Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Willys

any computer savy people here...?

37 posts in this topic

Hi guys and gals....

OK, I have been having some internet speed issues lately. I have done many many speed checks and gotten lousey download speeds where as the ping and upload speeds are perfect. Or where they're supposed to be at.  So I finally got the Rogers guy in to see whats what. He checked everything, replaced every connection, slitter ground wire etc etc etc, and finally concluded it is my PC that is at fault!  I'm not 100% convinced as it means my mother board is toast by the looks of it. No longer do we have seperate plug ins for each circuit I am finding out after opening up the PC cabinet, it's all one board! AUGH....!  

I do not want to wast money tesing something I could possibly test myself or at least have a look at..?   Nor do I want to buy a new PC or laptop worst comes to worst.....I hate the swivel mouse thingy, I like an actual mouse and screen over trying to poeer at a smaller laptop screen. I have a 21" monitor I think and it's great! My eyes aren't what they used to be. I am now forced to wear computer distance glasses to see anything clearly, so I am very hesitant to even concider a laptop.

So, back to this problem. Didn't we used to have a network card seperately from the mother board? Now it's all one, so how does one test it or trouble shoot it? I can't truat a Roger's technician to tell me the truth just because it's their system we are also testing looking for the problem. I need to try and find someone who can ease my gut about being tricked into buying a new machine for no reason. Can this be solved without hundreds of dollars being wasted at a Geek Squad type store...?  Yes I'm cheap! IF I have to spend I will but I perfer to spend money on more pleasurable things like my Smart car over a computer test.

 

What say ye.....is there any hope out there...???

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I my first question is what are you using?

 

There are a lot of things that can come into play that cause a slow down with your computer, one of the most common is a full hard drive or possibly a hard drive that is failing. Being the paranoid type I replace hard drives in our machines every 3 years whether there appears to be a problem or not. Granted 3 years for some folks is considered the end of a computers lifespan, I however am not from that school of thought. As an example I am writing this from my 7 year old MacBook Pro but I have upgraded the hard drive (2TB) on it a couple of times. I also have a lot of memory 16gb.

 

Also use a PC laptop which is a Core i7 with 16gb of ram and a 1TB hard drive but we have some much older CoreDuo machines that also run just fine, although yes slower than the newer ones. 

 

So another area that could cause slowness is the amount of memory you have loaded in the computer, with the current operating systems I think 4gb is about the least amount I would run since the system will be forced to use virtual memory (hard drive which is slower) to make up any difference. So if you have the double whammy of not enough RAM and a full hard drive things start to come to a crawl.

 

Another thing that can slow things down is virus protection. I don't run any on my Mac and on the PC I will not run any of the third party programs as I have found that they can also bring things to a halt. Operating systems from Windows 7 onwards already have virus protection built in, it's under Windows Defender and it works well. 

 

I suspect some will argue this point, like my father in law but honestly we stopped installing Norton on our PCs at work with no ill effect. However some basic caution is always useful. I don't save passwords on my computer especially banking passwords, I also have a special PC set up for doing downloads as these can be a source of viruses and this PC is never used for personal stuff.

 

Anyhow back to your problem, if you can tell us what the make of the computer is, how much memory is installed, hard drive as well as how much free space is available, the operating system (eg Windows, Mac, Linux) and if you have any antivirus software installed that would help.

 

Rogers techs are hit and miss, most would tell you your PC is the root cause and likely is, but in many cases there is no need to replace it just upgrade some fairly easy to replace items. I've had a couple in to trouble shoot problems who take one look at my setup and wind up asking me what to do at which point I tell them I need a new cable modem..... If your hard drive is a few years old it might be a good time to replace it, I just clone the old one to the new drive and set the old one aside (it becomes a backup albeit of an older point in time) but if something catastrophic occurs with the new one at least you are not totally dead in the water. 

