What pissed you off today?

[Stadler]

Here to bitch and moan about ticket prices again.  A7X at Mohegan Sun (CT) presale, lowest price ticket in nosebleeds $140/each.  I really hate to say I'm just priced out of shows these days I guess.  I'll have to travel to NH (lowest price is approx half CT) to see this show I guess.

They're doing something weird there. The $140 are platinum tickets. Non-platinums are still a whopping $123 (including TTL), but that seems to apply to both balconies. I'm seeing lowers for that same $123, and once they un-platinum everything there should be some decent seats.

That said, I've never seen anybody slap a platinum sticker on nosebleeds like that. It really is strange.

Part of that may be Mohegan.   It is the local casino, and even though a friend of mine is CEO of the tribe, I've never been able to get a straight answer about the ticketing down there.  I rarely go there for shows - only if I have to - and even when I have, it's been a challenge (and NOT CHEAP) to see a show there.

[cramx3]

That's a small arena from looking on livenation.  That could also be a reason for pricing.  To Compare, the NJ to the CT one, there's 7k more capacity in NJ.  Granted, I think those google results may not be accurate for concerts, but you get the idea.

[Awaken]

Here to bitch and moan about ticket prices again.  A7X at Mohegan Sun (CT) presale, lowest price ticket in nosebleeds $140/each.  I really hate to say I'm just priced out of shows these days I guess.  I'll have to travel to NH (lowest price is approx half CT) to see this show I guess.

They're doing something weird there. The $140 are platinum tickets. Non-platinums are still a whopping $123 (including TTL), but that seems to apply to both balconies. I'm seeing lowers for that same $123, and once they un-platinum everything there should be some decent seats.

That said, I've never seen anybody slap a platinum sticker on nosebleeds like that. It really is strange.

Part of that may be Mohegan.   It is the local casino, and even though a friend of mine is CEO of the tribe, I've never been able to get a straight answer about the ticketing down there.  I rarely go there for shows - only if I have to - and even when I have, it's been a challenge (and NOT CHEAP) to see a show there.

I'm sure a significant portion of it can be attributed to being Mohegan Sun.  On top of having a smaller capacity cram pointed out, they absolutely reserve a % of available tickets to comp their loyal gamblers.  What that % is, I have no way of proving - but I know people who gamble a lot and they get comped tix to massive names (Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Chesney, etc).  So it absolutely happens regardless of how well those tickets will actually sell.  I've purposely avoided shows here for this reason, they artificially increase the cost of tickets because of the comps. 

This tour has given me a great reason to take a road trip and sort of parlay the show into a night/weekend away.  So I guess in the end, it made me happy yesterday. 

[Stadler]

Here to bitch and moan about ticket prices again.  A7X at Mohegan Sun (CT) presale, lowest price ticket in nosebleeds $140/each.  I really hate to say I'm just priced out of shows these days I guess.  I'll have to travel to NH (lowest price is approx half CT) to see this show I guess.

They're doing something weird there. The $140 are platinum tickets. Non-platinums are still a whopping $123 (including TTL), but that seems to apply to both balconies. I'm seeing lowers for that same $123, and once they un-platinum everything there should be some decent seats.

That said, I've never seen anybody slap a platinum sticker on nosebleeds like that. It really is strange.

Part of that may be Mohegan.   It is the local casino, and even though a friend of mine is CEO of the tribe, I've never been able to get a straight answer about the ticketing down there.  I rarely go there for shows - only if I have to - and even when I have, it's been a challenge (and NOT CHEAP) to see a show there.

I'm sure a significant portion of it can be attributed to being Mohegan Sun.  On top of having a smaller capacity cram pointed out, they absolutely reserve a % of available tickets to comp their loyal gamblers.  What that % is, I have no way of proving - but I know people who gamble a lot and they get comped tix to massive names (Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Chesney, etc).  So it absolutely happens regardless of how well those tickets will actually sell.  I've purposely avoided shows here for this reason, they artificially increase the cost of tickets because of the comps. 

