What is the most stupid thing you've ever done with music gear/computer etc?

[jancivil]

No, apparently the stupidest thing I ever did (with gear or really anything) was trust my former landlord when he said he'd keep my computer in a closet (8-core 24 GB MacPro with a Cinema Display and 4 internal drives (~9K total) for "as long as you need to"; I finally decided to pull the hard drives, which I could arguably carry home, yesterday and the wife said 'Oh no, was too long'. I left the things there to go into hospital (rather than die, which may have been less stupid) which lasted a while (Aug '16 - March '17) and as a result of that I don't get around so well anymore.

[Jace-BeOS]

No, apparently the stupidest thing I ever did (with gear or really anything) was trust my former landlord when he said he'd keep my computer in a closet (8-core 24 GB MacPro with a Cinema Display and 4 internal drives (~9K total) for "as long as you need to"; I finally decided to pull the hard drives, which I could arguably carry home, yesterday and the wife said 'Oh no, was too long'. I left the things there to go into hospital (rather than die, which may have been less stupid) which lasted a while (Aug '16 - March '17) and as a result of that I don't get around so well anymore.

Landlords. So many assholes among them.

Did they not even attempt to contact you?

[jancivil]

Well, when he was worried about no rent coming in for the unit he found me in hospital; but I've heard nothing since the last time I swung by, which was sometime during the second half of 2017. There was no 'pick the stuff up soon or it's gone'.

In my assessment today they - he and his wife and an old retainer who probably still owns the property, his father) are just very shitty people at the end of the day. I have re-upped most software (I swung by to collect drives which contain things which cannot be) but that was at the time around 9000 dollars of hardware and I'm not going to have that kind of buying power today or probably ever.


tempted to go on Yelp behind this, but they already have a one-star status there...

[Jace-BeOS]

Used a dusting cloth previously just used with isopropal alchol cleaner on a keyboard - nice smearing of the manufacturers graphics!!! grrr

Oo ooo ooo I got one like this:

I cleaned the exposed LCD panel of my second hand iMac 27" after repairing the bullshit configuration it was sold to me in. Cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

It has smears all over it that, luckily, I can't usually see. I bought the thing so I could get back to photography work... Left me so irate I haven't done any photography. The seller acknowledged the machine never should've been sent to me as it was but I didn't ask to return it because I damaged the LCD further (there was a small nick in the LCD on the bottom right corner already from his tech who shittily assembled the machine from, I presume, parts).

I knew better. I just forgot because I was so pissed off at the whole situation.

[Jace-BeOS]

Well, when he was worried about no rent coming in for the unit he found me in hospital; but I've heard nothing since the last time I swung by, which was sometime during the second half of 2017. There was no 'pick the stuff up soon or it's gone'.

Yup. Asshole landlord.

In my assessment today they - he and his wife and an old retainer who probably still owns the property, his father) are just very shitty people at the end of the day.

Definitely. It seems to me that landlords fall into the trap of the ignorant and unskilled person who is too ignorant to know how ignorant and unskilled they are, therefore nothing stops them from taking on a job that they are going to absolutely suck at. It's good to know one's weaknesses. But then, I think a huge number of so-called entrepreneurs depend on this self-blindness and arrogance... Might be why I'm not fond of entrepreneurs.

I have re-upped most software (I swung by to collect drives which contain things which cannot be) but that was at the time around 9000 dollars of hardware and I'm not going to have that kind of buying power today or probably ever.

I empathize with your loss. I'm in the same financial situation. Anything I lose now will be lost forever.

tempted to go on Yelp behind this, but they already have a one-star status there...

Why not make it a solid one-star? I'm fully aware that reviews from abusive people can ruin businesses but this sounds like he is the abusive one; an abusive landlord who the locals need to be warned about.

[ghettosynth]

Used a dusting cloth previously just used with isopropal alchol cleaner on a keyboard - nice smearing of the manufacturers graphics!!! grrr

Oo ooo ooo I got one like this:

I cleaned the exposed LCD panel of my second hand iMac 27" after repairing the bullshit configuration it was sold to me in. Cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

It has smears all over it that, luckily, I can't usually see. I bought the thing so I could get back to photography work... Left me so irate I haven't done any photography. The seller acknowledged the machine never should've been sent to me as it was but I didn't ask to return it because I damaged the LCD further (there was a small nick in the LCD on the bottom right corner already from his tech who shittily assembled the machine from, I presume, parts).

