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Topic:
What did you do today?
This thread has 11407 replies. Displaying posts 31 through 45.
Post 31 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 10:27
SAAudio
Advanced Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2007
993
On June 28, 2007 at 02:57, Mr. Stanley said...
Today... Suuuuuuuuuuucccccckkkkkkkked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been shopping for a nice clean, Mercedes 300te
wagon... for about 3 or 4 months now.
One popped up on Craigslist last night... A Mercedes mechanic
was selling his... I raced over to his shop first thing
this morning, in my Miata, which I only drive on sunny
days --- usually it's in the garage, and being it's kind
of a "girlie car" I don't drive it much at all.

On the way over to Bellevue, to check out the wagon, I
got pulled over by the Bellevue cops... "WHERE IS YOUR
FRONT LICENSE PLATE"???

...Uh, I dunno... Hmm, must have fallen off or maybe I
left it in my garage?

Can I see your license, registration and insurance card...?
Uhmmmm... hmmm had my registration here a while ago...
can't seem to find it... Uhmmm... don't have my insurance
card either, officer!

I had left the card and registration in my garage, because
I had removed my glove box to install a new heater core
a few weeks ago, and didn't put the glove box back yet.

I had also slapped the plate from my truck on the Miata
becuase the Miata tabs had expired... Cop said "Hey this
plate (the license on the back of the Miata -- which was
actually my Truck License)---doesn't match up with your
car"!!! I said yeah, well actually that is from my truck!
(Now I was actually sweating!!!) SH#T!!!!

He goes back to his squad car, and another squad car shows
up...

After I swear, about 20 minutes he comes back to me "No
insurance card $400.00" --- "Tampering with License, and
I forget what the hell else he said... oh yeah, no front
plate, or registration" $504.00... Total $904.00!!!

He even physically removes my license plate off my car
and keeps it...( Now I don't have a license plate for
my truck!) I almost got hauled off for using my truck
license on my Miata... The cop actually called in a "backup"
and they had a loooong conference on wheteher or not to
haul me in!

I, somehow or other was given the opportunity to "just
go back to Seattle" and get my tabs taken care of... (After
getting the ticket)... The cop was a real hard-ass too...

Well, that really shook me up... but the Mercedes wagon
was located about 2 miles from there, so I asked the
officer if I could go to look at the car... He scowled
and said sure, just be forewarned if you get pulled over
again you'll be fined again!

So, I drove over and looked at the wagon... It was just
what I've been looking for... I drove it around for a
while, and thouroughly quizzed the mechanic about it until
I could see he was getting a little impatient. I didn't
even "dicker" on the price...

...So I drove (the wagon - since IT was licensed properly),
to the bank, got a cashiers' check, paid the guy, did
the paperwork, and told him I'd leave my Miata there,
and drive the wagon home and get my Miata in a day or
two... He said fine.

The Wagon was running awesome... everything worked (all
the little wierd electrical devices and all that even
worked)...

...So I am on a busy Hi-Way (405)...heading back to my
home in Seattle - (in the Wagon), and the car just DIES
like it ran out of gas... I coast off to the shoulder
of the road... and after cranking it for a couple minutes
it starts up again... I go about 5 miles and it dies again!

...So I call "Frank" the mechanic who I bought it from...
He says..."Oh, that must be the gas pump relay...They
tend to short out sometimes, it never did it for me though...
Let the car cool down, (the relay will cool also), then
drive it back to the shop here and I'll get a new relay
because I am 95% certain that is the problem!"
I VERY nervously drive it back to the shop in rush hour
traffic. When I get there the shop is now closed... so
I drop the keys in the key drop with a note "Fix this
car, or the deal is off - Thank you"!

I can't drive my Miata back until I get the license stuff
straightened out, so I call my son, but can't get ahold
of him, so I call a friend to come rescue me.

So... my friend eventually gets there and I go home, and
in the driveway, is a HUGE puddle of oil!!! I jump out
of the my friends' car and inspect the puddle...It must
have been 3 quarts!!!
This is where I had parked my OTHER recent purchase...
a 300SE coupe... My son had it somewhere, and I needed
to contact him ASAP to tell him it was hemoraging oil!!!

