MexicanDragon

*Sigh* Going backwards, yes, Chattanooga is seemingly a miserable place for job hunting, at least at much of the things I'm qualified for/can test well for. I definitely see the possiblity of losing $$$, and it seems many have. I know straight out of the gate (well, at the end of the interview today) it was thrown around about having up to a couple hundred for licensing come out of my pocket upfront, though were I to get through it in the next two weeks it would be fully reimbursed, though that was not in writing. Thanks for the thoughts, Jeff. Tell your cousin T-Mobile call center is hiring... I'm hittting up their open house in the morning Hi Greg, I appreciate you pulling up some extra info. My internet situation is kinda keeping me from digging as far as I want to (tethered through partial PDAnet program... it's limited as to what I can do). As far as being a life insurance agent, it's never really even entered my mind before a couple weeks ago as I was just looking through job sites at things I would possibly be good at. I applied and was surprised to get a call. The moral flexibility thing, well, I'm pretty sure even though my morals may be a little skewed from "ideal", I still have what I believe to be a fairly ethical set at my core. Yes, before I forget, you were right. They are looking for sales reps/agents. They are looking to hire ~50 over 4 branches locally in a town of ~155k and a county of ~360k. They say the goal is to hit up 240 contacts/wk to set up 24 appointments. 50 reps x 240 contacts x 52 weeks... By my math you're looking at hitting up, just as new hires, everyone in the county at the 7 month mark... man, woman and child. Doesn't really compute... especially with, as you pointed out, a minor player. I'd be really interested to see how this guy handles other interviews. It was actually supposed to be his wife (the branch owner/manager) do interviews, but he did it as she had to prep for a large recruiting event tomorrow. I'm definitely torn... and I'm not liking this feeling at all. There is a good bit at stake over the next few months dealing with medium to long term consequences of actions I take in the near future, and it impacts not just me, but my family. Really not a fan of such decisions. Thanks for the thoughts guys... about to head to bed... another day of job hunting tomorrow. **BRENT**

It's fine, Nate. I know we've all heard stories about this place. I naturally want to reply "but this feels different", but really, it's obvious the guy is good at getting people in the door. He's said the things that I personally wanted to hear, and very little I didn't want to hear or didn't expect. This guy is one of the top performers in the company (supposedly, but I can see it), so it's making me want to come across as "under this guy's mentoring, I think the job would be doable, and I think I could be successful", but back of the mind is thinking "commission only, scary, where's the stability, blah blah blah". I've been looking at this a week going back and forth... I'm hoping to find that definitive "this is an amazing company and I think personally would be great at the job and be successful". I just haven't found that... yet. I'm planning on keeping digging, I just really hope to find what I'm looking for. If I don't, so be it. Thanks. **BRENT**

Been Googling, but getting the mixed reports. The guy is an AMAZING salesman, though... He is one of the few people I've come across who could keep my attention for over 95% of a presentation (that was 90 minutes long). Maybe I should e-mail the mayor's office and see if he had a noon meeting with this guy yesterday? Thanks for the thoughts, dan. This is just an extension of my independent searching of the company. I'm getting a bad vibe as in "it's almost too good to be true", but it's in the back of my mind "what if it actually is this good?" I know this company has been around since 1900, with a major growth spurt in 1929 during the Great Depression. I am just nearing the desperation stage again... if I try this and it blows up in my face, family suffers. I try it an succeed, well, I'll buy everyone a round of bourbon/scotch/virgin pina colada (for Vicki). **BRENT**

