NP: Mike Doughty, Haughty Melodic

The Christmas-in-October (not to be confused with the impending Fitzmas) aspect of getting my car broken into is that I get to replace a whole passel of gear with brand-y new stuff.

I've been trying to spread the love a bit, not just to find good prices, but because I'm past the point where I can really buy cymbals without hearing them first. That has meant trips to the North Side of Chicago, Palatine and south suburban Burbank so far. The latter trip was a trip in and of itself on Monday night, as Sam Ash the store had prices they guaranteed as the lowest, but were pretty much categorically trumped by Sam Ash the website. Their defense was that the website is somehow a separate entity, but that sort of disconnect can't possibly fly in 2005. What's more likely is that they expect their customers to be stupid and not check, which is one of the things that infuriates me about both Sam Ash and Guitar Center on a regular basis.

And Karl Rove, for that matter, but I digress. That Fitzmas stuff has me pretty riveted, suffice it to say.

Anyway, as if that weren't enough, I had to pretty much teach the sales guy how to navigate his own store's website, and he flat-out didn't notice one additional item I intended to purchase. And that was before the other little quantity flub that halved my deductible in one fell swoop. Let's just say I'm happy I didn't get frustrated to the point of walking out.

Details on the actual rebuilding will find their way over to the drums section shortly. I'm current a double bass drum pedal and most of the cymbals short of a full deck, but with no gigs until next Friday and tonight's rehearsal likely trumped by the Sox in the series, I've still got time.