Tom Adams

Which Tuba plan (dimensions) did you use? Tom

How in the world do you guys manage to come by these things?? Tom

Bought a couple of these recently for portability/maneuverability solution and it worked out perfectly. The assembly directions are a bit sketchy, but who needs directions when there's pictures?? You'll have to rip down 2x2's to 1.25 x 1.25, but that's not too hard. http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-shop/machinery-accessories/300-lb-capacity-mobile-base-95288.html Tom

Sheesh......what an easy question to answer. We need it 'cause "They" told us we do and that without it you would NEVER truly experience the movie the way the recording engineers meant for you to hear it. Is that last sentence true? I dunno. Maybe. I can tell you from personal experience that the non-audio enthusiast does believe they need it to watch movies at home. That all movie DVD's or streamed content contains some magical sound that without the aid of multiple speakers, you'll not enjoy the movie near as much. Me? Well.....back some 7 or 8 years ago when I had the world by the tail (or so I thought), all I could think about while planning to build the house of my dreams was the dedicated home theater room that would be 7.1 and not some easy to achieve 5.1 room. And it came to pass. I must admit that it was a fun and exciting thing. Buying equipment, refinishing speakers, designing & room layout, running wires, decorating, learning about projectors, etc. But what I found was that it was never finished. I found myself constantly tweaking the system. One movie's surround content would be fine and another's not. Then there was the acoustic issues to tame. Center channel dialogue was all over the map. Honestly, after living with that HT for almost 2 years, I can't say that I was ever really satisfied. Today, due to extinuating circumstances, I watch movies on a 65" Samsung LED RPTV fed by a Sony BD player with sounds by a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls and a SUB-12 via a Denon reciever. The biggest difference? Now I watch movies. In the 7.1 HT room I was interupted by myself and my nagging questions about sound and acoustics. It's kinda nice watching a movie and not interupting myself. Would I ever do a multi-channel HT room again? Probably - if money was no object. But right now I enjoy the performance and am not so enamoured with all the lights and multiple piece of electronics. I do enjoy a big screen that projectors provide so maybe my future system is a 2.1 front projector. Tom

OMG......I can't believe that. Winchester - almost the exact same thing happened to me. My horror story...... The wife & I bought an LG electric washer & gas dryer. I took out the old GE gas dryer (which had been working fine for two years) and hooked up the new LG gas dryer. The wife does a load of clothes and is thrilled with her new washer. But half way through the first load of drying, she notices that the dryer isn't warm anymore. I check it out and sure 'nuff - it ain't working (I could hear that the gas wasn't igniting). We call the LG hot line and the first thing the (Indian) guy on the phone says is, "Have you used a dryer sheet in it?" I say, "Yes. What difference does that make? My old GE worked fine with them." He says, "Dryer sheets will mess up the dryer sensor." I tell him he's an idiot and hang up. We call the BB store and they arrange for a service guy to show up the next day. I'm impressed. The wife meets the guy and he spends two hours trouble shooting the dryer. She tells me that he calls LG factory service folks and even a couple of guys that work for other companies looking for answers, but the unit fails to ignite. He suggests a new unit. So I unhook the LG and hook up the old GE. At this point we're please with the prompt service. BB delivers new dryer 3 days later. I unhook the GE and install the new LG and????? You guessed it. It does the same thing. Works for a little bit then quits igniting. By now I know my way around the internals of the LG almost as good as the service tech. We call BB and they schedule a tech for the next day. I get home and tech is there with dryer all apart. He & I noodle through all the possibilities - gas supply, duct blockage, anything and everything and nothing helps. He unhooks LG and hooks up old GE and it fires off and heats up just fine. He's floored. He calls BB and tells them to deliver another unit. By now I'm getting a bit irritated. The BB appliance manager (whose been absolutely great through all this) and the wife have a discussion and in order to rule things out and as a good will gesture, the manager orders an upgraded dryer that was $400 or so more with no cost to us which restores our faith. New dryer shows up and guess what????? Yep - exact same thing happens with it. By now I'm contemplating running a 220v line and buying an electric dryer. The wife is telling a friend at work about our ordeal and the friend says, "I have a close friend who works for Liberty Propane & Gas. I'll ask him to come out and see if he can get it to work. He's worked with gas appliances for years." The wife meets this guy at the house and when I get home from work this guy has come & gone and the dryer is working. I ask her what he did and she tells me he came in and poked around a bit and then said, "He!! Mrs. Adams....here's your problem right here." And when she walked into the wash room he's holding the gas supply flex line (disconnected from dryer) and opens the shut-off valve and gas is screaming out the end and he says, "That's way too much pressure. See???" And then she says he takes out a lighter and ignites it and this flame shoots out and he says, "See?? Way too much pressure." So he closes the valve and says, "I ain't got the right parts to fix it properly, but I got some suff the truck I can rig-up to regulate the pressure." And once that was done, the dryer worked perfectly. A couple weeks later he installed a proper regulator. Tom

