!
I thought it was short for Pennsylvania.
According to Forbes...
"Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was established in 1935 and is now the second-largest credit union in the nation. As of June 2022, PenFed serves more than 2.8 million consumers worldwide with over $36 billion in assets.
Though membership was originally limited to military and government employees and their families, the credit union now has an open charter, and anyone can join."
And when googling, "is penfed a hard card to get?" WalletHub said the following...
"Yes, it is hard to get a PenFed credit card. All of PenFed's main credit card offers require good or excellent credit for approval, or a score of 700+. Those include the PenFed Platinum Rewards card, Gold Visa and Power Cash Rewards card."
So... it'll be interesting to see if I actually get this one!
--<>--
All of these cards are 0% APR for 15 months, and none of them will even ask for a payment until I'm full time again.
So, if I charge a little on this one, and a little on that one, and pay them all back to zero in the next few months, I'll have paid no interest.
Meanwhile, Credit Karma, who was emailing me last month to suggest I get myself more available credit... Has seen that I got approved for Wells Fargo, and Commerce Bank, recently and been cheering me on!
According to Tim, I'm already set to coast on this stuff for ten years, if I play my cards right.
He's probably being overly optomistic, but he does have some experience with the game.
So... it does look good for me making it through the five years until the house is paid off... so long as I keep myself employed, and don't go into a spending frenzy.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
No grass seed delivery either. It's status was, running late, and Amazon said it could take four more days to get here, so I cancelled the order.
I slept in late today, so... I've gotta leave in about 20 minutes now.
But I do think I may stop at Home Depot and get more seed on the way home.
It started sprinkling as I drove to work, and then continued to drizzle on and off the rest of the day.
While cleaning room 202, my mind was on the idea of possibly recording some of the old songs, and song ideas I'm finding in these old audio journals.
How is it even done these days?
And after a little phone research, I learned the term, DAW, or, Digital Audio Workspace.
It's a blanket term for any PC software designed for digital recording.
And the DAW I've settle on is, FL Studio Fruity Edition.
It's plenty fancy enough for what I'm looking to do... with built in drum machines and synthesizers... and the ability to kind of build up a song fairly easily.
And it's only $99.00.
This is compared to a fancier DAW like ProTools, which is subscription only, and $99.00 per year!.. screw that!
I haven't bought FL Studio yet, but I plan to.
However, that $99.00 is for one instance of the DAW, and as I got back to cleaning chairs and desks in 202, I started thinking about which machine I'd need to put it on.
But Dad's computer down here, and my old desktop upstairs were out! Too old! So the real question was, could my all-in-one upstairs handle the processing demands?
It's only a couple years old, but... it's the only all-in-one I've ever bought, so I don't know what the life expectancy is on it.
Desktops last forever, and laptops die in two years, so... what do all-in-ones do?
I decided it might be time to get a new desktop, with an actual tower, so I looked at BestBuy online.
I shopped for refurbished units because they're cheeper, but they're always fine.
And they did have some for just under, and just over $200.00, but... I do have that new credit card with the $4000.00 limit, right?
So I settled on a refurbished Dell 7050, for $360.00, mainly because it has an, Intel i7 Core... rather than the i5 that the cheeper refurbs all had.
I paid for it with the new card, and with free shipping, it'll be here next Tuesday.
So... that will be the machine that has FL Studio installed on it.
On the way home, because it was rainy, and I knew I wouldn't be doing anything out in the yard... I decided to run some errands.
I went to an AutoZone near the school to finally get two quarts of the oil I'll need for the wood chipper.
And then I fought traffic back over to the Naperville Home Depot to get one more goddam bag of grass seed.
After that, I stopped at Burger King to get some food, and ate it in a parking lot.
Then, back at home, I put stickers on the lawn bags, and brought the bins out to the parking.
I stopped recording in 2008 for two reasons; 1) my digital 8 track gave up the ghost, and 2) at 38, I just didn't have any good song ideas left.
Years later, living here with Dad, in 2017, I did try my hand at recording some instrumental music, using a cheep casio keyboard, and a tiny Boss BR Mini, digital 4-track... and I had some fun...
But it was cramped upstairs, and the old cats kept walking on the keyboard. I had to do it in headphones, so as not to disturb Dad.
And both the BR Mini, and the keyboard used AA Batteries... and it was really difficult to get the sound off the 4-track and onto the computer.
So, with replacing batteries, getting the headphone cord snagged, and cats walking on the equipment, it all just got to be too much of a hassle.
These days, I still don't have any new song ideas. But what I do have are a lot of old song ideas from my 20s, on tape.
My singing voice is still the same as it was back then. I'm a little rusty, but it'll come back.
And my production skills didn't go away.
Also, now I live alone again, and have plenty of space!
I feel like it would be a lot of fun to set up in Dad's room... as that was the room where I did all my original ping pong recordings, back in the early 1990s.
In fact... if it weren't for Brian and Sabrina, back in 1997, I would've done my first digital multitrack recordings in that room as well!
I'll have to get speakers... and a small midi keyboard... and some kind of mike... but it should still wind up being the smallest, least complicated setup I've ever worked with!
I talked to Tim for a while on the phone and then after we hung up, I took a look at the latest new credit card offer.
PenFed Credit Union said I was pre-approved for a PENFED GOLD VISA card, so I went online and filled out the application.
Instead of instantly approving it, they wanted some documentation!
I had to do a little work, uploading proof of identity and residence for them, and after I did it all... they said, "We'll be in touch."
So I did a little research and... oh!... the, "pen," is short for PENTAGON!
I thought it was short for Pennsylvania.
According to Forbes...
"Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was established in 1935 and is now the second-largest credit union in the nation. As of June 2022, PenFed serves more than 2.8 million consumers worldwide with over $36 billion in assets.
Though membership was originally limited to military and government employees and their families, the credit union now has an open charter, and anyone can join."
And when googling, "is penfed a hard card to get?" WalletHub said the following...
"Yes, it is hard to get a PenFed credit card. All of PenFed's main credit card offers require good or excellent credit for approval, or a score of 700+. Those include the PenFed Platinum Rewards card, Gold Visa and Power Cash Rewards card."
So... it'll be interesting to see if I actually get this one!
All of these cards are 0% APR for 15 months, and none of them will even ask for a payment until I'm full time again.
So, if I charge a little on this one, and a little on that one, and pay them all back to zero in the next few months, I'll have paid no interest.
Meanwhile, Credit Karma, who was emailing me last month to suggest I get myself more available credit... Has seen that I got approved for Wells Fargo, and Commerce Bank, recently and been cheering me on!
According to Tim, I'm already set to coast on this stuff for ten years, if I play my cards right.
He's probably being overly optomistic, but he does have some experience with the game.
So... it does look good for me making it through the five years until the house is paid off... so long as I keep myself employed, and don't go into a spending frenzy.
°¦}
