Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

graphicguy · July 2020

Well....I don’t consider myself “aged”, but maybe I am. Back in the late ‘80s, when I was a technical service rep for a very large copier company, they paid for mobile phones. Not unusual today. Back then, very high tech. It was a big honker, installed right on my dash with the “pig tail” antenna attached on my back windshield. Business calls were covered. Personal calls were not. You would think that’s not a big deal for them to cover personal calls, but then, the charges were by the minute, and if I was in a remote locale (outside the local area codes), the per minute charges went up for “long distance”.

Call quality was terrible. Coverage was dismal, at best. They ended up going back to using pagers to reach me (or have me call them). Back then, if your copier went down, your business ground to a halt.

Problem was, to have the phone ripped out of my car would have left a bunch of screw holes in the dash. Since the phone technically belonged to the company, they allegedly wanted it back after going to pagers. I told them if that were the case, they needed to fix the holes in my dash. They never asked for the phone to be returned, again (IIRC, it cost ~$1,000+). I left the holes. When I sold the car a couple of years later, I left the phone in (non-activated) and used the phone as a selling feature.

By then, I had climbed up the corporate ladder enough to get a company car (a Mercury Sable, which at the time, was state of the art in design). They went back to us having cell phones. But, this time, they were using Motorola Microtac, the first flip phone. No installation needed except for a “signal booster” in the car to make reception better. That was only good while in the car, though.

I thought I was the “shiz-nit” with that phone and that car, at the time.

28firefighter · July 2020

My parents had to have car phones for work in all of our cars in addition to carrying pagers (both in healthcare).

I remember them installed as far back as our 1988 Volvo 240 station wagon. For a while they were the fixed kind, like you mentioned, @graphicguy. Eventually they moved to the MicroTac generation of phones which still had hands-free setups and signal boosters. I remember when they made the switch from analog to digital with the Nokia 2160 that could switch between both digital and analog networks; that was far better in theory than it was in execution....

roadburner · July 2020

graphicguy said:
Well....I don’t consider myself “aged”, but maybe I am. Back in the late ‘80s, when I was a technical service rep for a very large copier company, they paid for mobile phones. Not unusual today. Back then, very high tech. It was a big honker, installed right on my dash with the “pig tail” antenna attached on my back windshield. Business calls were covered. Personal calls were not. You would think that’s not a big deal for them to cover personal calls, but then, the charges were by the minute, and if I was in a remote locale (outside the local area codes), the per minute charges went up for “long distance”.

Call quality was terrible. Coverage was dismal, at best. They ended up going back to using pagers to reach me (or have me call them). Back then, if your copier went down, your business ground to a halt.

Problem was, to have the phone ripped out of my car would have left a bunch of screw holes in the dash. Since the phone technically belonged to the company, they allegedly wanted it back after going to pagers. I told them if that were the case, they needed to fix the holes in my dash. They never asked for the phone to be returned, again (IIRC, it cost ~$1,000+). I left the holes. When I sold the car a couple of years later, I left the phone in (non-activated) and used the phone as a selling feature.

By then, I had climbed up the corporate ladder enough to get a company car (a Mercury Sable, which at the time, was state of the art in design). They went back to us having cell phones. But, this time, they were using Motorola Microtac, the first flip phone. No installation needed except for a “signal booster” in the car to make reception better. That was only good while in the car, though.

I thought I was the “shiz-nit” with that phone and that car, at the time.

When I was a judge the state paid for a pager until the early ‘90s when they began offering to pay a percentage of my cell bill. I hated the pagers. They would invariably go off while I was driving and I would have to go find a pay phone.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:
Just came back from Walmart. I thought it odd that @abacomike found doors separate for the two parts of a Walmart store. Today I found one of our stores has "closed" the center entrance and only allows entry through the grocery end of the store. I had to walk a mile to get to the things I wanted right inside the closed entrance.

I complained to the asst manager talking to the checkout lady that they needed to mark it with a larger sign that it's closed. I suggested using some of the money corporate is donating to a cause that they brag about when she told me corporate made them close the entrance. They have the same blue tape across that they had before to make people enter and exit on two halves of that entrance. As I was leaving others were parking near that entrance to go in. But they'll get there and read a tiny sign that's not visible from your car in the parking lot.

I've changed my shopping to other stores, but there are a few things substantially cheaper and easier to find at WallyWorld. I vote with my feet, but I've got a pen and a phone as well.
I ran into the same situation at my local Wally’s. They closed the entrance closest to the pharmacy so all the old codgers had to walk the length of the store twice to get their pills.
Just like Edmunds.. trying to weed out the elderly, to get a better demographic.

