1 2 Previous Next 42 Replies Latest reply: Jun 14, 2013 9:25 AM by Stan Jones RSS

    Back....

    davidbeisner2010 Community Member

      Sorry to see the last discussion got locked...

       

      I saw able's comments via the e-mail notification, and I wasn't offended at all. I take those sorts of things in the jest in which they were intended.

       

      But no, getting wealthy will never happen working for a Christian organization, unless something is REALLY wrong with the way the organization is set up! My wife and I are involved in Advocare, the world's fastest growing direct sales business, and our goal is to hit six figures/month in income, and then turn around and donate about 90% of that so that we avoid paying the feds a crazy high tax rate... I got turned on to it a little over a year ago back when I was in the film/video biz still and someone shared a Spark with me. Fantastic (healthy) energy drink that really made all the difference in the world for my editing and shooting... Then when I learned that was just one out of over 60 different products the company makes, I got intrigued and ended up going on to try their 24-Day Challenge and lost 50 pounds in two months (dropped from 300 to 250) and had so much energy that I was typically finishing my week's worth of editing by Tuesday and I'd have the rest of the week to work on projects I WANTED to do! Great stuff... No, I'm not one of those pushy salesemen, BUT, if anyone is intrigued by my story and wants to try a Spark, PM me your address and I'll mail you a sample.

       

      That creative cloud stuff sucks! Call me old fashioned, but I want that software on my computer, in my hands, and with install discs I can call my own. Not dependent on some server farm somewhere in the cloud. Gah. I didn't read that thread in it's entirety... any ideas why Adobe is going that route? I've not heard of competitors making that move... But then, I'm not exactly deep in the industry anymore, either.

       

      For those who may want to come visit me in CO... I'm in the southwest corner. Right up on the side of the continental divide (7500 feet elevation) and about 30 miles north of the New Mexico border. Little town called Pagosa Springs in the middle of the San Juan national forest. Beautiful place, and fantastic hunting grounds! I've got herds of elk, deer, turkey, and bear and mountain lion right on my property here. Come hunting season I could literally sit on my front porch and bag my limit on any of the above mentioned wildlife! We've also got some fantastic trout fishing out here, too... So if you want to come check it out, give me a shout! Our lodge is used by a private group from September 1 through December 7 every year and closed to the public, but other than that we're open for folks to come and stay with us any other time of the year!

       

      I need to dust off the old editing skills and make a promo video for the lodge one of these days... that'd be fun! I still have my hard copy of CS6. Still. I'd have to learn a whole new method of shooting since I'd have to use my wife's Canon D60 DSLR instead of the JVC GY-HM700u ENG style camera I'm used to shooting with. Plus I have no sticks, dollys, jibs, audio, or fancy lighting equipment here. Oh well. Always learning new things, right? A friend told me once that as soon as I get comfortable with something I have to get off my butt and get uncomfortable with something else or I'll never keep growing. He was right!

        • 1. Re: Back....
          Community Member

          Hiya again !

          Sorry about that knee jerk slap happy happiness to hear from you in other thread.. and confusion it caused Jeff to experience. I've missed hearing from you and how your family is doing.. How's the " baby ? " ....probably not so baby like anymore ?  Well, once again, can't get 'personal' maybe here cause someone might think I'm being evil.

          Glad to hear things are going well and you love the new area. I moved to MN. from nyc since you were last here..so am sorta in the 'country' now too... and out of grip work and film biz per se.

          I'm working on doing a documentary about new town I live in, and bought a ton of new stuff to do it...and maybe I can pick your brains at some point about cs6 production premium if I need help?

          I had no idea you were so hefty... and now that you're 250 you are like about my same weight. I am 6 feet tall. I hope you are not like 4 feet tall.. as being 250 would still require some future adjustment IMO.

           

          Great to hear from you and let's keep in touch you slacker... I have tons of stuff I'd love to share with you

           

           

          • 2. Re: Back....
            davidbeisner2010 Community Member

            Hahaha, yeah he's not so muh a baby anymore... turned two in February and is now running, starting to talk, and is an all-round awesome kid...

             

            So you're up in frigid land now, huh? I hear y'all are still getting snow off and on up there. Ours ended in a big way in March, but we got some snow fall off and on through April here. But we're done now. 80 degrees here today, and sunny!

             

            Feel free to pick my brain on CS6... not that I could necessarily help any more than the guys here on the forum could, but I'll certainly give it my best shot.

             

            And no, I'm 6'7" so not really in need of future adjustment in the weight category... I'm about ten pounds outside of the super preferred premiums for insurance companies, which is awesome :-) Mainly focusing now on using some of our performance elite products to start really building a serious amount of lean muscle mass... I've always been a big, strong guy... but now working on toning up what I've got.

             

            Share away! I know I've been a slacker, but... Hey, if you're on FB, look me up at www.facebook.com/beisner.

            • 3. Re: Back....
              Community Member

              My personal performance elite products consist of mostly rotisserie chickens from local food store, the occassional home cooked meals, coffee and BEER !

              and its BEER THIRTY ! YIPEE !

               

              hehe.. thanks.. I will definitely be asking you and Bill and Harm and tons of people about " how do I do 'this' " questions pretty soon. I'm going from cs3 and NO camera, to CS6 and a nikon d800 shooting mov h264. And I haven't got a CLUE how to make it look like what I already imagine it SHOULD look.

