Random

Estate agent visit. They seem impressed with the house but the usual "presentation" nonsense applies. There is, as I have explained, a limit to what I will do for the value assigned to the property. However, she seemed satisfied that it's marketable. The website description has been amended too.

Random appearance of two toy cars from PEI; models I bought the Christmas we were over there to entertain myself. I think one of them is actually one Siani made.

More work. And possibly, more work. JOY.

QuikLok

Can get fucked.

Seriously, with their new distributor, they are not only "a touch expensive"; they're overpriced, hard to get (stock levels are a bit variable, to say the least) AND their products appear to have been designed by people who have no idea what actually goes in studios.

I ordered the shelf for putting the computer on above the Trinity. It cost £40, for a bit of formica and metal that would cost a tenner in IKEA for the same basic weight of components, and it provides 5" of clearance.

5" is not sufficient to clear the Trinity's 5.7" height.

Being a smart bunny, I did actually check this before forking out. They state that the shelf is 7" from the rail, and the rail is flat to the base of the synth.

What they don't state is that there are two 2" wide support bars underneath said shelf; not a clever, flat, 3D design, just two vertical bits of thick metal to provide the strength. Cheap, shit design, and additionally incapable of fitting precisely the sort of heavy, substantial 88-key synth that the stand system is aimed at. The shelf height is non-adjustable. My options are "cut some of the metal", or "design a spacer" which would mean making a 1" thick bit of aluminium with two holes, and longer bolts - and I think is the most practical solution aside from driving to Freestyle's head office when the designer from QuikLok is on a UK meeting and shoving the offending item sideways up his arse, before ensuring it is firmly seated with a handy Korg T1 that is already on fire.

I know musicians get scapled for all sorts of crap, but just as an aside, try and avoid QuikLok if you can. They've moved production to China from the EU, yet are charging more, and the new distributors are rubbish.