Sometimes you just get lucky


Back in the day, as CDs were all the "perfect sound forever" rage, my young daughters were in need of their first bicycles.  Having just bought our first house, money was pretty tight.  So, I looked at my collection of a little over 400 LPs -- classic rock, progressive rock, and jazz, mostly, and all in great shape -- that weren't getting much attention just then and decided to sell them at a local record store for some bike-buying cash.  The clerk sniffed at me and declared that he would only give me $20 for the lot.  At that point, I knew that bicycles would require a Plan B (which happened) and that I should probably hold onto the collection (which also happened).  Fast forward to today, and my record collection is 3-4x the size it was back then and includes a fair share of rare items, MFOMR, One-Steps, UHQRs, box sets, etc.  But those original albums remain some of my most cherished.  And I constantly thank the "Great DJ in the Sky" that the clerk that day didn't make a reasonable offer.  I wonder if any of you have had similar experiences?

Happy Listening,

Dawgfish

dawgfish
stuartk

Wearing that Tie gave me Great Luck, the topic here.

My last comment on this side-bender I didn't mean to start:

America, despite behavior, has a very high percentage (63%) of people declaring themselves Christians. It always amazes me how many sing the words of ’Imagine’ The best-selling single of his solo career.

 

 

....once a Brit, always a Brit.....

....'stiff upper lip'....

...nightmare time...?...

@elliottbnewcombjr 

Let's not forget John Lennon's quest for spirituality

Ironically, that seemed to have ended with his song titled "God". . . but then, disillusionment is often part of the process. . . 

God is a Concept by which we measure our pain
I'll say it again
God is a Concept by which we measure our pain

I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in Tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
I don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in Mantra
I don't believe in Gita
I don't believe in Yoga
I don't believe in Kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Beatles

I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that's reality

The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over
Yesterday
I was the dreamweaver
But now I'm reborn
I was the walrus
But now I'm John
And so, dear friends,
You'll just have to carry on
The dream is over

For some reason, I never bought the hype of CDs when they were introduced.  I always felt with my Rega Planar 3 turntable that records sounded better.  So, although I bought a ton of CDs, I kept all my records.  Today, on my good vinyl rig they still sound great.

 

knotscott

You reminded me of my wet LP story.

I lucked out by my friend's divorce!

He told me there were about 50 jazz lp's in the basement of his house that the wife would not let him near. "You can have them if she will give them to you".

I go, she likes me, tells me I can have them, but there had been a water leak over where he had left them. She just left them there molding.

I had zero money, wanted to learn about Jazz, so I lugged the soggy moldy things home. Scrubbed the LP's with sponge and liquid dish detergent, put in the dishwasher rack to dry, did the best I could with the covers, and proceeded to get a free introduction to Jazz.

 

 

roxy54

No problem, It's a good thing to remark about things particularly meaningful.

Let's not forget John Lennon's quest for spirituality, so the fact that a tie with his self-image, which I wore with intent, caused an action which effected the restoration of my ability to enjoy his  music.

Glad you had a happy ending! I fully understand financing the kids wants and the needs of a new house.

We moved our 6 kids into this house 25 years ago. To say money was tight is an understatement. The livingroom/listening area was much larger, and I needed longer speaker cables. Based on numerous accounts that speaker wire doesn’t make a difference, I bought cheap wire. The system never sounded great in the new space, and I attributed it to room acoustics, and lost some interest in it. I busied myself with the new house, raising kids, life, etc and played mostly CDs on holidays..  I ended up selling my AR turntable with a Premier MMT arm and Grado Signature 8 cart (regret #1). The LPs got relegated to the crawl space, where they suffered some water damage during a torrential downpour. (regret #2) 😥

It turns out that speaker wire does matter. 🙄 Once there was cash for decent basic 12 awg OFC copper wire, the system sprang back to life, and revived my interest in the system. The TT eventually got replaced (but I still miss my AR). I’ve since cleaned up many of the LPs, but the covers are mostly trashed. Vinyl is expensive, but I still make some purchases, and get LPs for gifts...still a treat!

@elliottbnewcombjr 

I didn't have any bad intent in what I said, and I understand that you were using it in the secular, pop culture sort of way, the same way that Zen is misused. I guess I just get frustrated sometimes because I see its meaning skewed so often. 

I was pretty certain that you knew the actual meaning of the word.

roxy54

I know the spiritual foundation of Karma, 

I was using a more secular approach, half in jest, half not.

"individuals' intent and actions (cause) influence their future (effect)"

from wiki

In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called the principle of karma, wherein individuals' intent and actions (cause) influence their future (effect):[2] Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier rebirths, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and bad rebirths.