               

              Probably product would be on blue ray disc and a sample on web just to show broadcasters a teaser.

               

              My biggest concerns are the tweening of graphics, maps, illustrations etc .. kinda like the ken burns ( for lack of a better term ) 'stuff'. I could do it on camera ( zoom, pan etc ) but it would be easier to shoot stills with same camera at higher res and do the scale position in post.

               

              Stuff like that. I already know this d800 aint happening for fast pans and tilts so I'll keep it toned down... mostly locked off.

              But I did buy a fluid head ( sachtler ) so I should be able to do some moves on tripod.

              I also got some sound stuff for slating shots and not using in camera sound which I don't like cause the mini stereo plugs are wanky compared to XLR etc.

               

              Bill sold me some lowel DP's and a couple other heads... and some stands etc.. which was really cool... and I think I have enough now to do basic head and shoulder interviews.

               

              But the scary thing is I'm moving now from cs3 and xp to cs6 and some new computer ( have to buy in a few weeks ).. and I have no clue how some of the stuff will look in the end , on the export side...

               

              moving on...

              Since you are 6,7 and I am 6 I am now feeling like the fat dwarf ....and no wonder you moved out of the city.. what city could possible hold you ?

               

               

              • 4. Re: Back....
                davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                Ah, beer-thirty! Some of my priorities have changed a bit recently and I'm throwing all my extra money on my six-figure debt, so I've not enjoyed beer-thirty in a while... but I shall do so again some day soon!

                 

                As far as the tweening goes, I highly recommend doing it in PrPro, not on your camera... pretty easy, just time consuming. I did it using the scale and positioning keyframes under the motion section of the effect controls tab. Also, if you're using transitions between images, make sure to apply those transitions BEFORE you set your tweening keyframes. Adding transitions adds a few frames to the beginning and end of your images and you'll need to adjust the keyframes accordingly. It's easiest to set your CTI on the image outside of the transition, set your scale/position, and then drag that keyframe back to the beginning of the transition. Otherwise you won't be able to see your image as you work with it, since the CTI would be showing the first part of the transition on the end of the previous clip... wow, that reads pretty disjointed. If you don't understand what I said, dive in and you'll figure it out! One thing you have to be careful of, though, is that there is a maximum resolution size in PrPro for still images without them flipping out on you and causing encode errors. I don't remember off-hand what it is, but I always kept mine smaller than 4k resolution. Also, don't use jpgs... use TIFFs or dynamically linked PSDs. jpgs also throw errors. I did quite a bit of that work with my last job and learned some of the frustrating bits.

                 

                As far as encoding goes, the CS6 encoding engine is amazing. And they include every preset you might ever need. I found best results doing web-based stuff using the Vimeo 720p preset to match my frame rate. Made beautiful images and kept the file sizes reasonable. And then with DL to Encore for BD authoring you've got a dream come true in terms of authoring discs.

                • 5. Re: Back....
                  Community Member

                  Thanks Dave.. that says a lot. I feel more comfortable getting cs6 now, and will get the hardware I need to make it work at my level.

                  I understand what you mean about those extra frames with heads and tails of scale position and struggled a little with that with cs3.. and to be honest I sorta go on different levels for transistions like that and don't rely on the program and then the adjustments.

                  I basically cut and chop stuff so there IS no way to go back to any full clip.. and then do my transitions manually ( fade, bring up ), and do that with the tweened stuff as well....

                  It's like I use it the way people did with film and don't trust the auto stuff so much, where you can just drag more head out or more tail out if you " feel " like it later.

                  To me that is just a mess waiting to happen.

                  If I need more or less later on I didn't do my job in the beginning ...and I'll just deal with it as a mistake and drag everything out of the way to more or less fix that segment.

                  Don't know if that makes sense, but I think we're talkin about the same thing.

                   

                  I'm gonna have major questions about specific stuff soon though so thank you so much for being there to help me out. I'm okay on sets shooting stuff but editing has been a long learning curve. On one hand it's going 'backward' for me from script and shoot, and on the other it's going forward to final product.

                  And the tech part is what I know least about when it comes to the codecs and final products.. I'm really glad to hear that the presets are cool with cs6. Thank goodness.

                   

                   

                  • 6. Re: Back....
                    Community Member

                    footnote:

                    re: transition and THEN scale /position...I always end up doing the transition first cause my head gets into a 'pace' ...like a timing thing...sometimes having to do with the action but sometimes to some music or something..or even sometimes to just the pace of telling a story...hard to explain...

                    Then, when get to the scale position ( since I do all this on diff levels and dont use the auto stuff ) I drag the keyframes up to 100 opacity so I can see what I'm doing...( at heads and tails )...and then play with THAT after dragging them back down to zero...after scale position, and adjust according to that 'pace' thing... It is sorta time consuming and I have to ( with cs3 ) render the portion of timeline a lot to get the sense of real time... but I'm hoping cs6 will be faster ....

                    Cause I'm goin to have TONS of stuff with intercuts between interviews and graphics and stuff to illustrate what these people are yappin about...and that pace is gonna be real important.

                     

                    But I get what you mean. If you cant see what or where your scale position stuff is starting from and ending on ...it aint happenin...hehe...