This tour has given me a great reason to take a road trip and sort of parlay the show into a night/weekend away.  So I guess in the end, it made me happy yesterday.

Tribe members get tickets too; or at least they used to.

[Glasser]

The postal service! Tracking a package.... Yesterday "out for delivery", last night " available for pick up", today "item scanned in Jersey city" which is hours away. How does this even happen? I called local PO, they said it was a substitute driver mistake. Now its circling back around. 

[gmillerdrake]

So last night we have our usual handful of couples and their kids over for New Years.....and I once again begrudgingly went along with it all. I'm just 'over' the whole get together for New Years thing....would rather just not do anything cuz I'm well into the 'get off my lawn' stage of being older and would just prefer to not do any of the song and dance. Anyway, the first couple that we know really well showed up around 7:15ish along with their son (16) and a buddy (16). We start talking to the couple and the two kiddos saunter off to wait for my two older sons to get home from work. Which they did around 7:30.

Fast Forward....it's the end of the night....everyone's gone and we're cleaning up and my wife and middle son come to me and say we need to tell you something but wanted to wait until everyone was gone. The proceed to tell me this:

When the first two kids arrived they thought it'd be a funny 'prank' on my middle son to rearrange all the stuff in his room. They started doing that, moving this and that around and at one point this one kid thought he would pick up the double stacked vinly record shelf filled with records that was on my sons dresser....but when he did....the entire thing broke and fell apart and his records fell out everywhere. Then, he and the other kid just haphazardly flung/tossed them onto his bed and left it at that.

My middle son REALLY got into vinyls about two or three years ago. His music tastes are so broad and so diverse....it's really something for a 16 year old. So, he collects, gets gifted...seeks out all these albums and it's a major point of pride for him. One of which is this original print of a Beatles album (I'll have to check which one it is) that my Dad gave to him a while back. That jacket, along with about twenty others was ripped, a bunch were knicked up and torn.....he's found a few records already with chips in it and apparently.....I didn't know this.....even when the records are in the sleeves and protected they can be rubbed or hit the wrong way and the grooves can be damaged.

So, they tell me this at like 12:45am and I freaking get heated   I asked my wife to contact his parents to let them know what was going on and she was hesitant saying we could do it tomorrow. I wanted them and the kid to know immediately so I texted them and gave them a run down of the situation....and ended it with my expectation is that every damaged record will be replaced. They agreed and just asked to be told what is damaged.

The issue is now outside of the obvious physical damage to the jackets and some of the records.....he now has to listen to 40-50 of these vinyls to see if there is any skipping or scratching. Gonna take a bit.

Anyway....I am still ticked off because my son was extremely upset....he's put a lot of time and effort AND $$$ into that collection and it was just abused and not respected. It's a very, very, VERY good thing my wife knew not to make me aware of that while everyone was here because I would have not held back on my opinion and feelings about what transpired.

It's just another reason why I just don't like having large groups of people over. I'm good with a couple or two....or in the summer when everyone can hang on our patio....but, I'm just past the house full of folks. Maybe I'm an old party pooper but I'm just not a fan of it anymore.

/rant

[ReaperKK]

That is complete bullshit and would've pissed me off immensely. You should sit down with your son, catalog all the stuff broken/damaged and go on discogs and get the value of everything that needs to replaced and send them the bill.

[gmillerdrake]

That is complete bullshit and would've pissed me off immensely. You should sit down with your son, catalog all the stuff broken/damaged and go on discogs and get the value of everything that needs to replaced and send them the bill.

Yeah, That's kind of the plan we came up with. He spent a lot of last night just physically inspecting them all and taking pictures. I'll let him know about the discogs site you mentioned in case he doesn't know about it. I wish I knew his collection better so I could rattle off some of them because I'm sure you guys would be floored that a 16 year old is in to a lot of this....but....as a Dad seeing your son so upset....my blood was boiling. I'm still pretty irate and I've had a night to sleep over it.

[ReaperKK]

That is the best place to get the value of your music collection, it can get really granular with the releases too.