Maybe it’s a senior exercise program like mall walking.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:
Just came back from Walmart. I thought it odd that @abacomike found doors separate for the two parts of a Walmart store. Today I found one of our stores has "closed" the center entrance and only allows entry through the grocery end of the store. I had to walk a mile to get to the things I wanted right inside the closed entrance.

I complained to the asst manager talking to the checkout lady that they needed to mark it with a larger sign that it's closed. I suggested using some of the money corporate is donating to a cause that they brag about when she told me corporate made them close the entrance. They have the same blue tape across that they had before to make people enter and exit on two halves of that entrance. As I was leaving others were parking near that entrance to go in. But they'll get there and read a tiny sign that's not visible from your car in the parking lot.

I've changed my shopping to other stores, but there are a few things substantially cheaper and easier to find at WallyWorld. I vote with my feet, but I've got a pen and a phone as well.
I ran into the same situation at my local Wally’s. They closed the entrance closest to the pharmacy so all the old codgers had to walk the length of the store twice to get their pills.
What is the real reason for separate entrances.........there must be some reason?
Edmunds I can see wanting to weed us out...but, Walmart?

I asked one of the drones and she said it was because they were having a hard time controlling the number of people in the store at one time. She said she was sorry and it sounded genuine. I told her I didn’t hold her responsible for company policy.

I can’t be sure but I remember reading that some nanny called the government to report how big box employees in another town weren’t wearing masks correctly ACCORDING TO HER. I’m sure the state waved their heavy hand and this is the result.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

suydam said:
One way traffic. Different entrances than exits.

Except they already had separate exit and entrance doors. They went to some pretty dramatic measures to make sure no one used the wrong one including using door monitors and fencing to funnel people into the correct door. Even weeks ago this cause some anger in customers who felt entitled in loud profane terms that they deserved to use any door they wanted. Well, this is Wally World after all.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

omarman said:
I liked the way Lethal Weapon movies explored the youth culture plot with violence and cell phones.

Danny Glover wasn't only worried about his new young partner when he complains, "I'm getting too old for this..."

The real visual for that scene was this futuristic 1987 portable cell phone which only the kids could love and appreciate.

Lethal Weapon 4 showcased Joe Pesci having an old man rage about cell phones in a scene with Chris Rock.

"They get you with cell phones!"

Years ago a nurse at my doctor's office heard me complain about Kroger pharmacy making me wait at the store to pick up meds even after they left messages on my phone that the prescriptions were "ready." She gave me a card for a local pharmacy which offered home delivery and a way to let go of one old man rant.

By the way have you ever needed to contact your friendly, caring big box store pharmacy after biz hours? The mom and pop pharmacy which I switched to not only delivers, the owner gave me his cell phone number in case of some after hours issue. That's how they get ya kid!

The last mom & pop pharmacy in my town went out of business after the state fined them $6 million for throwing out a box of Rx receipts after 5 years instead of 6.

omarman · July 2020

Really sad to see how unprepared our healthcare services were from the beginning of this considering the long history of outbreaks and pandemics in the world. It's true that many failings were "self-inflicted." And you're right that is a hard thing to make peace with on top of everything else including the profiteering.

Long term care facilities have long term and well-documented issues which were brutally exposed by COVID-19. And they account for over 40% coronavirus deaths in the U.S. Poor staffing and training, dwindling resources and reimbursement, inappropriate care for everything from passing meds to failing to assess needs for acute care transport, "infection control is out of control" and on like that.

I was at a usual morning stand up meeting at the administrator's office where the topic switched to updated advance directive forms signed by residents. One resident had signed his advance directive declaring full code status. That document was held up by my boss who stated, "That's going to be a slow code!" Said it out loud in front of all the dept directors at stand up. Disgusting. And illegal behavior just like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

All this was happening at nursing homes decades before Covid-19. Also prior to this pandemic I read a credible report from John's Hopkins stating that medication errors are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. Another self-inflicted wound which was a known problem prior to Covid-19.

Med errors include pharmacy errors of course and doesn't matter if it's hospital or mom and pop pharmacy. Local Dr Husel was charged with 25 counts of murder for giving lethal doses of Fentanyl to his patients. No nurse or pharmacist will face criminal charges along with Dr. Husel.