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 48 (I'm 54 now). I chose targeted radiation plus seed implants. I know you've decided to go the surgery route, however do you still want some input from a survivor?? If so, I'll check back here. Or.....you can email me directly at tom.adams.iii@gulfstream.com Tom

My wife & I were in the grocery store the other day and out of the blue she starts pondering how the shopping cart came about. And I told her it was invented to teach women how to walk on their hind legs. And that's when the fight started.......... Tom

Got this from Musician's Friend: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Auralex-Studiofoam-Designer-Kit?sku=422602&src=3TP0CG&ZYXSEM=0&indiv_id=57433 What cracked me up was the notation that "Due to FAA regulations, this item must be shipped via ground transportation". I guess someone proved that you can assault and take over an aircraft with acoustic foam. sheesh...... Tom

I too will confess my ignorance of the work that a preamp must do. I felt I had a pretty good grasp as to its switching functions and that it had to boost the mV signals from source components, but I never considered how MUCH it had to boost the signal yet not change it (too much). I must admit that while reading Mark's simple yet elegant explanation I found myself saying "No sh*t" to myself. So thanks Mark for the enlightenment. So tell me Mark (if you're still reading this thread), what issues does adding something like the ability to remotely control a preamp have?? Tom

That's funny I know every time I look at the Cornwalls now I think how they would sound on tubes. If I only had another room, and a bunch of $. I was looking up tube preamps........the prices are crazy, does anyone make a poor persons model ? Viagra........I am going to give it a try one day, I might like it ? Or if I could just be 20 again, that would work ! Tubes would be cheaper than the Viagra prescrip - trust me. Unless you're on Medicade. Which then means you can have tubes AND s*x. Hmmmm......I think I've just stumbled onto a plan..... Tom

dtel - You were very wise not to allow that POS tube amp to get any where near your Cornwalls. Seriously, you didn't miss a thing. All that would've happened had you done that would've been the same thing that happened to me............ Every single stinkin' time you looked at your Corns you would hear a very lingering sound that played very much like that tune you can't get out of your head. Worse yet is the constant message you say to yourself about needing to spend the money on something else like a retirement fund or a badly needed new set of tires or another Viagra refill (wife/sex or tubes......wife/sex or tubes......wife/sex or tubes......wife/sex or tubes......wife/sex or tubes......wife/sex or tubes......). Seriously - it's almost debilitating. Chris Robinson let me listen to Corns on tubes and he is forever out of my will. Tom

Like dtel, I've rented one several times a year for the last 3 years. Honestly, if I were closer to a lake (I'm 4 hours one way from one), I'd probably own a pontoon boat. But here in coastal Atlantic waters with wind, tide, and ever changing seas - no way! Anyhow...... Having owned and operated several types of boats, I can't agree more with the comments about correctly powering your craft. And the correct power is???? It's the most horsepower (within reason) you can afford. Trust me, I have never heard ANY boat owner ever say, "Boy....I wish I'd have never bought that Yamaha 225. Wish I'd have gotten the 150." And it's not just about speed but pulling power. Oh - and although you might tell yourself that you'll never need to run acoss the lake at 50+ mph, those words will come back to haunt you when a freak lightning storm comes up and you're trying to beat it back to the ramp. Ask me how I know about that. Lastly, I will also have to agree that if you intend to go fishing and/or joy riding a just few times a year, you'd be better off renting a pontoon boat. They loose their value faster than ANY other water craft and that's a fact. And it's for that reason why I rent even though it costs me $250 or so a weekend. I don't have to tow the boat to the lake, launch it, retrieve it, tow it home or clean it. I show up to the marina, sign the papers, put our junk on board, the thing is in the water & full of gas, turn the key and away we go. Bring it back, top off the tank, toss them the key and go home. If you just gotta own your own, hit up a rental place that changes out their fleet each year. This past January at the Atlanta Boat Show there was a dealer that was selling 1 year old rental pontoons that were nicely equiped for almost half the cost of new. Plus they carried a full as-new warranty, the carpets had been completely replaced, torn seats replaced and a new prop if the old one was damaged. They looked brand new and we came very close to pulling the trigger on one. Tom