Here's the deal: Many of you know I've been looking for work for a good while. This company (Liberty National Insurance) has been recruiting in my area, and the spiel is enticing. Follow the plan, do the legwork, work hard, get well compensated. I've read pros and cons about this place (not unlike many/most places out there), and it's obvious some people can't hack it, and some don't get good trainers, and it just doesn't work for everyone, and that's fine. I'm just trying to figure out if anyone has any first/second-hand knowledge of the firm, and those thoughts. Seems you have to be a licensed insurance agent, and I got all the info on where to do the online coursework for that and whatnot. I was told if I got it done in two weeks (seems like 3 or so is the norm, but 2 shouldn't be a problem for me if I decide to do it, I have the time/abilities to knock it out quick), that I would be fully reimbursed for every dime spent. The parent company is Torchmark Corp (NYSE: TMK), if anyone knows about that. I half-way get the Quixtar/Amway feel with the presentation, but I went in for the follow-up today and wound up chatting it up with the interviewer instead of really getting to what needed to be talked about. The person who had an appointment in front me me was late, making my interview run 20 minutes late (he was also late to the first group presentation.) The interviewer (a "Unit Manager" and former VP of the company, who dropped down from corporate to be there to raise his young son instead of seeing him on the weekends only, which I totally get) had to cut it short due to having a meeting with the Mayor. I understood. He gave me the info on what testing to do at this point and said he would sponsor me if I get it done. I figure that's KINDA a soft job offer... or at least a shot. This is a commission/bonus-only pay structured job, and I've never been in that situation before. I dig the stability of knowing how much I'm going to get paid if I work X hours, however, it's almost always been a "check to check" lifestyle, and I'm sick of it. There's an open house for a job I'm really intersted in tomorrow morning and I'm hitting that after I drop off the kids at school/daycare, I'm just really wanting to get started on this coursework if I decide to do it or not. Any thoughts on this company, either from the employee or policy holder side, would be greatly appreciated. **BRENT**

Oh... what's that? A tracking number for my matched (to HF-1) (low) serial numbered HF-2s? Well how 'bout that. {Reserved for impressions} **BRENT**

No prob, Trav. Why didn't you make it out to the HeadRoom-ish meet a month or so ago? Shoulda been there, it was interesting. I'm doin' a'ight, u? When your JH13s coming in? **BRENT**

/me traveled into the future to bring you grawk's detailed impressions. **BRENT**

Hey Trav... skip the custom molds and just get JH13s. All the cool kids are doing it. **BRENT**

^ What those kids said **BRENT**

JetBlue | @JetBlue reaches one million followers Due to their 1 millionth follower on twitter, JetBlue is offering 20% off flights today only with promo code MLNTH09, good for flights from today through Oct 31st, 2009. Blackout dates 10/9-10/12. Have to be bought by today at 11:59pm eastern, though. **BRENT**

Marantz DV4003 Upconverting DVD player. MSRP 300$ Yesterday only! (Though it's still working now) 69.99$ Marantz DV4003 Progressive Scan DVD Player Black, In Stock at OneCall.com With a little digging I found the instructions to make it region free here: Marantz DV-4003 region code Who knows... maybe it'll sound good too. **BRENT**

What!?!?!? And I had just decided to drive the billion miles down!!! At least V will have her BHSE so we can all stop listening to that whining, no? (P.S. Sorry 'bout your family's loss, C-Jay) **BRENT**

Grrrr... argggggh... **BRENT**

I've been catching it late nights on Hulu... It's been canceled, but I wish it wasn't. I'm fairly impressed with it. **BRENT**

Such little faith you have, my fiends. Heh, I'm actually surprised at the responses I've gotten from people over writing things... maybe I should actually do something with my life one day, eh? So, on a real note (probably a Bb), I'm not sure I mentioned it, but one thing I enjoyed seeing, as I believe the AVCoA guys (and gals) enjoyed seeing, was that everyone there got to see that it wasn't "speaker guys" and "headphone guys", but people who were into audio, audio reproduction and on top of it all, music. I think some eyes were opened and I know quite a few brains were picked on "both sides" of the fence, which is really more of an imaginary zig-zagged line that wove it's way through the room. It's all the same hobby, boys and girls... all the same. **BRENT** P.S. I enjoyed talking to Tyll for the few minutes I had him to myself on and off throughout the day. Interesting character, he is. I think he enlightened more than a few people this past Sunday (though I didn't agree with him 100% on the computer audio front), but as the great Mr. Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown once said... "That's my prerogative". Tyll did a great job with the meet, and I really do like the idea of having a speaker bringing in multiple audiences together at a meet. Had this been on a Saturday, and been a 6 hour affair, with 2 hours of talking and 2 hours of listening as bookends, it would have been a GREAT meet.

