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Thread: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

  1. #1
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    I spent some time going through my camera gear recently to put together a bag of lenses and gear for that "camera around the world" project camera. I really should not have as it lead to me going through everything and wanting to take it all out in the field with me. If you have been on Simply a while you may already know it but I am a pentax camera gear nut and collect it when I can.

    I spent a day a week or so going through a few old laptops I had rebuilt. I am also it turns out a collector and lover of Ibm thinkpads. I have a few of these that I use with linux operating systems.They are older models .. I even have a few of the 600x models if anyone remembers these dinos..I should recycle them but they still have some life in them.

    I like my old truck. Its a 1999 yukon Slt. Its beat up old and ugly but it runs great and never lets me down.Its sports 250,000 miles and I hope it goes another 250,000 miles.

    I love old books and antique shops.Old wool blankets and military surplus..I love taking something old and giving it new life.

    Theres something about old stuff.

    I do wonder why all this old stuff resonates with me. Why do I love it so much? I have no clue but as I pick up and hold an old camera and lens I realize its probably because these things are extensions of us... The old gear is interesting because it was used by us. It has history...almost takes on a life of its own.

    When my kids were young I used to read them the story of the Velveteen Rabbit. I always liked that story...its an old one but good one.
    Theres a quote in story that fits this thread topic...it kind of explains my love of old stuff.

    The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

    "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

    "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

    "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

    "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

    "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

    "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

    "I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

    "The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.
    Getting new stuff is fun but old stuff has its magic.. do you have any old stuff you value as much or more than its newer counter part?

    Al
    Last edited by brewmaster15; 11-27-2018 at 05:37 PM.
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  2. #2
    Registered Member dagray's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Like you I am also a "Pentaxian", and as such I have my first camera which is a couple years older than I am ... a Honeywell Asahi Spotmatic (think K-1000 with screw mount lenses).

    I have one of my favorite stuffed animals which was given to me in 1980... a Bigfoot

    I have a steel framed 12 speed bicycle that was new when I was in high school (I am the original owner of this 33 year old bicycle) and I still ride it occasionally. The bike is a Centurion LeMans 12 speed.

    I also have a bunch of old power heads and other aquarium stuff that is not in use.

    My Tahoe is a 2005 with over 200,000 miles on it, and we just sold a 1999 Tahoe with over 200,000 miles on it.

    Yes I too like old things, and especially old things that are well taken care of.
    God is the artist, he merely allows me to see and capture his work . http://davesphotography7055.zenfolio.com/ coupon code: angelfish
    some of my work accepted by Pentax (the camera bodies I use): http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidgray

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    LOL...yep so you do.

    Ive got a few of those spotmatics and k1000s still too Dave. HEAVY as all heck. Thats when they made it all by metal. I still use my m42 Takumar screw mount lens from the spotmatics with my Dslrs. I love that old glass! heavy metal and good glass.

    Al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    I was kind of expecting someone to jump in and say they had been married for years and years and still loved their spouse. ..

    hmmm must be a forum full of people with new stuff. As my kids say.. thats truly a first world problem. Ah well you know not what you are missing!

    Al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

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    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Well Al, I did not consider Tom "stuff" but we have been married 37 years and can definitely say he is both old (well older lol) and good. However there is lots of old stuff I prefer over the newer versions. Some things which come to mind are old clocks, old tractors and 50 or older vintage cars. The old stuff that is really meaningful on a personal level are things I got from my grandmother Gammi and I remember either in her house or being used for family get togethers.

