I am enjoying working less and less. Need more time to fish and play golf. I don't have a huge sailboat like Gary, but I have a 19-foot bass boat and an understanding wife.
So I have decided to give my final notice at the club tomorrow. I will keep my PA4X for the occasional party, but that's about it.
I will miss you guys, but probably won't have much time to spend on the internet after tomorrow.

Good luck Don.. For me I hope the day never comes that I can't wake up and perform music on stage... It's always been my passion.. Enjoy retirement.

Don

I guess that this happens to all at some time, but I have to say that I will miss your honesty, wisdom and humor..... I always looked forward to reading your posts.

What is going on here ? First to go, is our "Chairman of the Board" Gary Diamond and now our "Southern Gentleman"

What are we all to do now ? You guys are a Big part in our Community. And I for one, are happy to call you both "my Friend".

Your Canadian Friend
Ron

Don, I've known talented artists who walked away from successful careers to do something completely different.

You've established yourself as a prime professional in several fields.

And, like me, you can always think back with a big smile on your face.

Be well, and thanks for the friendship. Just wish we lived closer together so the personal harassment could really jump up a notch or two!

We'd be back on the bandstand in a week!

We could fight over who lugs the equipment!

Russ


WAIT A MINUTE! IS THIS YOUR ANNUAL PRE-APRIL FOOLS DAY DEAL?

If it is, I hope you drown in that rickety old boat (LOL).

The very best to you Don. Will miss your posts on Synthzone and
the help you have so graciously given to me and so many others.
May God give you the health to enjoy retirement. Lloyd

Don, I keep remembering the phrase, “Leave the playing before it leaves you”. I gave up most of my playing jobs a while back; now I am trying to sneak back and have just enough to keep me involved in what I loved most of my life.

Of all the careers performing music is one of the hardest to give up. I guess because it is more than just music. Most other careers people try to retire from as soon as they can.

Don, enjoy your new life; give it all you have – but I have a New Years for you here in Palm Beach if you’re interested. aaah, I shouldn’t have written that. I kinda know that there will be a time when you are tempted to come back for another go at it.

Gary is keeping us up to date with what his new life, please do the same.

A friend, John C.

Nah he would not make fools of us, would he?

Well, if you are slowing it down a bit it surely doesn't mean you won't still grace SZ now and again, does it?

It's cool what you're doing and I hope you enjoy your retirement. You've earned it. Me, I'm of the 'rock til ya drop' variety. Can't seem do much about that.:)

Don what you do playing music is not work!!! Remember the saying, "find a job you'll love and you'll never have to work a day again in your life." Your job is one of those. Whatever you decide wishing you the best.

Rough day today, got out of bed about 9 a.m., fixed breakfast, then headed up to the boat to apply a coat of Poly-Glo to the hull, which replaced waxing the hull every year. Much faster, much easier and looks far better at the end of the season.

Only one more task to perform before the boat goes in the water in two weeks, which is to flush the antifreeze out of the freshwater system, then chlorinate the 75 gallon water tank, flush again and refill.

On the way home, I crossed over Deer Creek pulled off the road and looked down from the bridge. The water was quite clear and cold, and just beneath the surface were schools of blueback herring and hickory shad. I couple casts with an ultra-light spinning outfit armed with a shad dart resulted in hooking a two pounder that leaped high in the air before tossing the hook back at me. While walking back to the van, I got to thinking about what I was doing. Good thing I left when I did, because when I pulled out of the parking spot, a game warden pulled into the place where I was parked. Whoops! I forgot to purchase this year's fishing license. Good timing.

The next stop was a local Season's Pizza restaurant where they sell the best, backfin-lump crab cakes I've tasted in years. Washed one down with an ice cold Coors Light, then headed home. It's supposed to rain for the next few days, so I'll probably go to the boat and do some inside work, clean things up a bit in preparation for a summer of sailing Chesapeake Bay and the nearby inshore Atlantic coastal waters.

Just got a call from an old friend that is having some health issues, and asked if I could fill in form him at his Monday evening restaurant job if he cannot make it. I agreed to do the next two Mondays, but when the boat goes back in the water, he'll need to make other arrangements. He laughed and said "I understand. I wish I could go with you."

Congratulations, Don. I think you are making a wise move and you will not regret it one bit. Get out there and smell those roses before someone is placing the roses on your casket. There's more to life than being on stage and entertaining others. And, at least we have prepared for this day, financially, which makes this part of retirement a lot more fun.

All the best,

Gary

Gary your last paragraph says it all....
How many times I have seen my music buddies pass up special events, family and fun, to take a $100 nursing home gig..
Music is for my enjoyment and will not interfere with a grandchild birthday party, or even dinner with a friend..
Most music income folks miss so much in life..
It can't be the money...none are rich, so it is only ego...

Don, enjoy all the avenues of life...

good one Don you got us

Well, I can truthfully say I've been had by the best of the best.

Gary

Ok, I didn’t mean a thing I said in my post. I have no idea why I wrote it

I hate to be taken – but that goes away – now it’s time to get even.

John C.
Hey, what a way to get us to say how we feel about you. Nice!