This was a bit different kind of shindig than your usual Head-X.org meet. These were "old farts" (their term, not mine), while "we" were the "young farts" (again, their term). Ingwe was particularly thrilled with that, as he's old. They had Tyll come out to Atlanta for a meet/greet + presentation on computer audio. I arrived around 60% of the way through the 2 hour "set-up" time, which was really about the only time one had to listen to music in a reasonable environment (more on this later). I pulled in and got out of the car and saw TomB pulling in. I went over and caught up a minute before heading into the hotel where we were greeted by two friendly ladies with the AVCoA. We signed in and were pointed to the room, which, upon arrival, was a little disappointing. It was FAR too small of a place for the amount of people who wound up showing up, which, I'm glad to say, was "a lot." I would guess 30-40 people associated with either the AVCoA or HF, or both. The "Meet(ing)" was schedule from 2pm-5pm, and there were probably 10 rigs spread out over maybe 6 people. The President of the club introduced Tyll and everyone grabbed some chairs and sat for a nice little presentation and Q & A round, and then the "Presenters" (the HF/C guys who brought the rigs) went around telling about their gear. It started with Ingwe telling the story his audio journey going back to the great Chicago Fires of 1871 through the selling of high end gear to the present and his various headphone rigs. With this presentation, seeing someone who'd been in the, we'll say, "stereotypical audiophile" or "speaker" world who has now delved into headphones, I believe it helped some people better relate to we "young farts" and our headphones. Then on to Fitz, who had brought two rigs, iirc. He had the K1K and Epos speaker rig (using AKG flight cases juxtaposing Tyll's uber-stands across the room) along with his custom built fan-less file server. Fitz fielded quite a few questions as there were definitely some techie guys there from both old-school DIY and new-school computer/tech arenas. Next was a change of pace for the audience, as Matt (mwallace?) took the stage with his 4 year old PC with optical out into a number cruncher then a PPA to some MS-2(i)s. Then we were back to the realm of Q&A when TomB was up to bat with his 2 laptop setup. One went from a Bantam dac to a Minimax, while the other fed an Alien Dac in a Penguins tin. There was also a prototype board with built-in dac designed by our very own Colin Toole (who SHOULD have been working on grawk's Denon instead...). Since it was my rotation in Screaming Oranges' generous GS-1000 loaner program, and I didn't really have a computer rig to speak of, I gave a brief demonstration on what turned out to be "Grado Pads, a Retrospective." I explained the significance of the HF-1 and showed the Flats v. Bowls v. Bagels in a side by side manner. The audience was in awe. I'm breaking out a new paragraph for the next presenter, as it was Purk. Exemplar Audio 5910, Larrocco Amp, H120 into the AT digital amp, Acer Aspire netbook into a pico dac with a 320gig usb hdd attatched. R10s, L3ks and HD800s (loaners from Tyll) adorned this rig. A beast, as always. Finally, for the non-headliners, we had a rig I am sad I didn't get a chance with. Hortonm (iirc, and a new member here at HC), brought his iWadia -> Benchmark DAC-1 -> HD800. Tyll made sure to go check his pair to make sure they didn't creak... they didn't, and a collective sigh of relief was released by the four people in the room who knew what Tyll was talking about. Then the lights dimmed, the fog poured in from smoke machines, the laser light setup stolen from Stone Mountain lit up the wall with pictures of Tyll's topless dancing and HD800s. Then, through the fog, Tyll brought out the uber-pimp HD800 balanced uber rig that were... well... you know that rig. Sadly, however, the small room which held the 10 or so rigs, and 40 people, had a max capacity of 50. WAY too small for proper listening, and the background noise was HIGH. The presentations + meeting (very active club, btw. There is talk of taking another trip to I believe the Meridian HQ in the ATL area, that would be fun!) went about 2 hours, leaving only about 30 minutes of listening time... as we all know, not enough time to let everyone cycle through everything, or even half of it. Ambient noise was a light roar, so Grado listening was out, and HD800 was "ok", and R10s were still listenable, but no shot with the K1Ks. But there was something else... a great comraderie with the folks (for the most part). After the meet, it was on to one of the member's BBQ joints, the Hickory House, iirc. There was a cooler full of beer waiting on us (complimentary), and we had the entire back room to ourselves. We wound up having a great discussion, as myself, ingwe and Fitz were at a table with the owner of the place and a few of the AVCoA, along with the understanding wives. We had some really good BBQ, some great discussions (and some a little skewed). Brought up alternate forums, fleshed out some topics, and had a great time. When things were winding down, David - the owner - was asked to the side by a member to see if our server (very helpful, btw) could bring out the checks. He quietly replied "it's taken care of." Entire thing... Comp'd. Tip your server, please. What a guy. There is more, and very few pictures (my cam got stuck on the other side of the room for 2 hours ), but the AVCoA had a guy with a D300, so there are pics SOMEWHERE, but all-in-all, this was probably my fav event I've been to so far. It was ok for me, as I'm not one to really listen to GEAR as much at meets as meeting new people and seeing old friends (and fiends). 250 miles round trip... well worth it! **BRENT** One thing that that was conveyed over the course of the day was that there are still audiophiles and audio enthusiasts out there.

