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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Dave Seaman <seamand@upmc.edu> |
| Subject | CD Burners and hell |
| Date | Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:47:13 -0400 |
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I for one have and like my standalone cd burner for the purpose of making
direct copies of cds - just pop the cd in one drive, the blank in the other,
push a few buttons, wait a few minutes and voila its done, and sounds good.
Rarely ever crashes. My computer burner on the other hand gives me
problems, partly because I am techno dummy and have no patience with
learning how to work around computer problems or set up and learn programs.
Although I guess some day I will have to because my standalone cd burner is
not the greatest for mix cds - hard (but not impossible) to adjust recording
levels and do some other special features.
But regardless, my whole sound system has been down for a few months and
most of my equipment, cds and records are still boxed up -- I'm that guy
that found mold in my basement studio a few months ago where I keep my
setup. I remember Stewart M saying, hey don't worry -- a little mold won't
hurt anyone, unless you got a serious problem. Well, it turned out I got a
serious problem - toxic black mold that required basement walls to be taken
out, areas quarantined, HVAC off (and still off, which is LOADs of fun in
the wettest, muggiest May and June in my history) -- plus through the
process of remediation I found mold problems in other areas of the house -
attic, and garage - so we have no place to store anything for now.
AND, during the remediation, I have discovered that the source of most of my
mold problems has turned out to be faulty water drainage around the house
that has repeatedly put water into my basement (the drywall is already gone
-- there goes the wall to wall carpet and baseboards, and so much for
atmosphere, aesthetics, and music room acoustics) and will require expensive
french drain and downspout pipe drainage for my entire house, requiring
ripping out shrubbery and backyard deck, etc etc. - AND the friggin
insurance company doesn't cover a penny, so I will probably be about $35k or
so in the hole and paying this off for many years. Not to mention the
albums I've lost, and the vintage equipment I had in deep storage that I had
to trash as it was mold infested - my old my viscount organ, my nomad
farfisa knockoff, my rotosound speaker cab, an antique autoharp, and other
odds and ends that were not worth trying to repair. Thankfully I think I
can salvage the ol arp axxe, and my guitars and bass seem to be okay.
Hopefully my 1960s/70s baseball card and comic book collections are not
degraded - I think they missed the water and mold. But why in the world
did I put all this in a basement? What an idiot!
Needless to say its been a sad, sad, stressful and depressing spring for
music, and for life in general for me and my family, as our happy home has
turned into a battleground. I hate to say it, but the anxiety of all this
is rarely relieved by music - I just hope that when this hell is all over
later this year (hopefully) and I have a dry, clean, healthy to breathe
house, I can re-set up my studio, learn to retrust and reenjoy my house and
basement studio, and get back to where I left off in terms of my musical
passions. Wish me luck!
PS - words to the wise - look out for and deal with water leaks/problems in
your house immediately, and don't put music studios and/or offices with
equipment, books and paperwork into basements unless you are 100% sure they
are dry as a whistle, or you may be headed for trouble...
Dave
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