I knew better. I just forgot because I was so pissed off at the whole situation.

I'm trying to recall a time when I did something like this, but really, I was tinkering with electronics in my youth so most of my mistakes as an adult have been relatively benign. I was tossed across my tiny basement shop at the ripe age of 16 by a 650 volt plate lead that had lost its cap. I quickly learned the "always where shoes and one hand in the back pocket" rule.

Not so for my friends and bandmates though, as previously discussed. Another friend owned a (small and local, but with paying customers) studio and he was using two of those horrible Alesis 16 channel mixers, the 1622. Well, he was lecturing his young assistant on the importance of proper cleaning procedures for electronic gear and they took one of the mixers apart. Now these mixers do not have proper pots, they have the carbon for the pots painted onto the PCB. That's why they were so cheap when they came out. My friend proceeds to use some corrosive electronics cleaner, I don't recall which one, to clean them and there are huge swaths of what look like black ink as he's wiping it down. At first he thought that it was just dirty and continued to lecture his charge that this was clearly an important thing to do. Then the PCBs were totally clean. He called Alesis and they explained to him that he had wiped off all of the potentiometers and that the board was essentially trash.

Fortunately for him, they were sympathetic, and also amused, and sent him a replacement board. Yes, I laughed at him.

[resynthesis]

I left the side panel off my desk top and a mouse pissed and died on the sound card....
Then I goggled mouse died in my computer....
Apparently Deadmous5 computer beat me to his name first!

Those bastards...

Back in the mists of time when I was a student and lived in a shared house, a mouse died inside the back of the fridge. It was the most disgusting smell which we couldn't work out was coming from.

on the bright side, free meat!

But...would it last for the week? That, as you know is always the important question.

mftw.jpg

Crikey, I lived pretty near there when I was a student. Happy days...

[jancivil]

tempted to go on Yelp behind this, but they already have a one-star status there...

Why not make it a solid one-star? I'm fully aware that reviews from abusive people can ruin businesses but this sounds like he is the abusive one; an abusive landlord who the locals need to be warned about.

Well, there are 3 comments today. I'm sure I've seen other comments in the past... none of them good. One accuses them of being 'cheats and thieves'. The old guy may be alright but he is not so involved with running the place. He's not even equipped to take the rent payment. The wife doesn't even know how their internet router works, as though she's not allowed to touch anything. Indian, Patel caste; the old guy if not his father came over expressly to put a motel up.

[ghettosynth]

Well, when he was worried about no rent coming in for the unit he found me in hospital; but I've heard nothing since the last time I swung by, which was sometime during the second half of 2017. There was no 'pick the stuff up soon or it's gone'.

Yup. Asshole landlord.

Well, they might be, and they might also have some legal responsibility if they, in fact, agreed to hold it for some unstated period of time and then did not follow up to try and contact the owner prior to disposing of the equipment. However, it doesn't make a landlord an asshole for not storing a tenants stuff, I assume without remuneration, for an extended period of time.

I would definitely be pissed off, but, I would have made that agreement a bit more clear and I would have found someone that I could trust more to get it moved to safe ground much sooner than "months."

[Jace-BeOS]

Not so for my friends and bandmates though, as previously discussed. Another friend owned a (small and local, but with paying customers) studio and he was using two of those horrible Alesis 16 channel mixers, the 1622. Well, he was lecturing his young assistant on the importance of proper cleaning procedures for electronic gear and they took one of the mixers apart. Now these mixers do not have proper pots, they have the carbon for the pots painted onto the PCB. That's why they were so cheap when they came out. My friend proceeds to use some corrosive electronics cleaner, I don't recall which one, to clean them and there are huge swaths of what look like black ink as he's wiping it down. At first he thought that it was just dirty and continued to lecture his charge that this was clearly an important thing to do. Then the PCBs were totally clean. He called Alesis and they explained to him that he had wiped off all of the potentiometers and that the board was essentially trash.

