My wife said

‘We need some groceries. Fresh vegetables and fruit’.

Well…..True. We did.

‘Let’s go to Aldi in Newtown. It’s cheaper and it’ll save us some money’.

Well…….True. It would. But………

Newtown is about 40 miles away and takes about an hour in the car. Petrol? At mortgage repayment costs!

‘We can visit the town centre, have a day out and then go to the guitar shop. Have a look’.

‘I’m not buying a guitar’ I say.

Thing is. The VeeDub has been expensive recently. I love the whole VeeDub philosophy and it rock and rolls for well being. Well….when she behaves. Two days ago, the entire washer bottle for the windscreen wiper emptied itself all over the brand new jute matting in the driver’s cab. Jute and water do not mix. So a huge water stain has darkened the jute. It won’t get lighter either once dry! I just despaired.

Bought new washer rubber hosing and T joints to repair the system today. The culprit? It was perished rubber tubing that split. A VeeDub windscreen washer bottle works by using a bicycle pump to build up pressure atop the inside water level. You push a little dashboard button that opens up, releases the pressure and subsequently the flow needed to chuck water at the windscreen. German genius! Until a perished rubber hose decides it doesn’t want to play anymore. Doesn’t want to withstand life’s pressures so gives up and retires. I completely understand. But couldn’t it have dumped onto the old mat from a few weeks ago!

Back to that guitar shop. This! These photographs are the result. My wife said she just knew something amazing would happen. I asked if she cosmically ordered it. ‘Yes’, she said. ‘I just knew!’.

PLEASE TAP ON INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE.

To be honest. I felt like crying. After decades upon decades of never playing ‘that’ bass (well any bass guitar to be honest) I suddenly held a near to close as close replacement in my hands again. My old Fender Jazz was a 1970s iconic ownership of both beauty and drive. It was a powerhouse of a bass. The guy in the shop hooked her up to a Fender amplifier and speakers. I played a bass riff and heaven came tumbling down. My emotions were profound to be honest. I actually did quell tears.

It literally felt like the dam could have burst. My throat ached with the emotion to be honest. Then? I thought of the VeeDub jute matting and decided to hold back the tears. The shop has jute carpet too.

When serious emotional content is involved? Always, always…………End with a joke.