Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Passing the time... In Quarantine?

So today I am getting really desperate. I am browsing Google Maps and pretending to drive along Country Roads.

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Wow, that is some interesting information from that web site.

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Hey Stuart. The crazy things we do when we are in lock down mode. So your hooked now eh?

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I have to admit I went to the site and put in my local region airport to see what was flying near by shortly after my comment.

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The best one was at Wright Patterson. This was a long time ago and I don’t remember why they did it, but that would have a day where they actually let us land. Might have been for a museum or tower tour. Anyway, they let us land there. As a young wanna-be fighter pilot, that was neat. Most every base used to allow civilians to shoot Precision Approach Radar (PAR) approaches for training purposes (you would not typically land). A PAR is neat in that the guidance comes from someone monitoring on the ground (and it is surprisingly accurate). I think those days are unfortunately done, but I haven’t asked since they started turning me down after 9/11. I suspect in a real emergency (like a non-instrument rated student or pilot caught in solid IFR) they might land someone at a base. You might have to take your plane out on a trailer, but in a real emergency, who cares about those details. There are still plenty of nice places to go. My nearby DFW is amazing on a night approach. If they aren’t busy, just call up and request a practice instrument approach, low approach only. If they are bored, they will demonstrate all their lights. You can direct them as well… like the always fun phrase “kill the rabbit” to turn off the sequenced lights leading to the runway .

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Brings back memories @Mike_R. I can almost hear that outer-marker beacon and middle-marker at Decision-height beeping away on the old Cat-1 ILS approach. A nice sound and sight when you’re flying near minimums and you have the localizer & glideslope centered well and then the runway appears before you.

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The sun came out today :sun_behind_small_cloud:for a short while but there is still a winter chill in the air. I took a break from the banjo and headed into the garden, A few spring flowers :sunflower::sunflower::sunflower: are in bloom and buds beginning to break. Spent a little time tidying up and sprayed some decking cleaner on the arbour to kill the green algae which has formed over winter.

Looks like our government is preparing us for a longer lock down than was initially planned. No bums on pews for us this Easter. :sunflower::sunflower::sunflower: The army is setting up field hospitals in London, Birmingham and Manchester. They are also considering a site in Glasgow ahead of the predicted surge of new cases

Recently retired doctors, medical staff and retired police officers have been recalled and a huge army of volunteers has been recruited to assist with food and medication deliveries to those who have underlying medical conditions and have been advised to stay home. Life seems so surreal like we are all living inside a movie and any minute we are gonna wake up.

Whatever you are doing today, Where possible stay home, stay safe and keep your loved ones close. If you have to venture out remember to observe social distancing we don’t want to see any of you being added to the confirmed case list it’s hard to comprehend that the number of cases in the US has soared to over 125,000 in just a week.

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I refinished my front door!!!

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I’ve worked in the yard all weekend. Built the grandson a sandbox. It was 85 degrees. Today I caught two church services online before 10:30. Center Grove Baptist did the hymn, How Firm a Foundation. I pulled it out of the piano book, scanned it to the iPad and tried to transpose it like @BanjoBen did a while back. I figured out it’s in A flat. I found the 1, 4&5 chords and what might be a 6m. I’ll have to work on that some later.

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@5-StringPilgrim,

Good job - a new sandbox on an 85 degree day!

Proud of you for putting that hymn lesson (I think that was the basis you mentioned… breaking down the song… The steps to establish song structure, key, time, chord progressions, melody line and notation.

I enjoyed re-watching that lesson for Mandolin today and even shared the last “About the song” message with my wife… as @BanjoBen’s message transcends music study (she doesn’t play).

For me, I pulled out my Banjo and boy… I have been playing Mando so much, I was way out of practice. I will have to devote several days just doing rolls again. That said, I was pleased that it came back pretty quickly as my left had was somehow much more dexterous on slides and placement - once I got used to bigger fret size again! :roll_eyes:

The weather here started delightful after a night of steady rains. Sun was out… But clouds blew in on strong (Weather Warning) winds. Great to open the windows though!

Had a prayer group meeting! Good Day!

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My musical hero John Prine is on a ventilator and in critical condition. He’s already used several of his nine lives. Hope he can get past this but it doesn’t sound good.

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So the sun :sun_behind_small_cloud:stuck out is neck again today. I was up sharp to take the other half down to Asda, your equivalent to Walmart for some grocery shopping. When we got back I caught up with my messages and then spent a couple of hours in the garden tidying up. It was good to get out for some fresh air. I then had a light lunch and had a nap for an hour.

I caught up with the news, Prince Charles has recovered after testing positive for Covid-19 a week in the Scottish Highlands and a few drams of Single Malt surely did the trick (NO I am not advocating that as a cure for the virus. I am just joking ,there’s enough fake cures out there already]. I see President Trump has rained back on having the churches full at Easter. That’s great news should help the numbers. It has been suggested by our medical experts that we could be in lock down for six months. I do hope they find a cure soon.

Bit of good news, one of our Universities together with Mercedes F1 Team Engineers have designed a new type of breathing apparatus for the Covid-19. It has been approved for testing on patients and if proved successful will go into production in a week… This should take the pressure off a little and free up ventilators for more seriously infected patients. Stay safe, stay indoors and keep the family close.

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Love Flightradar24!

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Our pastor wrote this gospel tract and I thought I would share it with y’all. :slightly_smiling_face:

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That’s good!

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@WillCoop I make quilts. Lots of them, and I donate most to women’s and children’s shelters. Some for my grandchildren too.

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Inspired activity and a show of love in these challenging times. Thanks for sharing @Mandolinda.

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So the sun :sun_behind_small_cloud: came out again today and I managed to spend a couple of hours in the garden, Good to get out in the fresh air. I finished cleaning the arbour and decking. Forecast looks changeable but temperatures are supposed to rise a little over the next two weeks. Starting to see signs of green shoots emerging so if it remains dry tomorrow I plan to rake out the thatch and leaves on the lawn and do some weeding of the flower beds. :sunflower::sunflower::sunflower: The bluetits showing a lot of interest in the nest box but so far I have not seen any signs of nest building :bird::bird: :bird:

I put in a few hours banjo practice after lunch and then had a nap for half an hour, Planning to spend an hour or two working on a new lesson tonight. :banjo::banjo::banjo: Maybe take in a movie later on.

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