Awesome story and excited for the video series!
So I went to the doctor in Nashville
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@BanjoBen, that is an amazing story! Thanks for sharing it with us. 
I’m sure both you and he (and the rest of us) will enjoy the vintage instruments video series!
The whole reference to snakes reminds me of an old analogy (that I’ve never tried t confirm or deny):
It is said that when certain Government Agents are being trained to be able to readily detect counterfeit dollar bills, they spend a TON of time being with the real thing and learning all about how it’s made, handling it, etc…as opposed to focusing on all of the ways it has been counterfeited in the past. The idea being that if you can always readily identify the real thing and know it inside and out…that way when presented with a fake you can spot it a mile away…
Once you get some idea of what he has collected on the second floor of his store, it’s a pretty safe bet George Gruhn has gotten pretty good at being able to identify guitars and snakes. I’m sure both of these skills come in handy in his line of work!
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@BanjoBen Amazing how God brings people into our lives… I’m sure there will be more to this story.
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Ha! That’s awesome. I didn’t even think about that while reading the story.
Then again, it’s Mexican food… in Tennessee. The salsa is basically ketchup. 
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Wellllll, I didn’t know there were snakes in there with us until we were on the way out, or I
might not have sat there and enjoyed it as much as I did… 
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That’s great Ben! God is really blessing you. I pray that He continues to do so!
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So, what did the Doctor say?
I’ve had heartburn and acid reflux for years… many years. Been on Prilosec OTC for just as many. I’ve tried to stop but the acid just comes right back. The Prilosec works fine, I just don’t like taking medicine! What does your Doc prescribe and tell you? (If you don’t mind sharing).
And congrats on the video offer from Mr Gruhn. I met him once in Columbus at a guitar show. He was very kind and took a good bit of time checking out my 72 Gallagher G-70 after I asked him if he could take a look at it.
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I was there a month before you in December '19, right around Christmas. I asked Billy for a killer sounding guitar. I didn’t care if it was Rosewood or Mahogany ( I just wanted to try something that sounded great)! With absolutely no hesitation, he immediately directed me to five different Sinker D-18’s. I tried all five and then tried everything else in the store! (Actually probably only 18 or 20 other guitars).
Billy was right! The sinkers were hands down the best sounding of everything I played and of course one stood out in particular. Like you, I didn’t go in with that intention. I was actually interested in a Leo Posch D-18 style guitar that was there… It was very nice too but I ended up not buying anything that day.
I bet you bought one of the five I tried… maybe even the one I was partial to! Congrats! I’m sure you’re enjoying it! Maybe you’ll get first place at Winfield with it this fall!!!
Moral of the story: You can always trust Billy at Gruhn’s!!!
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Hi Ben
I recently saw this product advertised over here. I haven’t tried it yet but I have used Gaviscon in the past and had some measure of relief.
Their ad claims. “Guardium is the latest Gaviscon product in the range, and it tackles heartburn and acid reflux at its source, providing relief all day and night.”
If you drink whisky you might want to lay off it and acquire a taste for rum. I have found it’s less likely to irritate the gut and cause heartburn.
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I am a Scotch Irish Texan, my diet restrictions have a limit. Thanks!
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@jw11 I couldn’t choose between four. They were all in the second story of the building, outside George’s office. Is that where you were trying out yours? I kept playing those same four back and forth and finally just chose the one I’d picked up first. They were all equally stellar.
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Just stay off the rubbing alcohol even for medicinal purposes. I know how you southern boy’s like a drop of moonshine in your tea cups.
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Must have been about 2007 or 2008 Gruhn’s began to sell Smoothtalker guitars built by my friend from South Africa, Mervyn Davis (https://smoothtalkerguitars.net/). He made one for Bela Fleck that has nylon strings and a 5-string banjo neck. I have one just like it. Mervyn brought the instrument from SA. I picked him up at the Atlanta Airport and we traveled up to Nashville to meet George Gruhn and Bela to deliver the guitar (or is it a banjo?). Later we went to George’s house. He had two African serval cats roaming the house. Sarah was 3 or 4 at the time and I didn’t like the way that male serval looked at her 
! We all went out for Thai food later. It was quite an experience. Here’s a video of Bela playing the Smoothtalker.
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There are many ways to get acid reflux under control without daily meds. Here is a short list:
- Water, water, water… drink lots
- Cut out the acidic foods, tomatoes, citrus fruits, spicy foods
- Cut out the fried foods… all of them until your acid is under control
- Cut out coffee and alcohol
- Eat nothing after 6pm
- Sleep on your left side ( can eliminate night time vurps).
- Avoid large meals
- Avoid rich or fatty foods
- Take an easy walk about 1 hour after dinner to help digestion
There are more things you can do, but doing all of the above will stop most acid reflux and/or upper digestion problems.
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I ended up in the hospital twice because of digestive issues. Sometimes it take spending a couple of weeks really sick to change eating habits.
BTW, I currently eat anything I want, but am more careful to not overdo and to be more aware of my body’s needs.
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hahahahaha
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Next time he’ll probably take the heartburn doctor out to the new Whataburger…
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We actually talked about that, hahaha.
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