First off, I was able to improve the riff I thought I had mastered last night.  Using three different types of picking speed and technique within the same framework really brought out what I was looking for.  At some point, I may do some videos... and then again, I may not.

I also bought another jersey.  Yes, I know... "Another one?  Jesus, Cairns, do you wear them around the house all the time or something?"  As a matter of fact, I pretty much do.  Sports jerseys are not only decently stylish, they're also very tough (for example, my black Oakland Raiders Tim Brown #81 still looks like it was purchased last week when it was actually bought in 2004) and are incredibly comfortable.  The thing is, I wear a uniform while at work and when I am off-duty, I want to get it off me as soon as possible and wear something that screams me.  Those of you who have jobs where there is a standardized dress code can most likely relate.

So this one is a red #23 Chicago Bulls... yes, that's right.  His Airness, the incomparable Michael Jeffrey Jordan.  It's the same model Jordan wore on the court when he was winning his six championships, and if you were to go to the Bulls web site and buy one from their store, you would be gouged to the tune of about a hundred and seventy bucks.  My price, including shipping and handling?  $35.99.  Thanks, Ebay!

Today I went through my mental tally of what I have paid for my various jerseys and realized that with the savings I got for just one of my acquisitions, I financed all the other purchases.  Here's the breakdown of the items, price paid by me, how much it would have cost had I bought it brand-new in the store or web site of the team in question and finally, how much I saved.  Unless otherwise noted, all items were recieved by me with the tags still attached, brand-spanking-new.

1)  NFL Oakland Raiders Rich Gannon starter jersey.  Retails for $209.99 from The Raider Image.  I paid $45.00, saving me $164.99, and it should also be noted that this one would have needed to have been custom-ordered as Gannon no longer plays in the NFL.

2)  MLB Majestic model Oakland Athletics Nick Swisher replica jersey.  Retails for $79.99 for the Oakland A's web site, but you would need to bump the price up fifty bucks to have it personalized, so final damage would have been $129.99.  My cost was $32.50, so I saved $97.49 with only a few keyboard strokes.

3)  MLB Dennis Eckersley Cooperstown Collection Oakland Athletics baseball jersey.  Big spenders would pony up $149.99 for this savory 1973 style replica, so I decided paying $38.00 made much more sense to me.  This gave me $111.99 extra to put aside for something else.

4)  NBA Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls starter jersey.  As mentioned above, I got out for $35.99, so my savings were $134.00.

What I should have paid:  $659.96

What I actually paid:  $151.49

Total savings:  $508.47

Elementary, dear Watson.  I'm never buying one of these beauties in the store again.