                     

                    Anyway, moving on... my nose is pressed to the window waiting for the UPS guy with cs6 now...and the moving to new apt. is proceeding ( Im moving about 1/4 mi from where I am now ).

                     

                     

                    • 7. Re: Back....
                      davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                      Also, there's been a lot of back and forth over in the hardware forum on the best set of drives to use for editing. Unless you can afford a good array (think like minimum $3000 just for your array with drives and controllers) then in my experience you're better off without one. Unless you're editing a lot of RED footage your best bet would be to have three dedicated drives: An SSD for your OS/Programs, an SSD for your scratch/final encode disk, and a good fast SATA-II or -III for your data. Even if you can only afford two disks, put your scratch/final encode over with your OS/Programs and you'll love it. I'm operating right now with ONE SSD for the entire system (not a video rig, but does video from time to time) and it flies along great!

                      • 8. Re: Back....
                        Community Member

                        oh gawd...

                        Thats my next chore, getting new computer after I move...probably in a couple weeks.

                        I've been trying to follow posts about it and comparing various platforms people are using but I haven't built a computer in over 5 years and dont know ANYTHING about what's new etc.

                        I will only have about $2500 left after move to get computer so I'm thinking of going to micro center in twin cities area to have them build me one ( they charge 150 to build after I pick out the parts ).

                        This 2500 has to include a monitor !!!!  thats halfway decent.... !!!!

                         

                        So I'm scared to death about that. I'm thinking 3 drives, black 7200, fast seek times, no raid..just 1 drive for OS, one for scratch disk ( adobe ) and one for source material. Plus I have a Graid external ( sata ) so need ext sata port.. I have a fw800 card in mouse computer but doubt I'd ever pull that cause nobody is using that except for tape captures of SD stuff.

                         

                        I have Bill's ADK invoice to use as a 'template' sorta.. but he's got SSD like you for OS and I can't afford that. If you can stick with me a bit on this hardware stuff I'd appreciate it..

                         

                        I'll never do red or alexa or any high end video... I'm gonna be doing mov h264 only. I have neoscene to make AVI from that but prefer not to do it if I can... but for sake of budget will do it if I have to obviously.

                         

                        Harm and those yappin with him have posted some platform stuff I also have printed out along with Bill's stuff to take to store with me.. but the more help I get on this the more I'll be able to do stuff on cheapo budget and get good product. Anything will be better than the mouse at this point ( and xp ) but I would love to be able to maybe expand later to do stuff for others and make some $$ doing it...

                        ??

                         

                         

                        • 9. Re: Back....
                          John T Smith CommunityMVP

                          I'm not ready to actually build a new computer, since the one I have now is working well, but I put together a list last November (when I built a computer for my wife) as an exercise in what I would build

                           

                          Since it is now 6 months later, I **might** change a few things... but this is a good $2,000 starting point for just the computer hardware... for a monitor, I already have a Samsung P2770 27 inch that I like a lot... I think I paid about $300

                           

                          Total price about $2,000, excluding software

                          Intel i7 3930k CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

                          CPU Cooler - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

                          Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121552

                          32Gig Ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231507

                          A note from Harm on X79 Ram - http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1089842

                          Full Tower Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

                          This case comes with 4 fans, so you do not have to buy any optional case fans

                          1000w Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056

                          500Gig Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

                          500Gig Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

                          1Terabyte Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339

                          1Terabyte Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339

                          GTX670 2Gig - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782

                          Keyboard & Mouse - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109232

                          Sata DVD Writer - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

                          • 10. Re: Back....
                            Community Member

                            John, Wow.. Thanks so much !!!!  I'll print out all those links and see if I can get comparable stuff at micro center ... and have them build it for me...

                            If not maybe I'll order stuff from new egg and build myself though I'd prefer not to. I have this fear of leaving off some stupid wire to something that detects cpu heat or some stupid dip switch I didnt put in right position.. all those little things.... it's been so long since I built one.

                             

                            Thanks a ton !

                             

                             

                            • 11. Re: Back....
                              davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                              Oh dude, $2500 is a dream come true to build a system... If you're working with H.264, the bottleneck will be your processor. Now, keep in mind that my involvement with hardware is about a year old, so there may be something better out now than the Intel Core i7 for what we do, but buliding off a Core i7 processor, here's what I would do: (all Newegg prices).

                               

                              • Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz LGA 1155 75W processor, $289.99
                              • ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 motherboard, $134.99 (includes plenty of internal SATA and 1 e-SATA 6.0GB/s port)
                              • G-Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2x4GB) 240 pin DDR3-1600 memory $64.99 (times 2 for 16GB of ram)
                              • Gigabyte GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 580 video card $189.99 (works natively with MPE/CUDA excelleration without needing to do the hack and has two DVI out for maximum monitoring, and in the future you could add a second card for a third monitor if you want--that's what I had and having three monitors was wonderful!)
                              • Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB SSD $139.99 (one for OS/Programs & one for scratch/final encode)
                              • Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB SATA 6GB/s drive $74.99 (three for RAID-5 for speed/redundancy)
                              • CoolerMaster Hyper 212 CPU Fan/Heatsink $23.99
                              • CoolerMaster HAF 912 Mid-tower case $59.99 (room for six 120mm fans and plenty of space for drives)
                              • CoolerMaster SilentPro Gold RSC00-80GAD3-US 1200 Watt power supply $239.99
                              • Asus BW-12B1ST BD/DVD/CD-RW $84.99
                              • Acer S231HLbid 23" 1080p monitor $159.99 (times 2 for convenience)
                              • Fantom Drives GeForce 3TB external USB 3.0 drive $169.99 (for backup)
                              • MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit $189.99
                              • keyboard & mouse of your choice $50 +/-

