Burn!

Remember that scene in X-Men 3, where towards the end of the movie Jean Grey - now Phoenix - lets her power run amok and destroys houses, trees, cars, buildings, people, in wonderful CGI effects? Yeah, I was feeling that last night and this morning. Here's the short version:

Yesterday afternoon, as my cold was getting worse, I dropped my guitar off at a recommended music store to get "set up." The idea was that if it had a little more TLC, it would play better, and I would become a better guitarist. They charge $35 for the service, and promised to have it back today.

On the way home, I got a call from the music store. "The neck is warped," they said. "Probably they used wood that was too green or wasn't cured properly. Anyway, you're best bet is to return it and get another one. We can try and patch it up as bets we can, but it'll cost $75."

So I go home and try to find all the warranty stuff, packing stuff, invoice stuff. Think I still have all that, after a month? I had some, but certainly not all. So I get on the phone with Musician's Friend, and try to see what we can do. They're policy is that there's a 45 day window, and that you can get an even exhange or refund, so long as everything is pristine and in perfect condition. Since I got the guitar as part of a combo pack with an amp, strap, etc. that means that I needed to pack and ship everything.

But of course now the combo pack is a discontinued line, so they offered me a deal - if I sent everything back (and it met their standards) I could pay a little extra and get an inferior combo pack. Needless to say, I'm not happy. Still, I requested that they send me a return label via email. As of this moment, it has not arrived.

I called the music store to get them to do the repair, and they gave me one other option. Call Gibson / Epiphone and see about getting the neck completely replaced. Well, I just got the response from Gibson. 1) they don't work on Epiphones and 2) necks start at $1850. Now I'm waiting for the store to open (at 11:00 - musicians apparently sleep late!) so I can order the repair.

Now, if all that mess wasn't enough, one of the dogs ate my cell phone again!!!!

There was trouble getting my time sheet submitted!!!!

My patients are getting on my nerves!!!!!

Netflix took back the movie that they had sent me and marked it "returned"!!!!!

And my cold is getting worse!!!!!

Okay, I'm done venting. Thanks for listening. I'm going home in about 30 minutes and going to bed.