2004-02-22 - 11:29 p.m.

I went shopping for a bass and I got exactly what I wanted for $150 less than I was prepared to spend for something I was kinda indifferent about in the first place.

That's nice. That made me happy all day long.

The Roommate and I went to that goddamn music store on Mass Ave, she waited outside because they had a no-beverage policy and she had tea, and I was met with utter indifference once again. I don't know why I even go to that place, and in fact I don't think I'm ever going there again. I've walked into that place so many times, just stopping short of waving cash around in the faces of salespeople, and have gotten zero attention each and every time. I always have a pick on me, but I forgot one today--I asked the salesman to borrow a pick and was turned down.

And the thing is--it's an instrument. It's not a thing. It's a finger. It's a kidney. It's a source of pride. It's a bed or a coffee table--it's gotta be right.

And nothing in that store was right.

That's why that store was Plan A.

Lemme tell you how Plan A is supposed to work.

When you wanna pick something up, and it requires thought, and you have to be sure, and it�s impossible to do enough research online--in short, when you have to test it out, and when purchasing whatever it is you want should not take months (like buying a home), what you gotta do is have a Plan A and a Plan B.

But here�s the secret. Or maybe it�s obvious to everyone--I don�t know. I think I brush my teeth well, but nobody talks about it �cause everyone assumes that we all know how to brush our teeth, but maybe there are people who don�t know and could use some advice that�s obvious to everyone, so the following advice is either obvious to almost everyone or helpful to a guy, and if this advice helps just one person, and it happens to be that guy, then I�ve helped that guy. And that makes a difference, in that I helped that guy.

So anyway, Plan A shouldn�t be if this doesn�t work, we�ll go to plan B. If that�s your Plan A, and if your Plan A didn�t work, Plan B should be to seriously re-think Plan A.

It should be I�m going to go to what I think is clearly the second best place to do whatever. If I don�t like it, I�ll move up to what I think is going to be the best place to do the same whatever. (Plan C is to go home with your tail between your legs and re-think why you had a plan in the first place.)

Here�s the math: Old way--Plan A works, go home elated, but maybe wonder what could have been had you tried it another way. Or Plan A doesn�t work, Plan B is a disaster, go home dejected. My way--Plan A was useful in that I gathered information and put myself in a knowledgeable position. I also saw a few things I liked but that I could lived without or I saw exactly what I wanted and went home with it and that�s the end of it. Now I�m going home or to Plan B with experience under my belt. Now that we�re at Plan B, you know the going rate and can snap up what you want and feel good about it, or go back to Plan A and it�s a little uncomfortable but you go home with a good deal, or it�s plan C (as previously discussed above.)

It�s the best way.

I went to that shithead Berklee store on Mass Ave and left because the Roommate was drinking tea outside and wasn�t there to say oh that�s cool, but more so because there wasn�t anything that proclaimed itself to me.

Then, Guitar Center in Allston. Say what you will about Allston, but those dudes know their stuff, and even if they�re busy, they�re good people. In a music store, that�s hard to come by. In my life that�s hard to come by.

I went in, immeadiately found the absolute, most perfect bass for me (think Paul McCartney), and I was ready to settle for a $300 Squire knock-off P-Bass.

That�s life.

That�s the good part of life. That�s life and I�ll take that and I�ll take feeling low �cause it�s all interesting to me.

Due to what I think are highly reasonable Brookline laws, I can�t actually get the bass for two weeks, �cause I bought it used. That�s so if the instrument was stolen, the rightful owner can come and claim it. I�d want that to happen if someone stole my guitar.

But even though I really need a bass now, and by now I mean now, I said, that�s cool, I can wait for my Paul McCartney bass, because it sounded so good.. And I said to myself I�m hearing this through an amp that would make any bass sound good. And I said to myself hold the phone--I got a bass in my hands that sounded like a bass, and that�s what I wanted. I walked into a store and walked directly towards the right bass for me. This is the first bass guitar I�ve held all day long, and I honestly think that life is giving this to me at a discount, and that if I put it down for a second to look at anything else, someone else would snap it up and I�d be telling the bass that could have been story every now and then, but also for the rest of my life.

So I bought it. But I can�t play it. I don�t have it yet. It�s all paid for. But I have to wait �till March 6th to pick it up.

How often do you get exactly what you wanted? I�ve been struggling with this for a long time, but I�ve been getting it when it counts lately.

I don�t know how long this will last, but I�m doing everything I can to keep it going, and I must say, it�s nice to be noticed.