On 5/24/17 12:22 PM, Michael Black wrote:
I don't think the chain ever deliberately hired "technical people".



At one time, yes they did. My first encounter with Radio Shack was a
very pleasant experience. But, they were much different times. Olson,
Lafayette, Allied, Burstein-Applebee, even Zalytron, and numerous brick
and mortar stores in an area provided incentive for Radio Shack to be a
better Radio Shack.

And, since Radio Shack catered to an amateur radio crowd, their sales
persons had to be knowledgable, to explain the equipment, as well as
licensed to demostrate it. In my area, all the RS stores, at the time,
had working ham stations on site, to demostrate their best and newest
toys.

When I applied for a job there, I was woefully, at the time,
unprepared for the technical requirements of the job, and was told to
come back, they'd be glad to have me, but I needed to get more
comfortable with the technical aspects of the inventory.

When I told them I was more of an audio guy, and my expertise was in
that vein, the GM's eyes perked up, and we had a great conversation. He
had been looking for audio people, because the market was moving toward
components, as opposed to furniture consoles, and away from the amateur
market. And, the licensing requirements for CB were already being
discussed as obsolete.

So, yes, at one time, they did require technical knowledge to work at
Radio Shack. But that was long ago, in a galaxy far away.

Oh, and, I never did work there. I had also applied at a number of
other places, but decided, instead to open my first repair shop, an
offshoot of which was designing and building custom audio equipment for
the well-heeled in Clayton and LaDue. Great fun.

Good coin, too.

p

D. Peter Maus:

Sorry to hear of such high entry
barriers to what was essentially
a retail job! I'm facing similar
barriers now to re-entry into the
office environment: Being a
middle-aged college-educated
white male is a liability, it
seems. Go figure!

thekma @ dumb****.org wrote in message
...
D. Peter Maus:

Sorry to hear of such high entry
barriers to what was essentially
a retail job! I'm facing similar
barriers now to re-entry into the
office environment: Being a
middle-aged college-educated
white male is a liability, it
seems. Go figure!

LOL! "College educated"! When your resume says that it took you seven
years trying to get through a two-year community college, employers
may not be impressed. They can (and will) do a google search, and find
that you've bragged that the only reason you "graduated" was because
the faculty was sick of seeing you failing the same classes year after
year, and they just wanted to get rid of you. Can you blame them?
Nobody wants to see that moronic blank stare, indicating a fog of
non-comprehension. If you've found a job at the used crap store, where
they're willing to hire a retarded dumb **** like you, maybe you
should keep it instead of pretending that you can handle a real job.

Being a ****ing moron is a liability. Being unable to add two plus two
is a liability. HDKAD. CKWAFA!

On Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 7:32:00 AM UTC-4, None wrote:

Hi, "Barry"?

Once upon a time, you gave reasonable advice. Now it seems you are starting to eat what Phil eats, but without the same level of knowledge.

Michael Black wrote:

C.Copperpot wrote:

I still have 3 or 4 free comics they gave away in the 1970's. I think
they were made by DC. They were the last place in town that had a tube
tester and sold tubes. Gold plated pins with a lifetime warranty.

I can't remember if I ever saw a Radio Shack comic book. I did have a
Tandy Leather comic book in the early sixties.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=..._dmd=1&_ipg=50






I still have an Archie comic book from the late eighties or early
nineties, the ARRL organized something so the characters would be in a
special issue about amateur radio.

Michael

Foxs Mercantile wrote:
On 5/28/2017 4:07 PM, Neon John wrote:
Sounds like extraordinarily bad project management to me.
Surely you don't order each part individually, do you?

I used to do side jobs in construction.
The plumber that worked with us ALWAYS had to make several
trips to Home Depot for more fittings, and other things.

Finally, Jack, our foreman, asked him, "Are you going out
of business? How come you don't have any inventory on your
truck?"

Hello, Jeff.

I used to run into so called electricians like that, at the
wholesaler's warehouse. I bought by the spool, bundle, bag or box for my
commercial sound work. One guy wanted eight feet of Romex, one handybox,
and outlet and a cover. He was complaining that they walked away from
him, to wait on me. My order was around %400, his was about $3.50.



--
Never **** off an Engineer!

They don't get mad.

They don't get even.

They go for over unity! ;-)

On 7/17/17 16:43 , Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Foxs Mercantile wrote:
On 5/28/2017 4:07 PM, Neon John wrote:
Sounds like extraordinarily bad project management to me.
Surely you don't order each part individually, do you?

I used to do side jobs in construction.
The plumber that worked with us ALWAYS had to make several
trips to Home Depot for more fittings, and other things.

Finally, Jack, our foreman, asked him, "Are you going out
of business? How come you don't have any inventory on your
truck?"

Â*Â* Hello, Jeff.

