Herculodge

Final Bid of $1,225 Plus $140 Shipping on Panasonic RF-8000 with Problems

The seller warned of problems requiring "professional help" but that didn't deter bidders on this RF-8000. 

Grundig Satellit 750 Is a Strong Radio with One Weakness: Tiny Knobs and Buttons

I'm no Hobbit or some other diminutive creature, so I found the GS750, in spite of its strong performance, to have these absurd, little knobs and buttons, which negated the manly look of the radio. But for a modern radio with a Gyro AM antenna, this is it. 

Also it's strong on FM. People report strong SW, but I'm not in a position to say as SW isn't for me. 

Rare Blaupunkt Supernova Radio Bidding on eBay

Paul has apprised us of this intriguing, rare Blaupunkt Supernova Radio. From Austria, this Supernova ships to US for $52. Current bid is $2. 

Updated Photos on Infiniti Website Confirm That the New M Class Styling Cues Similar As the Current Maxima

I earlier speculated that the 2011 M class would take styling cues from the current Maxima. Indeed, this seems to be the case. The official Infiniti website is now showing photos of the 2011 Infiniti M class, probably the M37.

I'm a bit surprised that the new M37 (shown above) looks like it uses the same sheet metal and exterior shape as the new Nissan Maxima (shown below). A luxury brand usually doesn't fare well when there's little separation between the luxury line and the nonluxury line.

If you look at the side profile of the new M37 on the Infiniti website the similarities are most noticeable.  

AM Volume Fluctuations Compel Me to Dethrone the BA Acoustic Solo from the Bedside Table

The bedside radio is the throne, the premier spot for a radio that you've decided is going to stick with you in the Mothership for extended periods. For a year and a half I've enjoyed my BA Horizon Solo as the helm of the mothership. Only 4.5 inches across with great FM and great ergonomics (you can toggle through AM and FM stations without switching bands), it served me well.

But AM has been less than stellar with volume fluctuating so badly that sometimes 830 and 710 can't be heard at all. To compensate, I'll blast the volume and then minutes later the volume will blast my ears out of the water.

So I dethroned the Solo and replaced it with my CCrane CCR-2. It has a much bigger footprint, leaving less room for books and notes on the bedside table. You have to toggle through 4 bands to get from AM back to FM. It lacks the warm fidelity of the Solo, but on balance its superior AM and adequate FM fill the bill. Also the preset buttons are so big, you can't miss them. That's a plus. 

I don't miss the warmer sound of the Solo much since 95% of my listening is talk, news, and baseball games. 

Panasonic RF-8000 with Issues Bidding for $510 So Far

A Panasonic RF-8000 in need of "professional help" is getting a lot of interest on eBay today. 

Rare Radio Sighting on eBay: Sony TR-1001 SW Radio

Intriguing, rare Sony, a TR-1001, bidding on eBay today. Starting bid is $10. No bidders yet. 

Cobalt Pet Has a New Review of Grundig G3 And Judges It a Radio That Fails to Meet Expectations

Paula writes:

Nice review of the Grundig G3. In short, skip it.

Bids Hike Up Price to $7,000 But Reserve Still Not Met on a Controversial Zenith Trans-Oceanic Vintage Radio

At what point does a refurbished radio go too far and become something other than the original radio? Such a question surrounds this controversial rare Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio. 

KR sent the following controversy regarding this radio and I will say this: Before us is the most intriguing, comical, and novel-worthy info surrounding a radio:

HUGE debate on this on the trans-oceanics yahoo group... I guess the arguments are were the mods done by the Zenith factory for Major Pomy or done by Major Pomy on his own or done at some other point by someone else. It reads like a detective story, everyone is searching for clues. A sampling:

I have waited all this time before I put my size-13s into the mud.

I have looked at the auction. I have scrutinized the pictures. I have read the
description, several times.

The following are my *opinions*. I am writing *for myself*. So I will not write
at the beginning of each section "It is my opinion that...". Please take that as
a given.

a) That radio left the Zenith Factory in Chicago as a plain-Jane 7G605. I expect
it was also a Sailboat (not a Bomber) based on the serial number and two other
indicators. This would make it an early-production unit.
b) That radio was modified at three (3) distinct and different times. The first
time gave it its olive-drab coloring, the relocated headphone jack and similar
stuff. The second gave it its stencil-work and older cosmetic modifications -
perhaps even the grille-cloth - although I have my thoughts on that too.
c) The last modification accounted for the re-capping, knobs, and -I am
guessing- the grille cloth.

First Mod: Why? That radio saw hard service. So, the exterior headphone jack to
protect the face, the olive-drab to replace the worn-out cover. I have no doubt
that radio has seen its share of action. Most 7G605s have to one degree or
another, but I would agree that the one in question saw more than most.

