Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Montana: Old Abandoned Houses

Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Montana: Old Abandoned Houses

Page 41


I have a day to get ready for the races. I dream about an old house. The video system is easy enough to set up.

Ken hasn't brought by the tape decks yet. I go get a cooked breakfast at JD's restaurant. I have a meat lovers omelet. I call Ken. He says the two TV's I left by his door weren't there when he got there. He'll be around later. I call Megan to say,"Hey." I go to Version and get an attachment to connect to the internet with my cell phone. It costs $65. I go back to Fairgrounds. I check in the motel and install the software on my computer. The modem on phone is 14k slow, but it works. I break down the gear and go to the room. The maid isn't finished but it's good enough. Nice crap without bunghole. Man, that Ken is lazy. It just may start raining.

DREAM: Old abandoned houses. I go in the wrong one. No paint, just weathered wood. I realize I'm in wrong house when I step through the rotting floor. The front porch is just as bad of shape. The porch railing has rounded small pole "pickets" and some of them are missing. A group of people are gathered outside, standing around as if a party. A couple of the men are cops. They don't know someone gave me a wire sieve full of Buds.

First thing I do is go to the bank. There are two old ladies at the cash machine. They says I'll have to wait 20 minutes because it's out of money. I think these nice old ladies have to be pulling a scam. I tell them I'll go inside and get them some help. I get in line. I'm reminded how much I don't like US Bank. Mallissa the teller gets me 20 ones. She's blond and has "C's". While I'm walking out, the manager and her flunky were hanging red white and blue decorations over their trophy case. Again I'm reminded how much I don't like US Bank. I walk past the ATM. The two ladies were gone and out of order sign is up.

I drive to Seventh and Central in Times Square. I buy a yellow set of Slinky Ernie Ball guitar strings. The music store is very nice. Everything is in immaculate order, like a jewelry store. I walk a couple blocks up passing the City Bar to the competing music store. I think about buying a couple picks just to scope it out. Do you know how may times I've been ripped off by the little guy music stores? It's some kind of creed that they take the guitar player's money because a guitar player has a dream. This other store is up stairs of a recording studio building. I don't even look. I turn around, go back to Ruthy my truck and leave. I park at the Motel and cut across the car wash to the Montana State Liquor store. I buy a bottle of Scoresby Scotch. I'm hoping nobody else doesn't like Scotch too .

Then I start setting up at the Fairgrounds. I call Ken so he'll be around later. I get a rag and some cleaner and, clean off the pigeon sh*t on the counter. I super glue and duck tape the head on camera back together. Since Ken took the system apart and Dave put it together initially, it takes me awhile to figure out what's what from the set up in Shelby. It's really quite simple. Three cameras cascade through the three sets of switches and then into the pan head-on and backside decks. These are monitored by a split to the steward and my deck TV. These decks all go back to the switches for replay. The one switch goes to the master deck that cascades to the two dub decks. The second switch goes to the ch 13 modulator and feeds the house line. The third switch in the series goes to the character generator and back to #10 switch for words. Audio mixer goes into audio input on the master deck. Sam simple, huh? My biggest problems have been the decks being not in the right mode or dust f**king them up. Who knows how many hours...