    One item is an old mantle clock which belonged to my great grandmother May (Gammi's mom). You wind it up and it dings on every hour and half hour. It's over 100 years old and still works. I remember laying in bed and taking comfort in hearing that old clock dinging away in the night hours as a kid at Gammi's house. Then there is a set of depression glass Gammi would use to serve ambrosia in. I loved ambrosia as a kid and recall how cool ambrosia looked in that rose colored depression glass. I am lucky to have both the clock and set of depression glass. I managed to recreate Gammi's ambrosia recipe and it is a favorite this time of year.
    Pat
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    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Nah...Still got the same (best not say old if I like to continue walking with my own legs) wife and old cameras, even the old 35mm ones, more of a Canon guy though. Maybe I'm getting old too so a bit reticent to learn new tricks. New stuff seems to have so many superfluous bells and whistles that you end up with a funfair of gizmos all in one package. I don't know if any other brands are more focoused on the "core values", maybe Leica but too pricey for my pocket

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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Great topic...
    My wife considers me a "pack rat" but she claims I have improved over the years.
    I used to work at a land-fill where I had the pickings of old what-ever it was that was deemed trash by some but treasures for others. Well I won't get into details but much was brought home and most never used or repaired that eventually got thrown out.
    I did keep a full leather sleeve box coin set from the 1976 Olympics, an old Timex watch to name a few. Some money that was left in old purses or coats but not enough as I would have liked. All the big boxed stores would throw out items returned to store...Home Depot, Walmart...
    Police would come in with bottles and bottles of boot-leg booze and cases of cigarettes but we would have to destroy them while they were on site.
    And yes...large garbage bags of cannabis grow-ops
    As for old...I love old pick-ups and still have my 1996 GMC Sierra 212,000 miles as my daily driver to work. I also love old lawn-mowers and old lawn equipment in general I tinker with and eventually sell on Kijiji.
    And yes I also have a Pentax K1000 I never use.

    ...Ralph
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Still have my 54 chevy custom pickup.Just had to sell [Father time clicked in] my 51 chevy sedan delivery custom [rare] & my 35 chevy street rod.

  9. #9
    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Quote Originally Posted by gunnerschh2 View Post
    Still have my 54 chevy custom pickup.Just had to sell [Father time clicked in] my 51 chevy sedan delivery custom [rare] & my 35 chevy street rod.
    Congratulations for the novel fatherhood and commiserations for the sale of the motors

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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    We bought an old victorian house, falling down and needing work, but we love old houses. My favourite fish tank is the 90g my grandfather built in the 1940s with rockwork built into the back wall. I also collect old books and have a nice collection.

  11. #11
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Quote Originally Posted by DJW View Post
    We bought an old victorian house, falling down and needing work, but we love old houses. My favourite fish tank is the 90g my grandfather built in the 1940s with rockwork built into the back wall. I also collect old books and have a nice collection.
    Dan, I would not mind hearing more about these.. I collect old books too. Not so much now as I can't fit any more in my bookcase.


    Any chance you could start a thread on that fishtank?

    al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    I'm out of town and typing on this little bitty phone is not for me. I can say more about the old tank but the story doesnt have a happy ending yet, the tank burned in a fire but I saved the frame intending to rebuild it along with a few other things that went up in smoke.

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    Registered Member dagray's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    I also forgot to mention that I collect old fountain pens (and new fountain pens) as they write so smooth.

    I picked up a Parker 51 from the 1950s at an antique store for $10.00 took it home, flushed the bladder with warm water and then filled it with ink; not only does it write like a dream it has a value of about $130-150.00 as per what Fountain Pen Hospital is selling them for.

    I also have a 1971 Mont Blanc 321 fountain pen with a fine 14k gold nib that writes like a dream.

    I currently carry a Pilot Vanishing point (new pen with a retractable nib) as my every day writer.

    Using a fountain pen makes me slow down when writing which makes my chicken scratch legible.
    God is the artist, he merely allows me to see and capture his work . http://davesphotography7055.zenfolio.com/ coupon code: angelfish
    some of my work accepted by Pentax (the camera bodies I use): http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidgray

  14. #14
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    Dave,
    I know little about fountain pens but I remember writing with them in art class in High school.. They are fun but I made a mess with them.I press down wrong or too hard I think.

    I searched That Mont Blanc... expensive! but cool.

    Al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  15. #15
    Registered Member Pices's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Stuff.. good stuff...

    It’s not an old thing, but an old thing I hadn’t done since I was a kid. I had all these plans yesterday (work on painting the baseboards I taped off, clean house) nothing got done because i couldn’t walk past this puzzle!
    Patty
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