The doc must write med orders in compliance. Pharmacy must dispense in compliance and nurses must pass the meds in compliance. And administration is responsible for daily ops and ensuring quality of patient care. Mount Carmel West was performing joint commission required death review at the same time Dr. Husel was still on staff and killing more patients. Sucks to be Dr. Husel but are we really going to stop there? Nobody else going to trial?

So at least 25 cases of over-medicated patients dying as every link in the chain of quality and continuity of care was broken. Before Covid-19.

Here's an excerpt from a July 11 update by Mount Carmel.

"After many months, our review of patient cases under the care of Dr. William Husel has come to a conclusion. As we have done throughout this process, we have an update to share with our colleagues, patient families and community about what we have learned and the actions we are taking to chart a new path for Mount Carmel and ensure this never happens again."

ab348 said:

omarman said:

Years ago a nurse at my doctor's office heard me complain about Kroger pharmacy making me wait at the store to pick up meds even after they left messages on my phone that the prescriptions were "ready." She gave me a card for a local pharmacy which offered home delivery and a way to let go of one old man rant.

By the way have you ever needed to contact your friendly, caring big box store pharmacy after biz hours? The mom and pop pharmacy which I switched to not only delivers, the owner gave me his cell phone number in case of some after hours issue. That's how they get ya kid!
I used to have a great pharmacy/pharmacist, but he retired from the biz and every pharmacy I've dealt with since has been various degrees of awful. None of them big-box either. The one prior to my current one was just terrible. Used them for years and I swear that every single time I went there to pick up a Rx that they called to tell me was ready, they couldn't find it. It was uncanny. Plus they always treated me like I was a first-timer, no recognition that I was the guy who was in there every other week, even when dealing with the same staff person at the counter. Add to that being given someone else's drugs, long waits because everyone ahead of you at the counter was also experiencing problems, being overcharged because their computer system didn't recognize my drug plan, all sorts of snafus. I finally bailed on them a year or so back.

But all pharmacies across Canada got a self-inflicted black eye when COVID hit. Citing concerns over potential drug shortages, they all went to dispensing no more than a 30-day supply starting around the end of March. Now there were no unusual shortages then but OK, I could understand their concern. But that meant a couple of things: they were making people come into the place 3 times as often at a time when people were avoiding such contact. And even better, they were charging the same co-pay/dispensing fee for the 30 day supply that they did for a 90 day supply. So you were now paying that 3 times as much too, with them claiming that they were doing 3 times the work so why not? Well, that was their decision, not the customers, that's why not. But because it was a nationwide decision by their professional association there was no way for a customer to avoid it. It really bought them as a group a lot of ill-will because it seemed like profiteering in a crisis. No shortages ever emerged and the policy was quietly rolled back after 2 or 3 months.

carnaught · July 2020

Let me start by saying that my mother was killed, the result of a nurse’s medication error. I have a sister who is a nurse, and numerous family members who are in the medical field. That said, as long as human beings are making decisions and executing them, no matter what the safeguards are, there will always be screw-ups. That’s not to say we should abandon looking for better ways of doing things right and always insure safety.

dino001 · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

suydam said:
One way traffic. Different entrances than exits.
Except they already had separate exit and entrance doors. They went to some pretty dramatic measures to make sure no one used the wrong one including using door monitors and fencing to funnel people into the correct door. Even weeks ago this cause some anger in customers who felt entitled in loud profane terms that they deserved to use any door they wanted. Well, this is Wally World after all.

You saw sometimes things like that done before Covid as a theft prevention measure, so some people may have felt "caged". The issue is as long as the message from the officials regarding seriousness and their subsequent actions are not consistent, you'll have some people behaving like a five-year-old whose parents refused to give a lolly pop and claiming they are martyrs for humanity's liberty.

graphicguy · July 2020

roadburner said:

graphicguy said:
Well....I don’t consider myself “aged”, but maybe I am. Back in the late ‘80s, when I was a technical service rep for a very large copier company, they paid for mobile phones. Not unusual today. Back then, very high tech. It was a big honker, installed right on my dash with the “pig tail” antenna attached on my back windshield. Business calls were covered. Personal calls were not. You would think that’s not a big deal for them to cover personal calls, but then, the charges were by the minute, and if I was in a remote locale (outside the local area codes), the per minute charges went up for “long distance”.

Call quality was terrible. Coverage was dismal, at best. They ended up going back to using pagers to reach me (or have me call them). Back then, if your copier went down, your business ground to a halt.

Problem was, to have the phone ripped out of my car would have left a bunch of screw holes in the dash. Since the phone technically belonged to the company, they allegedly wanted it back after going to pagers. I told them if that were the case, they needed to fix the holes in my dash. They never asked for the phone to be returned, again (IIRC, it cost ~$1,000+). I left the holes. When I sold the car a couple of years later, I left the phone in (non-activated) and used the phone as a selling feature.

By then, I had climbed up the corporate ladder enough to get a company car (a Mercury Sable, which at the time, was state of the art in design). They went back to us having cell phones. But, this time, they were using Motorola Microtac, the first flip phone. No installation needed except for a “signal booster” in the car to make reception better. That was only good while in the car, though.

I thought I was the “shiz-nit” with that phone and that car, at the time.

When I was a judge the state paid for a pager until the early ‘90s when they began offering to pay a percentage of my cell bill. I hated the pagers. They would invariably go off while I was driving and I would have to go find a pay phone.

Pay phones....there’s a memory and throw back. I remember carrying lots of change with me when I had a pager. Standing in a phone or at a phone kiosk during a rain storm or outside in the frigid temps.....not something I relished, but did nonetheless. Some weeks I’d expense $20-$25 for calls made from public phones.

driver100 · July 2020

RE: Separate entrances at WallyMart
They probably want to know how many people are in the grocery store and how many in the pharmacy. Probably allow for a certain number per sq ft, and if they all go to one part of the store, they will be over the limit. Why do people have to fight the rules...they aren't perfect but we will all have a better chance of surviving if we do the basics.

tjc78 · July 2020

Joe Pesci's and Chris Rock cell phone scene is probably the highlight of the entire Lethal Weapon franchise. I laugh just thinking about it.

The second best would have to be when the bomb was on the toilet.

driver100 · July 2020

carnaught said:
Let me start by saying that my mother was killed, the result of a nurse’s medication error. I have a sister who is a nurse, and numerous family members who are in the medical field. That said, as long as human beings are making decisions and executing them, no matter what the safeguards are, there will always be screw-ups. That’s not to say we should abandon looking for better ways of doing things right and always insure safety.

The new John Grisham book (Camino Winds) has a good angle on this. Nursing homes that barely keep residents alive, so they can collect the monthly payments. The more comatose they are the better for the nursing home. I think that really goes on....many are just warehouses for old bodies.

suydam · July 2020

“I asked one of the drones”

I’m sure you meant to be cute but why call one of these poor humans that? They are at high risk for COVID 19 themselves and I’m sure take a lot of abuse for policies they didn’t create. It’s a pandemic. It sucks. Let’s all try to be nicer to each other.

jwm40517 · July 2020

My HVAC guy with over 30 years of experience told me probably 20 years ago to use the cheap filters instead of the expensive more restrictive ones. Said the systems would last much longer.

omarman · July 2020

@carnaught Sorry for your loss and at same time also thank you to everyone who works in healthcare.

Dr. Husel has become the poster child for "bad doctor" around here. I've never met or worked with him even though my family and I have had good experiences with staff, surgery and other tx at that same facility. But I have to offer my own disclaimer that I've had more arguments (not polite dfference of opinion) with more board certified physicians in just the last 10 years than I've ever had before in my life.

Those last ten years include the unfortunate change (my argument) to hospitalist inpt care as opposed to PCP care at the hospital. And the last 10 years also include my own unfortunate decline (no argument needed) into a +60 y/o boomer.

I can't really ID a bad guy poster for that situation but the "declining reimbursement" which I posted before makes it very unlikely to find any PCP doing rounds at my local hospital. Even if I can see their office from the hospital room window! What I do see on the unit white board is every "patient name" followed by "Sound Physicians name."

Continuity of care complaints from me have repeatedly arisen from that situation. Twice I've had to resort to contacting the PCP myself to dispute a medication order from the hospitalist. Once I had to complain to administration to persuade a hospitalist to return my phone calls after D/C regarding a totally incorrect assessment signed by him which I found in the D/C pack. He didn't deny that he got the assessment results wrong, but he accused an unnamed nurse for providing it. But it took 2 days of my life after D/C and help from hospital admin to get him to return my call and offer to redact the mistaken entry.

The masked unnamed nurse can't help me with that one! He stopped being my hospitalist as soon as he signed the D/C orders mistakes and all and left it to me and the PCP to deal with maybe a week or more after D/C. Argh!

"That’s not to say we should abandon looking for better ways of doing things right and always insure safety."