 

One other area that most folks don't look at are the fans, if the machine has been chugging along for a few years it's highly likely the fan(s) are loading up with dust. On laptops this can cause them to shut down prematurely as they have built in temperature sensors, I've rescued a few laptops that were being scrapped because their fans had loaded with dust and had stopped, once they were blown out with a compressor they powered up just fine. If things overheat for too long damage can occur though.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am running Windows 7 on two computers here and one of them has very little on it ...... a few documents, 5 saved "favourites" and that's it .. doesn't even make a dent in the "used" portion of the hard drive. (889GB free of 931GB)  The other one is loaded to the eyeballs with all kinds of stuff.  Music videos, photos, multiple files, endless favourites and even movies.  Both units are at least 10 years old and have only been updated to Windows 7 from Windows XP.

That said, the one with the largest storage is literally 8 times slower than the one that is loaded. ....... go figure!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Willys...I work in IT, so unlike a new smart car owner I know a few things here and there about this.

slow internet is not the same as a slow machine.

 for determining if its slow internet  by-pass all of your own home equipment and connect your PC directly to your modem.

That means a cat 5 or cat 6 cable from the PC right into you modem..nothing in between.

IF your PC is set to obtain an IP automatically you should connect right away.

go to http://www.speedtest.net/ useing something other than Chrome as a browser and run the test.

see what you get. Thats a fairly good indicator.

Better still ask a friend with a laptop to do the same thing at your location and compare results.

The techs you get at your home are consumer grade...and generally take the easiest route to avoid blaming the ISPs equipment.

 

 

 

2 people like this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted (edited) · Report post

OK, Here is what I have noticed and have done...but first I hate computers after they do anything but let me chat on forums and research information or play silly FB games and I play only 2, pirates of furtune and stormfall age oif war....silly time wasting games that really are click and play crap no brain waves really requires so I enjoy them when I'm bored. Embarrasing crap aside....oh and I know absolutly zero about  what does what and why when computers are concerned other than the very very basics.

So, here goes. When you first click to open a page, site etc you get the round blue spining circle thing , well when I have 120mbps it spins as it should, when I know I'm getting stupidiy low numbers like 38mbps it spins far slower and obviously things open far slower. This is what starts my searching for answers to why. I now go to 3  speedcheck sites to see what my speeds are. As I have said On good days or times I get 125 mbps plus, I pay for 100mbps or better from Rogers unlimited service. It's the best they offer where I am on a semi country road. I use speed check, Olka,and speed test then one supplied by Rogers. Guess which one always says I'm getting perfect speeds...lol. Yep rogers.  When it's slow the others give me a slight range in the 36-50ish range mbps download only. The ping speed and upload speed is perfect!  It's only the download speed that is effected.  I have 2 computers, 2 TV's, countless handheld devices that I do not use but the wife and daughter live on. I have had issues from all suppliers for internet since owning a computer here....but Rogers is the best I can deal with and have had good service in the past 6 years or more, so not complaining about them as a provider. I hate Bell.....lol. I figure all secondary suppliers use either one of the two big guys systems so why bother with them if it's a hardware problem which is normally is. Also I have replaced every wire, conecter from their wire running down the street to my keyboard so I am very confident it's nothing my end causing this. Both PCs and both TV are hard wired to the modem so it's just the hand held units that are wireless and they all work well as far as they showed me.  The guy yesterday even changed every connecter looking for an issue after me demanding it wasn't my stuff causing the problem. But after he brought in his laptop from his truck and used new wiring from modem it showed naturally perfect speeds, so he gave up and stopped replacing anything else and pointed finally at my PC....but as I said he did replece everything before bringing in his laptop. which if he hadn't I wouldn't have believed that it was my PC. He was pleasant enough, very young and poorly trained imho, 2 months training and they send him out on his own, not an experienced service guy for complicated issues imho.?  But he did more than the regualr techs so I really can't complain. I still semi don't really think it's my PC as I can still get a slow ready from a tablet, a cheap samsung crap unit when turned on next to the modem...? 

So thats the long version all jumbled up.....as I hought of stuff....sorry.

