While not "exactly" a newbie, hello!

[Kamakiri]

Some of you know me, some of you don't......but I was AudioKarma's first member :)

Much has happened in my life, leading me away from audio, and along my pathway I have a lot of thank yous to hand out, a few debts to repay, and some glasses to hoist with you at the upcoming Fest, which I will be at this year :)

So here I am, back into audio, and thought I'd share where I'm at, and where I'm going, at least in the realm of audio :)

Here's my system now, a Pioneer SX-1010 (courtesy of Merrylander, EchoWars, and many others), Advent 1 speakers (courtesy of Army), and a Rega P1 turntable (courtesy of Grumpy). The CDP is just a POS :D

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f9/hondacuraworld/135-3600_IMG.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f9/hondacuraworld/135-3595_IMG.jpg

In the upcoming months, and probably years, my main goal is to rebuild the systems that I once owned and loved, acquiring things piece by piece.....kind of my own audio version of "taking back the streets".......once again returning myself to the things that I really enjoyed.

So hello to all, new friends and old! Hey, anyone know where I can score a pair of Altec A7 cabinets? :)

[Fisher-Dave]

Hi stranger. :D

Nice SX-1010 there, keep it warm man :music:

[meggy]

Hey there. Hope all is well. Looks like you got a little satellite radio going too.

[mhardy6647]

howdy... n00b.

[shrinkboy]

welcome back, tim

[Justen]

Welcome home captain.

[BroonsBane]

Hello Tim and a hearty welcome back! :thmbsp:

[Rat44]

Welcome back.You were missed.

[fotno]

Great to see you Tim!

[dr*audio]

Hiya, Tim!

[spartanmanor]

Glad to see you back!

[bigmacc]

Tim great that l will get to see you at the Fest. Please note because l kinda of missed you l may not be able to insult you until Sunday due to my sensitive nature.:thmbsp:

[MarkAnderson]

Welcome back, sir.

[Aage]

Hello again, Tim. I hope that any life experiences you may have had left you hale and hearty!

[levensnevel]

Welcome back founding member

I hear what you're saying Kamakiri.
Trust you'll be back on your feet in no time.

[Sandy G]

You have been sorely missed. Welcome back home.

[Njord Noatun]

Welcome back! :thmbsp: :thmbsp: We always kept the lights on for 'ya!

[pmsummer]

True to your name. Welcome back!

[Arkay]

Welcome back (in all meanings of that phrase)! :thmbsp:

Nice to see that the usual goodness of AKers has helped you to get a start back into audio. Hope it doesn't take you too long to finish "taking back the streets" and that the process is an enjoyable one, since the journey counts as much as the destination.

Nice-looking old clock there, too!

[ozmoid]

Welcome Home, Tim. :music:

I'm looking forward to meeting you at the Fest! :beerchug:

[Drybasement]

Hello Tim. I'm glad you're back on a more permanent basis.

Say, whatever became of that engine I hauled down to you nearly 2 years ago (AK Fest 2006)?

See you at the Fest. :thmbsp:

[Celt]

Always a pleasure to see you Tim!

[jbrainey]

Welcome! Nice to meet you. I have heard so much about you. :thmbsp:

[Kamakiri]

Hello Tim. I'm glad you're back on a more permanent basis.

Say, whatever became of that engine I hauled down to you nearly 2 years ago (AK Fest 2006)?

See you at the Fest. :thmbsp:


Just as I was about ready to drop it into the car, had to end up selling the #&$*!ng thing. Damn near cried.

The car and engine are now somewhere in Oklahoma.....

I'll try to be on when I can, right now I'm on dial-up from home, but I'm going to be moving again, and the next time is for good :)

[Kamakiri]

Welcome back (in all meanings of that phrase)! :thmbsp:

Nice to see that the usual goodness of AKers has helped you to get a start back into audio. Hope it doesn't take you too long to finish "taking back the streets" and that the process is an enjoyable one, since the journey counts as much as the destination.

Nice-looking old clock there, too!

1899 Seth Thomas......one of the few really nice things I still have :)

[Strawman]

Welcome back!

[rocdad]

Great to have you back.

Dan

[Mystic]

It is good to see that you are back, Tim.

[rickr15]

Hi Tim. Glad you came back.

[catrafter]

Welcome Back!

Tom

[Redboy]

Hello again! Nice to have you back, Number One. :thmbsp:

[KeninDC]

Queue the theme to "Welcome Back, Kotter."

Best of luck with your renewed journey.

Ken

[merrylander]

Welcome home Tim.

[Jack Lord]

Hey Tim is back! What's up Bro?

[Gohan]

Welcome back to AK Kamakiri, Nice setup!

First member, cool

Gohan

[solarmusick]

Welcome back, I have a P1 too, it's a great "budget" turntable. I'd like to upgrade the cart one of these days, maybe to an Ortofon 2M Red or Blue.