My 18 year old has it (the other Benz) over at his friend's
house... I frantically try calling him over and over again...
no answer... Finally I text message him "Call your Dad
ASAP"!!! --Park the Car it is out of oil!!!

He calls... Paul where are you? DON"T DRIVE F#CKING THE
CAR... I race over in my Truck, (half way there, I remember
has no license plate, since the cop took it off my Miata
earlier, so now I'm all paranoid about getting pulled
over again and having to explain the situation to another
cop) to this friend's house where the car is... huge puddle
of oil under it... I crawl under with my flashlight...
a small crack in the front of the oil pan... (He bumped
one of those curb things in a parking lot)... He said
when it happened he got out and took a look, but didn't
see anything unusual at the time...

I check the oil dipstick... it is DRY... I replace 6 quarts...I
leave my truck there & drive home (5 miles) the 300SE...
now I am looking at having the oil pan replaced.
If my son had driven it any further, the engine would
have melted down.

Overall, a pretty stressful day...

Tomorrow I'll see what the mechanic has to say about the
wagon, and have to also shop around for a place to get
the oil pan repaired or replaced.

I DID however, get some new business today, and finished
up a prewire...

It's past my bedtime, but I'm still too tense from all
of the above to go to bed.

Still not sure how I escaped going to jail for the swapped
license plates, because the one cop that pulled me over
was really ticked off, like it was a huge deal, but his
"backup" partner who showed up was a little mellower,
and I think that he saved me from going to jail. (never
been to jail, never want to either)...

Tommorrow is a new day. Man, today sucked! But it could
have been worse:

My kid could have kept driving the car and burnt it up...

I could have gone to the pokey.

The Wagon will be repaired.

I can make payments on the ticket!

Goodnight.

Edit: FYI I am not talking about much money at all for
either of the Mercedes... They were both older models...
A lot less (combined) than a new van. I'm not trying
to make anyone think I am anywhere near a high roller!!!

Might even drive the Wagon to CEDIA for the hell of it!
8>)

Down here, if you do not have your insurance card but you have insurance you can take verification in and get ticket dismissed. Not sure if they are as lenient in Seattle.

Doubt they will dismiss the tag issue. Just be happy you did not go to jail.
Post 32 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 12:47
ddarche
Mr. RemoteQuest
Joined:
Posts:
February 2002
2,309
I was programming client's remotes all day, Wed.

Dave D'Arche
http://RemoteQuest.com
Fine Home Theater Remote Controls & Solutions - Programming services for most remotes
Post 33 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 13:22
cjoneill
Select Member
Joined:
Posts:
December 2002
2,174
simoneales- love that first install!

mwstorch- 4 posts since 2003? You been reading here for more than a few months! Nice install! You did that all yesterday? :)

Brentm- wish I had been there to join you at the end... laa la la laa la la laa lalalaa

Mr. Stanley- Wow!

CJ
I'm not a pro
Post 34 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 14:06
litespeed
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
October 2006
85


Kind of a cool project we recently wrapped up...it includes a recess mounted 71" DLP TV-this is the first time we installed and played around with a Wii as well. The sensor bar for the Wii sits on top of the removable face frame for the TV. Other system sources include a Middle Atlantic Rack mounted xbox, PS2, Denon DVD player, and a cable box w/DVR.

At the bottom of the face frame are two slits for air intake (these aren't visible in the picture)...there is an in-line exhaust fan pulling air through the TV cavity-the exhaust fan is on a stat.
Post 35 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 14:29
QQQ
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
4,806
On June 28, 2007 at 14:06, litespeed said...

Nice work, I hope you don't mind a suggestion. I see a lot of pictures with this type of speaker setup. Don't you think it would be better to place all the speakers above, aligned in the horizontal plane, with drivers angled towards the listening area, so that pans (sound moving left to center to right etc.) sound correct? I do :-). An added benefit is that it also looks nicer.
Post 36 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 14:44
litespeed
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
October 2006
85
On June 28, 2007 at 14:29, QQQ said...
Nice work, I hope you don't mind a suggestion. I see
a lot of pictures with this type of speaker setup. Don't
you think it would be better to place all the speakers
above, aligned in the horizontal plane, with drivers angled
towards the listening area, so that pans (sound moving
left to center to right etc.) sound correct? I do :-).
An added benefit is that it also looks nicer.

