General WTF Moments

[Wayside Observer]

4 hours ago, Downsview 108 said:

Be glad it was only that. I once got a Scientology magazine in the mail.

Ouch!  Was it actually addressed to you?  

Do you remember the crummy Scientology building on Yonge near Wellesley?  I used to work at Bay and Wellesley and I’d pass by that dump on my way to and from and they’d be hawking free copies of Dianetics and their stupid electronic stress test nonsense at a table out front.  I’d usually have a smartass response to the stress test like “I don’t need it, I already know what the answer is”.

Out here it’s the Jehova’s Witnesses and Bell door to door salesmen that are the nuisance.

The Jehova’s Witnesses periodically stuff the mailbox with leaflets or Watchtowers. On one occasion, one of them saw me in the driveway and gave me a short speech about how his group was having a meeting soon and handed me a sheet upside down so I couldn’t see what it was and then started staring way, way down and asking me about how far back the back yard went.  Bell’s sales teams have taken it even further by marching down the driveway after spotting me barbecuing from the sidewalk, bloody nosy parkers looking almost 150 feet down from the sidewalk to see me where the barbecue is and then waltzing in to try and sell me one of their flipping bundles.

[splendidwizardplayer]

Today I was a hamburger and the boy next to said that he wants to were my hamburger suit I said no he said he will kiss my hand if I don't let him were it so he grabbed my hand and kissed it. All at school.

 

my ENG teacher said that we have to go to are VPs (we have three Vice principals) to go back to my ENG class because instead of looking at the movie we are on are phones like all teenagers do. 

[TTC4120fan]

3 minutes ago, splendidwizardplayer said:

Today I was a hamburger and the boy next to said that he wants to were my hamburger suit I said no he said he will kiss my hand if I don't let him were it so he grabbed my hand and kissed it. All at school.

 

my ENG teacher said that we have to go to are VPs (we have three Vice principals) to go back to my ENG class because instead of looking at the movie we are on are phones like all teenagers do. 

That sucks. Back at my old elementary school, I went there with a bunch of guys, and really 2-3 of them were my real friends. Most of them were real immature, and would get in trouble regularly. Luckily in my high school, my new friends are nice to me. But their patience level is really low. About a month ago, a guy who I occasionally speak to got in a verbal fight with another guy who is pretty annoying. He left the class, and broke the glass on one of the doors going outside. And just last week, a close friend of mine also got into a verbal fight this time with a girl, left the class, turned around and completely broke the glass on the door going from the class out to the hall.

[splendidwizardplayer]

3 minutes ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

He left the class, and broke the glass on one of the doors going outside

What did he do to do that, if you know.

[TTC4120fan]

Just now, splendidwizardplayer said:

What did he do to do that, if you know.

As far as I know, there was a verbal fight between 2 guys. One of them left the class , went to the school entrance and kicked the glass on the door. The door is still out of commission, but it was taped back up.

[Downsview 108]

1 hour ago, Wayside Observer said:

Ouch!  Was it actually addressed to you?  

Do you remember the crummy Scientology building on Yonge near Wellesley?  I used to work at Bay and Wellesley and I’d pass by that dump on my way to and from and they’d be hawking free copies of Dianetics and their stupid electronic stress test nonsense at a table out front.  I’d usually have a smartass response to the stress test like “I don’t need it, I already know what the answer is”.

Out here it’s the Jehova’s Witnesses and Bell door to door salesmen that are the nuisance.

The Jehova’s Witnesses periodically stuff the mailbox with leaflets or Watchtowers. On one occasion, one of them saw me in the driveway and gave me a short speech about how his group was having a meeting soon and handed me a sheet upside down so I couldn’t see what it was and then started staring way, way down and asking me about how far back the back yard went.  Bell’s sales teams have taken it even further by marching down the driveway after spotting me barbecuing from the sidewalk, bloody nosy parkers looking almost 150 feet down from the sidewalk to see me where the barbecue is and then waltzing in to try and sell me one of their flipping bundles.

The house number was mine but the name was different. It was a wierd year for mail. I got a couple Watchtowers the same year too. My buddy got a bunch of literature from the Communist Party of Canada. Talk about junk mail. I don't remember that building but nice comeback. To be honest, I haven't seen a Jehovah's Witness in years. Those guys creeped me out. They were a little too clean cut. Like Hitler Youth clean cut. I dunno if they have a uniform or all go to the same tailor or what. All I know is, I was exposed early on to the Heaven's Gate group so I can spot the warning signs. I just hope they disappeared because their EI dried up and not for the same reasons as the aforementioned "club".

[splendidwizardplayer]

11 minutes ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

As far as I know, there was a verbal fight between 2 guys. One of them left the class , went to the school entrance and kicked the glass on the door. The door is still out of commission, but it was taped back up.

Forgot to post this on the 6th day  of school. Some teen broke a window me and a friend saw someone who works for the school yell at him for the broken window

Edited November 1, 2019 by splendidwizardplayer

[Wayside Observer]

17 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

The house number was mine but the name was different. It was a wierd year for mail. I got a couple Watchtowers the same year too. My buddy got a bunch of literature from the Communist Party of Canada. Talk about junk mail. I don't remember that building but nice comeback. To be honest, I haven't seen a Jehovah's Witness in years.

That's weird.  The closest thing I've had to that happening was a parcel that showed up on my porch with my address but a different name and it wasn't for the previous occupants either so I took it to the post office and turned it in.  Apparently it was for the next door neighbours and the label was printed incorrectly.  It was Disney merchandise for their daughter as it turned out.