I agree and Covid-19 has brutally exposed failures to implement that common sense mission statement. Again my condolences to you and your family. My mom passed earlier this year and we all miss her terribly.

explorerx4 · July 2020

My HVAC filter gets changed twice a year. Spring when the the A/C inspsection/cleaning is done and fall when same for heat.
The filter is pretty large and about 4 inches or more thick.
I have a high efficiency Lennox system.

explorerx4 · July 2020

Thought Id post a picture of my new chainsaw.

Actually, I just bought the homeowner level saw.

roadburner · July 2020

I have two Stihl chainsaws as well as a Stihl hedge trimmer and a Stihl backpack blower; to give you an Idea of how long I've been a fan of Stihl OPE, one of the chainsaws is labeled "Built in Western Germany."

kyfdx · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:
Just came back from Walmart. I thought it odd that @abacomike found doors separate for the two parts of a Walmart store. Today I found one of our stores has "closed" the center entrance and only allows entry through the grocery end of the store. I had to walk a mile to get to the things I wanted right inside the closed entrance.

I complained to the asst manager talking to the checkout lady that they needed to mark it with a larger sign that it's closed. I suggested using some of the money corporate is donating to a cause that they brag about when she told me corporate made them close the entrance. They have the same blue tape across that they had before to make people enter and exit on two halves of that entrance. As I was leaving others were parking near that entrance to go in. But they'll get there and read a tiny sign that's not visible from your car in the parking lot.

I've changed my shopping to other stores, but there are a few things substantially cheaper and easier to find at WallyWorld. I vote with my feet, but I've got a pen and a phone as well.
I ran into the same situation at my local Wally’s. They closed the entrance closest to the pharmacy so all the old codgers had to walk the length of the store twice to get their pills.
Just like Edmunds.. trying to weed out the elderly, to get a better demographic.
Maybe it’s a senior exercise program like mall walking.

Home Depot has always been that way.. in one door, and out the other.

kyfdx · July 2020

explorerx4 said:
My HVAC filter gets changed twice a year. Spring when the the A/C inspsection/cleaning is done and fall when same for heat.
The filter is pretty large and about 4 inches or more thick.
I have a high efficiency Lennox system.

That's weird.

But, air filters generally aren't tied to the furnace, but the attached duct work. I had a new Lennox installed about 4 years ago. But, the filter is still inserted in the same place, between the return air duct and the furnace body. I use the $1.00 specials and change them monthly (in theory).

Like others have stated, every HVAC tech I've talked to says don't use the HEPA filters, due to restricted airflow. Use the cheap fiberglass ones and change them often.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

graphicguy said:

roadburner said:

graphicguy said:
Well....I don’t consider myself “aged”, but maybe I am. Back in the late ‘80s, when I was a technical service rep for a very large copier company, they paid for mobile phones. Not unusual today. Back then, very high tech. It was a big honker, installed right on my dash with the “pig tail” antenna attached on my back windshield. Business calls were covered. Personal calls were not. You would think that’s not a big deal for them to cover personal calls, but then, the charges were by the minute, and if I was in a remote locale (outside the local area codes), the per minute charges went up for “long distance”.

Call quality was terrible. Coverage was dismal, at best. They ended up going back to using pagers to reach me (or have me call them). Back then, if your copier went down, your business ground to a halt.

Problem was, to have the phone ripped out of my car would have left a bunch of screw holes in the dash. Since the phone technically belonged to the company, they allegedly wanted it back after going to pagers. I told them if that were the case, they needed to fix the holes in my dash. They never asked for the phone to be returned, again (IIRC, it cost ~$1,000+). I left the holes. When I sold the car a couple of years later, I left the phone in (non-activated) and used the phone as a selling feature.

By then, I had climbed up the corporate ladder enough to get a company car (a Mercury Sable, which at the time, was state of the art in design). They went back to us having cell phones. But, this time, they were using Motorola Microtac, the first flip phone. No installation needed except for a “signal booster” in the car to make reception better. That was only good while in the car, though.

I thought I was the “shiz-nit” with that phone and that car, at the time.

When I was a judge the state paid for a pager until the early ‘90s when they began offering to pay a percentage of my cell bill. I hated the pagers. They would invariably go off while I was driving and I would have to go find a pay phone.
Pay phones....there’s a memory and throw back. I remember carrying lots of change with me when I had a pager. Standing in a phone or at a phone kiosk during a rain storm or outside in the frigid temps.....not something I relished, but did nonetheless. Some weeks I’d expense $20-$25 for calls made from public phones.