                               

                              Total: $2387.83

                               

                              That will give you a 3.4GHz Core i7 CPU, 16GB of memory, one SSD for OS/Programs, one SSD for scratch/final encode, three SATA drives for RAID-5 data array, MPE enabled video card, plenty of power, blue ray burner, two 23" monitors--you'll love the real estate if you've never used dual monitors before-- 3TB of backup space, and gets you in for $113 under budget which gives you almost enough to have someone build it for you (though building it is a breeze yourself and would leave you plenty of money for beer-thirty! )

                               

                              That's what I would build if I had $2500 and was looking to build a decent video rig.

                              • 12. Re: Back....
                                davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                                Haha, looks like John beat me with his own list! :-)

                                • 13. Re: Back....
                                  Community Member

                                  hehe.. Thanks you guys.. Dave.. I'll combine both lists plus Bills and that other stuff from hardware forum and make a sorta master list of options and bring to store with me...so I can thoroughly confound the salesman at micro center with all this info ...and see what happens.

                                   

                                  Thank you so much .. really... this will really take a load off my mind cause I have to get the hardware now to run the program. Will probably be the ONLY program I have on that computer... as I hope to get mouse hooked up through network to keep using what I have on that poor thing....

                                   

                                  In line with that ( network through router ) I just got a bill from mediacom for 140/mo when it's been 95 month for the past year ( I've been here one year exactly ). Since I asked mediacom to transfer my tv, internet , land line to new apt. next Friday I now got new bill for more than my usual bill and called them. Apparently I am in some promo contract for 2 years.. where for 1st year its 95 and then goes up to 140. They claim it's still discounted as otherwise it would be more like 180...

                                  This boggles my mind. And I am not happy.

                                  There are commercials all over the place for the service I have now and there's no mention of yearly discounted contracts that automatically go up etc. but I am apparently an idiot and didnt read the fine print somewhere.

                                  grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

                                   

                                  Anyway, I decided to keep the svc at 140 so I have the router for network and same phone number.. and some stupid TV junk to watch.

                                   

                                  Still waiting for cs6 delivery and then I'm gonna go out and get some beer....

                                  • 14. Re: Back....
                                    Community Member

                                    Well, I got my cs6 and got some beers .. so

                                    ITS BEER THIRTY , YIPPEEE !

                                     

                                    Oddly enough , my recent growling at mediacom ( phone, tv, internet ) is relevant to this whole cloud question to some extent...

                                    As people use more and more internet ( all over the world, including smart phones , tablets etc ) the systems will be under more strain and either bandwidth will have to be artificially 'limited' to keep areas viable ( between certain nodes globally ) or more will have to be charged for 'service' speeds, and that would theoretically enable companies to lay more fiber down or expand fiber networks, etc etc etc... sorta a game of leap frog.

                                    Put network in, get customers ( sometimes with contract with low rate for first year and 50% increase for 2nd year like me and mediacom ).. then use 2nd year money to hopefully recap expense of original network and expansion.

                                     

                                    Unfortunately nobody can question the frog about what he's gonna do next... leap or not..etc...

                                     

                                    So the expense of CC is not just the software subscription but also the cost of internet connection. That alone wouldnt be so bad but for the current trend to watch more and more streaming video and listen to music over internet also... which is a huge consumption.

                                     

                                    That means yet MORE compression and more codecs that can not EVER be edited.. which means yet MORE software mumbo jumbo magic to keep customers who have now become cloud / mobile users in the mix...or the product will be useless to them...and more expensive with extra cost of internet connection expense.

                                     

                                    To me this whole thing is getting out of control too fast... so it's time for a beer and I will pet my new box of CS6 and move and buy new computer ( with help from friends ).. and see what happens...

                                     

                                     

                                    • 15. Re: Back....
                                      Community Member

                                      This might be an interesting diversion....

                                      I just got a call from some cancer society asking if they can mail me a package of hope and wanted to verify my current address at xxx mound Mn....

                                      So I said, " gee, im sorta moving, and this isn't a good time to do this......"

                                      Meanwhile I'm thinking now of the dates I got the PO forwarding stuff going on, and whether I have anything I could contribute etc ( clothing ? stuff ? ) and as I'm running around in my head like a wild mouse wondering if mail sent here would get to THERE etc.. the telephone girl said more stuff to me.. like reading from a card or something... a sort of " litargy ' that had nothing to do with my basic problem re: moving and address change etc..

                                       

                                      It's beer thirty don't forget, and I'm still petting my new CS6 box.

                                       

                                      So anyway, I just started singing , " I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again, Oh baby I hate to gooooooo "

                                       

                                      That allowed us to make human contact and she'll call back next week !  How cool !

