An Important Announcement From The Andy-San

Good evening, Andy-San here.

As the title says, I have an important announcement. I ran into my mom and stepdad at Wal-Mart today when I was out on my daily bike ride (I lost 10 lbs this past month because of it!!). We talked about a lot of stuff which I’ll get into later in the blog, but first, they asked if I would come back to live with them. Mom’s been asking me constantly to move back in, but I told her that I was unsure how my stepdad would take it. Since he was the one who asked me after I told him why I moved out, I’m sure we’ll get along a lot better than before. I’m not sure why they waited this long to both ask me, but I think that in a strange way, they were testing me to see how I’d do on my own (even though I’m living with my cousins and aunt) and I guess I’m doing excellent in their eyes now. I haven’t felt so good from them (I don’t know the name of the emotion you feel when someone is proud of you) since I graduated high school in 2004 so it’s been awhile. I’m not sure when I’ll move back in, but I’ll be sure to tell you guys when I do.

I have another important announcement to make. There no doubt have been rumors spreading of me going back to UU. Although I’ve kept mum about them, I would like to say that the rumors are true. After running into a friend I met in college and remembering that I didn’t receive a letter stating my failing or doing poorly in any of my classes, I decided to reapply. Initially, I used it as a piece of evidence in my defense, but I decided to not place blame on the school since I was the one who failed and not them (although some teachers are lacking). I wrote them that I believe college is a learning environment and the best I could do would be to learn from my mistakes and continue my education, not just for my own education, but so I can get a good-paying job to better pay off the college (see, we both win). I’ve maintained contact with the guy who suspended me and I’ve contacted someone in Admissions about listing me as a returning student. This shows them that I’m committed to coming back and doing much better than before, which is all I really can do.

Also, my stepdad said that ITT Tech called and they said that I could come back and finish for my degree. I told him that I wanna do both UU and ITT Tech. If I’m accepted back into UU, I’ll go for the spring semester and in the summertime to whenever I graduate ITT Tech, I’ll go there. If it takes me longer than summer break, which is more than likely, I’ll tell UU that I’m taking a break for the Fall 2008 semester and I should be graduated from ITT Tech by then. So either way, I get a degree and ideally, I’ll have both a BA in Management Information Systems and an AAS in Web Design. I’m so friggin’ excited, I can barely contain myself!!

In other news, I’m doing pretty darn good playing guitar. I should have the guitar paid off in a couple more weeks so I looking forward to that. A couple weeks ago, my aunt had one of my cousins’ boyfriend take my dad’s guitars so he can appraise them. He said that the Epiphone Coronet was worth $5,000, but it would have been worth around $15,000-$19,000 had it not been “modified.” He thinks that the paint on the guitar was stripped, the pickup changed, and a Bigsby-esque vibrato added on, which reduced its value.

First off, I don’t believe for one second that the guitar is worth anywhere near that amount. I looked up prices for the same guitar and they’re in between $1,000-$1,750. I don’t know who in their right minds would buy or even sell a guitar for $5,000 unless it was a limited run and/or it was a Gibson. Epiphone has always been noted as a company that offers quality instruments at affordable prices even back then. Unless it’s the first Epiphone ever made, I don’t think that it’s worth $5,000. I do agree that it’s worth $1,000; that makes sense since it’s vintage (circa mid-to-late 60′s when my dad bought a lot of his stuff).

Second, I know that the guitar wasn’t modified at all. Dad was very particular about his things. When his band was done with practice, he would make everyone wipe off his stuff that they’d touched. Now tell me, does this sound like the kind of man who would strip the paint off his guitar, switch the pickup, and add a vibrato system (back in those pre-Eddie Van Halen days, it was unheard of to do that stuff)? I think not.

I’ll offer to pay them $1,000 for the Epiphone Coronet and if they find a sucker whose willing to buy that guitar for 5 Gs, than more power to them, but I have to point out the facts. My dad’s been dead for over 3 years and they haven’t sold a thing since then. Also, musicians, just like anyone else, likes to get the most bang for their buck. Unless they are bound and determined to get a certain instrument, guitarists want a nice guitar for a cheap price. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll sell any of Dad’s st00f, unless it’s to me and/or my bro.

As I’ve said in my previous post, I’m looking to buy the Epiphone Coronet, the Peavey T-40 bass, and one of the Fender Silverface Bassman half-stacks. Like Epiphone, Peavey has been known to provide a good product at a fair price. I looked up how much the bass was worth and it’s around $375 so that’s what I’m gonna offer them, even though they’ll claim it’s worth thousands because it’s vintage. The Fender Bassman’s worth about $850 with the original speakers and in mint condition. Even if it gets the speakers put back in and everything’s good to go, I’m offering them $600 for the half-stack, $700 if they put new, premium speakers in it (Celestion, Eminence, Fender, etc).

Now how am I gonna afford this you ask? Well obviously, I have to find a good-paying job. I plan on paying on them over a period of time, as in monthly payments (the payments will be smaller when I’m attending college). We’ll set up an agreement and go from there.

Whew, this has been one long blog, but before I go, I would like for you guys to take a look at an image from Daria. It reminds me of Megan and I’m wondering if it’s just me so I’m putting it up here and have you guys decide: