Month: January 2024

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I'm In Training This Week

Why, I don't know—other than it makes Cuntula feel good that she's micromanaging. When she came on board a year and a half (gawd…has it only been that long?) ago, she made a point of telling everyone that it was now expected that we take "a minimum" of two (employer paid-for) training classes per year so we can "grow our careers." I pointed out to her directly that I was a a few short years out from retirement and wouldn't be "growing my career" any further. It didn't matter. RULES ARE RULES.

If pressed, the two things I was interested in learning more about were Adobe Photoshop (something I'm fairly comfortable with, but by no means an expert) and Adobe Illustrator (which I'm dumb stupid). In fact, prior to COVID (and well ahead of the bitch's arrival in the department) I was on track to take both courses, but all that fell apart the year we were all working from home. Upon returning to the office and the departure of the previous guy who held her position, BOTH courses were shot down as "not related to my job position." Even after myself and my immediate supervisor pointed out to her that we support people in the organization who do use these applications, it was still denied.

So fine, bitch. Whatever. Since she still gave us a choice as to what Microsoft only courses we could take, I resolved to take the simplest, the most-I-already-know-this-shit stuff I could find and then treat these week-long WFH remote learning sessions as mini-vacations. Since this edict was handed down, I've taken two basic Windows courses and a Sharepoint course that I basically slept through. The Windows courses were at least entertaining. The instructor was fantastic.

There was an additional course (Advanced Windows Troubleshooting) I'd signed up for last year that kept getting rescheduled because even though this was now a department requirement, it came with the stipulation that no two people could be out for training at the same time and it seemed this course was always scheduled for the same week one of my colleagues was already scheduled to be out. When I was finally able to find a session that did not collide with anyone else's training and got signed up, the training company canceled it altogether a week before it was scheduled because not enough people had signed up. So it got pushed back yet again.

So now, even though—with only a year left before retirement—my "professional development" requirement has finally been lifted, I went ahead kept my reservation for the course since it was already in the department budget. It was also an opportunity to blow off work for a week.

Well, training started yesterday and three hours in, it was obvious the instructor for this course was horrific. I genuinely enjoyed the prior instructors on the other courses, but this guy came off as an insecure, yet arrogant know-it-all, constantly requiring feedback and "engagement" from everyone in class.

Nope. That's not how I roll. It got so bad that at one point yesterday I was considering just blowing it off completely, closing zoom, and going back to work. Every prior class I've taken with this company has allowed me to basically watch and learn, and then go off and do the work without having to interact much with the instructor. When I didn't respond to one of his general questions directed to the class and he said, "Mark? Mark? Are you there? Did we lose Mark?" I private-messaged him and told him I was there and was listening, but didn't feel the need to respond to everything he said. "That's not how I take these classes."

"Oh…okay." He's left me alone since.

But he did lose me completely when he was explaining how to use the lab environment and said, "I'm browser neutral. You can use any one you like…except Safari. Safari isn't a real browser."

"Safari isn't a real browser."

Oh…and then there was this:

And with that, I've mentally checked out with this guy. I'll attend the remaining lectures as background noise, but the labs can get fucked (not that it really matters one way or another). I'm basically in audit mode at this point.

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The Trials and Tribulations Of An Aging Audiophile (Final Part)

When we last left our illustrious hero, he had taken his set of Technics Micro Components to Prescott to be serviced.

I will be the first to admit that—at least for me—eBay is the work of the Devil. While I loved the Technics SL-1300Mk2 turntable that I'd had for over nearly 20 years and was still working without a hitch, I suffered from ongoing SL-1200Mk2 envy. (For those of you who don't know, the 1200Mk2 models, aka "Wheels of Steel" have been the go-to turntable for DJs for the last forty years, and for the longest time were just about the only direct-drive turntables remaining on the market.) I checked the 1200Mk2 auctions periodically over the years, kicking myself when I had the means and opportunity to buy one new in 2004 but neglected to, but it seemed that the ones being posted were obviously DJ workhorses and had definitely seen better days. Call me crazy, but I like my audio equipment to look as good as it sounds.

But shortly after the fire and we had settled into our new abode, I spied an auction for a 1200Mk2 that supposedly had only seen home use. It was flawless. Knowing how quickly these units disappeared from circulation, I threw caution to the wind and put in my bid. I won the auction.