Q-that is a good point and one I've never considered for in-wall LCR placement. This is always the challenge of center channel placement. We've put the LCR array in the ceiling before and have had good results-but this is something we couldn't do in this particular application due to noise spill over to the adjacent living space (I know we could use back boxes and other sound isolation devices, but it still manages to work its way to other areas).
Post 37 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 15:24
mwstorch
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2003
375
Thank you all for the kind comments. You caught me, I've lurked for years.

JBJ-interesting question. The owner did not want to see any speakers, but thought the exposed equipment rack in the kitchen would be, in his words, "techlicious."

Michael
Post 38 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 15:41
oex
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
April 2004
4,177
"techlicious."

Agreed

Litespeed - 1 comment - when painting the speakers/grills, re use the fabric material after spraying cause we can see the drivers begind the grills
Diplomacy is the art of saying hire a pro without actually saying hire a pro
Post 39 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 16:13
litespeed
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
October 2006
85
On June 28, 2007 at 15:41, oex said...
Agreed

Litespeed - 1 comment - when painting the speakers/grills,
re use the fabric material after spraying cause we can
see the drivers begind the grills

OEX-it is funny you mention this...the drivers/internals are actually NOT visible when you are physically in the room. But when photographed with a point and shoot digital, the internals become visible. This is something that always comes up with our clients when we show them our portfolio (at some point we'll hire a photographer to take some photos for us). This is the case for a system with a similar speaker array last year. See the photo below:

Post 40 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 16:44
ceied
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
February 2002
5,749
i was in a depresed funk all day. basically walked around my clients like a zombie....

joy!!!!!
Ed will be known as the Tiger Woods of the integration business, followed closely with the renaming of his company to "Hotties A/V". The tag line will be "We like big racks and tight holes"...
Post 41 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 16:58
AACTrent
Audio Authority Corp.
Joined:
Posts:
February 2007
1,053
On June 28, 2007 at 16:13, litespeed said...

Is that an NEC plasma? I love mine.
Trent Davis
Product Manager
www.audioauthority.com
Post 42 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 19:24
Carl Spackler
Senior Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2004
1,427
The reason you can see behind the grilles is because of the camera flash, otherwise not visible to the human eyes. Same reason you can see under celebrities dressees.
Gunga.....Gunga....GU-Lunga

And since Ernie won't keep count, I will. Hes up to 249, and counting.
Post 43 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 19:59
juliejacobson
CE Pro Magazine
Joined:
Posts:
April 2003
3,032
On June 27, 2007 at 20:26, mwstorch said...
First time caller, long time listener. Seriously, been
lurking for months and finally decided to post. These
are from about a month ago. Whole house via Audioaccess
with Audio Control amp and Stealth Acoustics speakers
in 10 rooms. Family room and theater include Arcam receiver
and DVD with MX850 remote. Pearl in theater with Screen
Research and Triad inwalls. Theater performance took
a back seat to interior design. Overall a great experience:
easy to install and use. Customer happy. Profitable.

Love their taste in art, style, etc. (leave it to a girl...)
"CEPro: your website sucks!" - Fins
www.cepro.com
[Link: twitter.com]
Post 44 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 20:03
juliejacobson
CE Pro Magazine
Joined:
Posts:
April 2003
3,032
On June 28, 2007 at 16:44, ceied said...
i was in a depresed funk all day. basically walked around
my clients like a zombie....

joy!!!!!

I worry about you Ed. Seriously.
"CEPro: your website sucks!" - Fins
www.cepro.com
[Link: twitter.com]
Post 45 made on Thursday June 28, 2007 at 20:03
Chad Otis
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2003
226
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I worked on the final touches of a Crestron 32 zone system reight before a party this evening for 400 guests. No pressure......
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