Fortunately for him, they were sympathetic, and also amused, and sent him a replacement board. Yes, I laughed at him.

Wow, that's kind of an awesome story, in a sadly amusing way. I'm glad Alesis took pity on him. I think the culture of demanding non-electronics experts to maintain PC hardware internals has had a net negative impact on culture. Really, only electronics experts should be disassembling electronics. The PC world pressures people to think it's normal to disassemble and "maintain" sealed electronics.

[Jace-BeOS]

Well, when he was worried about no rent coming in for the unit he found me in hospital; but I've heard nothing since the last time I swung by, which was sometime during the second half of 2017. There was no 'pick the stuff up soon or it's gone'.

Yup. Asshole landlord.

Well, they might be, and they might also have some legal responsibility if they, in fact, agreed to hold it for some unstated period of time and then did not follow up to try and contact the owner prior to disposing of the equipment. However, it doesn't make a landlord an asshole for not storing a tenants stuff, I assume without remuneration, for an extended period of time.

I would definitely be pissed off, but, I would have made that agreement a bit more clear and I would have found someone that I could trust more to get it moved to safe ground much sooner than "months."

It sounds, to me, from what I read above, like the landlord had the ability to contact the owner of the items in storage and chose to dispose of the items without doing so.

[jancivil]

Well, when he was worried about no rent coming in for the unit he found me in hospital; but I've heard nothing since the last time I swung by, which was sometime during the second half of 2017. There was no 'pick the stuff up soon or it's gone'.

Yup. Asshole landlord.

Well, they might be, and they might also have some legal responsibility if they, in fact, agreed to hold it for some unstated period of time blah blah blah

I have no need to argue this with you, it's none of your f**king business but you took this opportunity to disrespect me personally acting like - PRETENDING there is some legal basis to opine on. When you know nothing of the actual situation. Go f**k yourself; the lack of empathy there is simply ASTONISHING.

[jancivil]

I would have made that agreement a bit more clear and I would have found someone that I could trust more to get it moved to safe ground much sooner than "months."

My but aren't you just adulting with that. f**k you. What was my context? I went into hospital for an extended stay and he said "For as long as you need to." I had mixed results with this individual at that point but, hey, I took him at his actual f**king word. If we were talking about a lawsuit, fine. We were not. I was not. I am not suing the asshole. It's a f**king closet at the motel. I came OUT of hospital lacking my left foot and my right big toe. And having given up my room in order to be in hospital for the duration I had no place to go and ended up on the street with one foot and four toes on it. But there was enough context for you to have given the thing a LITTLE more consideration. But no, of course not.

[Jace-BeOS]

ghettosynth:

I think this is a good example of when playing devil's advocate (especially for the person in a position of power, over a person in a position of suffering), is a bad idea.

[jancivil]

It's as though I'm not a person at all, just fodder for typing some bullshit on the internet.
But f**k me for being candid and saying anything about my person what_so_f**king_ever here.
It's not a safe space.

I think I'm going to move away from KVR in a big way after today.

So far 100% of comments at Yelp (not just these three which are still standing) show the landlord as being an asshole.

My elderly relative from out of town frequently stays at this motel when visiting the area. My elderly relative is not always mentally competent. When this relative hadn't contacted me for over 24 hours after supposedly arriving or returned my calls or texts I decided to try calling Maya motel repeatedly to see if they had in fact, ever arrived and if they were safe.

About a dozen phone calls and no answer from the front desk. I was about to drive over there in a panic when finally my relative emailed me back saying their phone had died. They explained to me that Maya motel does not answer their phone and all reservations have to be made in person. This is absolutely ridiculous and dangerous for someone in my particular predicament.

Dear Manager at the Maya motel, Oakland California,
Please answer your phone at the front desk!
I tried to call the manager to report a broken phone in room 111 but I got no response. This is bad service. My friend who is homeless and has medical problems is staying in room 111 and is unable to receive calls!

And they NEVER, no exaggeration in the slightest, NEVER answer the phone. I lived there for over 8 yrs. They do not take calls, the number is just to deflect calls into the ether. And that is no exaggeration either.

Context; who needs it when you want to sneak attack an individual you don't like here, yeah?

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