 

As for my PC....a good buddy who I don't see anymore as he moved away built the system for me years ago, he's extremely knowledgable playing serious gaming and writing code for the games etc etc and has since moved to Cali to do so after being head hunted......so I'm guessing he did a good job for what I needed and wanted to spend back then. Here's what it is.....ASUS FZA55-M LE mother board  

Pocessor AMD-5400K APU with Radium

HD Graphics 3.6GHZ

Installed Ram 8 GB    7.45 GB useable

System Type 64 bit X 64 based processor

Windows 10 PRO version 1709

Local storage 1.81 TB 149GB used

I have a back-up storage Ram  1.8TB  686 GB used

 

McAfee virus etc plus malware, spybot and C-Cleaner windows defender all say there's nothing wrong in my PC as in virus etc etc....

 

One thing I have noticed is a smell that smells like a dead rodent down here in the basement which is finished but we can't find said dead rodent anywhere.....and after freebreezing the place that smell goes away....doh.....now I can't really smell that smell from open PC container so that is why I'm thinking it isn't a burnt board to that extent, or could it be and it's the fans in the PC blowing the smell around..????   It isn't the tupical electrical burnt smell and believe me i have smelt my fair share of electrical components...lol. When I look at the mother board I see zero issues such as burnt connectors, swelled caps, laking caps, nothing out of the ordinary, no dust build up as I blow it out semi regularly.  All connections solid also....

I took electrical engineering for a year and hated it once AC was introduced.....I switched to mechanical at that time and passed that with high honors, that was semi simple...I need a 3D image in my skull to learn things the majical force that electricity is I can't see in this way so i crashed and burnt...more smells...lol.

 

Again sorry to go on, but I think more info is better than no  info. 

Not sure what else to tell you that I know that may help you to figure it out......if you wish me to call etc I have free long distance  so my pleasure....i you can help..?    No problem.

I did try looking up a new motherboard but see they are no longer available, they are relatively cheap, so IF the stuff I have attached to it will clip onto a new board then maybe that's the way to go?
 

Oh. I also have a back up battery power set-up if the power goes out to allow me to safely shut things down etc etc. I also have a back up hard drive

 

 

 

Another thought and I do not know if this is even possible, but can someone send a hot shot or a power surge type thing into my PC from another source...? I am very vocal on some topics that could easily provoke such actions IF this is possible.....is it..?    Seeing as it's just my download speed could someone have simply sent me something to damage that?  Just a jab in the dark..?

Edited by Willys

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Willys said:

 

 

Another thought and I do not know if this is even possible, but can someone send a hot shot or a power surge type thing into my PC from another source...? I am very vocal on some topics that could easily provoke such actions IF this is possible.....is it..?    Seeing as it's just my download speed could someone have simply sent me something to damage that?  Just a jab in the dark..?

 

You Trump supporters are paranoid.  Sorry Jonathan I couldn’t resist.

 

 I am not computer savvy either but I know that some of the anti virus stuff can really slow down your machine.  My local computer guy has been around for about 30 years and his rates are very reasonable if you can’t find someone.

 

Nigel

1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If another computer gets the expected download speeds with all the same networking hardware, and yours doesn't, then I would say it's pretty clear that there's something wrong with your computer. 

 

If your Ethernet is built in, you can try adding another card and connect that way, or try a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, or even WiFi.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is what cinched the deal for me.....if another PC wired like mine into the system gets correct speeds and mine doesn't or is erratic them it has to be mine...augh!   I'm going to hump the whole system to a neighbors when he gets home and see what happens on his network, oh joy...lol.   IF it stays the same say goodbye  so long PC..!  lol...Then the big issue is.....will any of my hardware work on a newer motherboard?   If it can then that is the cheapest way to save me Smart Car funds...lol over buying a new laptop. That will seriously eat SmartCar money.....sniff sniff....
I had the whole thing to bits again today, re-goo'd the heat sinc areas after cleaning well....was wondering IF this smell was it cooking? Nope!   I just can't understand where this smell is generating from.....I did unplug the main fan to try and semi help isolate where it's originating from but the fan on the main chip still blows it around too much and I do not want to overheat it if it's not the source...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

OK, I think I may have figured it out with help from buddy next door....we went into Computer management to see how much of the CPU is being used or what demand is being placed upon it when in use typically.....seems almost anything sends it to 100% ..!  There are so many files running in the background also, so many you can't tell if they are itential or not or if you touched them what would they destroy or ruin after they are closed down?
The computer was built in 2012 so it's maybe concidered old by today's standards.....lol

