While I don't think the queen herself made the claim for heating assistance and it was probably put forward by a member of her household it does conjure up an obscene picture of the old dear standing in the welfare line wearing her crown and robes and holding out a begging bowl.  A lot of people in the UK are unhappy with this when there are OAP's freezing to death trying to heat a 1 bedroom home even though the original request dates back over 6 years.  As the article says the queen is one of the richest people in the world but I think asking her to pay her own way might be like asking Barrack Obama to pay rent on the Whitehouse (I unserstand he is worth a couple of dollars).  I think the problem though is that the queen is given a state income from which she has to pay all expenses for the running of the monarchy. 
She pays for all of her staff and utility bills from her annual allowance as well as the upkeep of the various huge homes she has around Britain some of which are extremely old and liable to fall into disrepair if not properly maintained.  She also pays tax on her income this being around £4m on her income of around £38m.  It might simplify things if the British government simply paid the bills and gave the queen a salary.  I don't know how this compares with the US system and who foots the bill for the Whitehouse and other offices and residences of the president but I presume he uses it and the treasury picks up the tab. 
Saying all of that the news is definitely not popular over here and has again started the extremists screaming for a republican state.

Hi Guys

Am now on the way to the post office so if the package takes the same time to turn around as last time it should be with the next recipient by Monday week at the latest.  I'm giving a little leeway for the weekend.

Ian

Hi guys one or two points on the Xitel.  It is literally plug and play - no drivers required.  The only downside is that it doesn't create mp3's without its add on software which is called LP Ripper so I have had to use Audacity to convert my files but it is an option to use while I am getting up and running.  It's an amazing way to get all of your old media (cassettes and vinyl) on to your computer.  You can connect any sound device with a phono connection.  That would be everything sorted if I had a good clean recording to transfer. 
A problem I am having is with the reel to reel recorder.  I just can't seem to get the guitar recording right.  I think it may be something to do with how I am setting up the microphones but I am hardly an expert.  When I gave up being a kj about 5 years ago I donated a lot of equipment to a friend and microphones and stands were among them.  I have retained 2 Peavy PVi omnidirectional mikes (obviously not top of the range) and am having to jerry rig stands for them.  Is the problem that the type of microphone is wrong for recording the guitar or is it the position of the microphone that is affecting the recording on the guitar side?  The sound is fuzzy and full of hiss.

Hope you can help

Ian

Woah today just got a lot better.  My son just came in from work with a parcel of picks and other items.  I have them spread around the floor at the moment trying to work out which one to try first, where they might be from and who used them to play what.  It looks like it's going to be a long night with a couple of beers and guitar in hand.  I hope the sons are going out.
When my fingers are tired I have 4 CD's to listen to.  What a great way to chill out.  I've claimed the last Chordie pick by the way.  I've been sorting through my own bits and pieces to see what I have to put in and I've decided to part with my favourite Sharkfin (brand name not material) pick and a couple of aluminium Techpicks I used when I was playing electric ( don't use these on acoustics or you will shred your strings in an hour).  A few more odd picks accumulated over a period and it's the perfect way to get rid of an unwanted Christmas gift from last year - a Swan C harmonica, instuctional book and DVD (no spit guaranteed - it's never been out the packet).  I've also included a string winder and a little plastic gizmo I wish I had 10 years ago - a strap lock.  My strap was worn and slipped off the button and my guitar landed on it's side and sustained a 3 inch split right along the binding.  It repaired OK but I almost cried when it happened.  I'm never without a strap lock now.
I think I have a couple of tapes of country music by UK bands I can throw in too.

Anyway - first to mail is next on the list for the package.  I should be done with it by Thursday I reckon.

Ian

Hi Dan

Welcome to Chordie.  I think this is what you are looking for.

http://livingforjesus.com/our-god-is-gr … ds-lyrics/

All the best

Ian

Nachos and ice cream on the same plate Zurf?  Strange mix but not so many dishes to wash.  Any spare breakfast scones?

Ian

My favourite stupid question was from a colleague when teaching PC installation.  The group had started to install Windows and one of the guys on the course stood looking puzzled for a very long time.  When asked what his problem was he said "It says press any key to continue" and then went on "Where's the any key?"  Hopefully that guy doesn't get anywhere near your PC.

Sorry Russell

I misspelled the name of this gizmo it's called a Xitel Inport and is basically a nondescript little grey box which has 2 phono connections at one end and a usb port at the other.  The phono leads ovbiously connect to the outputs on the reel to reel (or any other aux device by the look of it) and then the box connects to the PC via usb.  From my interpretation of the spiel on their website it appears that the sound is processed inside this little box and converted to mp3 on transfer.  I will try the thing out over the weekend and post the results.

Thanks

Ian

Thanks Russell
Got the Audacity installed.  Have been doing some reading up on this Citel Inport which is, according to the blurb, a means of recording vinyl, cassette tapes and reel to reel tapes to a PC,  The inbuilt processor automatically converts the input to mp3 format and does not use the PC soundcard at all.  I have downloaded the any video convertor in case I can summon up the necessary to perform in front of an audience.  My techie friend supposes he has everything needed to produce a video on PC but he is holding me to ransom and will only do it ig I perform live.

I would really appreciate that tutorial for Audacity if it's no trouble.

Thanks for your help

Ian

Hi Mercer

First thing I would ask is this a new guitar and can you get it replaced or return it? If not you need to think seriously about taking it to a luthier tp have the job done.
This isn't something you would undertake lightly.  Besides the fact that it will need to be correctly adjusted to ensure that the neck is correctly tensioned, if there were a problem removing the nut and you damaged the threads on the truss rod this would require rethreading or a replacement and both of these options would entail removing and regluing the fretboard.
Wish I could be more positive.

Best of luck

Ian

Hi Zurf

You brought back my own father's death over 20 years ago.  He was always doing things for others right up to the day before he died. Even when he was ill he would not stop and "i'll be fine" is something he would say tp everybody who showed concern.

Thanks for that

Ian