When I was a field rep cell phones were just coming out and there was no service outside of cities. I can remember using pay phones using the company credit card to dial the operator, enter my card number and either dial or say the number I was calling. The cell phones were so bad back then that I didn’t even want one. I guess that was the beginning of my techno phobia.

kyfdx · July 2020

In the late ‘80s, my girlfriend was a sales rep for a high-line cosmetic company. Her home phone long distance bill was over $400, each month. Now, you can get unlimited for $10/mo

fintail · July 2020

I was in 6th grade in 1988, so yeah

Telecom-related memories. I recall when I was a student in the late 90s, cellphones were still quite expensive, few of my friends had them. Even landline long distance plans could still be dear, so the smart move was to get a calling card at Costco for like $20, which gave you something like 700 minutes. I also remember in my early cellphone days, going outside the metro area would have you roaming, sometimes analog roaming - couldn't check voicemail etc. Or even 10 years ago, a few weeks in Europe might produce a bill of a few hundred dollars for roaming - it was advisable to have your phone unlocked and purchase a local SIM. Nowadays, with T-Mobile anyway, roaming and (throttled) data is almost free, no need to change anything.

graphicguy said:
Well....I don’t consider myself “aged”, but maybe I am. Back in the late ‘80s, when I was a technical service rep for a very large copier company

explorerx4 · July 2020

@kyfdx,
Filter housing is next to the furnace. I put a 4 inch roller on it to show relative size.
Picture is a bit dark.

jmonroe1 · July 2020

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:
Long post alert

So my wife wakes up this morning explaining her IPhone 11 Pro Max will not respond to any touch inputs. I do all the normal stuff, hard reboot etc. I then did an ITunes update and then wipe and restore. All fail. It must be a hardware problem.

Luckily we have a spare IPhone my son plays with. Swap SIM cards, factory reset and fresh ICloud sign in. Wife has phone for work.

Now ... try and make appointment with an Apple store. They are all booked until the 31st. Call Apple. On hold forever, so I hung up and attempted to do it online. That worked and it’s under warranty so I just have to drop it off at the UPS store. There is one a few towns south about a 20 minute ride.

I get there and it’s “temporarily closed”. Funny, the website didn’t show that. Now of course the next closet one is 30 miles in the other direction. At least that one was open. For the locals .. this was Sea Isle to Rio Grande all the way back up to Margate. At least I got to see Lucy and three Lambos and two Ferraris.

All this mess for a darn phone. First world problems for sure!
Long? You gotta do a lot better than that. That post won’t draw yawns like some of mine. 😳

jmonroe

No JM, you are still the master. Although you haven't laid one of those novellas on us in a long time.

Do you really think you should be challenging me?

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2020

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:
Long post alert

So my wife wakes up this morning explaining her IPhone 11 Pro Max will not respond to any touch inputs. I do all the normal stuff, hard reboot etc. I then did an ITunes update and then wipe and restore. All fail. It must be a hardware problem.

Luckily we have a spare IPhone my son plays with. Swap SIM cards, factory reset and fresh ICloud sign in. Wife has phone for work.

Now ... try and make appointment with an Apple store. They are all booked until the 31st. Call Apple. On hold forever, so I hung up and attempted to do it online. That worked and it’s under warranty so I just have to drop it off at the UPS store. There is one a few towns south about a 20 minute ride.

I get there and it’s “temporarily closed”. Funny, the website didn’t show that. Now of course the next closet one is 30 miles in the other direction. At least that one was open. For the locals .. this was Sea Isle to Rio Grande all the way back up to Margate. At least I got to see Lucy and three Lambos and two Ferraris.

All this mess for a darn phone. First world problems for sure!
Long? You gotta do a lot better than that. That post won’t draw yawns like some of mine. 😳

jmonroe

No JM, you are still the master. Although you haven't laid one of those novellas on us in a long time.
Do you really think you should be challenging me?

jmonroe

No, best to let sleeping dogs lie

driver100 · July 2020

explorerx4 said:
@kyfdx,
Filter housing is next to the furnace. I put a 4 inch roller on it to show relative size.
Picture is a bit dark.

That filter housing looks just like ours.

kyfdx · July 2020

explorerx4 said:
@kyfdx,
Filter housing is next to the furnace. I put a 4 inch roller on it to show relative size.
Picture is a bit dark.

Wow

stickguy · July 2020

Looks just like my furnace.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

suydam said:
“I asked one of the drones”

I’m sure you meant to be cute but why call one of these poor humans that? They are at high risk for COVID 19 themselves and I’m sure take a lot of abuse for policies they didn’t create. It’s a pandemic. It sucks. Let’s all try to be nicer to each other.

