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It's not just stereos that the kids don't want.

stereoguy70 said:
It seems that this has gone waaaaayyyy off topic now. How do the last 9 or so pages have anything to do with your kids not wanting your stuff or your old stereo equipment? Someone enlighten me.

:crazy::dunno::idea::no::crazy::crazy::crazy:
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Well that's cool, some pretty sharp guys are expressing themselves in a civil manner (I think so; I have 150 baboons on ignore so I'm often unaware of all that goes on in a thread, thank God) and we come here to shoot the bull.

Regards
 
DaveVoorhis said:
Not true. He voluntarily left grammar school at the age of 16, and at the age of 17 enrolled in university (Zurich Polytechnic, working toward a teaching degree), which he completed.
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A lot of inaccuracies swirl about Einstein. A lot of people do not realize he was quite the ladies man. Out of all the interesting characters in physics, Paul Dirac is on the top IMHO. BTW, the biography, The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life Of Paul M. Dirac is a worthwhile read.
 
bhunter said:
No, he dropped out of secondary school at 15. He then did what we'd call undergraduate work at Swiss Federal Polytechnic (Now ETH Zurich) and completed his PhD at University of Zurich in 1905. The physics miracle year, 1905, was the year he published his four seminal papers: Brownian Motion; the Phtoelectric Effect; Special Theory Of Relativity; and The Equivalence of Mass and Energy. Incidentally, anyone of the papers would likely have led to the Nobel prize.
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And I think he did get a Nobel prize for one of them as opposed to his General Theory Of Relativity, which is what he thought he would get the Nobel prize for. He gave his first wife a hefty chunk of the financial proceeds from that award as part of a divorce agreement.
 
Wow...struck a nerve...thread growing faster than I can read it??
"Yet another AK thread of old men shaking their fists at clouds" - like that one!
1. My 'greatest gen' parents grew up in challenging and confusing times, so did I, so are kids today....mabye more so, time will tell.
2. They had tiny homes, I grew up in one, many kids today are (smartly) going back to that. Smart.
3. I watch some estate sales locally...just amazed at how 'hoardables' most of them are...'buy a lot of crap, then build crappy shelves to put it all on' seems to be pretty common. Acquistive-ness as an end to itself - feh.... be purposeful!
4. Grew up with architecture and modern-ism, which was also a somewhat of a 'simplicity' ethos (?), but did not inherit any of their eames stuff (ex fiberglass dining chairs, still in use as shop chairs today), so had to (overbuild) my own collection, which still gives great pleasure, but yah, a bit over the top. (Also robberies and break-ins thinned their collection over the years...big city stuff.)
5. But I did 'inherit & learn' respect for 'investing' in higher quality stuff (buy once use for a lifetime), which has 'paid off' at least in the sense that I've not had to replace any of it (HM/Knoll, Allclad, Henckels, etc). Almost don't care what will become of it after I'm done using it, but have time to think about that. Stuff I touch, look at, and use frequently (or critically, like tools) I spend money on.. the rest I go cheap on.
Today, The Best is still available, but requires young folks to really research and dig deep....just like in the 30s, and 50s!
6. When I was young, I mostly pal'd around with those older than me, and learned A Lot from guys like Alobar. As I got older, I gravitated to younger buds (less ossified thinkers) mostly b/c they were assigned to my projects, and, as puzzling as the youngest ones were (just before retiring), I have to admire their determination to find ways to 'make it', frequently involving 'many-threaded' income opportunities b/c there are way fewer long term careers today. (Trades generally excepted, also as noted by Alobar.)
7. No question that computer/internet revolution will be as great a social change as the printing press, and will take decades/centuries to play out and 'be understood', and yah, the boomers are largely responsible for that. Barking at clouds won't change any of that.
8. Those kids who are resourceful, thoughtful, hardworking, inventive & creative, and (maybe) sincere and (more or less) ethical, will do well (mostly)...just like previous generations! (Well, luck in wartime helps, too.)
9. I really look forward (mostly) to what the youngest and next generations make of all these changes (wither thou goest, middle man?), and am fortunate to have a comfy chair, a fine audio system and cheap access to music like I've never had before...to watch it all from !
10. There is no #10 (yet).
 