So, I'm now looking at laptops I think...?   Just another nightmare to deal with.....by the time I learn what to look for in one that knowledge will be useless when the time comes around again...I hate being forced to learn outdated crap I'm really not interested in!  I've forgotten more than I care to admit after turning 50...! God only knows what'll happen in sept when I hit 60...!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IF you have any advice for me in way of a laptop, please help....I live on FB, yes have at it, ...lol and play 2 of their games, no hardcore games, they are just too complicated for an old fart! Then a few forums and Gmail...thats about it really.
I want a larger screen due to weakening eyes, stop laughing you'll get here also! Thge ability to use a normal mouse. Maybe the possibility of running my larger monitor over a 17" scree and drop down to 15" if the monitor is possible. I woulkd love many 3.0 USB plug ins. I also have a seperate sound system that gets it's signal from the usual AUX plug. Also is it posible to hard wire the modem to it over wireless..?  A strong build quality idiot proof would be nice. Keyboard with larger kays maybe with space between keys.  Backlit also?  Ram 4GB or better CPU Intel Core i5? Storage SSD as best I can get for resonable money?

 

I have been reading a bit, but people with hands on knowledge will have far better knowledge than me when simply reading specs.

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the detailed information, this helps trouble shoot problems.

 

Quote

McAfee virus etc plus malware, spybot and C-Cleaner windows defender all say there's nothing wrong in my PC as in virus etc etc....

 

This line twigged me, do you have all three of these programs loaded and running at the same time? If so that will certainly take a lot of cpu power and also can account for why downloads are slow because they are all busy scanning the heck out of what you are looking at. As I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of aftermarket antivirus software and my wife was having very similar issues to you after she said OK to Rogers downloading some free antivirus sw to her PC. 

 

After month of complaining downloads being slow I got a new hard drive, installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 and only run Windows defender which is built into the system and did fresh installs of all her programs. Once Norton was removed her computer ran much faster. Hmmm come to think of it are you running all 4 antivirus programs? 

 

The other comment that interests me is that your upload speeds are fine, and typically with Rogers your upload speeds are slower than downloads so this anomaly is interesting.

 

Sounds like you have plenty of Ram and hard drive space so that rules out those issues. It's possible the hard drive is fragmented but given how little you have loaded on it my gut feeling is that is not the problem. 

 

Finally, did Rogers swap your cable modem? If it looks like this, (see attached file) that could be the issue, ours started to act up about 2 weeks ago and I suspect it had something to do with an update they pushed to it. In our case all the wireless devices worked perfectly but all of the computers on our LAN were either unable to access the internet or ran extremely slowly. I had the box swapped out and when I got the new one the girl that handed it to me mentioned that the hardware was upgraded even though it looked identical to the old box. The model numbers were different though which I thought was interesting. So far the connection issues have not cropped back up.

 

In terms of laptops, these days they are all pretty good. Mac or PC really doesn't matter, if you really are on a budget I like building Linux based systems. I've picked up some refurbished laptops from Staples, most are off lease from corporations so are in good shape and my take on electronics is if it didn't go poof when first plugged in then it's probably ok. The interesting thing with Staples refurbished is if you have a problem during their warranty period they don't fix the laptop but wind up refunding your money and you buy another. Kind of weird but I suppose good in some ways. Reason I like HP is that the Elitebook keyboards on some models have liquid drainage holes, why you ask. Because folks like to spill drinks onto their laptops! I've dealt with more dead MacBooks and PC laptops that have death by coke, coffee etc than I care to count.

 

I prefer the business class laptops as they tend to be designed so that IT guys can work on them easily vs some laptops where even doing simple things like hard drive or memory upgrades turns into a nightmare. I've worked on computers where I suspect that some designers wife had an affair with a service tech and so the designers got even by making the device a nightmare to get into or worse with so many sharp edges your hands come out all cut and bleeding.

 

Oh before I forget, you mentioned something about smells from your PC. If you have access to a compressor get the air gun and blow all the dust out of your fans and heat sinks.....

