When last I wrote, I had just started working as a Rural Carrier Assistant after my previous job had shut down. I had been making a few guitar pedals at home and child number 3 had recently been born. Now, our third child is 2. I have completed 11 pedals (that can be seen at https://www.instagram.com/pepelluepe/ ), and I have switched postal crafts to City Carrier Assistant. The job change has meant 60-70 hour work weeks and little time for anything other than family. I don’t write details about the kids, because I would like to let them make their own choices about their increasingly important digital footprint.

Pedals: I would still like to make more detailed posts about individual pedal builds, but we’ve seen how that’s gone so far. One of the major things I have learned so far, despite online advice to the contrary, is that transistor sockets are more trouble than they are worth. I’ve had to bring back the Black Russian to remove the sockets and solder the transistors directly to the board. The same has happened to the Toan Machine and the Green Russian, but my work area being in very not climate controlled garage has put that on hold. Soldering doesn’t go very well when the room temperature is below 45. Other than those, I have on the bench in various states of completion, another Red Llama clone for my neighbor, a modified T-Rex Mudhoney clone, and a MadBean Lowrider. Hopefully the weather and my free time will coopoerate and those will get done soon.

Other Musical Endevours: I have cobbled together a basic digital home recording setup and am trying to learn my way around Studio One and digital production. Technology has come a long way since my old Tascam Portastudio and while the tools are much more powerful, there is a lot to learn. So far I’ve learned that my singing needs a lot of work and I could be a much better rhythm guitar player.

Work: I think working at the United States Postal Service has been one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs that I have done. Due to Federal Employment policy however, I will not be writing much about work. Working as a CCA has been much more difficult than working as an RCA, but I’ve probably been making twice as much money because of penalty time (2X pay after 10 hours in a day). One of the benefits of working as a carrier is that the job tends to get easier over time. Another benefit is that I love working outside except when we have unexpectedly disastrous winter storms.