                                       

                                       

                                      • 16. Re: Back....
                                        davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                                        Or you could live out where I do where you have only two options for internet connection: Verizon data service at 1X equivilancy (works out to about 100kbps) or HughesNet satellite at 2Mbps but with 1500ms latency (i.e., you can forget Skype or anything that requires low latency online). Sucks. Especially coming from a previous job where I had a dedicated 50MBps fiber line for my office.

                                        • 17. Re: Back....
                                          Community Member

                                          yeah, but the pros outnumber the cons... you breathe and smell fresh air, see stars at night ( the universe ), and have electricity for light at night in home to read stories to the kid.

                                          Wait till he sees what you do with your art etc.. hehe... that magic will last forever ( imagination etc ). I dont feel bad for you about your internet connection being worse than mine...but I do sympathise...

                                          I'll probably be into snail mail within the next few years and wondering what my name is.

                                           

                                           

                                          • 18. Re: Back....
                                            Community Member

                                            Another humorous diversion....

                                            I just got an automated robot call from mediacom saying that a technician will come and connect my service at my new address Fri, the 17th between 1pm and 5pm. This is something I requested the other day cause I'm renting truck on 16th and outta here on the 16th.

                                            BUT GET THIS ! The mssg said that the technician would call me just prior to coming to the appointment to make sure I was there, or ELSE they would re-schedule the appointment.

                                             

                                            Hmmmm....

                                             

                                            So lets say I only have a land line from mediacom ( which is true ) and no cell phone.

                                            I am now moving from one place to another location and waiting for the tech guy, but he tries to call me but I can't be reached cause he hasn't come to turn my phone on yet. What do I do ???

                                             

                                            I'm confused.

                                             

                                            Does this mean I sit in my new apt with no mediacom svc until I buy a cell phone ?

                                            How does that help mediacom , as they are the ones who actually " sell " the land line ?

                                             

                                            This is very counter productive for mediacom IMO.. as it basically says " if you don't have a cell phone we can't hook up your land line". But if I had a cell phone I wouldn't NEED a land line

                                             

                                            Now again, multiply these stupid things with regard to the CC and all the variables and see how much less 'control' an pro editor has over his platform....

                                             

                                            For example, if the internet cost goes up that means I'm trapped to pay it cause otherwise I lose the CC.

                                            If I cancel my cell phone cause THAT price becomes crazy, I may lose my connection to the bank and my " direct deposit , direct debit " functions... until THAT is fixed.

                                             

                                            There's just too many variables being introduced to this whole mess of things IMO. It has nothing to do with anything more than being less dependent and having less variables that might go 'wrong' .. so that I can give clients a product without interuptions.

                                             

                                            Nobody in the world who works for a living would gladly accept MORE variables and uncertainties into their work flow.. and unknown future costs IMO.

                                             

                                            This is the crux of the problem. I personally have other issues re: pro vs hobby etc.. what features are fixed etc in the software over time etc... but its not THAT which is the problem. It is the fact that the salesgirl I called ( at mediacom ) to FIX this problem of the robotic call about the tech coming after he 'calls me '... didn't understand that I don't have a cell phone... like there's something wrong with me. " My father , who is in his 80's has a cell phone, " she told me. I asked her to please get us in touch so he can teach me how to use one. We laughed...

                                            hahahaha...

                                            And MAYBE some note she made on the vast computer system will tell the tech on Friday to come install the phone he's supposed to call me on to insure I'm THERE.

                                             

                                            It's funny isn't it ?

                                             

                                             

                                            • 19. Re: Back....
                                              Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                              Sounds like you are caught in a Catch 22 situation for sure.

                                               

                                              Maybe get one of these on a short-term rental basis, like just for that call, which WILL come.

                                               

                                              BrickPhone.jpg

                                               

                                              Hunt

                                              • 20. Re: Back....
                                                Community Member

                                                I'll probably consider losing the mediacom bundle AFTER I install cs6 and all the updates to win7 and cs6....I'll see how I feel in a few months.There is a dish network out here but I dont know anything about it yet.

                                                 

                                                As far as tomorrow goes, everything is now in a new state of flux...as I just moved a whole bunch of small items ( packed in plastic containers with locking lids ). I unpacked the containers in new apt onto shelves. That way I now use the containers for the kitchen stuff ( plates, silverware etc )..

                                                 

                                                However, it went from like 45 degrees to 95 or something yesterday and today is pretty darn hot out there as well... and I was sweating BULLETS making all those trips from car to apt. with those containers etc.

                                                 

                                                So my new theory is that instead of having EVERYTHING out of here by tomorrow with truck rental and hired help I may move more little things AFTER the furniture stuff ... as I have to the end of the month to move out.

                                                 

                                                Meeting the mediacom guy is now less critical in my big move plans... if it happens great, if not , no big deal.

                                                • 21. Re: Back....
                                                  Community Member

                                                  another moving into new apartment story....or more accurately, the longer version of today.

                                                   

                                                  The building is for people 62 or older. It is basically a sort of retirement place, in some instances sponsored by HUD for those who qualify. There are day rooms ( full kitchen and dining and 'meeting' areas ). There is a big patio outdoors facing the lake. There is a smaller screened porch facing lake ( with tables, chairs etc ). There is a permanent 'social worker' presence in the mgt office area.  There are the usual outdoor bar b q units and tables and so on in the back of building facing the lake.