 

20180615_221528_resized.jpg

20180615_221450_resized.jpg

Edited by niteshooter
1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Staples have quite a few decent refurbished HP laptops. You order them and can pick them up at your local store with no charge for shipping. 

 

https://www.staples.ca/HP+elitebook/directory_HP%20elitebook_20051_1_20001?fids=&pn=1&sr=true&sby=1&min=&max=&myStoreId=

 

The Core i5 is an older machine/cpu combination but still perfectly fine for what you want to do. SSD refers to solid state drive which tend to be faster performance wise than hard drives with spinning platters but due to their higher cost they tend to have much smaller capacities. 

 

This one might be getting a bit on the high priced side but that 512gb SSD and 16GB of ram caught my eye. But there are some pretty decent laptops for around $350-399 as well. 

 

Granted you might just have to uninstall all those antivirus programs instead....

Edited by niteshooter
1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow...!   It seems you are into the electronics world...lol...like i said I need a mechanical 3D object in my head i can rotate etc etc to fully understand it, electronics isn't copatible in this respect...lol. Hense I have very little patience for it. Not to mention I didn't grow up with it so to speak. Christ when we went to school if someone said a pocket calculator  they were a sientist almost...lol...now kids in elementary schools use them istead of learning math.....a fast slide to stupidity imho as you find so many people can't even make change at a cash register now a days...lol. well, not so funny is it.??

Thanks for all your great help and suggestions. I have a big fear or nervousness about the word refurbished.  Yes no different than buying a secondhand vehicle and working on it to get it back up to better thyan stock as we are doing to the Smarts.  But when we are talking about electronics where I am an infant I shy away from it.  
The wife has this deal with a supplier so to speak where they can buy PC's and laptops  through her work WSP eng. at a reduced rate so she says. How much I do not know if it's that great of a deal. You can tell me....I have chosen this machine just because of it's over kill and large screen, and for no other reason. What do you think?  I can send you the entire list of what they offer I think but here's just this one.

https://www.cdw.ca/product/HP-ProBook-470-G4-17.3-Core-i7-7500U-8-GB-RAM-1-TB-HDD-US/4332053?pfm=srh&expand=TS#TS

I think you can get into see what else they offer from that link , no..?   IF you want and have the time....please stroll around and see what is there that could be a good deal?  This the highest sort of price I want to spend. Even better if there is a payment plan lol.  I haven't learnt enough about their program yet for the employees. That will come next week I think when she asks deeper questions. She works for the president of WSP as his executive senior assistant.  I get heck every time I say secretary...lol.

 

Again many many thanks for all your help and guidance....it's greatly appreciated.

Jonathan

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Heh heh, actually I'm very old school. I went to school before calculators existed although they started to turn up while I was in high school. I learned to program computers on punch cards! We never would have guessed what would be available today. 

 

Refurbished can be hit and miss depending on where you buy from, for example most of my 'new' Apple stuff is refurbished because Apple replace the screens and batteries in all their laptops and hand held devices before selling them. They also get the full Apple warranty. The Staples HP's can be a bit more dicey as they don't do the full run through that Apple does but there can be some good deals to be had. My take on electronic devices is that if they don't blow up within the first month or so they should be fine. I volunteer at a local thrift store and deal with all the computers and electronics that come in, the number on thing I find that kills these things is liquid spills, the next are fans clogged with dust. For the latter I just take my compressor to them and 90% of the time that solves the problem.

 

That i7 HP laptop is nice, 17" is a nice big screen, and it has a good amount of RAM and hard drive space. Price is good as well and it is new so you have the full warranty and tech support. Looked at their other options and that one is really good bang for the buck. If she said to get that one, who am I to argue! :rolleyes: I'd go for it as it has good specifications, good amount of Ram and HD space, one thing to consider is size, granted if you are coming from a desktop this might seen small by comparison. 

 

Did you check to see how many antivirus programs were running on your current PC and if so uninstall some? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I haven't gotten the go ahead yet, but.....I'll be working on it hard! IF the better half and money maker says she'll cover it, then as you said it,"who am I to argue"  lol.  The only reason I went for the largest screen is my eyes aren't dead yet but they are getting worse with age, so why harm them further squinting if I can get a large machine....Hmmmmm......sort of defeats the Smart car theory doesn't it...lol.