Â*Â* I used to run into so called electricians like that, at the
wholesaler's warehouse. I bought by the spool, bundle, bag or box for my
commercial sound work. One guy wanted eight feet of Romex, one handybox,
and outlet and a cover. He was complaining that they walked away from
him, to wait on me. My order was around %400, his was about $3.50.






There is nothing that says to the client: "I'm not ready for this
level of work," like running out of supplies in the middle of a job. On
the other hand, there is nothing that says 'I came to play in the big
leagues.' like letting the client see a depth of supplies.

For my commercial sound work, I buy wire in 1000' spools, connectors
in 100 piece lots, and screws, nuts and washers by the bucket load. I
standardize on specific hardware types to application, and I buy
connectors and other hardware with an eye to standardized pieces, so
that once installed, everything is not only neat and organized, but all
the connectors are uniform, the wiring is uniform, and the
installation/routing/management hardware is uniform.

As in most things, people shop with their eyes first, and looking like
you're prepared is often more important than BEING prepared when
servicing the needs of a client. Because a client that sees you're
prepared will often recognize that you need little supervision, and will
stay out of your way. And, an orderly, uniform finished installation
will engender more confidence in your work, and the reliablity of the
finished project.

Similarly, when I do live sound, everything is in the truck. Cables,
amps, speakers, DI's, of course, but also the right type of cable, with
the right terminations for the application. A almost never use an
adaptor. So, that when I set up, there is never a question that not only
myself, but the band/talent/corporate presenters are prepared.

That appearance of preparedness is essential for the appearance of
professionalism.

It also doesn't help that you have everything on-hand, for a job, so
you can get the job done faster, smoother and without stops or delays.

Clients dig that.


p

D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 7/17/17 16:43 , Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Foxs Mercantile wrote:
On 5/28/2017 4:07 PM, Neon John wrote:
Sounds like extraordinarily bad project management to me.
Surely you don't order each part individually, do you?

I used to do side jobs in construction.
The plumber that worked with us ALWAYS had to make several
trips to Home Depot for more fittings, and other things.

Finally, Jack, our foreman, asked him, "Are you going out
of business? How come you don't have any inventory on your
truck?"

Hello, Jeff.

I used to run into so called electricians like that, at the
wholesaler's warehouse. I bought by the spool, bundle, bag or box for
my commercial sound work. One guy wanted eight feet of Romex, one
handybox, and outlet and a cover. He was complaining that they walked
away from him, to wait on me. My order was around %400, his was about
$3.50.






There is nothing that says to the client: "I'm not ready for this level
of work," like running out of supplies in the middle of a job. On the
other hand, there is nothing that says 'I came to play in the big
leagues.' like letting the client see a depth of supplies.

For my commercial sound work, I buy wire in 1000' spools, connectors in
100 piece lots, and screws, nuts and washers by the bucket load. I
standardize on specific hardware types to application, and I buy
connectors and other hardware with an eye to standardized pieces, so
that once installed, everything is not only neat and organized, but all
the connectors are uniform, the wiring is uniform, and the
installation/routing/management hardware is uniform.

As in most things, people shop with their eyes first, and looking like
you're prepared is often more important than BEING prepared when
servicing the needs of a client. Because a client that sees you're
prepared will often recognize that you need little supervision, and will
stay out of your way. And, an orderly, uniform finished installation
will engender more confidence in your work, and the reliablity of the
finished project.

Similarly, when I do live sound, everything is in the truck. Cables,
amps, speakers, DI's, of course, but also the right type of cable, with
the right terminations for the application. A almost never use an
adapter. So, that when I set up, there is never a question that not only
myself, but the band/talent/corporate presenters are prepared.

That appearance of preparedness is essential for the appearance of
professionalism.

It also doesn't help that you have everything on-hand, for a job, so
you can get the job done faster, smoother and without stops or delays.

Clients dig that.

A lot of my work was when no wholesaler was open, so you carried it,
or stretched a job out over several days. As far as rentals, I did carry
a lot of adapters, since we would have to connect to existing wiring, or
give a feed to a radio station. We also carried tools and spare parts to
make equipment repairs, on site if needed.

My customers were school boards, local governments and factories who
rarely saw what I carried. All they saw was that I could get a job done
on time, and at a fair price.

Work at schools often meant evening hours, or getting there at six
AM when their intercom was down.

Factories was almost always noisy and sometimes dangerous work
around running machinery.

Churches were always looking for the cheapest jobs they could find,
so some got no bids because of the cobbled together messes left by
whatever was there before you.

Amusement parks were often scheduled for after they closed for the
night. Like installing new dual 12VDC electrical and sound systems in a
pair of paddle boats J.I.T. for an after Prom party.


--
Never **** off an Engineer!

They don't get mad.

They don't get even.

They go for over unity! ;-)