Hello from the other side of the globe!

[FrostEOne]

Greetings all!  I'm Mark from Iowa, USA 

 

I took early retirement 4½ years ago at age 61 which was offered by the small 300 bed hospital where I'd been employed for the last 25 years. 

 

Background in chronological order includes Automotive Machinist in a speed shop, new construction Plumber, new construction Electrician, Heavy Equipment Operator, Boiler Mechanic/Operator and last as PC Support Analyst.

 

I'm a long time DIY enthusiast with old school methods.  Here's the most recent pic I have of me, rebuilding the back yard after the Flood we had in 2008, as you can see we were quite close to the Iowa river.

 

I purchased my first stereo in 1969, built a DIY stand for it and stuffed it all in a small bedroom at my parents house.  (wasn't allowed to use the stereo unless they were gone) LOL

 

Graduated high school in 1971, bought the house by the river 2 months later, I then proceeded to cut a 16' x 24' hole in the roof and build a dedicated stereo room.  Attached garage came a few years later, one has to have their priorities in order.

 

My current DIY project is a new stereo stand.

 

I'm looking forward to sharing ideas, knowledge and projects with you all.

 

[Guest Muon N']

Welcome, Mark.

[FrostEOne]

8 minutes ago, Muon N' said:

Welcome, Mark.

Thank you Muon N'

[Guest Muon N']

It's an interesting career path you have had, Mark.........and shows you are pretty adaptable.

 

Hope that flood didn't hit you too hard, though like you point out, you are very, very close to the river.

[wen]

welcome Mark, we are getting a few more people from your side of the globe, enjoy the site

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Hi Mark - that's a fine photo! Welcome! Australia's longest river is the Murray and it's just over half the length of the Mississippi/ Missouri/ Jefferson and if we had as much water in it as the Iowa river has, we'd be a lot happier. Although the wikipedia entry on the 2008 flood also makes it clear: there is such a thing as too much water.

 

There are some really good threads on building racks on SNA.

[Full Range]

Greetings Mark 

If I hold a globe as large as a football in my hands, then you don’t seem that far away

 

Enjoy SNA and the crazy bunch of blokes having a yarn 

 

[FrostEOne]

3 minutes ago, Muon N' said:

It's an interesting career path you have had, Mark.........and shows you are pretty adaptable.

 

Hope that flood didn't hit you too hard, though like you point out, you are very, very close to the river.

I've always had a broad range of interests,  not only in jobs, but also in music.

 

Experienced 2 major floods, first was in 1993 which put 2" of water in the house, I raised the house 5' after that which created an 8' storage/work area out of the crawl space. 

 

My neighbors all said, "Look at him on his own hill, what was he thinking?"

 

Last flood in 2008 I had no damage to the house, but it was the end of living by the river as all my 16 neighbors whom didn't feel raising was worth while lost their homes, their damage was too extensive and they weren't allowed to rebuild. They received tax value for their homes.

 

This left me the sole occupant of Edgewater Dr, city used eminent domain to force me out.  They had to pay me well though, more than twice the tax value!   Still miss the critters and scenery/serenity of the river.

 

[FrostEOne]

21 minutes ago, wen said:

welcome Mark, we are getting a few more people from your side of the globe, enjoy the site

Thank you Wen, I found this forum while searching for NS1000M crossover information.  There's a load of information on that subject here!

[FrostEOne]

23 minutes ago, ThirdDrawerDown said:

Hi Mark - that's a fine photo! Welcome! Australia's longest river is the Murray and it's just over half the length of the Mississippi/ Missouri/ Jefferson and if we had as much water in it as the Iowa river has, we'd be a lot happier. Although the wikipedia entry on the 2008 flood also makes it clear: there is such a thing as too much water.

 

There are some really good threads on building racks on SNA.

Thank you for the welcome!  Yes 2008 was extremely bad, neighbors all took roughly 5' of water in their homes.  It was a sad situation.  My status changed from "Nut on the hill" to "Person with best foresight"

 

I've posted my current Stereo stand build in

DIY - HiFi Racks - Stands - Cabinets

[FrostEOne]

29 minutes ago, Full Range said:

Greetings Mark 

If I hold a globe as large as a football in my hands, then you don’t seem that far away

 

Enjoy SNA and the crazy bunch of blokes having a yarn 

 

Greetings Full Range

 

Google says we're 9,542 miles apart, but it's a much smaller world when using the internet for communication.

[Full Range]

Just now, FrostEOne said:

Greetings Full Range

 

Google says we're 9,542 miles apart, but it's a much smaller world when using the internet for communication.

 

I aslo live in a riverside suburb of Brisbane and we had 2 major floods when the Brisbane river broke its banks  in 1974 and 2011 

Lucky both times that the waters stopped 15 yard lengths away from my home 

 

 

[FrostEOne]

2 minutes ago, Full Range said:

 

I aslo live in a riverside suburb of Brisbane and we had 2 major floods when the Brisbane river broke its banks  in 1974 and 2011 

Lucky both times that the waters stopped 15 yard lengths away from my home 

 

 

You are lucky indeed, it's amazing the destructive power moving water has.  Enjoy the river location you have!

