Oh frabjous day!

HENRY FUCKING KISSINGER IS DEAD

Should probably update here so folks don't worry, the eye is getting better rapidly thanks to two grams of valtrex every day. Pain from that is just about gone, which is nice, especially since I ended up using two halves of one pill of the pain relief medication I got. Which means, for the first time in a few years, I have a stash; that's a massive improvement over having zero legal options for acute pain relief.

In other news, I got myself a book about lutherie with a focus on acoustic instruments, which looks like a lot of good information for how slim a volume it is, and I also decided to splash out on a pair of $4 knobs for the volume and tone controls on my electric guitar. The knobs are the second most touched elements of the guitar, and the ultra-cheap Strat-style plastic bell knobs just weren't doing it for me. They didn't feel good, and that made me less likely to play. The new knobs, though... solid metal, knurled around the circumference, done-topped, chrome-plated, held in place by a little setscrew instead of just a push-fit onto the pot shaft... those babies are heavy and satisfying. They contrast really nicely with the black pickguard. As and when I get around to my rewiring project (plan is to put in independent volume knobs for each pickup, leave the switch wired in so I can get wild with kill switch functionality, and swap from the current pickguard mounting of the jack to either an Electrosocket in the side or a Strat-style mount, currently leaning towards the Strat jack because that's honestly one of my favorite design details ever, and use the hole in the guard freed up by the jack relocation to retain a tone knob) I will definitely be throwing down for a third one of these.

Having a very garage/estate sale long weekend this one. I actually got to start yesterday with a sale that had a description that looked worryingly flipper-ish. Nope. Hoarder. So there was a literal ton of old planes too rusted out to be worth anything but weighing in for scrap, multiple boxes full of try-squares, basically a whole lot of garbage. But there was some gold; I scored a nice low-angle block plane with all the fruit, a decent spokeshave, and a very nice sliding bevel.

And then, this morning. Kicked off with a flake; showed up, nobody there, no sign of a sale, screw it. Next! More stuff, not that that was a high bar, but nothing I could really use. Nex- oooh, wait, that's a sandwich board for a rummage sale at the church I'm about to pass on my way to the next sale? I have time, they're a late start, let's do this. Half a dozen assorted files and rasps, dollar each, yes please. Ooh, they have a guitar... it's a no-name knockoff Strat, the neck is shaped like a banana, and they want $75 for it. Pass. And even with a hard case, I don't need another ukulele. But, ooh, these are some things... selection of potentiometers, nice three-way pickup switch, ooh, a bone saddle blank, and a new in box headstock clip tuner? And none of these are priced. I'll see what they ask. Turns out, a dollar a go on all that. Scoring a single genuine CTS pot for a dollar would be great, and the switch on its own is like a $20 part. This is a situation in which one accepts the offer and leaves. Last sale was a bust, but it's OK. I got treasure from an unexpected source.

Now to plot out what route I'll be driving tomorrow. There are a half dozen sales I know about.