I know this is way off track but responding to serial killers and education lol, as a NYS Certified problem child respite provider I have dealt with the psychology behind destructive learning and behavior in teens. No matter how easy it is to say he is just a bad kid, it is 101% absolutely caused from the empty feeling of worthlessness from family members, that are not smart enough to understand they are effecting the problem child in a negative way, in a nice household, the parents can be selfish, ignorant, all about their personal success, but show a great perception of their perfect lives, only to have a glazed look on their face when the teen needs attention and to be told its going to be ok, . A feeling of worthlessness and separation grows into violence with no feelings , just like the parents taught, then the parents blame the child for being a bad kid, the child remains alone in jail and the parents have a pity party and live their selfish lives, never giving in to love or look in the teens eyes with a true sacrifice to help. ok honestly people that aren't super educated and have a basic job can be the happiest, their children are more often treated equal with similar jobs and they are family loved and feel fulfilled without need for any special attention. On the bottom we have problem teens from a problem household with learned behavior from parents and family members, violence , molestation, every day . passed on to the child. so this is a teens life. Look at your favorite movie stars children , suicide, jail, drugs, but the star is all wrapped up in keeping their perception. The impossible thing I do as a stranger is gain trust and convince them their life is worth something, when the parents wont. or cant. As teens we have a bond from our family that tells us only they can justify our existence, if they would not, we turned to other influences that is hard to break. just simple Psychology.
 
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So we've lost the plot a bit - this is AK. I've got my dad's grandfather's ash rocking chair. I replaced the leather-tooled seat. While not that comfortable, I find myself sitting in it a lot and find it good for thinking. Perhaps some generational knowledge is retained in the wood.

I've done pro bono legal work with juveniles in court/jail. I agree that self worth is a huge factor in their behavior.
 
I often feel I was born in the wrong generation. Born in 1973, the 50's and 60's fascinate me. Out of my three sons, one of them seems also have a fascination for the music I like which is Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Sr., Elvis, etc. He also shares my love for old TV. He, however, doesn't seem to share my love for old things that have sentimental value. I guess it sort of hurts, but what should I expect? When I try to tell him about a sentimental value attached to something I still own, it's "okay, dad, you told me before." Here I sit with tons of my grandparent's stuff such as sermon notes my grandfather (I never met him) handwrote, his funeral guest book, his glasses and wallet, their old Philco stereo that my dad bought brand new in 1967 for he and my mother but quickly replaced it with a console and gave it to my grandparents. I have the 78's my grandmother played on the record player. It sits in the top of the hallway closet in need of an overhaul (nothing serious-my dad sold electronics until about 1977, and still knew the basics of what needed to be repaired, so it's been upkept pretty good). It smells like my grandmother's apartment even after all these years; I can go take a sniff of it, and I'm automatically transported back in time. What will my sons do with it when I pass? Can I truly expect them to have the sentimentality that I do about something that belonged to someone they never met?
 
Ok, this is growing faster than I can read it. I got to page 6, but I have to get back to work so I will add my rant now.

I am at the end of the baby boomers. My kids are millennial. Not sure what my grandson is but I love him and hope for the best for him.

There has been a lot that makes sense said, and some pure rubbish. I was brought up in a middle class household right beside a neighbourhood of the well off. While all my friends just asked their parents for money to go to the next concert, I had to work for every dime I used. I still went to as many of those events I could, but I had to pay for them. I was offered an education that would have been paid for by my parents, but it came with some conditions I wasn't willing to accept. So I got my own education. I make a comfortable living and was paid by my employer while he educated me. I made sure that every step I took gave me as much flexibility in the field I work in. My wife has as much education as her brother (masters, and education) who is a very successful lawyer. Her brother makes a ton of money, but works extremely hard to earn it. I make quite a bit more than my wife, and she is very good at what she does. She loves teaching children. She started out there, moved to being a principle, and now, as she prepares to retire, is planning on going back to it, but on her terms. Our society does not respect education anymore. We dump on the good teachers because they have rules and expect us and our kids to respect them. When we don't like something the teacher does, we go after them viciously and try to get them fired. The more money we have, the worse we are.