[Full Range]

1 minute ago, FrostEOne said:

You are lucky indeed, it's amazing the destructive power moving water has.  Enjoy the river location you have!

 

Yes homes closer to the river 2 streets away went completely under we were getting about in boats 

Afterwards when the waters receded I helped in volunteer gangs to clean up the devastation 

Just had to watch out for snakes . and the smell was not to nice 

 

To make the job faster with shorter trips for the dump trucks working in 10 min turnaround times 

All the debris was first taken to the many parks and ovals close by and after the immediate clean up it was taken to the dump 

 

[FrostEOne]

5 minutes ago, Full Range said:

 

Yes homes closer to the river 2 streets away went completely under we were getting about in boats 

Afterwards when the waters receded I helped in volunteer gangs to clean up the devastation 

Just had to watch out for snakes . and the smell was not to nice 

 

To make the job faster with shorter trips for the dump trucks working in 10 min turnaround times 

All the debris was first taken to the many parks and ovals close by and after the immediate clean up it was taken to the dump 

 

Here's a pic of my house after the flood, you can see the waterline quite well on the house to the left of mine.

 

[cafe67]

Greetings and one he'll of a first place, hope you find SNA fun and interesting 

[FrostEOne]

33 minutes ago, cafe67 said:

Greetings and one he'll of a first place, hope you find SNA fun and interesting 

Greetings cafe67, I was at the right place at the right time to acquire my first place,  I am indeed finding SNA fun and very interesting

[cafe67]

2 minutes ago, FrostEOne said:

Greetings cafe67, I was at the right place at the right time to acquire my first place,  I am indeed finding SNA fun and very interesting

Lol I meant to write "first post" bloody iPad, but first place is just has good. Been having a read of your rack threat too , very cool

[FrostEOne]

2 minutes ago, cafe67 said:

Lol I meant to write "first post" bloody iPad, but first place is just has good. Been having a read of your rack threat too , very cool

Ah, I get it now.  Agree it's probably more first post than many submit, I wanted to give everyone an idea of who I am, a hands on kind of guy.

 

Glad you like the Stereo Stand.    Regards, Mark B

[Ian R-B]

Hi Mark

Your intro made a nice read. Would hope the 2018 Audio rack will be an improvement on the 1969 model ! And by the look of your 2nd Pic … a seasonal boat ramp. I’ve made a couple of racks myself over time and reluctant to fork out many thousands buying - DIY cost effective with careful thought to isolation etc. Now a wealth of materials (bamboo/exotic timbers and synthetics etc.) to improve on the once common MDF & chipboard mainstays.

[FrostEOne]

41 minutes ago, Ian R-B said:

Hi Mark

 

Your intro made a nice read. Would hope the 2018 Audio rack will be an improvement on the 1969 model ! And by the look of your 2nd Pic … a seasonal boat ramp. I’ve made a couple of racks myself over time and reluctant to fork out many thousands buying - DIY cost effective with careful thought to isolation etc. Now a wealth of materials (bamboo/exotic timbers and synthetics etc.) to improve on the once common MDF & chipboard mainstays.

 

I'm glad you liked the intro, wanted it to show who I am.

Unfortunately, no one lives by the river in this town anymore.

My 26 neighbors took from 3 to 5 feet of water in their homes for 6 weeks, then weren't allowed to go back for 3 more weeks until the water completely resided and the street could be filled and made safe.

I myself got thrown out of my own property so many times after the flood by the police and fire department I can't count them.

They even threatened to put me in jail for accessing my own property. 

There was no way they could do that and I called their bluff the very next day.

I hate to be BS'd, did they think I was stupid or what?

Ended up getting broke into by some convicts that were out on parole, they took my NS1000M.

Fortunately, they took some guns from a neighbor which in turn got the feds involved.

Took 3 years to get the NS1000M back, held for evidence.

That is why I own 2 pair, one has to have their music.

City then condemned neighbors homes saying rebuild costs exceeded the percentage limits. 

They bought them all out for tax value.

I spent 3 years after that as the only occupant of Edgewater Drive, it was great!

Below is a shot in front of house, you can see there are no neighbors, same the other direction.

Then the city came after me with eminent domain threats, having no damage inside, yard and retaining walls repaired,  tax value increased by appealing to county for reassessment I settled for a little over twice the new tax value.

Moved out in July the third year after the flood, had until Sept to finish up moving and get what ever I wanted off the property.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2018 by FrostEOne

[FrostEOne]

44 minutes ago, Ian R-B said:

Hi Mark

 

Your intro made a nice read. Would hope the 2018 Audio rack will be an improvement on the 1969 model ! And by the look of your 2nd Pic … a seasonal boat ramp. I’ve made a couple of racks myself over time and reluctant to fork out many thousands buying - DIY cost effective with careful thought to isolation etc. Now a wealth of materials (bamboo/exotic timbers and synthetics etc.) to improve on the once common MDF & chipboard mainstays.

 

Oops, I rambled a bit there, forgot to mention stand. 

Yes, I think it's going to be very nice.  Quite open and I have some isolation figured out for each shelf.

A few drawings etc here: