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Yesterday was a mixed bag on the automotive front. It turns out there was ANOTHER G37 in the Nissan shop when mine was there, and the mechanic who told the service writer about the need for an alternator was talking about the other one. So they ran diagnostics on mine, everything was fine, they charged the battery and installed the new wiper blades I had requested. But keep in mind there was only $7 worth of gas in the tank when I got there, and they must have done a test drive, cuz on my way home from the dealer, IT RAN OUT AGAIN. Fortunately right next to a gas station, and a couple of beefy guys pushed me off the street and up to the pumps. So I spent $200 on the tow truck, $200 for two days of car rental and $250 at the dealer. Insurance may cover the tow and rental car, need to call my agent.

A lot better than $1,400, and I got a car wash!

I liked them way back when, when I was a smoker, but I don't miss them now at all.

Well, then I missed it. But there is precedent for that.

Way too many notes for my ears, but he's a huge talent, for sure.

P.S. < Jorgenson >

No, but I'll watch on the T&V. I've never had any desire to attend a golf match in person. Don't get the allure, to be honest. The TV commentators and camera crews do such outstanding work, and there are so many newish graphic enhancements these days, like shot-tracer technology, super-slo-mo closeup shots of the club face hitting the ball, etc.

One reason I semi-justify my outrageous Xfinity cable bill.

The 3M Open gets underway tomorrow at TPC Twin Cities, a course about 15 miles north of my domicile. Looks like they will luck out with perfect weather, with the only precip threat coming on the last day, Sunday, but even then less than a 50% chance.

Saw my first yard sign for the prez campaign today. Hand-painted on plywood, it simply read:

KAMALA
'24

AP excerpt:


LONDON — John Mayall, the British blues musician whose influential band the Bluesbreakers was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars, has died. He was 90.

A statement on Mayall's Instagram page announced his death Tuesday, saying the musician died Monday at his home in California. ''Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors,'' the post said.

He is credited with helping develop the English take on urban, Chicago-style rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s. At various times, the Bluesbreakers included Eric Clapton and Bruce, later of Cream; Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac; Mick Taylor, who played five years with the Rolling Stones; Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor of Canned Heat; and Jon Mark and John Almond, who went on to form the Mark-Almond Band.

Mayall protested in interviews that he was not a talent scout, but played for the love of the music he had first heard on his father's 78-rpm records.

"I'm a bandleader and I know what I want to play in my band — who can be good friends of mine," Mayall said in an interview with the Southern Vermont Review. "It's definitely a family. It's a small kind of thing really."

A small but enduring thing. Though Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious alumni, he was still performing in his late 80s, pounding out his version of Chicago blues. The lack of recognition rankled a bit, and he wasn't shy about saying so.

"I've never had a hit record, I never won a Grammy Award, and Rolling Stone has never done a piece about me," he said in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent in 2013. "I'm still an underground performer."

Known for his blues harmonica and keyboard playing, Mayall had a Grammy nomination, for "Wake Up Call" which featured guest artists Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Mick Taylor and Albert Collins. He received a second nomination in 2022 for his album ''The Sun Is Shining Down.'' He also won official recognition in Britain with the award of an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005.

He was selected for the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class and his 1966 album ''Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton,'' is considered one of the best British blues albums.

Mayall once was asked if he kept playing to meet a demand, or simply to show he could still do it.

''Well, the demand is there, fortunately. But it's really for neither of those two things, it's just for the love of the music,'' he said in an interview with Hawaii Public Radio. ''I just get together with these guys and we have a workout.''

Mayall was born on Nov. 29, 1933 in Macclesfield, near Manchester in central England.

Sounding a note of the hard-luck bluesman, Mayall once said, ''The only reason I was born in Macclesfield was because my father was a drinker, and that's where his favorite pub was.''

His father also played guitar and banjo, and his records of boogie-woogie piano captivated his teenage son.

Back to normal after 20 hours without electricity -- not pleasant. One of the longest, darkest, most silent nights I've ever endured. Oh, well, all is OK now.

Except I'll need to use up 7 hours of vacation time and toss out quite a bit of food.

Turns out Xcel's new transformers that talk to each other don't always tell the truth.