If you want to see Jehova's witnesses, they usually have a stand or two with a couple of people pushing Watchtowers on one or two of the corners on Front St. by Union Station.  The Scientologists vacated that building a few years ago because it was in sad, sad shape.  It's still there but unoccupied as far as I know.  I think the last time I passed by was back in March when work sent me over to the Ontario government complex on Bay St. for a couple of days of off site assignment and it looked pretty abandoned.

17 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

Those guys creeped me out. They were a little too clean cut. Like Hitler Youth clean cut. I dunno if they have a uniform or all go to the same tailor or what.

Are you thinking of Mormons?  They're the ones that send out pairs of young men in the same white shirts, black tie, black pants that's pretty much a de-facto uniform and have their personal appearance all spit and polish trimmed up.  I've seen them out there but oddly, they're one group that's never tried to talk to me.  It's always been the Jehova's Witnesses canvassing the neighbourhood or the Scientologists at that building on the way to and from work.  Honestly, I passed by their recruiting table so many, many times going to and from that job over on Bay St, I eventually ran out of snide remarks about their stupid stress test medical quack machine.  Bullshit dressed up as science to give it a veneer of legitimacy really bothers me and I usually gave a curt two cents about that whenever one of them tried to get me let them hook this junk up to me.

17 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

All I know is, I was exposed early on to the Heaven's Gate group so I can spot the warning signs. I just hope they disappeared because their EI dried up and not for the same reasons as the aforementioned "club".

Yeah, the name of that group sounds more than just a little morbid.

[Downsview 108]

14 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

That's weird.  The closest thing I've had to that happening was a parcel that showed up on my porch with my address but a different name and it wasn't for the previous occupants either so I took it to the post office and turned it in.  Apparently it was for the next door neighbours and the label was printed incorrectly.  It was Disney merchandise for their daughter as it turned out.

If you want to see Jehova's witnesses, they usually have a stand or two with a couple of people pushing Watchtowers on one or two of the corners on Front St. by Union Station.  The Scientologists vacated that building a few years ago because it was in sad, sad shape.  It's still there but unoccupied as far as I know.  I think the last time I passed by was back in March when work sent me over to the Ontario government complex on Bay St. for a couple of days of off site assignment and it looked pretty abandoned.

Are you thinking of Mormons?  They're the ones that send out pairs of young men in the same white shirts, black tie, black pants that's pretty much a de-facto uniform and have their personal appearance all spit and polish trimmed up.  I've seen them out there but oddly, they're one group that's never tried to talk to me.  It's always been the Jehova's Witnesses canvassing the neighbourhood or the Scientologists at that building on the way to and from work.  Honestly, I passed by their recruiting table so many, many times going to and from that job over on Bay St, I eventually ran out of snide remarks about their stupid stress test medical quack machine.  Bullshit dressed up as science to give it a veneer of legitimacy really bothers me and I usually gave a curt two cents about that whenever one of them tried to get me let them hook this junk up to me.

Yeah, the name of that group sounds more than just a little morbid.

Maybe someone at wherever their secret lair was screwed up the address.

Wow perfect location for the JWs. A bunch of angry commuters I'm sure are just dying to hear "The Truth (C)" in the 12.6 seconds they have to spare.

Yeah, sorry it was the "Church of Latter-Day Saints" that were the clean cut guys. I haven't seen either JWs or CLDSs in a long time. Those Mormons creep me out. I can understand having to be clean cut as they would not want to soil their "Golden Drawers" just in case times get tough and they have to take them to one of those cheque cashing places on the Queensway.

LMFAO stress test. Isn't technology wonderful? Now we can finally know when and where we are stressed! Me? (Is this stress test a gizmo like a lie detector test where you'd be seated next to some machine with perforated paper and a graph plotting machine are rolling away with your head hooked up with a helmet similar to the one Dr. Emmett Brown had when you first encounter him?) I would probably make a bunch of bogus replies to any questions and sort of force them to "4F" me out of their club. Have you seen the obscure movie "My Dinner With Jimi"? Sort of like the scene where the two lead singers of the band The Turtles are dodging the draft.

[Bus_Medic]

Cute this the next time you’re accosted my morons...err, Mormons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre

-shuts them right up.

[splendidwizardplayer]

I was on TTC 8085 on the 45A. A water main was broken and was sending water up in the air 8085 had to go past the flying water and in doing so water got thru the cracks in the doors and windows on the right side everyone on the right side got wet.

 

It snowed in Toronto and when I was on 8085 it was sunny and snowing hard.

[Wayside Observer]

On 10/24/2019 at 4:34 PM, Downsview 108 said:

NICE. That wall box looks older than the one I can remember. The one I remember looked more rounded and had those orange and red buttons. Judging by some of the tracks, looks like most of the content was from around 1985. Heart and Soul by Huey Lewis LMAO. One resort I worked at had a jukebox in storage that looked like the bottom pic and I think had even older selections. Such a waste for such magnificent machines to retire this way.

 

EDIT: I still have the tape LOL. I dunno how well you can see in the 3rd picture but you can clearly see the tape residue from shedding on the leader. Let it be known I only recorded and played back onto this tape ONCE!

This piece of crap isn’t a jukebox wall box as far as I’m concerned.  What a waste...  I’m on vacation right now and I’ve been eating at this place in the states for years and I’ve never seen this modern system from the 90s used and it looks like it may be defunct now.   All the other wall boxes are off and the display on the one at my table just says “BUSY”.

To answer your question, in a traditional system, everyone’s wall box would play your song along with the central jukebox itself (unless someone turned it all the way down which someone may have done with the one that sat in the basement of the restaurant near home) and any central PA speakers wired up to the amps in the jukebox.

As for that quality tape of yours, some tape aged very badly and sheds oxide without any provocation now.  Some of the cheap tapes have always been garbage too.  Have you ever seen “single pass” tape for sale?  I used to get kicks out of asking people selling single pass tape if they really did record on it but never play it back.  If it’s only gone through a machine once, after all...

[Downsview 108]

On 11/9/2019 at 8:09 PM, Wayside Observer said:

This piece of crap isn’t a jukebox wall box as far as I’m concerned.  What a waste...  I’m on vacation right now and I’ve been eating at this place in the states for years and I’ve never seen this modern system from the 90s used and it looks like it may be defunct now.   All the other wall boxes are off and the display on the one at my table just says “BUSY”.

To answer your question, in a traditional system, everyone’s wall box would play your song along with the central jukebox itself (unless someone turned it all the way down which someone may have done with the one that sat in the basement of the restaurant near home) and any central PA speakers wired up to the amps in the jukebox.

As for that quality tape of yours, some tape aged very badly and sheds oxide without any provocation now.  Some of the cheap tapes have always been garbage too.  Have you ever seen “single pass” tape for sale?  I used to get kicks out of asking people selling single pass tape if they really did record on it but never play it back.  If it’s only gone through a machine once, after all...

I would love to drop a nickel in the form of a Louisville Slugger to that abomination.

Thanks for the info. I guess if one really wanted to, they could piss off the whole restaurant by playing the same tune over and over again. I would choose "Everybody's Talkin'" by Nillson.

I haven't heard of single-pass tape. That's ridiculous. LMAO. What do they constitute as a pass then? When the tape goes past one head? Well what if the unit has 3 heads? What was the brand name of that tape anyway? Watergate? LOOOL

Anyway for my WTF moment. I just watched a video I shot of the 506 diversion onto Spadina and I noticed that the Silver Dollar Room was gone. Seen many a great show there. Not sorry to see the Waverly bite the dust though. That place was sketchy asf.

[splendidwizardplayer]

Saw this thing running down the tracks near Kipling station

[Wayside Observer]

On November 11, 2019 at 5:52 AM, Downsview 108 said:

I would love to drop a nickel in the form of a Louisville Slugger to that abomination.

Thanks for the info. I guess if one really wanted to, they could piss off the whole restaurant by playing the same tune over and over again. I would choose "Everybody's Talkin'" by Nillson.

They'd be making more money off charging people a nickel to take a few swings to those garbagey wall boxes with a baseball bat than they are letting them sit there with nobody dropping coins in to play music.  Honestly, I wish they'd remove them and throw them in the dumpster out back.  They really encroach on the elbow room at the tables.

Now Robert Wyatting the whole restaurant by picking the most obscure song in the jukebox and playing it over and over is just mean!  I like it!

On November 11, 2019 at 5:52 AM, Downsview 108 said:

 

I haven't heard of single-pass tape. That's ridiculous. LMAO. What do they constitute as a pass then? When the tape goes past one head? Well what if the unit has 3 heads? What was the brand name of that tape anyway? Watergate? LOOOL

I always understood that what was being referred to was how many times the tape was run forward through the tape transport so the head count wouldn't really matter.  For professional tape, I'd expect at least three heads in the head stack because of the requirement for off tape monitoring during record and it was pretty common for some professional machines, usually 1/4 inch ones, to have multiple playback heads to be able to play tapes with different track layouts on the same machine.  One of the more common 1/4 inch four head configurations was full width erase/halftrack record/halftrack play/quarter track interleave stereo play.  But yes, I like the idea of "This magnetic tape is endorsed by the Nixon Administration" prominently on the packaging!

On November 11, 2019 at 5:52 AM, Downsview 108 said:

Anyway for my WTF moment. I just watched a video I shot of the 506 diversion onto Spadina and I noticed that the Silver Dollar Room was gone. Seen many a great show there. Not sorry to see the Waverly bite the dust though. That place was sketchy asf.

The Silver Dollar room closed down a couple of years ago.  It was one of the earlier casualties in the gutting of live music venues in Toronto over the last few years.  The Waverly hotel was a glorified homeless shelter, frankly.

[Downsview 108]

11 minutes ago, Wayside Observer said:

They'd be making more money off charging people a nickel to take a few swings to those garbagey wall boxes with a baseball bat than they are letting them sit there with nobody dropping coins in to play music.  Honestly, I wish they'd remove them and throw them in the dumpster out back.  They really encroach on the elbow room at the tables.

Now Robert Wyatting the whole restaurant by picking the most obscure song in the jukebox and playing it over and over is just mean!  I like it!

I always understood that what was being referred to was how many times the tape was run forward through the tape transport so the head count wouldn't really matter.  For professional tape, I'd expect at least three heads in the head stack because of the requirement for off tape monitoring during record and it was pretty common for some professional machines, usually 1/4 inch ones, to have multiple playback heads to be able to play tapes with different track layouts on the same machine.  One of the more common 1/4 inch four head configurations was full width erase/halftrack record/halftrack play/quarter track interleave stereo play.  But yes, I like the idea of "This magnetic tape is endorsed by the Nixon Administration" prominently on the packaging!

The Silver Dollar room closed down a couple of years ago.  It was one of the earlier casualties in the gutting of live music venues in Toronto over the last few years.  The Waverly hotel was a glorified homeless shelter, frankly.

True. I'd rather even a genuine wallbox as a static display that didn't work instead of that. The least they could do if they wanted to modernize that whole system but keep the nostalgia is for one, absolutely do not use CDs. Two, use digital files ripped from vinyl instead. And Three, keep the original styled wallboxes. I'm sure some inventive person can rig one of those up to be a remote for digital files on a computer somewhere. Oh yeah, make sure it's getting tube amplification. LOL You don't see the records changing anyway and the vinyl sound will be preserved. That thing you pictured is nothing more than a CD player.

Not only obscure but wordlessly annoying. If I could I'd just repeat the ending where he goes "wahhh wahhh wah wah wah wwahhhhhh heeeeee wahhhhhhhhoooowww" LMAO.

Other selections I'd choose:

Dominique - The Singing Nun

Afternoon Delight - The Starland Vocal Band

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Bryan Hyland

Anything by Ja Rule

I thought the heads would matter because of the pressure each individual head places onto the tape plus the magnetism. Still, one pass tape must have been designed for blackmail or secret meetings or maybe NASA recording of extra-terrestrial life. My bet was blackmail. I only had one reel-to-reel machine. It was an AKAI "quadraphonic" from 1973. So I think it had the full track erase, 1/4 track interleave and then quadraphonic. Half track record is mono, right? I would love a machine that recorded that or full track mono.

Shame about the Dollar I had no idea as I haven't hung around there since Toronto had a music scene. It is heartbreaking. I read an article where they planned on building U of T residence in its place but I thought I read something too that said they were going to save the SDR. So that's why I thought it was still around. Many a fun, albeit drunken nights, parties and shows were had there. Some some great, talented bands such as Semi-Precious Weapons when they were just starting out. They wound up opening for Weezer only a couple years later. One funny story, my buddies and I after a show wanted to get one of those $1 huge hotdogs they had back in the day. So we were like, "wanna get some street meat?". Next thing, a hooker that just stepped out of the Waverly in full regalia whipped her head around and said in a loud voice, "what?!". I still don't know whether or not she was offended or interested.

 

[Tom1122]

Earlier today at work a customer came in in a t-shirt and shorts when it was snowing outside.

[Wayside Observer]

On November 12, 2019 at 8:02 PM, Downsview 108 said:

True. I'd rather even a genuine wallbox as a static display that didn't work instead of that. The least they could do if they wanted to modernize that whole system but keep the nostalgia is for one, absolutely do not use CDs. Two, use digital files ripped from vinyl instead. And Three, keep the original styled wallboxes. I'm sure some inventive person can rig one of those up to be a remote for digital files on a computer somewhere. Oh yeah, make sure it's getting tube amplification. LOL You don't see the records changing anyway and the vinyl sound will be preserved. That thing you pictured is nothing more than a CD player.

It would be fairly straightforward to get a USB to GPIO module and interface that with a jukebox wallbox.  On the computer, write up a program that cross references the selection number to a title or a file in whatever media management program you're using and then execute a macro to cause it to play that song.  A little bit of hardware and a little bit of programming and you could get it done.

On November 12, 2019 at 8:02 PM, Downsview 108 said:

Not only obscure but wordlessly annoying. If I could I'd just repeat the ending where he goes "wahhh wahhh wah wah wah wwahhhhhh heeeeee wahhhhhhhhoooowww" LMAO.

Other selections I'd choose:

Dominique - The Singing Nun

Afternoon Delight - The Starland Vocal Band

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Bryan Hyland

I'm forgetting which movie it was but that last one was used in a scene where a Coca Cola salesman was being tortured by being forced to listen to it.

 

On November 12, 2019 at 8:02 PM, Downsview 108 said:

I thought the heads would matter because of the pressure each individual head places onto the tape plus the magnetism. Still, one pass tape must have been designed for blackmail or secret meetings or maybe NASA recording of extra-terrestrial life. My bet was blackmail. I only had one reel-to-reel machine. It was an AKAI "quadraphonic" from 1973. So I think it had the full track erase, 1/4 track interleave and then quadraphonic. Half track record is mono, right? I would love a machine that recorded that or full track mono.

Halftrack is either mono with a recording on each side of the tape or a stereo recording in one direction only.  "Single pass" was a phrase that was commonly used to describe used tape for sale that had only been used lightly instead of beat back and forth a bazillion times during a mixing session and well on its way to wearing out.  I found an Akai 4000DB at the side of the road once.  The machine had either been dropped or fallen over onto its front but was otherwise in great condition.  The problem was that whatever fall it had done a number on the reel hubs and it worked but I could never get the mechanical alignment on it to be very good and its performance was lacklustre at best.  Even though quadraphonic sound never took off, the quadraphonic reel to reels were good for musicians because that gave you a four track recording studio in a box.

On November 12, 2019 at 8:02 PM, Downsview 108 said:

Shame about the Dollar I had no idea as I haven't hung around there since Toronto had a music scene. It is heartbreaking. I read an article where they planned on building U of T residence in its place but I thought I read something too that said they were going to save the SDR. So that's why I thought it was still around. Many a fun, albeit drunken nights, parties and shows were had there. Some some great, talented bands such as Semi-Precious Weapons when they were just starting out. They wound up opening for Weezer only a couple years later. One funny story, my buddies and I after a show wanted to get one of those $1 huge hotdogs they had back in the day. So we were like, "wanna get some street meat?". Next thing, a hooker that just stepped out of the Waverly in full regalia whipped her head around and said in a loud voice, "what?!". I still don't know whether or not she was offended or interested.

 

Yeah, that sounds like the Waverly for sure.  I guess the people like that have been displaced to the subway:

BlogTO's exciting subway ride

And that qualifies as a WTF moment in and of itself for sure!

[Downsview 108]

8 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

It would be fairly straightforward to get a USB to GPIO module and interface that with a jukebox wallbox.  On the computer, write up a program that cross references the selection number to a title or a file in whatever media management program you're using and then execute a macro to cause it to play that song.  A little bit of hardware and a little bit of programming and you could get it done.

I'm forgetting which movie it was but that last one was used in a scene where a Coca Cola salesman was being tortured by being forced to listen to it.

 

Halftrack is either mono with a recording on each side of the tape or a stereo recording in one direction only.  "Single pass" was a phrase that was commonly used to describe used tape for sale that had only been used lightly instead of beat back and forth a bazillion times during a mixing session and well on its way to wearing out.  I found an Akai 4000DB at the side of the road once.  The machine had either been dropped or fallen over onto its front but was otherwise in great condition.  The problem was that whatever fall it had done a number on the reel hubs and it worked but I could never get the mechanical alignment on it to be very good and its performance was lacklustre at best.  Even though quadraphonic sound never took off, the quadraphonic reel to reels were good for musicians because that gave you a four track recording studio in a box.

Yeah, that sounds like the Waverly for sure.  I guess the people like that have been displaced to the subway:

BlogTO's exciting subway ride

And that qualifies as a WTF moment in and of itself for sure!

Hell yeah, I remember the 4000DB. That's the one with glass heads I think. I was looking to buy one of those but then decided I wanted one of those "Sound-on-sound" Teac machines after my 1730D-SS literally burned out. After trying to find one that wasn't ruinously expensive, I gave up on the medium altogether.

As for that last video, I'm glad I no longer take the subway as often as I do and now take the GO train to go downtown. Small price to pay for civilization.

[Wayside Observer]

16 hours ago, Downsview 108 said:

Hell yeah, I remember the 4000DB. That's the one with glass heads I think. I was looking to buy one of those but then decided I wanted one of those "Sound-on-sound" Teac machines after my 1730D-SS literally burned out. After trying to find one that wasn't ruinously expensive, I gave up on the medium altogether.

The 4000DB was one of the machines with glass heads.  Akai used those in many (may be all?) models towards the end of the reel to reel era.  It had sound-on-sound as well, I always got a laugh out of the SOS switch on the front, and a Dolby encoder/decoder that wasn't much to write home about.  Still, it was a nice compact machine and I would've kept it if it weren't for the fact that I could never get tape to consistently pass over the head gaps correctly with the mechanical alignment being completely destroyed by whatever impact the front of the machine had.  "Ruinously expensive" is probably the best way to describe anything involving magnetic tape along with "labour intensive".  Your machine literally burned out?  What happened?!

16 hours ago, Downsview 108 said:

As for that last video, I'm glad I no longer take the subway as often as I do and now take the GO train to go downtown. Small price to pay for civilization.

Yeah.  I don't ride the subway all that often anymore either.  Moving out to the 905 belt was the only way I could afford a house and that pretty much shifted me off the TTC.  Add things like football or side freelance work or other activities where I have to haul a ton of junk around and public transportation doesn't work well at all or isn't possible.  I rode the subway for the first time in about a month middle of the day yesterday.  I have a game I like to play where I try to get through my occasional TTC subway journey without encountering delays and it's difficult.  Can I get where I need to go and back again without hearing the PA system come on with a delay being announced?  Not yesterday.  Not the time I used the subway back in October.  It's rare to complete a round trip without having that happen.  I definitely haven't had any sideshow like what was caught on video there though.  That's pure grotesque attention seeking and not appropriate at all for out in public like that.  People take their kids on the subway.  People take their kids to McDonalds.  There's things they don't need to see until they're older and that's one of them.

[Doppelkupplung]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:11 AM, Tom1122 said:

Earlier today at work a customer came in in a t-shirt and shorts when it was snowing outside.

Tbh when it snows its not that cold because the moist, warmer air mixes with the cold air, which produces snow and slightly warmer temperature. These past two weeks I've been wearing my windbreaker and its been great. If anything, a bit of chill is nice. Gives you that extra zap at 6am. 

Of course, I speak as a misguided 20 year old, so take that as you will.

[Wayside Observer]

5 hours ago, Doppelkupplung said:

Tbh when it snows its not that cold because the moist, warmer air mixes with the cold air, which produces snow and slightly warmer temperature. These past two weeks I've been wearing my windbreaker and its been great. If anything, a bit of chill is nice. Gives you that extra zap at 6am. 

Of course, I speak as a misguided 20 year old, so take that as you will.

Exactly.  If it’s snowing, unless you’ve got some unusual weather happening, it sits right around zero and doesn’t go much below.  Latent heat of formation and all that.  If you have water freezing or melting, the latent heat of that phase change means you’re at zero degrees.   And that’s why in the world of complicated electronics that you just can’t do sends the Toronto foamers around the bend, sticking one thermocouple into a bath of melting ice water as a zero degree reference and another on whatever thermal process you want to control is a thing.  I’m a lot more than 20 years old but I’m still misguided though!  

[Downsview 108]

8 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

The 4000DB was one of the machines with glass heads.  Akai used those in many (may be all?) models towards the end of the reel to reel era.  It had sound-on-sound as well, I always got a laugh out of the SOS switch on the front, and a Dolby encoder/decoder that wasn't much to write home about.  Still, it was a nice compact machine and I would've kept it if it weren't for the fact that I could never get tape to consistently pass over the head gaps correctly with the mechanical alignment being completely destroyed by whatever impact the front of the machine had.  "Ruinously expensive" is probably the best way to describe anything involving magnetic tape along with "labour intensive".  Your machine literally burned out?  What happened?!

Yeah.  I don't ride the subway all that often anymore either.  Moving out to the 905 belt was the only way I could afford a house and that pretty much shifted me off the TTC.  Add things like football or side freelance work or other activities where I have to haul a ton of junk around and public transportation doesn't work well at all or isn't possible.  I rode the subway for the first time in about a month middle of the day yesterday.  I have a game I like to play where I try to get through my occasional TTC subway journey without encountering delays and it's difficult.  Can I get where I need to go and back again without hearing the PA system come on with a delay being announced?  Not yesterday.  Not the time I used the subway back in October.  It's rare to complete a round trip without having that happen.  I definitely haven't had any sideshow like what was caught on video there though.  That's pure grotesque attention seeking and not appropriate at all for out in public like that.  People take their kids on the subway.  People take their kids to McDonalds.  There's things they don't need to see until they're older and that's one of them.

Yeah the glass head series started I think 1975? And all their subsequent models to the end had em. I wish my quadraphonic machine had sound on sound since it could play four tracks simultaneously. I imagine many a punk rock demo or even master recording were done on those 4000DB's. They seemed to be quite popular. The price of those machines skyrocketed too so I'm done with that. I bought my machine in the Sherway gardens parking lot I shit you not. . It was a local pickup off eBay for $30 and it came with a few tapes (including the "Surround Stereo Demo Tape" that was taped over with Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon LMAO!!!).* Unfortunately, the heat of that particular summer, the dust of my room and the fact the machine probably hadn't been used in years didn't do the internal fan's lube any favours. I didn't mess with electronics like that back then** so I just let it stay until the fan finally died. It worked fine without a fan for a bit until one day when I was listening to a tape and the song kept going slower and slower. I think there was a bit of smoke too. LOL It was sad but to my solace, I ended up selling it for the same price to a collector. He was surprised that a young guy (I was 22 at the time) was interested in such machines.

I only rode the subway a couple times this year. Last time was after a visit to high park to shoot some CLRVs and I walked to Keele after the 80 Queensway stopped running. I must say it was the most pleasant subway ride I'd had in many years. I enjoy the subway more when I'm on it less. I like taking the GO train though because it has been consistently drama-free since I started taking it. I would like to move out to the 905 too but that's fast becoming Toronto as well, especially Brampton with the huge rise in crime I am seeing there. I'm not moving from Scarborough 1.0 to Scarborough 2.0. LOL And yeah, the subways is no good for hauling large items. Boy you are right about that. I've hauled everything from computers, to amplifiers to big rollsign boxes years ago on the TTC and it felt like an adventure. I should have joined the military. I'd destroy those hikes. And the delays? Tell me something. Is our little rinky dink subway system that strenuous to operate? Because I can imagine operating it with 4 of those Bachmann HO Scale power packs. LOL. What's the point of having a subway when it is delayed every day and half of it is shut down every weekend? Rapid Transit my arse. The Better Way even more my arse.

Don't get me started on the disrespect for kids nowadays. If I had kids I am moving to the sticks and homeschooling them. The growing all out war declared on children's innocence today is very suspect to me. VERY suspect. People with children would do well to be armed in 2019. That's all I'll say on the subject.

*when I bought this machine, it was the first time I ever listened to 1/4" tape. I was floored by the sound quality. That solidified my belief in the superiority of analog sound.

**I did open the machine up to have a look and I am positive I must have done something stupid like spray some WD40 (the lubricant of the ignorant) all over it. LOL

[Wayside Observer]

57 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

Yeah the glass head series started I think 1975? And all their subsequent models to the end had em. I wish my quadraphonic machine had sound on sound since it could play four tracks simultaneously. I imagine many a punk rock demo or even master recording were done on those 4000DB's. They seemed to be quite popular. The price of those machines skyrocketed too so I'm done with that. I bought my machine in the Sherway gardens parking lot I shit you not. . It was a local pickup off eBay for $30 and it came with a few tapes (including the "Surround Stereo Demo Tape" that was taped over with Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon LMAO!!!).* Unfortunately, yourthe heat of that particular summer, the dust of my room and the fact the machine probably hadn't been used in years didn't do the internal fan's lube any favours. I didn't mess with electronics like that back then** so I just let it stay until the fan finally died. It worked fine without a fan for a bit until one day when I was listening to a tape and the song kept going slower and slower. I think there was a bit of smoke too. LOL It was sad but to my solace, I ended up selling it for the same price to a collector. He was surprised that a young guy (I was 22 at the time) was interested in such machines.

I used to get the same thing in my teens and twenties.  At least tape machines and tube gear were cheap then but I got no end of the "you're how old and you do what?!?!" reactions from people that couldn't fathom that.  The whole 4000 series was popular.  Akai got a lot of mileage out of that transport which they recycled across a ton of models for years.  One of my friends at work has a GX-4000.  We've been meaning to get it on the bench at my place because one channel's lower than the other and he isn't sure if it's a record or playback issue or a mechanical alignment problem.  The big alignment problem we've been having though is getting our respective schedules lined up to make it happen.  I agree about the prices skyrocketing on those too.  It's insane.  And they never have the capstan sleeve for 7.5 IPS either.  I can't remember if I kept the one from my 4000DB before I gave up on the machine and junked it.  The thing that bothers me is that these are 45 year old consumer units from living rooms.  Nice as they are, they're not a professional Ampex or Studer.  Those are eyepoppingly expensive.

It's a shame your machine bailed out the way it did.  Everyone has a couple of experiences like that when you start out.  I had a Viking reel to reel blow up with leaky capacitors that I didn't change out!  I know a guy who used to work at a radio station in Charlottetown where the master control had a Studer, I think an A700 but don't quote me on the model number, in the racks which was a model notorious for having the capstan bearings become sticky and cause the motor to burn out from the servo cranking up current through it way up to maintain tape speed.  He was bound and determined that he wasn't going to have to remove this thing from the rack to repair it so whenever he went into the station's master control room, he brought his oil can with him and lubed up the capstan bearing from the front of the machine.  This went on for years until they turned over the technology and removed the old equipment and there was a massive puddle of oil on the shelf underneath the machine.  It never broke down though!

57 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

I only rode the subway a couple times this year. Last time was after a visit to high park to shoot some CLRVs and I walked to Keele after the 80 Queensway stopped running. I must say it was the most pleasant subway ride I'd had in many years. I enjoy the subway more when I'm on it less. I like taking the GO train though because it has been consistently drama-free since I started taking it. I would like to move out to the 905 too but that's fast becoming Toronto as well, especially Brampton with the huge rise in crime I am seeing there. I'm not moving from Scarborough 1.0 to Scarborough 2.0. LOL And yeah, the subways is no good for hauling large items. Boy you are right about that. I've hauled everything from computers, to amplifiers to big rollsign boxes years ago on the TTC and it felt like an adventure. I should have joined the military. I'd destroy those hikes. And the delays? Tell me something. Is our little rinky dink subway system that strenuous to operate? Because I can imagine operating it with 4 of those Bachmann HO Scale power packs. LOL. What's the point of having a subway when it is delayed every day and half of it is shut down every weekend? Rapid Transit my arse. The Better Way even more my arse.

I enjoy it more too now for the same reason.  I don't use it very often and I'm not completely dependent on it and that makes it much more enjoyable.  When I was though, I hauled everything home on the subway including a lot of heavy, bulky stuff.  My share of roll signs and stereo equipment and computers for sure.  The best was a bit into a new job, the guy that hired me decided to give me an oscilloscope that they didn't need anymore so he wrote it off and I took it home that evening on the subway.  This did NOT go well.  People were staying clear of me and staring at this thing until someone got on, took a look at it and asked me what the bandwidth was and we ended up talking electronics and test equipment.  People on the subway car visibly relaxed once that happened but until it did, I was worried someone was going to get off the train and summon special constables to investigate the big mean scary Philips writeoff scope from work.  That was actually one of the defining incidents that happened to me that made it clear that electronics and Toronto don't mix and this was before the whole nonsense about the CLRV electronics started up.

The 905 area code is definitely not the cost of living discount it used to be.  Prices have risen pretty severely and Go fares have shot up as well so by the time you're done with it, you might as well stay in Toronto.  Really, what it means is that the whole region is a cost of living and quality of life nightmare now so it's six for one, half a dozen the other for location at this point.  Remember how people were talking about cheap discount houses in Hamilton a few years ago?  They're now saying the same thing about Brantford!  It's crazy how many commuters there are who start out in Grimsby through the Niagara Peninsula and drive to the train station in Burlington.  I see the mess on the QEW whenever I head down that way to visit relatives and I know two people who commute from Peterborough.  It's insane.

57 minutes ago, Downsview 108 said:

 

Don't get me started on the disrespect for kids nowadays. If I had kids I am moving to the sticks and homeschooling them. The growing all out war declared on children's innocence today is very suspect to me. VERY suspect. People with children would do well to be armed in 2019. That's all I'll say on the subject.

It's almost bipolar.  On one hand they insist on bubblewrapping kids to the extreme but on the other hand, they push a lot of social inclusion stuff at such young ages that they'd have elementary school kids watching that video on BlogTO.  Lost in the shuffle is the chance for kids to simply be kids.  I thought the public education system was bad when I was going through it but seeing and hearing what the neighbours kids are going through is insane.  Equally insane is what they're not getting in school.  You know that high schools have chemistry classes now where the students are not allowed to work with chemicals?

[Downsview 108]

3 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

I used to get the same thing in my teens and twenties.  At least tape machines and tube gear were cheap then but I got no end of the "you're how old and you do what?!?!" reactions from people that couldn't fathom that.  The whole 4000 series was popular.  Akai got a lot of mileage out of that transport which they recycled across a ton of models for years.  One of my friends at work has a GX-4000.  We've been meaning to get it on the bench at my place because one channel's lower than the other and he isn't sure if it's a record or playback issue or a mechanical alignment problem.  The big alignment problem we've been having though is getting our respective schedules lined up to make it happen.  I agree about the prices skyrocketing on those too.  It's insane.  And they never have the capstan sleeve for 7.5 IPS either.  I can't remember if I kept the one from my 4000DB before I gave up on the machine and junked it.  The thing that bothers me is that these are 45 year old consumer units from living rooms.  Nice as they are, they're not a professional Ampex or Studer.  Those are eyepoppingly expensive.

It's a shame your machine bailed out the way it did.  Everyone has a couple of experiences like that when you start out.  I had a Viking reel to reel blow up with leaky capacitors that I didn't change out!  I know a guy who used to work at a radio station in Charlottetown where the master control had a Studer, I think an A700 but don't quote me on the model number, in the racks which was a model notorious for having the capstan bearings become sticky and cause the motor to burn out from the servo cranking up current through it way up to maintain tape speed.  He was bound and determined that he wasn't going to have to remove this thing from the rack to repair it so whenever he went into the station's master control room, he brought his oil can with him and lubed up the capstan bearing from the front of the machine.  This went on for years until they turned over the technology and removed the old equipment and there was a massive puddle of oil on the shelf underneath the machine.  It never broke down though!

I enjoy it more too now for the same reason.  I don't use it very often and I'm not completely dependent on it and that makes it much more enjoyable.  When I was though, I hauled everything home on the subway including a lot of heavy, bulky stuff.  My share of roll signs and stereo equipment and computers for sure.  The best was a bit into a new job, the guy that hired me decided to give me an oscilloscope that they didn't need anymore so he wrote it off and I took it home that evening on the subway.  This did NOT go well.  People were staying clear of me and staring at this thing until someone got on, took a look at it and asked me what the bandwidth was and we ended up talking electronics and test equipment.  People on the subway car visibly relaxed once that happened but until it did, I was worried someone was going to get off the train and summon special constables to investigate the big mean scary Philips writeoff scope from work.  That was actually one of the defining incidents that happened to me that made it clear that electronics and Toronto don't mix and this was before the whole nonsense about the CLRV electronics started up.