 

You must be close to my age then as I also remember those punch cards in one class in high school...?  And yes it was high school when the first calculators poped up.

 

As for my PC, Hmmmm......dare I say it, it may be cured or very close to it..? I uninstalled all but McAfee as I paid for that. I do not trust myself to not go onto any unsafe sights and it warns me when they are questionable.  I did the speed testing again, again rogers was lightening fast, 141 download with typical ping and upload numbers, then the second and third test site went back to the 38 and 58  mbps speeds.....so..?????   BUT I will say it seems far quicker again now....I just have to find out where I can see what percentage the CPU is being hit with usage wise that is.....I deleted that site also.  I also blew the daylights out of everything within the case. Not that much came out to be honest as I did it not too long ago. I have a fully set up mechanical shop in my garage to build cars and trucks etc etc. so I have a large compressor to play with.

 

I frequent the thrift stores looking for dress shirts to wear instead of T shirts because I can get burnt through a shirt so I cover up. I call them Deadman stores as it's usually the widows cleaning out their deseased husband's clothing etc.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good to hear that things are speeding up, you could uninstall McAfee and just run the built in Windows Defender which might completely clear things up as the two programs might actually be 'fighting' with each other. 

 

Or not touch anything and continue to tell the wife that you need that new laptop.... :D

 

I also have a decent sized compressor to run my air tools out in the garage and it comes in very handy when I'm working on computers, my next purchase is a car stacker of some sort as I've got more vehicles than space but a tall garage. 

 

Yup we get clearcuts of deceased folks clothing, though where I am we also get some really interesting electronics and photo equipment. I'm a photographer by trade though wound up working on computers at the paper. Does sound like we are close to the same age, though sometimes I forget and do things that I pay for later like wrecking my knee while working in a crawlspace.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, niteshooter said:

 I'm a photographer by trade though wound up working on computers at the paper.

 

Which paper, if you don't mind my asking? Both my dad and I worked for the Toronto Telegram before the unions killed it and I went on to work at the Star (Roto plant) near hwys 400 & 7.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Worked at the Star but at 1 Yonge, started in Photo, then bumped over to Electronic Imaging when we went digital, which morphed into Prepress and then finally that got merged into advertising until 2014 when they outsourced the entire department. Most of the time was spent working on computers which I enjoy doing still. I had locked into the pension so I took a buyout and never looked back. I remember the Roto plant, it was just north of the site where the press centre was built if I recall. Miss the people I worked with but not the uncertainty that they are facing these days.

 

The other day someone donated some old papers to the thrift store and among them were some 1930's Star's and the last edition of the Tely. 

Edited by niteshooter

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have the last 50 good copies to come off the presses from the Tely.  Such a shame that a newspaper that was in business for 99 years had to be killed by greedy unions.  It was such a great place to work.

Tely Front Page.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I hate unions personally, they are simply gangsters dressed up as helping the working stiff. The only good thing about them is they desperately need a fight to fight and when you need that someone to help you fight against the company when they are trying to screw you over....you can  cry to your union. That is the only time they are worth anything imho.  They demand far too much when getting into wage talks etc etc and never give an inch resulting in the company making that nasty decission to stop production due to ever mounting costs and demands!  They send you out on strike for what strike pay...?  How many years will it take to make back what you lost while out on strike...? All in the name of better working conditions, better pay, better benefits, sure right, tell that to your families while struggling to stay afloat while walking the picket lines...lol.  They destroyed England and the first politician I would have gladly shot Thatcher shut 1/3 of the country down and put me out of work overnight! I was making incredible wages for a early 20 something worker....300 pounds a week  at that time was fantastic seeing as my mortgage payment was 45 pound a month based on my first job...lol. I had my house paid for in no time! Then bang, done deal out of work as first out were the last in as the saying goes.  The old workers not worth anything simply took our jobs, heavy hard work positions they couldn't do efficiently because of the union rules. Which in turn harmed the companies productivity etc etc....so yes I have history with unions....like I said only one good thing about them......and that's it!