[Web Police]

Welcome back.

[jwrags]

Welcome back Tim!

Best
John

[tcdriver]

Welcome back. :thmbsp:

[Searching]

Welcome home!

[EchoWars]

Very cool! Look forward to seeing you in Detroit! :yes:

[Divotdog]

Welcome back Tim! Good to see ya'

[birddog]

Glad to see you back! Some how, things seem right again in the universe...

[Snade]

In the upcoming months, and probably years, my main goal is to rebuild the systems that I once owned and loved, acquiring things piece by piece....

Make it so.

Welcome back number one.

Cheers, Snade

[marantzfan]

It just aint Oz without the Wizard. Welcome back Tim.:thmbsp:

[Strangeband]

Very nice to read your introduction and find that you are back in the saddle again. I hope we cross paths someday! Welcome back!

[wajobu]

Well hello there Tim! See you soon!

[Twenty20Man]

WB Tim, think of how much fun you will have and the excitement rebuilding your system and reacquiring lost gear...

[colortrakker]

Nice to have the Founding Father back! Glad things are on the upswing for ya.

[centralflori]

Welcome back! We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude for creating such a wonderful place for all, Thank You!!!!!!!!!:ntwrthy::ntwrthy::ntwrthy::thmbsp:

[Henry Kloss]

Back in the saddle again. You have the helm sir, Welcome back.

[barrynsue]

Good to see you are getting things straightened out and glad to have you back.

Barry

[Kamakiri]

Thanks for the warm words, everyone :)

Gonna get in some listening time today while I bake cookies for a Cub Scout bake sale tomorrow. How domestic I is :D

But I bake a helluva cookie!

The three top things that I plan to treat myself to over the course of the next year are (other than the A7's):

1. A pair of Eico HF-12 amps. Still about the ugliest things known to man, and I hate integrated monoblocks, but they just sound too good!

2. A Sansui G-series or 9090. With Paradigm speakers or Infinitys, oooooh

3. A Swedich coconut oil massage. I still have no idea what that is, but I don't care, I want one anyways :D

[Henry Kloss]

My signature has "you" written all over it.

[Toasted Almond]

Yo!

[Holst]

Howdy Tim, again.

[Army]

Hi Tim
It's good to hear from you again, I know you've been busy! We'll have to hoist a few at the fest, man it's been too long since we did buddy! It'll be fun to see how your next system comes together, keep us posted :thmbsp:

[vinyldavid]

Welcome back!

[electronjohn]

Congrats on your return, Numero Uno!!

[ekmanning5]

welcome back! This thread sure brought a smile to my face. Look forward to meeting you at the fest.

[stuwee]

Hey Ya Tim!! Big Smile here in sunny AZ for ya:D I'm glad to know things are doin' good, Got lot's of estate sales down here I'll keep one peeled for something on your list! Good on ya:smoke:

craig

[RayW]

Welcome back, Tim. Looking forward to meeting you at the Fest!

Ray

[Robie]

Hey Tim.

Here's hoping things stay on the upswing. Your positive attitude is over half the battle.

Look forward to your posts.

Bob

[Retro Stereo]

Hey Tim!

We'll catch you in Army's listening room at the Fest!

I think he's going to have an HPM 100 vs Infinity RS 2.5 challenge. :D




Retro

[kcollins4]

Good to see you again, Kam. Can't believe I just now saw this thread.

[clydeselsor]

Welcome back!

[dread31]

Welcome Back! What a beautiful thing, you started here!

Dave

[cableguy]

Hi Tim, always good to see you....




Bill

[markthefixer]

Hi Tim, GLAD to see ya!! Remember ... pick me ups are FREE around here...

(This'll teach me to not keep my nose to the grindstone in the Pioneer forum, and to look around a bit... took me almost a WEEK to notice...:nono:)

[ZebraBlvd]

Was very elated to see this intro - welcome home, Sir!

[dmax99]

Good to see ya back Tim.This years fest is really shapin' up....

[OvenMaster]

Welcome back, my friend.
Tom

[draftingmonkey]

A delayed welcome back to you Sir.

[SPL db]

Welcome home Tim!

Glad to have you back where you belong! :yes: :thmbsp:

Scott

[Kamakiri]

Sometimes things happen that you just can't explain......

I was going to post this here on Monday:


I had some money set aside to buy a go-cart for my son, $300 to be exact, that I had to end up using on Friday for the survey and appraisal on the house so I can move in once again to the home that I knew for more than a decade. It was either that, or it get listed for sale. Not a huge deal, as I'm working on a couple trades, but.....