The 905 area code is definitely not the cost of living discount it used to be.  Prices have risen pretty severely and Go fares have shot up as well so by the time you're done with it, you might as well stay in Toronto.  Really, what it means is that the whole region is a cost of living and quality of life nightmare now so it's six for one, half a dozen the other for location at this point.  Remember how people were talking about cheap discount houses in Hamilton a few years ago?  They're now saying the same thing about Brantford!  It's crazy how many commuters there are who start out in Grimsby through the Niagara Peninsula and drive to the train station in Burlington.  I see the mess on the QEW whenever I head down that way to visit relatives and I know two people who commute from Peterborough.  It's insane.

It's almost bipolar.  On one hand they insist on bubblewrapping kids to the extreme but on the other hand, they push a lot of social inclusion stuff at such young ages that they'd have elementary school kids watching that video on BlogTO.  Lost in the shuffle is the chance for kids to simply be kids.  I thought the public education system was bad when I was going through it but seeing and hearing what the neighbours kids are going through is insane.  Equally insane is what they're not getting in school.  You know that high schools have chemistry classes now where the students are not allowed to work with chemicals?

LMFAO. It sucks. Especially having to explain why you want a particular old item or like it. I remember one time going to one of those old Cash Converters stores and I saw a camcorder from the 80s. I think it was one of those SONY Betamovie cameras. I wanted it so bad but didn't have the money. The store clerk was like "why". I said, those cameras do those old light trail effects like you see in video up until the CCD era. This was nearly 20 years ago and long before the hipster "vintage" fad so it's no wonder stuff was cheaper back then. Speaking of which I did actually manage to get one of those cameras 17 years later. I bought it for $10. MINT. Absolutely. MINT. Came with two batteries that still held a charge!!!! Unfortunately I never got to use it as those cameras will not work without a tape inside. It also is so old it has no electronic viewfinder. I wasn't interested in buying a bunch of new old stock beta tapes and a Beta "VCR" for it just for those effects. I would also need a capture card for my computer. So I sold the beast. Did I mention it was MINT?

Shame about that machine of yours. While those machines look like tanks and weigh accordingly, sometimes one little component malfunction can cripple the whole machine and it's sad because you're looking at a beast of electronic engineering and robust manufacturing and don't get to use it. It must have taken a real HARD fall.

I've seen some Studers actually go relatively cheap. But they probably have a bunch of things wrong with them. Other times I have seen them sell for so much money, you wonder what the buyer is thinking of doing with it. It's not as if people record onto tape anymore unless they are going for some vintage sound. And that can be achieved with a machine far less bulky and complicated as a Studer.

LOL. Was he able to get a consistent speed with the oil? I'd rather get it fixed than risk a bad recording. I guess it's cheaper than getting it serviced and having to wait for said service. I am a little more careful with electronics now. I try not to do stupid stuff out of laziness when I am working on them or even plugging them in if I know they're faulty. The only project I have on deck now is an intercom speaker/amp from the late 30s early 40s that someone modded with a 1/4" jack, possibly for a musical instrument. I haven't touched it since I got it because I remember my last little foray into the tube electronics repair realm. Trial and error doesn't begin to describe my technique. More like feeling my way around in the dark for a light switch. LOL

BAHAHA I got a couple stares for some of the things I used to carry too. I got a couple stares when I brought an old Mississauga rollsign box on a bus. OMG the looks I got when I was hauling around a Peavey Bandit 112 amp. That thing was HUGE. Another time I scared everyone on a D40-89 when my YAMAHA amp from the 70s fell on its face HARD when the bus stopped short. LOL Sounded like a shotgun blast. And I am glad I no longer have to thread myself and a full size CPU through the subway turnstiles any longer. LOL No one reported me for terrorism though, although my guitar playing at the time would fall into that category.

You are so right about the 905 today. Remember the good old days when you could buy a house in Durham for less than 200k? Remember the even better days when you could rent an apartment in downtown Hamilton for $300, $350, $400 a month? This wasn't even that long ago. The first time I moved out I was looking to move there because the rent was so ridiculously cheap. And it's not as if we're talking about a tenement slum here, these were nice apartments. Some had fireplaces! The only thing that stopped me was the job market out there. It was the same in Montreal. Cheap rent, no jobs. I would have to commute to Toronto and there's no way I would want to drive that commute or even take local transit.

They're NOT getting an education that's for sure. My impression was that school was supposed to prepare you for the job market but it seems sexuality takes precedence over earning a living. They are being indoctrinated not educated. That's why STEM is where it's at. There will always be a need for it. I wish I got into it earlier but I was brainwashed by the "you're only a somebody if you work a white collar job in a cubicle" and the "you will only make money in a corporate environment". I even wasted ten years in ESL because they lied to parents back then and said you were more likely to get a job being bilingual. They never told us that that was more likely in a bilingual province. LOL. What a shame about those chemistry classes! I never took chemistry but that didn't stop us. I remember doing experiments with sulphuric acid in grade 9 science! And also flame tests with magnesium and lithium! LMFAO Do you remember ASE 1 and ASE 2? I went to the latter which was located on the second floor of an elementary school. I dunno if that bubblewrapping trend was starting out or there were just not that many students going there because the back cabinets of the science room were STACKED with every chemical and element on the periodic table! And all those bottles were covered in dust and had typewritten labels. They look like they hadn't been used since installed. LOL I do remember my science teacher having to scrape a bunch of crud or corrosion or whatever off that piece of lithium that he used.