Well......from some one who's lived here for 25+ years........... Mrs. Wilkes - very nice TOURISTY place. The food? Decent, but nothing you couldn't get at my house any day of the week. Besides, at my house you can also get deep fried turkey. Me? I'd rather go to Clary's or Bella's. Bar food?? Wild Wing Cafe and make sure you get a side of their China Syndrom sauce. HOT!!! The Crab Shack use to be decent until the TOURISTS found out about it. You want plain seafood? Go to the Shellhouse at the intersection of I-95 and GA HWY204. Good stuff. Slightly off the beaten path is Love's seafood that sits right on the bank of the Ogeechee river and has been there forever. Try their all-u-can-eat catfish. OMG it's good. And if you can find Old School, you'll definitely bring back some stories for your friends & family. The place looks like crap and yes, you'll be parking on old worn out carpet, but there's a reason why hollywood celebs and famous folks seek this out in the boonies place out. Mmmmmm........I hear their steak calling me now. In Charleston, SC is Read Brothers Stereo. Lord knows how long they've been there. Use to carry Klipsch at one time. A couple of their sales folks own Klipsch and 'ol Sunburnwilly hangs out there from time-to-time. In fact, while you're there, be shure to eat where Sunburn works - Magnolia's. Unbelieveable food and awesome wines. And the service ain't bad either. [] Tom

FWIW....the outdoor power equipment place I bought my Echo string trimmer from gave me sheet of paper that had a list of gas stations that sold non-ethanol gas - or as they said, "non contamenated gas". They told me that the new models of Echo, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, Stihl can handle the contamenated stuff but they said they've seen waaaaaay too many problems with ethanol. And judging from the all the commercial lawn care euipment they service, I believe they know what they're talking about. Ethanol - bleck! And I suspect my chainsaw has become a victim of ethanol since it seems to be leaking fuel from around the fuel tank/line nipple. Tom

I think I understand that. However....... There is a pretty solid manufacturing base in this country in the form of foreign auto makers and all of the newly opened factories here in the southeast. To be sure I wish they were all U.S. manufacturers, but at least BMW and Hyundai and Toyota and Kia and Mercedes Benz, etc. are building factories that will employ U.S. workers. And, I might add, due to the sophisticated manufacturing methods in these new plants, the workers are not only higher skilled but their pay is better too - i.e. they have more $$ to spend and pay more taxes. Mitsubishi Electronics is poised to build a new plant not far from where I live which will be a HUGE boost to the economy of that small town. Do we need more of this? I say absolutely for I'm a bit old school when it comes to my thinking about what type of industry this country needs to turn our economy around. However, for every one plant that GM shuts down there seems to be two that get built by foreign investors. Poo poo them all you want, but I'm gald the foriegn companies have faith that American workers can build a quality product and are spending their capital here. Tom

Several times in this thread folks have mentioned (in so many words) that U.S. manufacturing was going away. I don't understand what that means. From my perspective, there appears to be a rather healthy manufacturing base. It could be better, sure. But I don't see anything going away. Someone wanna 'splain it to me?? Tom

The photos you guys have posted are simply unreal. Lord - I don't know how you guys handle that. I hope it ends soon for y'all. Gary => Did you ever find another job?? Sorry - I probably should know the answer to that but my time here on the forum is off & on quite a bit. Hate to mention this but.......Friday the wife & I are off for a combo birthday (mine) and Valentines cruise to the Caribbean. I'll think of y'all when I'm by the pool with an umbrella drink. [] Tom

Your right it is dumb, but the way many things we say down hear sound just as dumb. Like "ware yat", "ha's ya moma and dem", there is a complete way to communicate without sounding "normal". Go a little more into South West Louisiana and there is another completely different sound I even have a hard time understanding. Every time I type something here have to go out of my way to make it somewhat free of these sayings so everyone can understand what I am saying. It's just what happened over the years from so many different cultures blending together, it's also in the music here and in the food, it just happened that way I guess ? Down in da Parish Da neutral ground Go grocery Ware yat, bra? Looka dat sucka LOL..........