Now look at the Kids. We teach them about religion and playing fair, and at the same time, we don't play fair and we don't follow the intent of religions. I've taught my kids to do unto others as you would them do unto you. Treat people the way we want them to treat us. With mutual respect. Play fair, but don't let someone take advantage of you. My son worked very hard as a general labourer for a large Electrical company for 4 years before he was brought in as an apprentice. He paid his dues and showed he had the determination to stick with it. We butted heads constantly until he reached his early 20s. Now I see all the hard work I invested in him paying off. My eldest daughter went to university. My ex and I paid for it. When she failed her courses, she tried to get me to pay for retaking them. My answer to her was "you aren't really being fair to me. You failed the course and now you want me to pay for it. But I'll make a deal with you. You pay for those courses, and when you pass them, I'll reimburse you half." That worked. My other daughter did things completely differently, and made me a grandfather before she was 18. I was upset. But once my grandson was born, I supported her in my house for 6 years with the hope that she would finish her school. Well, that didn't work, and three years into that, I told her I would give her 3 more years at my house for free, but then I wanted her to move out on her own. I wanted to start preparing for moving on in my life and she was preventing that. That worked as well. She is supporting herself and her son, and doing a great job as a mother. As well, her self confidence has increased. I am very happy with the person she has become and how my grandson is developing.

My point is that it is up to us to teach our children. And it is up to us to insist that the infrastructure that supports us is moving in the right direction. But I see a general lack of that. We are failing in our role if we don't teach our children and their children the right values. What those are depends on who you are, but basically, treating others as you want to be treated is huge, and largely ignored. Wether it is associated with a religion or not, it is the basis of society. Look back in history and you will see how history repeats itself as people try to impose their values on others. Or take advantage of others. We are taught in business school to take advantage of others all the time. It led to the high tech bubble, the real estate crunch, and then we rewarded the very people responsible for it.

You are all equal, but depending on where you are, some people are more equal than others. We see this in the news daily.

No wonder there are so many disillusioned youth in the world today. Look at what we've been teaching them!

Ok, that's my rant for the day. Carry on! :)


Champco said:
The student loans are crippling your generation and what needs to happen is for your generation to have the collegiate institution held responsible for what they are producing. THEY GET THEIR MONEY. What do you have to show for it? It should sustain you.
If they had any stake in your outcome such as, getting paid over time as you grow in your life they would be doing a better job.

It used to be. If you wanted to teach at the higher levels you had to prove your worth to teach. Get a following. It was not that long ago. 1950's

Today anyone who will stand in front of a giant class and is able to speak broken English as a path to citizenship........ is what you see.

You might see your professor who gets paid awesomely. The Universities and it's reagents have tremendous privileges you know nothing about yet you pay for it.

Audit any State University and see it's land holdings alone are staggering. This all started to really grow in the 1960's. Millennials and later generations needs to see this and maybe help change it.
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stereoguy70 said:
Ok.....the way I see this thread has gone, it appears that there have been a lot of generalizations about various generations out there. Let me start the following "rant" (if not for lack of a better word) with stating that I am of what has been dubbed "Generation X" or the "blank generation"......the children of the "baby boomers". I can't speak for anyone but myself on the matter at hand about "kids not wanting stereos and more" or whatever this started as. I personally do want some of my family's hand me downs. I'd love to own the dinette set that my grandparents had from the early 60's to the early 80's......chrome tube frame, formica top, matching chairs......mid century modern if you will......my uncle ended up with it, let a tenant of his borrow it, and somehow they took it with them when they moved out, not ever returning it. (He wasn't home the day they moved out or he would have stopped that from ever happening.) It would be perfect for my small 60's garden style apartment. My mother has two end tables & table lamps that are now also considered mcm, that I would love to have now. She's not done using them yet, but I would still love to have them. Her record collection comes to mind as well. The KLH 24 speakers that were my dad's as well. Do I have the room for any of this stuff now? No. Would I make room for it and weed out the other stuff that I'm not really attached to, hell yes! Some of my cousins are considered of the "millennial generation". They have similar tastes to me and also want some of the family heirlooms.

I guess what I'm trying to say is it all depends on the values your parents instilled in you from day one. Showing what real value in something is, and passing it on to future generations. Now I'm about to generalize here myself, but bear with me. To me, it seems the problem stems from the lack of a normal functioning family unit, lack of belief in organized religion, and a failing public education system. A family that has been split by divorce. A child with a single parent upbringing as well, latchkey kids if you will, that have not had proper discipline or a father/mother figure in their life to teach them otherwise. Kids today are brought up thinking its ok to sell drugs to make money, its ok to have done time in prison, its ok to not have any belief in god or religion, its ok that you won't be left behind in school. Today's education system teaches kids nothing that will prepare them for real life, they teach you how to pass a standardized test so that the school can keep their averages up so they can continue to get government funding. Kids today are sold a bill of goods that you HAVE to go to college to make anything of yourself and any money to survive. They don't teach music, art, or any trades in schools anymore. Not everyone is cut out to go to college to get a degree. It's ok to have learned a skilled trade, and that is not what is taught today. Today's generation is always looking for the easy answer.......they'd rather not do the work, but still get compensated like they did.

Where did the millennials learn this from? My generation sadly. Where did we learn this from? My parents generation...the baby boomers or me generation if you will. Their whole attitude in the 60's was we don't want to go to war, so to hell with you. Then in the 70's & 80's it was its all about me, I got mine. You want to lay blame on the current conditions & attitudes of the current generation and the world? Start with the boomers, the most selfish generation there ever was. Congressmen for life? Yup, the baby boomers idea. Corporate greed? Ambulance chasing lawyers? Yup, it started with them. Makes my grandparent's generation (known as the "greatest generation") turn over in their graves. I bet they're sorry they fought in WWII & Korea for their selfish, world destroying, I got mine attitude kids.

You want to change it so the kids do want your stuff? Teach them how to do it the hard way instead of taking the easy way out. Teach them about pride of work (fixing something that's broken rather than throwing it away and buying a new one is probably the best way. "I fixed that or I built that" is about the best way to show this). Teach them that respect is something you earn, not automatically get. Most of all, teach them that life isn't like TV or the movies, don't expect it to be that way and for things to just be handed to you, you've got to bust your butt to get what you want and that its ok to work for a living getting your hands dirty.

Ok....rant & tangent over now... :dunno::idea::beerchug::music:
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Dr. Morbius said:
And I think he did get a Nobel prize for one of them as opposed to his General Theory Of Relativity, which is what he thought he would get the Nobel prize for. He gave his first wife a hefty chunk of the financial proceeds from that award as part of a divorce agreement.
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Specifically, the Photoelectric Effect, but in general for his contributions to Theoretical Physics. And yes, a lot of people think that the Nobel was awarded for the General Theory Of Relativity of 1915.

Einstein was also a womanizer and had several affairs—most notably with his secretary. Imagine Einstein chasing his secretary around his desk. I forgot which physicist stated that they wouldn't trust Einstein alone with their wife or their daughter.
 
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Sandy G said:
Seems as if YOU'RE the only one who's all discombobulated over this. Most of us, myself included, rather enjoy the incredible diversity of our membership, over almost EVERYTHING A-Z audio related...
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Hmm...:idea: I only mentioned that I thought Tom's comment was funny. I too found this thread interesting.

Frankly, I don't take any of this stuff seriously. It's just banter on the internet.
 
I never buy furniture. Everything in my (ancestral) house belong to my parents or my grandparents --including the house, of course. Their brownish, woodish, timeless classic taste suits me well though. I'm happy with their choice of furniture, and I like the fact that my favorite loudspeakers --JBL 120Ti's and JBL L20T's-- blend nicely with the furniture.
 