Second Mod: Why? The guy left the military as a Major. He would not have
"volunteered for active service" as a major. Were he a captain in the reserves
and called up - that is hardly a volunteer. My guess is that he went in as a OCS
lieutenant, achieved the rank of Captain and came out as a Major (up-ranked when
mustered out). And that radio was modified then-and-there (the second time) to
reflect his accomplishments. By whom - could be him, could be his men, could be
his family. But certainly NOT Zenith.

Third Mod: Why? Let's polish this baby up, re-cap it, add a few details, create
a story - and there we go.

Extraneous Details:

I have repaired silk-screen-on-metal dial faces such that I challenge anyone
here to detect the repairs without excellent light and a decent loupe. And those
repairs used off-the-shelf materials and anyone-with-a-steady-hand-can-do-it
techniques. That the dial modifications "could only have been done in the Zenith
factory" is so much wishful blather.

The so-called provenance is brilliantly written so as to make no direct,
actionable statements; effective use of propinquity; and sequential statements
done in such a way as the verified material in the previous statement suggests
the following is equally verified.

In closing, those are my opinions such that nothing written in the auction
description and/or in this venue leaves me in any doubt of them.

Peter Wieck

College Student Convinces Himself That He Has No Belonging Or Meaning

(a shorter version of this post appeared a few days ago)

As a college teacher for the last 22 years, I find myself giving students career advice from time to time. But what about the student who is determined to be miserable and lost? Here is one such student:

Business major? No way. Ninety percent of business majors who get jobs out of college have to do cold-call sales.  Marketing? Immoral. You spend all your time probing people’s brains so you can manipulate them into buying crap they don’t need. Economics? Are you kidding? It’s the most popular major in America. There’s a glut of econ majors waiting in soup lines. Accounting? Everyone knows accountants have the personalities of house plants. Plus they spend their days holed-up on some cubicle with no human contact. Someone with my anti-social tendencies needs a job that forces me out of my shell. So you can forget accounting. Teaching? Forget about it. You don’t even teach. Ninety percent of it is disciplining morons and doing boring paper work. Social work? Hell no. The average lifespan of that job is two years before social workers get burned out. Those who stay any longer go crazy. Nursing? No way. I hate blood. Positively makes me faint. Engineering? I have no aptitude for it. Besides, it’s an up and down industry. No job security. Police work? That’s a horrible idea. It’s well known that cops have the highest divorce and alcoholism rates of any profession. Someone with my family history of addiction and mental illness should stay away from a job as stressful as law enforcement. Nutritionist? Spend the rest of my life telling pig-faced idiots to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables? Not interested. Counseling? You’ve got to be kidding. I don’t want to talk to people with problems like mine. I won’t make my patients feel better. They’ll just make me feel worse. Now that’s depressing. Journalism? What a joke. The industry is getting smaller and smaller. Newspapers and magazines are being sucked up by giant conglomerates and advertising revenues are being lost as readers prefer free online content. I’m not so stupid as to pursue journalism. Law? And be the butt of evil lawyer jokes? Work a hundred hours a week and be unhappy as most lawyers are? Not on your life.  Culinary school? I’m afraid of knives, open flames, and splattering grease. Acting? Ninety-nine percent of all actors don’t act. They wait tables. Interior designer? Can’t. I’m color blind. Yoga instructor? Lowest paying job in America. Can’t even pay for rent. I’ll be a homeless yoga instructor showing my students how to find inner peace. The peace of poverty. What a fraud. Bioresearch? And spend my life handling the Ebola virus and other lethal microbes? No thanks. Philosophy? I’ll be unemployable. If I’m lucky I’ll get a job at Baskin Robins. That’ll be fun. I’ll have a PhD in Philosophy and I’ll be able to talk about Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence and Schopenhauer’s Will to Power with the customers while putting sprinkles and chocolate syrup on their ice cream cones. How about being a garbage man? I can see it now. I’ll be at a cocktail party with a bunch of professionals and some beautiful woman will ask me what kind of job I have and I’ll have to tell her I make my living lifting people’s filth from the gutter. No thanks. How about winning  the ten-million dollar lotto? Can you imagine? I’d lay out on a tropical island all day, drink mango nectar and eat exotic meals made by my personal chef. I’d pull a Hugh Hefner and surround myself with dozens of bikini-clad supermodels. I’d live in a perpetual state of pleasure. Meanwhile, my brain would turn into mush. I would be a complete vegetable. It sounds hideous.

I’m not stupid. I know I need some kind of meaningful work to be happy. But I’m lost. Completely lost.