[gmillerdrake]

That is the best place to get the value of your music collection, it can get really granular with the releases too.

Cool....thanks.    Will definitely share that with him.

[jingle.boy]

I'd be pretty fucking irate too - the unfortunate thing is this is teenagers being teenagers (think back to all the dumb-ass shit we did at 16!).  At least they owned up to it to your wife, and the parents are taking accountability for it.  Imagine if the parents were like 'how do we know they weren't damaged already?' kinda shit.

[gmillerdrake]

I'd be pretty fucking irate too - the unfortunate thing is this is teenagers being teenagers (think back to all the dumb-ass shit we did at 16!).  At least they owned up to it to your wife, and the parents are taking accountability for it.  Imagine if the parents were like 'how do we know they weren't damaged already?' kinda shit.

Totally get the bolded point. My only push back on it is that all of my middle sons close friends.....and this kid is one of them......know how important and how much effort he's put into that collection. The kid that did this isn't one of these aloof dumbasses either....he's a pretty straight up kid so....despite it being a 'teenage' thing....he really should have known better than to mess with these vinyl's.

He and his parents immediately agreed he F'd up and to replace what's damaged. They're close friends....it was just an awkward conversation now that it's going to involve probably hundreds of dollars.

[TAC]

Gary, that shit pisses me off just reading it.

We've had tons of cookouts and we also do Christmas Eve, which has generally brought out kids with their parents, and our sons' rooms are OFF LIMITS.
That's because one year a set of siblings on my wife's family who are FUCKING ANIMALS (they were quite young at the time, but NO supervision) fucked around in my oldest's (he has special needs) room, fucked with his legos and shit, and that was that.


Well, you now have a perfect excuse to not host NYE next year.

[XJDenton]

That sucks.

[cramx3]

That's horrible, but as others stated, it sounds a lot like kids being kids and doing stupid things.  I dont know why they would do that, but I dont know why I did stupid things either as a kid and it seems the intent wasn't to break the vinyl.  Still, its terrible.  Hopefully the parents are legit in wanting to fix this and dont become dodgy if you have a bill for them.

[Indiscipline]

Sorry, I respect everyone's opinion, but I can't subscribe to kids doing kids stuff. 16 years old is certainly an age for silly dicking around, but it also is or should be old enough to come forward and face responsibilities at once, not at evening's end and by proxy, especially knowing the sentimental side of the damage you've provoked. That's little shits doing little shits stuff.

All my sympathies to you and your son, Gary. At 16 my vinyls were my best friends and I can imagine how pissed he must feel.

[Cool Chris]

We've had tons of cookouts and we also do Christmas Eve, which has generally brought out kids with their parents, and our sons' rooms are OFF LIMITS.

We never had big gatherings when I was growing up, but any time there was company over, the doors to my parents bedroom and dad's office were closed. My wife has a thing about closed doors, but any time there are kids here, I keep the door to our bedroom closed; there's no reason any guest needs to be in there for any reason.

I would be steamed if this happened in my house. Aside from the vinyl, which I am not minimizing, those kids broke furniture, which you really have to try and do. That doesn't just happen. I could see my wife immediately trying to resolve the situation to keep me from escalating it to the level of confrontation.

Just the other day my wife said "we never have company over any more." I gave a grunt to acknowledge I heard her, as I am with Gary in never feeling like I need or want company over.

[gmillerdrake]

That's horrible, but as others stated, it sounds a lot like kids being kids and doing stupid things.  I dont know why they would do that, but I dont know why I did stupid things either as a kid and it seems the intent wasn't to break the vinyl.  Still, its terrible.  Hopefully the parents are legit in wanting to fix this and dont become dodgy if you have a bill for them.

Yeah Marc....like I was saying to Chad as he had the same sentiment....I totally get that teenagers do dumb stuff. I, like everyone else....have a long list of just idiotic crap I did back in the day. But as I was saying....every single one of my sons friends know what his vinyl collection means to him and the effort he puts into it. The kid who did this has a hobby with his dad where they collect old VHS and beta tapes, so he's familiar with how fragile and precious these things can be. It was a poor choice for sure....but one that a 16 year old can and should identify in the moment that they shouldn't be F'n with.

and our sons' rooms are OFF LIMITS.