I've just gone through this with both parents' stuff. Father a couple of years ago, mother ongoing (just went into a care home). Furniture was largely sold (a lot of MCM stuff). The remainder was modern vinyl over particle board garbage, that got given away or donated. Dad had some stereo equipment of good quality (Linn, sliver Pioneer, 70s JBL) that was sold. I've still got to get rid of miscellaneous stuff (its going to be donated), but largely the job is done. Mom had a TON of books (filled the entire bed of a pickup, in boxes, triple high). I donated the entire lot to a charity book drive (they just about fell over when they saw the amount of books). Dad had hundreds of classical CDs, I sold those to a used music store. Also still have a lot of framed art that I have to get rid of, I'm thinking of seeing if it could be auctioned. Both cars were sold quite easily (Mom's CRV had virtually no miles on it, and was mint, the Honda dealer said I'm not even going to test drive it, here's a cheque). I've let my wife know that my stereo stuff has significant value, along with other specific things. I expect that the remainder, most of what I have will be donated, or end up in a landfill.
 
One of the challenges faced, is the very much American thing of being movers and shakers. This happens a lot less in Canada but still happens, especially during bad times when people need to find new employment.

I had to move my parents from Vancouver to here in Ottawa a few years ago. They were aging and we started getting phone calls from different health agencies in BC wanting to find out what our intentions were for our parents. It got to be urgent after my Dad brought my Mom to the hospital (turns out she broke her wrist a few weeks before and couldn't remember how it happened), forgot he brought her there, went home and when he couldn't find her, called in a missing persons report.

I flew out there and had a week to make arrangements for their flight, moving company, cancelling all their services, transferring their banking, and to pack them up for moving day on my last full day in Vancouver. I got it done, but all the excess stuff went for the pickers who passed in front of the building. I would have donated it, but none of the charity organizations wanted to pick it up. My dads realistic receiver and speakers went there and were gone in 60 seconds. The records took somewhat longer. I had the movers bring his Lab linear tracking turntable here to Ottawa. They still have way too much stuff!

The point is, if your aging parents are in a remote location to the family, there isn't much time to deal with their possessions. That is why we see some really nice stuff at Thrift Stores.
 
If the kids don't want the stereo system, or furniture, or whatever... so be it.

They may regret that decision later on! It's kind of hard to beat FREE.

Wait until they check out the price of just a 'quality' dining room table & 6 chairs. Oops.

For the younger generation reading this, listen up: Whatever the house cost - - - that's almost exactly the same price of what it will cost you to 'fill it up'. Keep that in mind.

Free quality furniture, or 'free quality anything'? That's a no brainer. Free is... free!

:)

Let's figure it out: $6000 (in a rare 'super sale') for a quality dining room set (table & 6 chairs, midrange 'quality' grandfather clock, & matching quality china cabinet). You go to work for $15 an hour 'take-home pay'. Let's see... that's 400 hours (10 weeks) of Work.


Hope this helps.
 
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bluesky said:
If the kids don't want the stereo system, or furniture, or whatever... so be it.

They may regret that decision later on! It's kind of hard to beat FREE.

Wait until they check out the price of just a 'quality' dining room table & 6 chairs. Oops.

For the younger generation reading this, listen up: Whatever the house cost - - - that's almost exactly the same price of what it will cost you to 'fill it up'. Keep that in mind.

Free quality furniture, or 'free quality anything'? That's a no brainer. Free is... free!

:)

Let's figure it out: $6000 (in a rare 'super sale') for a quality dining room set (table & 6 chairs, midrange 'quality' grandfather clock, & matching quality china cabinet). You go to work for $15 an hour 'take-home pay'. Let's see... that's 400 hours (10 weeks) of Work.


Hope this helps.
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I was just talking with my wife about this. Her mom bought a $6000 Gibbard Coffee table and wants a family member to take it. Her sister in law would throw it away or give it to the cleaners, it isn't our style, or her kids style. More my kids style.

It has a lot to do with what style you are into. Mine is antique/vintage eclectic. Somehow it all goes together. I am constantly getting compliments for it. But fine finished furniture would drive me nuts every time I scratched it. Partly why I sold my Kef 104/2s and kept the 105s.

I imagine if we did take the coffee table, it would end up in a spare room or stored somewhere.
 
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