                                                   

                                                  But the key thing to remember is the age thing. As I was making my many trips from car to the apt. ( through front doors, to elevator near the day room areas, etc ) it became a sort of "social" situation. There was apparently a birthday party planned for someone in the day room thing and a bunch of people were gathering for this event. I became suddenly an object of interest among the throng near the elevator. I am sweating bullets.. I am carrying really really heavy stacks of plastic containers.. and now I am surrounded by beaming faces with smiles like the sun... saying stuff like, " HI HI HI HI "

                                                  hehe.. it was fun !

                                                  " Can you play piano ? We usually have music for our birthday parties but the guitar player go sick "

                                                  " haha, " I replied ( sweating bullets ).

                                                  " Oh, I met Phil at the food store yesterday and he mentioned he's moving you tomorrow. He's a really nice man "

                                                  " Yes, I'll be moving furniture tomorrow, " I reply ( sweating bullets ).

                                                  The elevator arrives, I stumble into it with my stuff and the party goes on without me.

                                                   

                                                   

                                                  • 22. Re: Back....
                                                    Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                    Rod,

                                                     

                                                    I think that you will have plenty of new friends, when you publicly declare Beer-Thirty in that meeting room, but only after the move is complete.

                                                     

                                                    Enjoy,

                                                     

                                                    Hunt

                                                    • 23. Re: Back....
                                                      Community Member

                                                      One cool thing about the meeting room area thing , which is really more than one area..is that there is a sort of Library of books and movies and stuff that everyone just 'shares'. Like , when you finish reading a book that you dont wanna keep as reference material, you put in that library...

                                                      So I was sorta browsing around there and saw about a zillion books I'd like to read, and since I read a lot that was nice to see. A lot of the movies, unfortunately , are VCR tapes !  ACK !

                                                      Geez.. even ME ( a dinosaur who got his first digital TV last May )... knew enough to throw out the VCR players years ago !

                                                       

                                                      Anyway, I rented a truck this morning for the furniture move.. and I was really happy to get this particular one.. because it is a SNAKE TRUCK !  YES ! You can't make this stuff up !!!!!

                                                       

                                                      SnakeTruck.jpg

                                                       

                                                       

                                                      • 24. Re: Back....
                                                        Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                        I can just see the movie lineup now:

                                                         

                                                        Grumpy Old Men, I, II & III

                                                        Cocoon

                                                        Odd Couple

                                                        Stand Up Guys

                                                        etc.

                                                         

                                                        Enjoy the new apartment, and invite everyone over for Beer-Thirty. Trust me, they will all have to leave by 8:30PM.

                                                         

                                                        Hunt

                                                        • 25. Re: Back....
                                                          Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                                                          Hey!

                                                           

                                                          I still have a VCR!  You never know. I also still have the device to take the output into Premiere Pro as DV AVI over the firewire.

                                                          • 26. Re: Back....
                                                            Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                            Actually, I have three VCR's around the house. One is a DVR/VHS, one is a lower-level VHS and one is an older esoteric VHS. I use the first to digitize older tapes, and the others are for playing older tapes. Wife has the middle unit in the exercise room, hooked to the flat-screen, right in front of her Percor elliptical unit, as many of her exercise videos ARE VHS.

                                                             

                                                            Two of the features in my new "video room," will be my Denon turntable on a concrete pedestal, attached to the foundation, with a stainless steel leveling plate and space for both my reel-to-reel and my cassette deck (along with about everything else that I have, or can throw in). I have too many LP's, and too many various tapes to not have the capabilities. When done, I will then spend about 6 mos. just digitizing some of my stuff for a media server. I am trying to decide whether to move my Carver system down to that room, for the Denon. It's in my living room now, and sort of built in, but would function better downstairs. Finding an amp to handle a high-end moving coil cartridges is not so easy any more. My Carver 4000 can handle either a MC, or MM cartridge easily, so there might well be some other changes in my systems. Whichever way I go, I want legacy capabilities. I have far too much invested in the legacy media, but need to accommodate the new stuff too.

                                                             

                                                            Hunt

                                                            • 27. Re: Back....
                                                              Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                                                              I would say I am jealous, but my hearing aids don't have the kind of resolution of audio that would enable me to get the value out of vinyl that might have been possible 50 years ago before I started playing electric guitar, and then later, the drums.

                                                               

                                                              The truth is that I don't even wear the damn things like I should. In fact, I seldom listen to my tunes outside of the work van.  So bless the MP3. I mix that damndest collections of 100 songs or more you could ever imagine.

                                                               

                                                              I just put one together a little sloppily last week and had Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma right after Twisted Sister's "We're not going to take it". Too funny. But the sound is good enough to sing along. John Hartford's banjo stuff, Jimmy Buffett, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, a lot of Barbershop, etc. You can't beat a CD with enough memories to keep me happy during a two hour drive (each way) on a relatively common work day.

                                                              • 28. Re: Back....
                                                                Community Member

                                                                I met 3 old ladies yesterday after leaving here with a load of small stuff, after posting. They took me on a "tour" of some more rooms I didn't know about. There's a big libary / reading room on 3rd floor ( top floor ). So I got tons of books to read for a while. I took one right away to read last night ( Pray For Texas ) ... a sorta western about civil war stuff basically. One of the old ladies saw what I grabbed and started laughing hysterically.