Just as I read the last words of Mason's post I remembered what the date was and thought "Damn, he did it again..."

Sorry guys, I couldn't resist! I get you EVERY YEAR! HEE-HEE!
I will probably keep on pickin' until they don't invite me back, but I HAVE slowed down to only 2 or 3 nights a week.
I do appreciate the things you guys said though. Almost makes me sorry I pulled your legs AGAIN.
I'm so blessed to actually make a living playing music! I get to go jam for four hours, they pay me do it and feed me, and customers pay me even more and tell me they like what I do! The occasional misguided debutante still mistakes me for someone much younger and much more interesting. What's not to like?
Have a great APRIL FOOLS DAY my wonderful friends!

DonM. I have enjoyed following your Forum comments for many years, you can alway pop in with update news anytime.

Best wishes from the UK

graham uk

uh Graham......



chas

Don, you almost got me too. I was all set to write something nice about you but couldn't come up with anything .

Seriously, happy AF day.

chas

I'm glad that was just a joke because we would sure miss you on the forums Don. Cal.

Don....what an awful prank to pull on the rest of us. That was really a rotten thing to do. I didn't know you were so mean. I'll bet you kick small dogs into open manholes and knock ice cream cones out of the hands of children. Tell me, how do you deserve this title "southern gentleman." How do you even manage to hold onto a membership card in the human race?

I was personally insulted by your little joke and not only that.....I was affected by it. After I read the post from Bill Lewis and now yours, I decided I was going to do the same thing. So I went and gave all my music equipment to the church, used welding tools to convert my PA3x into an exercise machine, burned my piano in the dumpster, gave all my sheet music to the Smithsonian Institute, disengaged myself from whatever senior accounts I had left, terminated my subscription to Keyboard Magazine, and bought a one-way plane ticket to the Philippines to start a new life as a hotel concierge in the red light district.

How do I undo all that now? What are my supposed to do? Pick out what’s left of my piano and try and put it back together with Gorilla Glue? Beg on my hands and knees to get my senior accounts back. And that plane ticket.....it took every penny I had in my bank account to pay for it. If you really were a “southern gentleman” you’d offer to reimburse me.

That was really some hoax you pulled.....better than the Clifford Irving hoax back in the 70's! Better even than any of Donny’s Top 10. I’ll never trust you again or anything you write from now on. To put it plain and simple, you've just lost your #1 fan!

BTW….did you ever hear the song “Rock Island Line” by Lonnie Donnegan?

Rock Island Line

He sings in there: “I fooled you, I fooled you, I got pig iron, I got pig iron, I got all pig iron.”

Now read my "fine print"……

I fooled you, I fooled you
April Fool.....from a fool!

That was good. I think I'm going to try my hand at writing scripts for Saturday Night Live.

Keep on truckin'

Mark

Mark, just put MP3s in your cell phone, buy a $25. mic and cheap amp, and you are in business again. If you want you can pick up a cheapo keyboard or guitar at a pawn shop and pretend you're playing. That's becoming the norm for solo artists!!

Don......I know you said that in a humorous way, but you just might be onto something.

Why not? Walk in off the street in your birthday suit, with nothing more than an mp3 loaded Radio Shack cellphone, a cigar that looks like a microphone and a bubble gum amp that you got out of a Cracker Jack box but looks like the real thing. You’ll probably make the same amount of money, or even more, than you’re making carrying in enough equipment that you need a wheelbarrow. I’m really going to think about that.

Don... You SUCK

and the audiences love it and the money rolls in...just sayin..

Donny, you keep emphasizing that, which says to us that to you, money is the most important thing. I guess that's true if music is your full time job. But for the overwhelming majority here, it's a part-time job/hobby and 'making music', not 'making money' is the prime motivator. My guess is that the few here that play out, probably don't make enough to cover even equipment costs (how many NH gigs you gotta' play to pay for a $5000.00 Tyros 5?). The simple truth is, most of us do it for personal pleasure because we've reached a point in life where we enjoy it and can afford it (most student pilots start flying lessons at 55+ for the same reason). Even people like Russ, who has a rather lucrative gigging situation, still has another primary business (and like most seasoned pro's, doesn't buy a new piece of gear every time the wind blows......except for guitars ).

I only mention this because your approach seems to be 'anything goes' musically as long as "the money rolls in". I'm just saying that that's not true for a lot (most?) of us. I understand and appreciate that your situation (and therefore your motivation) is different than most of us; I just don't like the concept that money justifies any and everything (music or otherwise).

chas

Sure glad I'm semi retired - now I get to mess with other neat stuff, like my rock gardens.





Chas, I agree, though the money, at least in my case, was a big factor, but first and foremost, I had to satisfy myself. If I were only doing it for the money, and didn't absolutely love the job, I would have found another way to make a living. I've been very fortunate in my life in that I have never had many jobs that I didn't absolutely love doing, including the 15 years I worked in medicine. I can unequivocally state that the absolute best job I've ever had in my life, both for the pure enjoyment and financially, has been the musical entertainment industry. My only regret is that the technology we have today was not there in 1961 when I performed in that first, smoke-filled bar in Baltimore.

All the best,

Gary