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So Damn Pleased

A few weeks ago I asked if anyone knew a good wood worker. No response, so I went ahead and contacted the Instagram guy who had changed out his Kenny’s faceplate end caps to see if he’d be willing to do the same for me.

Turns out they weren’t solid wood; he had merely veneered the existing brushed aluminum end pieces. (I gotta tell you, I have tremendous respect for guys who can fix this stuff and do woodworking too.) I inquired if he’d do the same for mine, and his response was, “For a fellow Kenwood lover, of course.” He quoted me $70 for time and materials and I removed them from my unit and sent them off.

Got them back yesterday. Was kind of surprised he hadn’t wrapped all the sides. I can understand not doing the bottom of the caps, but the backs and the side that abuts the faceplate were left bare metal as well. If you ensure the fit is perfect upon reassembly, you’ll never see the sides abutting the faceplate, but a certain amount of the backs are visible, kind of destroying the illusion that they’re solid wood, but getting everything aligned that perfectly is difficult. Not worth making a scene over, but I did ask why. He said “you’ll never see it,” and that this was exactly what he’d done with his unit.

When I bought the receiver two and a half years ago, I noted that the plastic escutcheons surrounding the switches were broken in various places. A few weeks ago I also managed to get my hands on the original plastic escutcheons surrounding the switches, so after very carefully de-gluing them from the donor faceplace, I was able to replace them on my unit; something that was quite satisfying, and assuaged my anal retentive need for perfection. I must say that despite the issue of the backs of the end caps, I am quite happy with the way all this turned out—especially when I see how much better these receivers look with wooden end caps instead of the original aluminum.

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Another Unforeseen Aspect Of Getting Old

I post a lot of memes about being an introvert, but truth be told, I am an introvert—or at least I’ve become one.

It wasn’t always this way. I mean, I’ve always been on the shy side, but in social settings I was at least able to put myself out there and actually enjoyed being out and about and among my fellow humans whether I knew them personally or not. Back in my 20s and 30s I went out clubbing on the weekends, and readily accepted dinner, movie, and party invitations from friends.

I was also a bit of a whore, which doesn’t come easily (no pun intended) to introverts.

But as I’ve gotten older—especially since the arrival of COVID and I saw what selfish, inconsiderate assholes at least a third of Americans are when push comes to shove—I’ve reached the point where I just don’t want to deal with the masses of humanity any more. Crowds in general never really bothered me, as evidenced by my attendance at concerts, marches, and SF pride events until I simply got tired of them, but now I will do anything to avoid them. Looking back now, the COVID lockdown was a little slice of heaven.

Thankfully Ben—who does not share this aversion to the unwashed hoards outside our door—nevertheless understands my discomfort and does everything he can to prevent us from having to deal with them on more than a very limited basis.

My father became a bit of a recluse the older he got, something at the time I found odd, but—ironically—I am coming to understand quite well as I myself get older.

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TrekFacts

Can you imagine any series these days putting out 79 episodes in 3 seasons? Today you’re lucky if you get 30—assuming you even get renewed for that long.

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TRUTH

And to think that 40 years ago at 8:30 on a Friday night I’d just now be getting ready to go out for a night of dancing and debauchery…

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