@elliottbnewcombjr 

That's a wonderful story. We all have amazing incidents like that sometime in our lives. Thanks for sharing!

"Bingo, fixed. Is that the definition of Karma?"

Actually, no. Look it up. I think the meaning of karma is widely misunderstood.

I play bass and have done so professionally in rock/alt bands.  Almost getting a contract here and there.  Neat tidbit...we shared stages now and then with Hootie and the Blowfish while they were still in school in Columbia, SC.  It was around that time that I decided I was too cool to have some of the albums I had so I sold a bunch of non-serious rock things.  I generally really regret doing that.  Especially in the case of a certain one....Xanadu with ELO and ONJ.  See what I mean?  lol  But now that one can get up to $10,000 according to some.  When I hear about people getting rid of old albums I wonder what kind of gold mine there was in them.

Excepting records that I had an emotional attachment to,  I sold most of them at a garage sale for $1 each back in the 90's.  Of course I regretted it soon after.  But my brother is in another class altogether.  Had a Garrard TT, tube amp and Kef bookshelf speakers and a HUGE vinyl collection.  The entire collection and equipment is now stored in a damp basement, and he only listens to music with an MP3 player and $80 Grado headphones.  Duh.

In the late 80s my roommate tried like hell to get me to give him my albums when he moved out because in our small NYC apartment I’d switched to CDs as they were the new thing and took up a lot less space. At the time I wasn’t as focused on sound quality (I was young and stupid) and was enjoying the convenience and lack of pops/clicks with “perfect sound forever,” but a little voice kept telling me to hold on to my records and thankfully I ultimately listened to it and kept all my vinyl. Fast forward 35 years and I’m now really looking forward to getting my vinyl rig back up and running in the near future whereas if I’d given my records to my roommate, who I’m still in touch with, I’m sure my treasured collection would be in a landfill somewhere because he doesn’t have a turntable or even a decent stereo anymore. I don’t know if it was luck or what, but I just thank the Audio Gods for that little voice back then.

luck, your story reminded me

The 1st time (no internet then) I had to re-cone my 15" woofers made in 1956, I was worried they were too old to repair. I put on my John Lennon Tie for Good Karma. I put them in sturdy boxes, they weigh 37 lbs each.

On the way to work I went to pro shop near the Holland Tunnel, double parked, lugged them inside without a word, and went to park. Unbelievably, NYC, got a spot right away.

Got inside, a technician examines, sure enough, they have cloth surrounds, they don't do that, only foam, cannot tell you who could, good luck.

Downhearted, I mutter in my mind: Geez, no Karma today (except the parking spot).

One foot out the door, another guy who was listening says 'Kevin might be able to fix them", tells the cashier to give me Kevin's tel. #. "Nice Tie" he says, disappears into the back room.

I wore that tie when I dropped them off with Kevin, a dude who worked out of his apartment.

Bingo, fixed. Is that the definition of Karma?

My mistake at about the same time when I bought my first CD Player and disks was to sell or give away all my albums. Fast Forward 35 years, my wife bought me a TT as part of a package deal. At the time I had no Phono section in my gear but soon enough did. I started buying copies of what I lost and then found my brother still had the box I gave him. I got about 50 albums back in the exact condition as they were when I gave them to him and never played between then and when I got them back. Wish I had kept them all.

I will be 70 in a couple months and started my vinyl collection in the 60s. Even so I moved across the pound, and at times was struggling to make ends meet, I never ever contemplated selling my vinyl records. You did get lucky.

Luckily - I was too lazy to try. Held onto all of them. Original Soft Machine 1 with the pinwheel cover and non-banned nudity, Hendrix, 13th Floor Elevators, bootleg Pink Floyds, Funkadelic, etc. I still enjoy them today - 35 years later. I don’t think a bike would have faired as well. 

glad to hear, @dogfish!

i was incensed and disgusted when the corporations conned and pressured the public into discarding the music they already had and replacing it all with CDs, which cost the music business next to nothing to make, at twice the price. man,  i especially hated seein a buddy with a bad ass lifetime album collection take his records to the library and donate them. the library, of course, sold em for nothing or dumped em. 

my version is that I had some incredibly valuable items, sold them for $10, borrowed $190 to buy the bike, and the bike got stolen on day 2. (I am lying it was day 1.)

The clerk wanted you to keep the records because you were making a mistake, that's why he offered such a ridiculous price knowing that you would reject it.

Yeah, you should thank him.

@czarivey 

Could you please restate what you just said so that I can possibly understand it?

Sometimes it says to me not to quit the pot, because I'm being bluffed so after calling the showdown, I could go and buy some more goodies.