While watching the game I couldn't help but flashback to the games I went to at Chew-Lane stadium and the ones I went to at "The Dome" or the Monday mornings that we'd all don our bags at Martin-Marietta (now Lockheed Martin). Personally, I liked the fact that the refs let the teams decide the game and just let 'em play. That's the way it should be. The score might've been 31 - 17, but it was a game of inches here & there. Opportunities lost & won. I bet Archie slapped Peyton up side his head for walking off spoiled sport like dat. Made me cry seeing Brees with son in arms at ceremony. Up until the interception I was yelling AT the Saints just as I did 30+ years ago. LOL....... I say they either change the rules so teams can't rely on aerial attacks & run the ball more or put flags on the hips of the players. Tom

Cut & pasted from wikipedia under the title of "Sore Loser" No chip. My team played like crap and they lost. Defense looked like the defense of old in the second half. Peyton had one pass in 70 real time minutes. I saw the game 10-3 midway through second quarter and watched Garcon drop a perfect pass that didnt have a defender between him and the goal line. Talk about a game changer. Then I watched the Saints kick an onside kick which would of gave Indy the ball on the Saints 35 yard line. The reason folks loved it cause it worked but that was a Bellocheat move. I watched the Saints own the ball for 13 minutes in 2nd quarter and 4 downs within the 5 yard line and coudn't put it in and only got 3 points for the whole quarter. Only reason they even got 3 was poor play calling to give the Saints back the ball for a 47 yard field goal to end the half. Yeah I saw the Colts dominate the Saints first quarter and come away with 10. I saw the Saints control the ball an entrie second quarter and come away with 3. Then we all saw some weird crap to start the the 3 rd . Hero or idiot he just got the bounce. I watched Peyton drive down the field right after that and go ahead again. For someone to act like it was a cake walk when with 3 minutes to go you were looking at a tie game instead goes for 73 the other way which puts the game out of reach. Then to watch Peyton drive it down the field and Reggie drop a pass on the goal line that was in his hands. Just dropped balls, dumb play calling and a coach acting like he was scared to be there. But to say the score reflects the game or it should of been 30 or gloating about how you just killed the Colts and the score proves it I say We obviously didnt watch the same game unless you missed all that in my first paragraph. As far as Colts number 2 nah. I still think they overachieved this year. I never saw this happeining this year with all the rookie receivers they had and with so many injuries this year. Saints won the Superbowl. They are the Champs. Play the Vikings 10 times you might win twice. I think the best team of this season gave the game away and would of killed the Colts in the Superbowl. Simply amazing........... (tom walks away woefully shaking his head)

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!! This is getting ridiculous. I'm just about to give up. I try measuring two nuts, right? And for whatever reason, after I measured the first nut, the second one uh.....disappeared (for lack of a better word). So after the second one decides to show up, I measure it and think WTH!!!! How can two nuts come from the same container and be different sizes??? Unnnnnbelieveable. Tom

OMG!!!! That means that you & I are distantly related 'cause my mom & Brett's mom are related - I think they're second cousins. Tom

Not wanting to take any chances with my reply being less than scientific (like some of the childish responses so far)....... I went out to my shop a moment ago and got out my nifty digital calipers and began the process of measuring my nuts and thus far, the results are rather inconclusive. Measuring across the flats give different readings based upon which "flat" side I measured from. I also had some difficulty in getting accurate readings due to the cold temperatures causing some shrinkage. I'm heading back outside to measure diameter. More in a moment...... Tom

Someone with some money to invest will begin the process of developing a method of efficient tatoo removal and patent it. Then they'll become stinkin' rich when, 15 years from now, all these tatoo fad folks realize that their tats ain't gonna look so hot when they're 55 years old. I'm not really sure most folks that get tats don't know that you can't just take them off like a shirt that's out-of-style. And the reason most folks have tats that either look stupid or are in a stupid place is because they generally go to a tatoo shop after they've been drinking. I don't have any, don't want any, could care less about them, and fail to see the appeal. But..... Then again..... I don't text much either. Tom

My sincere thanks to Pinkard & Bowden for this...... (cue Eric Clapton music) When you're down on your luck, here comes that big truck - Propane When you're freezin' your @ss and you're needin' some gas - Propane It's so hot, it's so hot, it's so hoooooot - Propane Tom