                                                                 

                                                                ????

                                                                 

                                                                I got the impression she finds my choice of literature amusing.

                                                                 

                                                                The woman who liked to fight with the neighbor across the hall got banned from coming to this building. I saw her at my new apt. complex. Geez... she's not of age to rent there so maybe some old geezer likes to fight with her there ??

                                                                 

                                                                The couple who lived directly upstairs from me for about 6 months is also at the new place... and they too are too young to rent there. I think they are maybe staying with a mother of one of them.

                                                                 

                                                                I got 3 more robot calls telling me mediacom will call me to make sure I'm home to install the phone they are going to call.

                                                                 

                                                                I really really really dont wanna move anymore stuff... but I have to and I am unhappy.

                                                                 

                                                                 

                                                                • 29. Re: Back....
                                                                  Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                                  I really really really dont wanna move anymore stuff... but I have to and I am unhappy.

                                                                  See, I told you that "move" was a "four-letter word."

                                                                   

                                                                  Hunt

                                                                  • 30. Re: Back....
                                                                    Community Member

                                                                    Mediacom hooked me up. I had nose pressed to window from 1pm to about 330pm when the truck pulled into apt complex parking area and I literally RAN down the stairs to meet the guy. Cause there was no way for him to call me or for me to buzz him into apt...cause intercom in thru phone...

                                                                    Sheesh..

                                                                    So first trip this morning ( packing car like the beveryly hillbillies ) at 7am was shower curtain, clothes hanging in closets, various small things ( plus camera bags ) and tripod, etc.

                                                                    Second trip was ripping apart computer stuff, stereo and taking that 'table' to car, and then all the components ( tv, etc )...and moving all that junk here. Then I had about an hour to hook it all up ( cable box, modem, etc ).. to be ready for a 1pm appt.

                                                                    THEN as the time dragged on with me looking out the windows for mediacom truck, I hooked up computer, stereo etc...

                                                                    THEN when the guy showed ( he was a nice guy ) all he had to do was hook the cable to some journal box outside the building and I was good to go !!!!

                                                                    YIPEE !

                                                                    So now I have computer, tv, phone and guess what ???

                                                                    YES ! ITS BEER THIRTY ! YIPEE !

                                                                     

                                                                     

                                                                     

                                                                    edit:

                                                                    I have one more trip to make tomorrow morning ( all the stuff in refrigerator and some misc small stuff scattered around ) and IM DONE !

                                                                    Then its a matter of getting apt cleaned maybe by some girl down the hall in old apt...or letting mgt deal with it and deduct deposit or whatever.. I'm sorta in a " I don't care " mode right now.  Plus the guy that moved furniture bought the AC last night for me and will install it monday .

                                                                    Plus Im getting mail at new place already which is cool. Plus I am meeting all kinds of new people !!!! A lot of them travel around in electric scooter type things, or use walkers ..and they are all very friendly.

                                                                     

                                                                    I was sitting by the front door of apt ( there's a sitting area with tables full of magazines etc ) while the mediacom guy was trying to discover where my cable was located which took about 15 minutes. There are big pots with these live plants ( and small trees )  in them in the area where I was sitting for the first time. All of a sudden I noticed there were these little birds and animals ( not live ones ) sorta INSIDE THE POTTED PLANT ENVIRONMENT ...

                                                                    Like, some kids decided to put some little birds and butterflies and stuff on the branches or in the surface of the soil and so on.

                                                                    Wow !

                                                                    It's like some magical mystery tour !

                                                                     

                                                                     

                                                                    • 31. Re: Back....
                                                                      Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                                      Rodney,

                                                                       

                                                                      Glad that you managed to connect with the MediaCom guy. The telephone situation was almost a Catch-22.

                                                                       

                                                                      Now, remember your previous move? I imagine that your car looked the same:

                                                                      Rod-car.png

                                                                       

                                                                      Hunt

                                                                      • 32. Re: Back....
                                                                        Community Member

                                                                        My car was WAY more packed than that...only room for a "driver" and at that my right arm was resting on luggage...

                                                                         

                                                                         

                                                                         

                                                                        And I had my bicycle strapped to the back across the truck...

                                                                         

                                                                        what a trip that was..I never played the radio cause I was listening for mechanical problems that might occur... like the muffler maybe getting ripped off by a small rock in the road...or wheel bearings burning up from the strain...or the engine basically blowing a head gasket or something from the constant strain.

                                                                        The worst part was PA... due to all the little mountains... I even started to sing " the bear went over the mountain " at one point...Probably sang it for two hours straight at one point..

                                                                        Good thing nobody else was in the car or they woulda got real sick of that song.

                                                                         

                                                                         

                                                                        • 33. Re: Back....
                                                                          Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                                                                          When my wife and I first moved back to California from Florida, back in 2009, I headed out first in order to start work, putting all of my important belongings in the Ford Explorer, packed up to the very top. No space was left unpacked. None!

                                                                           

                                                                          I had my guitars, computers, cameras, clothes, enough kitchen supplies to get by, work related tools, etc.

                                                                           

                                                                          We both drove the SUV out to California, spent a week finding an apartment, then my wife flew back to get the rest of the house packed up.  During that first week we stayed with relatives in a nice little apartment they were not renting out at the moment. So all of my stuff got put into the living room. Then when we found a place, we moved it all over.