It arrived, packed for the ages. Shipping turntables is always fraught with danger, but it was obvious the seller knew what he was doing, and it arrived in pristine condition. And pristine it definitely was. My faithful 1300Mk2 was packed up and put in the closet.

As expected, it took Randy nearly a year to get to the repairs on the Technics Micro Compoents, and while the power amp did have a small issue upon its return, he quickly addressed the issue and got it working as expected.

After that one final repair, I got everything home, hooked the units back up, and while they worked fine, after having lived with the more powerful and frankly more robust Kenwood 6600, they failed to wow me in the way I'd been hoping the would after the restoration. I disconnected everything, put the Technics units into closet, and reconnected the Kenwood.

In May 2022, on a whim, I did jumped into Satan's playground once again and performed a search for the venerable Kenwood KR-7400 receiver that I'd been so happy with for over a decade. I wasn't unhappy with the 7600 by any means, but I just wanted to see if there were any 7400s available. Turns out there was one, which was kind of a rare occurrence. The unit was described as "Powers On. Dial lights out, but no sound from tuner." The unit was absolutely mint in appearance, however. Knowing now that Randy had the skills to get these beasts-of-a-bygone-era working again, I figured it was worth the $150 that the seller was asking for it, justified the purchase as an early birthday present to myself, and a week later it arrived on my doorstep.

The seller's description was accurate. It did power up. The tuning knob was loose, and it didn't spin effortlessly across the dial. The dial lights were burnt out and I got nothing but static from the tuner. The inside was filthy, and the veneered end panels had seen better days, but other than the end panels, it was cosmetically mint. Kind of disappointed that I couldn't just swap this unit in to use while the 6600 was with Randy, I decided instead to use my place in line to give him the 7400 to work on instead.

I got it back in February of last year and as you can tell, it was stunning:

He wasn't able to address the loose tuning knob or the fact that it wouldn't spin effortlessly across the dial the way my previous 7400 had done, and the LED I'd asked him to use in the stereo indicator light (as had likewise been the norm on my old 7400) seemed way too bright, but everything worked, and it sounded good. It worked well enough that I took the 7600 up to him for any service it might require.

After we moved last spring, all the little issues with this 7400 started wearing on me, and quite frankly, it just didn't sound as good as it's younger sibling that was now up in Prescott. Knowing it would probably be a year before work was completed, in September I said fuck it and called Randy and told him I wanted to get the 6600 receiver back as-is. No problem, he said.

And once I got it back, I verified that indeed, it wasn't just my imagination that it sounded better than the 7400.

So the 6600 was the centerpiece of my system until just last month. Seeing ads for, and watching YouTube reviews of the new Yamaha amps and receivers kind of got me; I caught the bug. I would've loved to buy a new Yamaha R-N100A receiver, but I just couldn't justify the $1800 expense. As good as my Kenwood 6600 sounded, it was still missing something, and once I dove back into the world of Yamaha, I knew what it was: that Yamaha sound. Remember the Yamaha A-700 amp I bought new in 1986 and then replaced in 2001 after foolishly selling my original unit? Well, shortly after Thanksgiving I once again  found myself on eBay…

To be honest, I'd looked more than just a few times over the past couple years for an A-700, but each time all the units being offered were pretty beaten up. But when I looked again this time, there was a unit up for sale that looked like it had just rolled off the factory floor…and supposedly had no issues. (Not surprising, considering Yamaha build quality.) I thought long and hard before I hit the "Buy It Now" button, but I justified it by telling myself I could sell the now fully-restored Kenwood 7400 to recoup the expense. At the same time I picked up a matching Yamaha T-1 tuner:

So now my system consists of the Yamaha A-700 integrated amp, T-1 tuner, a Yamaha CD-S303 CD player, Technics SL-1200Mk2 turntable (with an Ortofon Blue cartridge), and a pair of JBL 166 Horizon loudspeakers. And with retirement looming, this is undoubtedly my last stereo system…and I'm okay with that. When I can actually just sit down and listen, (no other distractions) it's pure bliss.

I have to apologize for this latest series of posts; in finding the links to insert I realized that I've written about all this—or at least most of this—before.

I'm old.