Music Technology Obsolescence. Ouch.

What was a great idea back in the mid-80s is now biting me in the ass. They came out with a great noise-reduction system for cassette tape decks called "dbx". This was better than Dolby at reducing the inherent tape-hiss of cassettes. I recorded hundreds of albums & CDs using dbx, even though I could not play them in any other device except my home stereo.

Now my old tape deck has gone out and "dbx" went out a long time ago. I'm left with scrounging e-bay for dbx decks so I can burn all of this material to CD. After losing out on 4 bids, including a Yamaha deck exactly like the one I had, I finally won one for a reasonable $40. Seemed to work fine for two burns, but now it's speed keeps fluctuating while playing. I've wasted two recordable CDs trying to get one tape burnt and am not wasting any more.

Back to the e-bay listings. Poop!

SUV Free

I said goodbye to my SUV of ten years, a GMC Jimmy, and hello to my new ride, a Volvo V50. I really wanted the body style of an SUV because of the flexibility of hauling things, but was tired of driving a truck. I really liked the styling of the Volvo (I looked at a Passat wagon too) and the safety track record was unbeatable.

Along with the standard owners manual that covers everything from soup to nuts, with warning disclaimers about anything that could possibly cause harm to you and your children when not used properly (yes, I'll look behind me when I back up), they included a slick CD-ROM full of Flash videos about operating the car. This was really well done and answered a couple of questions that weren't obvious from scanning through the manual.

My only complaint so far is the short distance between the brake pedal and the center console wall at foot level. Its almost impossible to step on the gas without rubbing off the brake pedal to get to it. It's a good thing I have narrow feet. Somebody with wide feet could not drive this car.

New Years Resolution - More Posts

Well, I started this blog last year with the intention of posting personal observations, web/Cold Fusion tips, etc. Unfortunately, I found posting regularly to be a pain and went weeks without adding anything.

This year will be different (in theory). And I plan on updating more frequently.