                                                                           

                                                                          I lived with one camp chair, a 32" HDTV, and that's it. I ate over the sink for about a month waiting for my wife to arrive. We borrowed a blow-up mattress to put on the floor. It was like being a young bachelor moving into my first apartment all over again. Only I had more in that first apartment!

                                                                           

                                                                          Then she flew out and shared that blow-up mattress for a couple of nights while we waited for the moving van. While I was at work, the van came and when I got home the place was magically turned into a real apartment with our furniture and almost everything put away.

                                                                           

                                                                          My wife is an amazingly competant woman. She has packed up and gotten us moved from three houses without me being there. Then the stuff gets put away and organized at the other end. Like magic!

                                                                           

                                                                          (She walked in as I was typing thes and I read it to her. She smiled, kissed me, and walked out of the room in a good mood.)

                                                                          • 34. Re: Back....
                                                                            Community Member

                                                                            hehe.. a you're lucky man. And as nice as she sounded just then from that example, I'm sure it only scratches the surface.

                                                                             

                                                                            Yeah, it's fun thinking of moves... especically after they are OVER.

                                                                             

                                                                             

                                                                             

                                                                            UG.. I still got all my refridge stuff  (condiments ) at old apt. and only have a half jar of really HOT green mex sauce here as far as condiments go. This morning at 6am I had a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast.  It was very spicy to say the least !

                                                                             

                                                                            off to food store despite tornado warnings ( just kidding ).. and gotta get milk and coffe and some basics...and BEER... Maybe get rest of stuff tomorrow from apt.

                                                                             

                                                                            BRB

                                                                            • 35. Re: Back....
                                                                              Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                                                                              Steven,

                                                                               

                                                                              That sounds a bit like our move from CO to AZ. We moved in three parts. First, we moved most of everything out of our house, to sell it more easily. All of this stuff was marked with either an A, or B. It all went into storage. A was stuff that would be used in our condo in AZ, until we could buy a house, where B stuff was to stay in storage, until the move to the house. Then, my wife headed to AZ, and had the A material shipped to the condo.

                                                                               

                                                                              I sold my business and the CO house, and then everything else was moved as parts C & D. All the C stuff went to the condo in AZ, and the D stuff went into storage with the B stuff.

                                                                               

                                                                              The condo was filled to the max with the A & C material. One bedroom was filled completely, plus two hallways. My Bulldog was afraid to walk down those hallways, as the boxes went to the ceiling.

                                                                               

                                                                              After 4 mos., we had the house, so the movers gathered up the A & C stuff from the condo, plus the B & D stuff from the storage, and schlepted it to the new house.

                                                                               

                                                                              I began unpacking all those boxes (now filling a three-car garage, and two rooms of the house), until about the end of the first week. Wife called from office and said "Stop!" There was a major shakeup at the hosptial, and she became concerned that she might be jobless. We held up unpacking, until everything settled down. We lived out of boxes for a full six mos.. Also, my wine had gone into cold storage, so here I was with about 120 cases of wine, and I was stopping by the wine shop buying our "daily wines." My cellar's contents did not arrive for almost a year, until I could construct the active cellar in AZ, and get it chilled.

                                                                               

                                                                              Rod now understands why I hate moving.

                                                                               

                                                                              Hunt

                                                                              • 36. Re: Back....
                                                                                Steven L. Gotz Community Member

                                                                                I have been living in this temporary arrangement for four years now. I really want to buy a place but twice now we have lost out by not offering enough money. Some of my stuff has been in boxes all this time.

                                                                                 

                                                                                I am looking forward to moving. I could be happy here if we had a storage facility somehere. But my wife insists that the stuff we would store is not worth the price of the storage facility. So it sits in boxes. Sigh!

                                                                                • 37. Re: Back....
                                                                                  Community Member

                                                                                  hehe.. cool stories re: moving stuff, storage etc.

                                                                                  So many people nowadays have to move for 'work' reasons ( more than in the past I think ? ) that its probably becoming even MORE of a potential for business opportunity.

                                                                                  For example, " Godzilla Moving Company LTD , we tag, delegate, move, store, and handle ALL aspects of YOUR MOVE !  Our trained specialists are experts in all fields of moving, including Computer systems and Home Entertainment centers. Home business environments are among our expertise , so you don't have to worry about disconnecting, transporting and reassembly in your new home !

                                                                                  From the smallest apartment to the largest estate, Godzilla Moving will be your friend ! "

                                                                                   

                                                                                  Godzilla_collage.jpg

                                                                                   

                                                                                  • 38. Re: Back....
                                                                                    Community Member

                                                                                    Dave you okay down there ??

                                                                                     

                                                                                     

                                                                                    • 39. Re: Back....
                                                                                      davidbeisner2010 Community Member

                                                                                      Yeah... the bad fires are up in the Colorado Springs area which is about four hours north east of me. There is one just started up here in my town, though, but it's about 20 miles away and doesn't pose a threat to our lodge. However, it is incredibly dry down here (I can only recall three rain showers since snow melted in March) and fires are a serious threat right now. It'll be interesting to see what happens as this summer progresses. Keep praying for rain!

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