Ok Alec and Unk, how come you two don''t get the flack the bluezplayer and me get from our fraulines? Seems like Uncle Dave knows how to handle women and Alec has everything running smooth and figured out. Come on, what's the secret?

Grandpa Doug

I have NO IDEA how to handle women. I do, however know how to handle my business, and since I am the sole proprieter (cheif cook and bottle washer?) .... I also make the purchasing decisions that affect my business.
The way i do it is:
Every cent (and I mean EVERY cent)I make from performance, recording or teaching goes to the family budget.
The money I make in gifts from customers (some people call them tips, not me), selling & trading equipment or sound installation labor is kept in a "slush fund" for more gear as the need arises.

So, the same few dollars keep getting recircualated in the form of newer gear, and the old stuff gets sold, traded or stored. (I hardly keep ANYthing electronic after the warrentee is up)

Being the head of any business is a 24/7 job and it takes alot out of you, so I need to know that I have the best tools for the job. If I'm happy and amused, I can keep my clients happy and entertained. I think alot of musicians take the "business" end too lightly. I treat it as my life's blood, and my family's security. The performance and the applause is all I keep for ME.
(and that's enough .... MOST times)

I only play for pleasure... if I get grief about the new board, it isn't a pleasure anymore

Uncle Dave,

I’ve got to hand it to you. You know where your going and how to get there even if you claim you don't know how to handle women. In fact, sounds like your there. Congrats!! Also I get the impression you love your work. Too bad a lot of people hate their work. Also it’s a shame many of the people who have started their own business and love it have fell victim to poor business management. I also love my business of fifty eight successful and rewarding years. I also do the many things you do in yours even if the nature of it is different. I now see how you get your musical equipment you like with no flack from the wife. It’s your lively hood and your responsibility to make it go. Mine also in the Landscape Contracting. I now see the difference. Music and the equipment to make it, is just a hobby with me. Sort of a soothing elixir for the nerves being jangled in the coarse of business. Not to mention what six kids do to them. Maybe Ruthie resents me having more keyboards, saxes and clarinets, not to mention my piano and accordion, than she had diapers. Well, I like music and the making of it and that’s that.

If you really want to know the truth, Ruthie likes me to get the stuff that makes me happy. She figures if I’m happy she’s happy, if the kids are happy were all happy and successful. I have always taken all the money I’ve made playing in our seven piece dance band for thirty eight years and since the demise of the band eight years solo with the KN’s for our entertainment fund. Ruthie likes kids, having fun and me. Me? I like Ruthie, the kids and having fun. My motto - When you work, work hard. When you play, play hard.

I like people. I like to talk to people. I like to please people with my work, with the landscape construction and with my music. I like computer work. I like this forum and have fun making people happy with my music and with words. Dave, like you put it, quote - “If I'm happy and amused, I can keep my clients happy and entertained”. I also like your advice you have ventured at times, “loosen up”. As the good book states it - ‘There is a time for everything’. On this forum a time for learning, a time for questions, a time for answers, a time for news and a time to loosen up and make the whole works enjoyable. Sooooooo fellows, lets get the words flowing, the questions asked, the answers coming, the news about music current and let’s above all make it fun and enjoyable.

Grandpa Doug

Truth be told, although what I said above is true, Linda always says these things in jest. If I really decide that I want an SD1, she'd tell me to go get it tomorrow and never complain about it.

When I had my small construction business and it was the family lifeline, I treated it exactly as you say Uncle Dave. The cost of good tools was always factored into a percentage of the profits, and if I felt that I needed a tool to enhance my "performance", I simply went and got the tool. Injury ended my ability to continue in the construction field, but as I recovered it also opened a new door for me to pursue more in the music field again.

You mean you guys tell your WIVES when you get new keyboards?
DonM

Hi Don
My tatics is very very simple:
To divide the price of new kb for 3.
Always my wife says: My God ; it's very expensive!!!
Chico (Penta)

Business is business. Someone has to run it, and you can't do that without the proper tools, so that's how I justify the frequent changes I make. If it makes me seem more "real" ... I have a 20 year old stereo system in my rec room, and absolutly NO room for a car in my garage. I have a fence that needs mending, and a few trees that HAVE to be tamed ... BUT my sound system and studio are State of the Art ! Who cares if a few branches poke holes through the house, and who cares if I have to watch TV in old fashion "stereo" and NOT 5.1 digital surround ???? Heh ?? who cares ????

Don - I'll bet your wife and mine share a common interrest (or LACK thereof)
I'll bet you lunch that your wife couldn't tell you the model number of your keyboard, or even the brand ... unless she sees the box in the garage all the time.
My wife has NO clue what I use at work, and if I replace it all tomorrow - she's never know the diff.
She's often said that I better have price tags on all of it for when I die. That way she and her new husband can sell it all easier. The business dies with me, I'm afraid .... no one wants to carry the baton.

let's hope black doesn't come back into fashion... the change from black to silver - now that was too easily noticed and consequently had to be explained...