Sorry that you misinterpreted my statement. I called them drones because those “poor humans” are like most low wage workers simply following orders from a faceless management. If you read the rest of my statement I said I told her that she needn’t be sorry for company policy. I felt sorry for her and couldn’t have been “nicer” if I tried. As a drone myself at my company I have empathy for others who are just doing their job and as the face of said company have to take flack for things beyond their control. I don’t know why you fixated on one word in my post to take offense.

driver100 · July 2020

I was a drone working for a company that had book displays in Wallymarts. Sometimes they would let us in early to work on our display areas. It was really sad to see their morning pep talk.......music came on loud and clear, Taking Care of Business would come on and employees would gather in one area. They were told how sales were going and what they should do to increase sales. Then they would do a few cheers, and then were sent on their way. Most are talking to themselves or coworkers about how awful this whole thing was. Demeaning, make them act enthusiastic and cheery when they couldn't possibly be. Talk about slavery.

tjc78 · July 2020

Starting Monday I won’t be able to post as much since I’ll be starting a new gig ... Finally!

I’ll be on the other side of the desk working as a project manager for retail clients for a large firm. In other words I’ll be working with/for people that did the same job as I did.

Once COVID hit I realized the dramatic effect on retail businesses and that it would be better to work with a company that had several clients rather than a single retailer.

Several of my peers are still unemployed from the closing and several more in my network have been let go from other retailers. It really isn’t easy out there right now.

@stickguy I’ll pretty much have the same commute again that I had for years. Office is in Cherry Hill only about two miles from my old Moorestown office. It sounds like after the initial training that I may be able to transition to WFH. I’ll also have some light travel again, which is no big deal.

roadburner · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:
. I don’t know why you fixated on one word in my post to take offense.

Google “perpetually offended.”

kyfdx · July 2020

@tjc78 Congrats! That has to be a load off.

abacomike · July 2020

tjc78 said:
Starting Monday I won’t be able to post as much since I’ll be starting a new gig ... Finally!

I’ll be on the other side of the desk working as a project manager for retail clients for a large firm. In other words I’ll be working with/for people that did the same job as I did.

Once COVID hit I realized the dramatic effect on retail businesses and that it would be better to work with a company that had several clients rather than a single retailer.

Several of my peers are still unemployed from the closing and several more in my network have been let go from other retailers. It really isn’t easy out there right now.

@stickguy I’ll pretty much have the same commute again that I had for years. Office is in Cherry Hill only about two miles from my old Moorestown office. It sounds like after the initial training that I may be able to transition to WFH. I’ll also have some light travel again, which is no big deal.

This is such great news, tjc! I know it's been tough for you. I wish you all the luck in the world on this new job! Let us know how it works out for you.🤓

graphicguy · July 2020

explorerx4 said:
@kyfdx,
Filter housing is next to the furnace. I put a 4 inch roller on it to show relative size.
Picture is a bit dark.

I have one that’s similar, and actually in the same place on my HVAC. But, mine’s an “Aprilaire”. Not sure it really matters as it’s just a place where the air filter goes, albeit it’s a much bigger and thicker filter than the ones you see in HVAC systems with “normal” filters.

suydam · July 2020

I’m not perpetually offended and I was respectful. . I didn’t impute bad motivation. I just wouldn’t refer to myself or anyone else that way. These workers have been, cursed, spit on and even assaulted. I think dehumanization is why people feel free to treat them so badly. So maybe if we could all make an extra effort to be kind to each other and the people we encounter it would help us all get through this very difficult time. That’s all.

stickguy · July 2020

tjc78 said:
Starting Monday I won’t be able to post as much since I’ll be starting a new gig ... Finally!

I’ll be on the other side of the desk working as a project manager for retail clients for a large firm. In other words I’ll be working with/for people that did the same job as I did.

Once COVID hit I realized the dramatic effect on retail businesses and that it would be better to work with a company that had several clients rather than a single retailer.

Several of my peers are still unemployed from the closing and several more in my network have been let go from other retailers. It really isn’t easy out there right now.

@stickguy I’ll pretty much have the same commute again that I had for years. Office is in Cherry Hill only about two miles from my old Moorestown office. It sounds like after the initial training that I may be able to transition to WFH. I’ll also have some light travel again, which is no big deal.

Congrats. I’d been wondering. I’m sure it’s a nice relief. And that’s not a bad commute at all.

graphicguy · July 2020

kyfdx said:
In the late ‘80s, my girlfriend was a sales rep for a high-line cosmetic company. Her home phone long distance bill was over $400, each month. Now, you can get unlimited for $10/mo

Same....when I left the mega copier company who, by the way, was knee deep in the (then) new word processing market, who I worked for, I thought I had joined a company who was light years ahead in the tech dept.