I had the boys this weekend, and as we were coming home back here last night the timing chain on my old van gave way. Towed it home with the tractor, fortunately it died right by my mail stop near my house, and the kids and I were able to hoof it a couple blocks back to my place. I've been holding that old thing together the best I can. Just did brakes, calipers, universal joints, and rebuilt the carburetor on it. I've put over 13,000 miles on it since November, and I think the strain of moving and several hundred miles per week was just too much for the old girl. With how tired the motor is, investing the cash in ripping the front of the engine apart to do the job, even if I had it, wouldn't make much sense. I'm a week away from getting the mortgage on the house, and my credit is now good enough that I could just take out a loan and get something, but I can't just get something and get approved, because that will jeopardize my mortgage.

That's if I can even afford it after paying child support, I'm left with crumbs.

I also have a school tuition payment coming up this week, and my little one is going in for oral surgery at Childrens Hospital tomorrow, and that's on my mind as well as a big co-pay there......I was on the phone with my little boy until 10:30 last night, I think he's scared, and I wish I could be there with him.

For the next couple days, my parents loaned me their Jeep Grand Cherokee. I'm not used to my dad's jeep, and I clocked myself in the face anad gave myself a bad bloody nose with the door when I dropped the kids off yesterday. Damn thing still hurts. Beyond that, all I've got is the motorcycle, and it's still cold around these parts. I can tough through that, but I can't pick up my kids for my visitation on the back of the bike.

My work is ramping up as well......I'm working on big projects for work, they're dropping $170,000 in advertising on a website that I have just over a week to complete, plus a new vehicle inventory management system that I'm developing that's been given the full push.

My shipping manager cant get a release to come back to work after his surgery so I'm doing the work of two for the 3rd week, PLUS all this. I was here at work until 8:30 yesterday, Sunday......but it was at least better than being alone.

Bonus check was the second lowest I've ever had, so the common denominator is that I can't afford any of the above. Have fun at the Fest, guys.....looks like I'll miss you this year.......

And on the way in this morning, I found out that the radio pastor that I listened to every morning, whose message helped me get through quite a bit in my recent trials, passed away over the weekend. I was moved to tears as I drove in to work this morning, before the sun was even on the horizon.

I pulled into the dusty parking lot here at work, looked up, looked down, shook my head, and began my day here at the dealership.


****************

Then Tuesday:

Well, I talked to the mortgage company, and they okayed me if I wanted to buy a car, so since all my bills are rolled into the mortgage and I'll be paying a lot less monthly than even I am now, I thought, why not look.

No sooner do I come in than do I see this '04 with only 26,000 miles on it. And, with my now excellent credit, got financed at 6.5% :cool:

I close on my house in less than three weeks, and when I'm back in, I'll spend a lazy weekend tearing the front end off the van and doing the timing chain. The old girl's been too good to me to put out to pasture.....besides, can't tow a camper with the new ride :D

Ain't she purty? They're getting her cleaned up now, this is the way it looked after it just came in from trade. I can't wait for the kids to see this!

Talk about a comeuppance......oh, and I'm back on for the Fest :)

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w187/serioustim/MVC-002S-1.jpg

Then YESTERDAY.....

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w187/serioustim/136-3609_IMG.jpg

:D

So I get into the van last night, because I left the ignition key in the door pocket in case I was going to have it towed, and for the heck of it I hit the key, and sure enough, motor's spinning with no compression. But this time, it's spinning fast as if the battery regained a charge somehow. Hm. And I about killed the battery trying to start it before.

Spin spin spin spin spin.....and that's about it. Okay. Then, something happened in the motor, like something caught. Now I know what no compression and a bad timing chain sounds like, and that was it 100%. But then something happened that I can't explain.

You know that old son of a gun started? Belching smoke, sounding like it was on 7 cylinders, but it was running. Absolutely amazing. It's as if she was saying, "don't count me out yet, I'm not dead!"

So, before the move, it looks like I have some work to do on her, and she'll pull into the driveway under her own power :) .

Sometimes things happen for a reason, I guess. God's looking out for me :)

[tentoze]

Good deal all the way around, son.

[pmsummer]

Sometimes things happen that you just can't explain......
<snip>
Sometimes things happen for a reason, I guess. God's looking out for me :)

Yes indeed. Thanks for the witness! :yes:

[john_w]

I just saw this thread for the 1st time. Not too surprising, as I've been as much off-and-on as always.

Anyways, great to hear from you again Tim! To say you've been missed would be just really redundant by now, so I won't bother. ;)

Glad to hear things are looking up! It's good for me to hear since I've been going through my own complicated mess involving major life changes lately, about which I'll try to post some time when the dust settles. I'm confident that faith will bring things through for me as well. But right now it's just great to see you back online!

- jw

[Ultra-Hog]

I can't believe that I missed this thread until just now either. I am glad to hear that things are starting to look up for you. You deserve it. It's good to hear from you again, especially when it is good news.

[mulester7]

.....Founder Kamakiri, Tim, I'm older than you, and I assure you, we've ALL spent time on the bare mountain of digestion....God Bless You, Sir.....