 

Those papers may be worth something one day......historic paperwork fetches good $$ to the right collecter....

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The papers aren't going anywhere at the moment .. just being kept in a sealed container.  The one in the photo is just a loose one I had laying around.

At the time, the union members ( I refuse to call them 'workers') were taking home $250 weekly.  The union was demanding $50 per week increase, a four day week (originally five), time and a half if they had to work a fifth day, double time for a Saturday, triple time for a sunday and a full weeks pay if they had to work a holiday.  The Tely owner told them that he could do one or the other, but the union stuck to their guns and John Bassett (owner) told them " I will close the plant before giving in to those outrageous demands" He eventually did just that.

Before closing the plant however, he made sure that anyone who wanted to remain in the newspaper business would have a job in that chosen line of work.

An annual occurrence a week before Christmas, he would go through the entire building and hand out envelopes with each employees name on them and were personally signed by him (not a rubber stamp or secretary).  In each envelope was a cheque for a full weeks pay for each person, regardless of their standing in the company.  This money came from his personal account, not the company's.  He would spend several days shaking hands and wishing each individual person a very merry Christmas.  No income tax ... just something to say thank you to all his employees.

Bosses like him don't come around very often ...

2 people like this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been lucky enough to work for two emplyers like that. But they also ended up in similar circumstances, either got out of the business or closed her down. It's a crying shame people can't see a good thing when it's standing in front of them sometimes.!!!
Oh well, I don't need to worry about that anymore....but my kids do...one is firmly situated and the second is starting to get into a more solid future so to speak employment wise.   But she doesn't listen, so she'll learn the hard way!

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 2018-06-18 at 3:39 PM, Leadwing said:

The papers aren't going anywhere at the moment .. just being kept in a sealed container.  The one in the photo is just a loose one I had laying around.

At the time, the union members ( I refuse to call them 'workers') were taking home $250 weekly.  The union was demanding $50 per week increase, a four day week (originally five), time and a half if they had to work a fifth day, double time for a Saturday, triple time for a sunday and a full weeks pay if they had to work a holiday.  The Tely owner told them that he could do one or the other, but the union stuck to their guns and John Bassett (owner) told them " I will close the plant before giving in to those outrageous demands" He eventually did just that.

Before closing the plant however, he made sure that anyone who wanted to remain in the newspaper business would have a job in that chosen line of work.

An annual occurrence a week before Christmas, he would go through the entire building and hand out envelopes with each employees name on them and were personally signed by him (not a rubber stamp or secretary).  In each envelope was a cheque for a full weeks pay for each person, regardless of their standing in the company.  This money came from his personal account, not the company's.  He would spend several days shaking hands and wishing each individual person a very merry Christmas.  No income tax ... just something to say thank you to all his employees.

Bosses like him don't come around very often ...

 

Bosses like that certainly don't come around often if at all these days. I've worked for places were your only incentive was that you had a job and my guess is that now it is even worse. Those demands are insane, what in the world were they thinking? We had double time for Sundays and a night shift differential and triple for a stat holiday when I started in 89 but over the years all of that got clawed back. Now every newspaper in Canada is on life support.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That also is partly to blame  of the PC and smart phones....who reads a newspaper anymore..?  Even I don't look at one unless there's a pretty woman on the cover...lol.  Then if so straight to that page then close the reast as it's all BS and crap!  Always has been so to speak, almost a woman's magazine type thing.....simpy goship and made up stories......so yes, nothing has changed we simply watch CNN or CBC to get that crap.....please sir....can I have some more...????    what a joke...lol.
But it's a sad day when they finally close the last newspaper business and rely solely on the web as it is.   Just think FB will be our go to to get all the factual information...lol.

Unions started the downfall and the internet finished it.

Reading a newspaper is almost nostalgic .....just to make you feel good about reading the news.

Compared to simply clicking open a web page.....just isn't the same.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well back to my PC issues, it's faster now and workable for now, time will tell if I switch over to a laptop.....it is the future so to speak so I expect it'll happen this summer as long as the money maker still has a high leveled place of employment.  So I wait.......tic..........tic.........tic......augh!!!!!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0

    Chatbox
    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More