I wish I had paid better attention to where those two sauntered off to when they arrived. I had the basement all set up (ping pong, movies, Playstation) for the kids to hang out and I just assumed they went down there. I just didn't think they or anyone would go into any of my kids rooms without them there, especially given the doors were all shut.

Well, you now have a perfect excuse to not host NYE next year.

You're spot on with that. That'll be the end of the hosting NYE at our house....too bad it came at the expense of my sons collection.

Hopefully the parents are legit in wanting to fix this and dont become dodgy if you have a bill for them.

We're pretty close with them, I can't imagine that they're going to go back on their word but we will see when the cost hits them all. As I said, this isn't going to be "hey you owe us $40" The majority of his collection carries a pretty significant dollar value....it's going to be a couple hundred bucks I'm sure.

All my sympathies to you and your son, Gary. At 16 my vinyls were my best friends and I can imagine how pissed he must feel.

Appreciate it. We were taking down all the Christmas decor today and he was just really somber and even came out and said at one point "I'm really sad". Then he said something I didn't even consider....he said "even if Jordin replaces all of these it's still not going to be the same. It won't feel the same." He said "the fun part of it all was finding them, buying them on my own and that experience" and he thinks the replacements just won't carry the same "value"   Pretty deep from him and honestly something I didn't even consider until he said it....which just perpetuated my utter anger for the whole ordeal.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

So last night we have our usual handful of couples and their kids over for New Years.....and I once again begrudgingly went along with it all. I'm just 'over' the whole get together for New Years thing....would rather just not do anything cuz I'm well into the 'get off my lawn' stage of being older and would just prefer to not do any of the song and dance. Anyway, the first couple that we know really well showed up around 7:15ish along with their son (16) and a buddy (16). We start talking to the couple and the two kiddos saunter off to wait for my two older sons to get home from work. Which they did around 7:30.

Fast Forward....it's the end of the night....everyone's gone and we're cleaning up and my wife and middle son come to me and say we need to tell you something but wanted to wait until everyone was gone. The proceed to tell me this:

When the first two kids arrived they thought it'd be a funny 'prank' on my middle son to rearrange all the stuff in his room. They started doing that, moving this and that around and at one point this one kid thought he would pick up the double stacked vinly record shelf filled with records that was on my sons dresser....but when he did....the entire thing broke and fell apart and his records fell out everywhere. Then, he and the other kid just haphazardly flung/tossed them onto his bed and left it at that.

My middle son REALLY got into vinyls about two or three years ago. His music tastes are so broad and so diverse....it's really something for a 16 year old. So, he collects, gets gifted...seeks out all these albums and it's a major point of pride for him. One of which is this original print of a Beatles album (I'll have to check which one it is) that my Dad gave to him a while back. That jacket, along with about twenty others was ripped, a bunch were knicked up and torn.....he's found a few records already with chips in it and apparently.....I didn't know this.....even when the records are in the sleeves and protected they can be rubbed or hit the wrong way and the grooves can be damaged.

So, they tell me this at like 12:45am and I freaking get heated   I asked my wife to contact his parents to let them know what was going on and she was hesitant saying we could do it tomorrow. I wanted them and the kid to know immediately so I texted them and gave them a run down of the situation....and ended it with my expectation is that every damaged record will be replaced. They agreed and just asked to be told what is damaged.

The issue is now outside of the obvious physical damage to the jackets and some of the records.....he now has to listen to 40-50 of these vinyls to see if there is any skipping or scratching. Gonna take a bit.

Anyway....I am still ticked off because my son was extremely upset....he's put a lot of time and effort AND $$$ into that collection and it was just abused and not respected. It's a very, very, VERY good thing my wife knew not to make me aware of that while everyone was here because I would have not held back on my opinion and feelings about what transpired.

It's just another reason why I just don't like having large groups of people over. I'm good with a couple or two....or in the summer when everyone can hang on our patio....but, I'm just past the house full of folks. Maybe I'm an old party pooper but I'm just not a fan of it anymore.

/rant

This was making my blood boil just reading it. I feel really bad for your son, who has taken a lot of time and care and money collecting something that he is passionate about. Hopefully his passion for music and music collecting isn't hindered by this bad experience.

I understand how he feels too. I've spent the majority of my life collecting thousands of CD's, vinyl records (a lot of them collectors editions and old originals), cassettes, and other music related stuff. If someone had damaged my collection trying to pull some kind of prank, that person would no longer be welcome in my home......Maybe that's too harsh, but maybe I'm also getting to the 'get off my lawn' stage of life too!

[Jamesman42]

Sounds like you raised a great kid, I'm sorry he is sad about that. I have an extensive Magic: the Gathering collection, including some "priceless" cards that were gifts or have cool stories behind them. If my stuff got partially wiped and I had to replace, there would be a void there as well.

Sorry, I respect everyone's opinion, but I can't subscribe to kids doing kids stuff. 16 years old is certainly an age for silly dicking around, but it also is or should be old enough to come forward and face responsibilities at once, not at evening's end and by proxy, especially knowing the sentimental side of the damage you've provoked. That's little shits doing little shits stuff.

I agree. I work with 13- and 14-year-olds every year, and by that age they know that this situation is beyond kids being kids, this is indeed shitty behavior. Being young leads to some bad decisions, even at 16, but they are still old enough to know.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

All my sympathies to you and your son, Gary. At 16 my vinyls were my best friends and I can imagine how pissed he must feel.

Appreciate it. We were taking down all the Christmas decor today and he was just really somber and even came out and said at one point "I'm really sad". Then he said something I didn't even consider....he said "even if Jordin replaces all of these it's still not going to be the same. It won't feel the same." He said "the fun part of it all was finding them, buying them on my own and that experience" and he thinks the replacements just won't carry the same "value"   Pretty deep from him and honestly something I didn't even consider until he said it....which just perpetuated my utter anger for the whole ordeal.

Yeah, this hits hard. The pure joy of searching for and finding a rare/classic/collectible record or something like that can't really be replicated by someone just giving/replacing those things. Each piece has a story behind it, of how it was acquired, the effort involved in finding it.

The good news is, he will have the opportunity to continue his passion for collecting this stuff. This may be a minor setback, but he shouldn't let it stop him from continuing.

[jingle.boy]

Sorry, I respect everyone's opinion, but I can't subscribe to kids doing kids stuff. 16 years old is certainly an age for silly dicking around, but it also is or should be old enough to come forward and face responsibilities at once, not at evening's end and by proxy, especially knowing the sentimental side of the damage you've provoked. That's little shits doing little shits stuff.

The way Gary told the story, they did come forward, it was just middle son and Gary's wife that "withheld" the info from Gary until the end of the night.

@ Gary... that last part.  Damn! He's right too.  I can understand how a good part of the joy and pleasure of any collection is the experience, not just the items themselves.

[gmillerdrake]

Sorry, I respect everyone's opinion, but I can't subscribe to kids doing kids stuff. 16 years old is certainly an age for silly dicking around, but it also is or should be old enough to come forward and face responsibilities at once, not at evening's end and by proxy, especially knowing the sentimental side of the damage you've provoked. That's little shits doing little shits stuff.

The way Gary told the story, they did come forward, it was just middle son and Gary's wife that "withheld" the info from Gary until the end of the night.

@ Gary... that last part.  Damn! He's right too.  I can understand how a good part of the joy and pleasure of any collection is the experience, not just the items themselves.

Yeah....my wife and son had a hunch at how I'd take it so they agreed to wait until everyone was gone to tell me. Which, I'm glad they did. I would have made things very uncomfortable for everyone here had I found out in real time.

My middle son was noticeably absent all night and I just figured he was hanging out with the dozen other kids that were here downstairs or outside. It wasn't until this all came to light that I learned he basically just staying in his room all night...probably in shock....but away from all the activities.