The “new” company did Computer Aided Design, which also was a relatively new market at the time. Not only did they give me a more up-to-date phone that was not only a phone, but a “walkie-talkie”, too. Still had to pay for long distance. I covered 4 states. Long distance on a cell phone was crazy expensive (roaming charges).....~$500/mo, in addition to the monthly fees for local calls.

As you say, get “all everything, all the time” for 1/10th that amount today.

pensfan83 · July 2020

@tjc78 congratulations, that has to be such a relief for you and the family. Good luck with the new gig!

28firefighter · July 2020

Congrats @tjc78! Finding a new gig during pandemic is no joke, so kudos to you and best of luck in the new role!

graphicguy · July 2020

Congrats @tjc78 .....You sound excited, which is a good thing.

tjc78 · July 2020

Thanks everyone. Yes, extremely excited. It was a long journey for sure.

jmonroe1 · July 2020

explorerx4 said:
@kyfdx,
Filter housing is next to the furnace. I put a 4 inch roller on it to show relative size.
Picture is a bit dark.

I also have a Lennox with the 4 inch filter. I’m pretty sure mine works better because your cold air return is on the wrong side.

jmonroe

roadburner · July 2020

kyfdx said:
@tjc78 Congrats! That has to be a load off.

Ditto!

Michaell · July 2020

@tjc78 - congrats!

My godparents lived in Moorsetown - have many happy memories of spending time with them throughout the years.

pensfan83 · July 2020

When my travels bring me to Southern NJ the office I work out of is in Cherry Hill, though it was relocated and is closer to Moorestown now.

graphicguy · July 2020

OK...as we’re want to do in here, I’m going to go down an audio rabbit hole with this post. You’ve been warned.

A good friend of mine (who just retired from Intel, my former competitor) just dropped a bundle on a new Home Theater System. He’s prone to have more money than sense (something I can sometimes relate to). He didn’t build it up over time. He wrote a check and got a projector, a screen, an AV Receiver, 11 speakers, sundry wiring and accessories delivered. He’s a neophyte when it comes to audio, but that’s what friends are for.

We started on it last night (this installation is going to take a couple more nights to complete). He had his basement finished for Home Theater use. Not unlike mine except I made an entire play room out of mine which included a home theater set up.

I quizzed him about why he didn’t have the store set it up for him. He said they wanted to charge too much. Understand, he just dropped well into five figures on equipment, but wouldn’t spend ~$1,000-$2,000 to have it all professionally installed. Again, I suppose that’s what friends are for.

We got it all unboxed and hoofed it down to his Home Theater room. Started taking measurements and running cable through the walls and ceiling. Got the projector installed in a ceiling perch and the screen into the motorized lift. I was pleased with how much we got done, but there’s a lot more to do.

We called it a night and he rewarded me with a snifter of my favorite bourbon (Basil Hayden). I had noticed he had what looked like shelving tucked into a corner of his den. But, they were weird looking shelves. Asked him about them.

He walked up and pulled them out of the corner. They were these....

https://www.magnepan.com/model_lrs

This is not a well known speaker manufacturer, but are revered to those who know of them.

He said they sounded terrible but was out of the period where he could return them.

These speakers need lots of current to sound good. A $500 AV Receiver won’t cut it. Plus, they send a signal both forward and back. So, they need room to “breathe”. They have to be set up well into the room to sound right. No shoving them against a wall. I’ve not heard the particular speakers this guy had, but have heard numerous Magnepans in the past. They’re unlike anything you’ve ever heard and are glorious when set up correctly. I relayed this information. He said he was “over them” and asked if I would be interested in them.

Magnepans tend to cost on the high side of stereo speakers....$2K to start and go up from there.

He said the ones he has cost $700 and offered them to me for $250 because I was helping him. Great deal....they’re only 6 moths old and were used a handful of times before shoved into a corner.

Downside....these are only good for a two channel system. Even though the cost of entry is cheap, the electronics to drive them would be hefty. Plus, you need room....lots of room. I guess I could convert one of my bedrooms into a listening room. So much for putting my house on the market to downsize.

Not sure I want to go down that road. But, I know what these things sound like. And, they are fantastic in a total sense, not just for the money.

But, I’m finding myself looking at High Current amps and pre-amps that might couple well with them.

We’re back at the install tonight. I’ll have to inspect them more closely.

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