7/23/06

Memories

It’s hard to actually say this, but sometimes I really miss my old days of being single.  Don’t get me wrong or take this out of context, but I had a really sweet set up of audio and video equipment, all put together on an awesome wooden cabinet that my father and I made together.

I’ve been married over 6 years now… and have gained about 10 lbs a year… and have decided to really go for it and loose the weight. 

You might be thinking… okay… so he misses being single, and he must be really fat… Where’s he going with this? How do I connect missing my old set up and being fat to the past?

Here’s the connection.  I’ve been trying to figure out how I will be able to work out at home, considering I’m really low on space.  Then it hit me…  I’ve got a 2 ½ car garage… why not set it up with my old equipment (yes… even use that wooden cabinet that used to house the equipment)?  Okay… there’s the elements to deal with… but besides that, why not?

So that’s what I decided to do.  Out of the basement comes all my old Pioneer equipment… the VSX5600 Receiver (which was top of the line in 1988… cutting edge), my old Laser Disk/5 Disk CD Combo unit, and my old 6+1 Tape Deck, and my Record player with Laser tracking.

Okay… so I move a bunch of junk around in the garage (man… I’ve got to throw stuff away… but that’s for another time) and bingo… before I know it I’m putting all my old equipment back together again.

Keep in mind… it was probably $3,000 brand new… which was quite a bit of audio equipment for a high school kid to have.  But it was top of the line quality. 

Okay.. so now comes the big test… does all this stuff work after 6 years of sitting around?  Will all the speakers function, or has a mole/chip munk made a nest in them?

I turn on the radio, put on 106.5 radio station… and get nothing.  No sound… nothing.  I’m thinking… man… what a waste… all this nice equipment (at one time) and it doesn’t work.  But then, I remember… dummy… get an antenna and plug it in!!  So I do this… and bingo!! I’m instantly transformed back to the 80’s!!  (In more ways than one)  The radio is playing 80’s Flashback!!  The songs from my high school years are once again pumping out of my old speakers!!  And yes… they sound AMAZING!!! 

Don’t get me wrong, my stereo system that I have in my basement now is far superior when talking about the processing of audio signals, but… these speakers are far superior than those small speakers that come with the surround sound system of today.  When I say superior, I mean because of the fact that they are LOUD!!... and have serious BASS to them!  These 12” subwoofers and the cone tweeters that are in these old realistic speakers from Radio shack really stood the test of time! 

Anyway, for those of you who know me… you know I really love 2 things, Star Wars, and, Superman.  I hook up my laserdisc player, and put in the new Superman Returns soundtrack, and put it to track #2.  Man… talk about flashbacks… this is the track that plays when Clark is reminiscing about his childhood… sure enough… that’s exactly what I was doing too!!  I stepped outside the garage, looked up in the sky, and saw a beautiful starry sky with new music playing with similar musical themes from yesteryear sweetening the night air.

I stood there starring off into space for a couple minutes, and that’s when it hit me.  There’s no reason to miss the past, I still have it with me in all my memories.  I’ve been blessed with an amazing job, a wonderful wife, and some really awesome dogs.  

I would like to move someday, get something larger with space, but for now, it’s good to be happy with what I have.  To be content.  After all, I’m exactly where God wants me to be, so why want more?

I’ll be enjoying my old system, and I’ll move my weight bench which has been collection dust the last 6 years (because there’s just no room in the house to use it) into the garage and start getting back in shape.    Meanwhile, we’ll work hard, and maybe someday, I’ll be reminiscing about this old house, and how “cozy” and simple it was.  But for now… memories are nice, but the past is where it is supposed to be, and so am I.