The good news is, he will have the opportunity to continue his passion for collecting this stuff. This may be a minor setback, but he shouldn't let it stop him from continuing.

I'm pretty certain he will get past this and keep collecting and enjoying....this is just a major shock and incident for him....and rightfully so.

[Indiscipline]

Sorry, I respect everyone's opinion, but I can't subscribe to kids doing kids stuff. 16 years old is certainly an age for silly dicking around, but it also is or should be old enough to come forward and face responsibilities at once, not at evening's end and by proxy, especially knowing the sentimental side of the damage you've provoked. That's little shits doing little shits stuff.

The way Gary told the story, they did come forward, it was just middle son and Gary's wife that "withheld" the info from Gary until the end of the night.

@ Gary... that last part.  Damn! He's right too.  I can understand how a good part of the joy and pleasure of any collection is the experience, not just the items themselves.

I stand corrected. I was under the impression the kids' parents didn't know yet.

[wolfking]

That pisses me off just reading it too.  Gary, you need to go to their house and fuck some of their shit up, it's the only responsible adult like thing to do.

Seriously though, I don't buy the whole kids being kids thing.  I knew at fucking 6 years old doing something like that was wrong let alone fucking 16!  Kids are drinking, smoking, vaping, stealing shit, robbing people and fucking younger than 16 these days so there should be no leniency on this IMO.  Damn, I'd be wild.

If anything, might give you some leverage with your wife to stop these get togethers at your house if you don't want them anymore.  People are fucking animals.  The less in your house the better.

[King Postwhore]

Destroying property pissed me off. They need to pay, monetary for their indiscretions. 

[wolfking]

Destroying property pissed me off. They need to pay, monetary for their indiscretions.

Yes, with their heads.

[King Postwhore]

No. They do need to learn their are consequences and take away what they individually love.

[TAC]

I don't think he meant to literally behead them.

[wolfking]

No. They do need to learn their are consequences and take away what they individually love.

I don't think he meant to literally behead them.

I mean, depends who you ask, execution by guillotine MAY be appropriate for the cause but yes, I didn't actually mean to decapitate them.  We'll go with Joe's suggestion.

[Stadler]

That is the best place to get the value of your music collection, it can get really granular with the releases too.

Cool....thanks.    Will definitely share that with him.

Second that site; I won't name names - I'll let them do it! - but I'm on there, and there are at least two other people here that go on there regularly. I have an account and I've both bought and sold on there.  I've got my entire collection catalogued, and it gives you updated prices - low, medium, high - for everything in real time.

If it matters, I'm with you 1000%.  Entertaining at this point is a shit show and I'd rather not do it.  And if I do, I expect people to treat my house and my things as if they were their own.  No, actually, I expect them to treat them as if they WEREN'T theirs, because it seems like people don't give a rat's ass about their things these days.  A 16-year-old should already know to leave other's stuff alone, but in case they don't this will be a nice reminder.

[Stadler]

No. They do need to learn their are consequences and take away what they individually love.

I don't think he meant to literally behead them.

I mean, depends who you ask, execution by guillotine MAY be appropriate for the cause but yes, I didn't actually mean to decapitate them.  We'll go with Joe's suggestion.

It depends what Beatles record it was. For me, beheading is still on the table.

[ProfessorPeart]

That is the best place to get the value of your music collection, it can get really granular with the releases too.

Cool....thanks.    Will definitely share that with him.

Second that site; I won't name names - I'll let them do it! - but I'm on there, and there are at least two other people here that go on there regularly. I have an account and I've both bought and sold on there.  I've got my entire collection catalogued, and it gives you updated prices - low, medium, high - for everything in real time.

Assuming that I am at least one of the people you are talking about. I am a heavy Discogs user. I think I corrected Stads on an entry one time before I knew it was Stads. 

[hefdaddy42]

My blood would have been boiling.  Time for consequences and repercussions!

[jingle.boy]

My blood would have been boiling.  Time for consequences and repercussions!

I think we need to get Gary some bubblegum!