Happy early-belated b-day, Puffkuh! **BRENT**

Have a crapalicious b-day, C-Jay! **BRENT**

True... True. But I wouldn't have told anyone... so it wouldn't have "happened". **BRENT**

OK... uhmmm... so... uhmmm... Tomorrow, eh? Not today? I have been QUITE out of it. I thought the thing was today. Jesus! Days/dates are just a blur these days. So, I thought it was today, thought I was missing it b/c I had to help my mom move @ the last minute... man, I even rushed through that (though that worked out for the best). Well... Maybe I'll see you crazy kids tomorrow... NOT today. **BRENT**

So... yous twos will help cover my gas monies? Btw, it's tomorrow. You kids remember? I DO have my HF-1s this time, but forgot to get V to ship me her HF-2s. (or dan, or nate, or mike, or etc...). Not that anyone would trust me with high $$$ grados. Oh, well, except Screaming Oranges, I have his GS1ks here. I'm gonna try, but to afford the gas, I'd have to draft transver trucks. Still, if I can make it I can bring my Denon 2900 -> M^3 -> HF-1/GS1k U know you want that MONSTER rig there! **BRENT**

**BRENT**

I don't know how I missed this thread. I haven't spent time with a live one yet, just the dummy from the Best Buy Mobile, but I LOVE the size of the phone. The iPhone and the G1 seem a little too tall (though both have big roomy screens). The Pre in closed position just fits the hand SO well. Kind of like with my BB 8900, the screen is a bit smaller, but it has the same or similar resolution as the iPhone/Storm/G1, so it should just be great in that respect. I'm in agreement that it's going to take more marketshare away from RIM than it will Apple, though IRL, I see quite a few more people with BBs out than iPhones. I kinda wonder if this is how it may end up with Android phones as well, having a variety of devices/form factors on one platform suiting multiple needs. It'll be interesting to see what WebOS does with the reinvention of Palm, however. This summer, with multiple flagship WM phones, new Android phones, 2H BB devices and that other little phone that came out today all on top of the Pre, the smartphone arena is just flooded with top tier competition. I love it. **BRENT**

Don't forget the Denon DVD-2900. SACD and DVD-Audio, quite a few mods out there if you wanna throw down, pretty blue LED when an SACD is in. ~140-<200$ used. And I REALLY wish I could pick up a few of those SACDs. I'm a sucker for 'Trane, and, well, most any GOOD sax player... **BRENT**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdEbRDdMiI I especially enjoy at 1:18 and on... **BRENT**