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You Am I posted:I wish they would reprint some of their older shirts. I'd do anything to have the "Money can't buy happiness but it can buy more horsepower" t-shirt They do that every few months. Keep an eye out.
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Jul 15, 2014 07:09
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some texas redneck posted:Yeah I do, in Plano for now. So basically New Orleans 2.0. Got it  I was born in Texas. For a few years I lived in Kingsville which is about 20 minutes south of Corpus Christi. While I'm familiar with Texas, she isn't... And I think she's in for a huge culture shock.
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Jul 15, 2014 07:31
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I'm now a qualified first aider. CPR is really tiring so if you could avoid needing it that would be just swell
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Jul 15, 2014 07:40
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freelop posted:I'm now a qualified first aider. I failed a CPR class in high school. I just sort of stopped and said "I probably won't ever need to do this" so I got up and left.
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Jul 15, 2014 07:50
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Devyl posted:So basically New Orleans 2.0. Got it Yeah, DFW is kind of a neat place. Also, the roads being a giant clusterfuck is partly because 3 of the top 50 largest cities in the US are in that one area (Dallas #9, Fort Worth #17, Arlington #50) and partly because whoever designed the roads was probably so high on meth that he was laying the roads out based on the path the ants were taking across his eyeballs. I actually grew up in Arlington.
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Jul 15, 2014 07:51
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Elmnt80 posted:Yeah, DFW is kind of a neat place. Also, the roads being a giant clusterfuck is partly because 3 of the top 50 largest cities in the US are in that one area (Dallas #9, Fort Worth #17, Arlington #50) and partly because whoever designed the roads was probably so high on meth that he was laying the roads out based on the path the ants were taking across his eyeballs. I actually grew up in Arlington. A lot of it can be blamed on NTTA. They're supposed to convert "toll roads" into free roads once construction is done. Which is why the DNT (Dallas North Tollway) now extends all the way to US 380 (hint: long distance call from Dallas), with more expansion underway. But yeah, our highways are pretty hosed. If you can get a suburb job, AND live in the suburbs, you're golden. I work in Frisco, commuting from far north Plano. Even at 5:00, on both SH-121 and DNT, I rarely drop below 70 (speed limit). The traffic isn't as bad as Austin, at least, and you can always find plenty of detours if you don't mind driving through a bit of hood. freelop posted:I'm now a qualified first aider. Been certified many times, though my last cert expired years ago. Be glad they've simplified CPR so much over the past few years though. I need to get re-certified - I THINK the city I work in (Frisco) offers free or heavily discounted classes for people who live/work in the city (which is how I got my last cert). Galler posted:This is the loving truth. Outside of CBD/downtown area it's just miles and miles and miles of, essentially, suburbs with only a tiny City Name sign by the side of the road to let you know that you've left one city and entered another. Agreed 100% on getting away from downtown - the only part of Dallas really worth living in, IMO, is Uptown or the M-Streets (some parts of Oak Cliff are pretty neat, but it's surrounded by.... uh.. how do I say it nicely.. high crime areas). You often don't even know what county you're in for awhile while driving - the city of Dallas actually extends into both Collin and Denton counties by a small amount, other cities extend into Dallas county, etc. If you work in downtown Dallas, get a place within 15 minutes of the Parker Road DART station (farthest north station on the red line), or something in the Lewisville/Carrollton area (park at the Hebron train station, take the green line to downtown). If you really want to get in the sticks, find something in Denton county close to an A-Train station, but you'd take the A down to Carrollton, then switch to the green line (DCTA's A-Train is run by Denton County Transit Authority, DART is run by Dallas Area Rapid Transit). You'd have to get a regional ticket if you did that. DCTA doesn't run on Sunday at all, and limited hours on Saturdays. Or just drive down to the Carrollton Hebron station (north end terminus of the green line). Did I mention Dallas/DART has the largest light rail network in the nation? Thank gently caress it's actually easy to navigate (and loving cheap!), there's only 4 regular lines right now (red, blue, orange, green). And there's a few stations where you can switch lines. If I'm going to downtown Dallas, I just park at the Parker Road station and spend the $5 on a day pass, then get some exercise walking downtown. It costs less than just the gas for the round trip, don't have to deal with parking, and best of all, don't have to deal with parking.
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Jul 15, 2014 09:17
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some texas redneck posted:If I'm going to downtown Dallas, I just park at the Parker Road station and spend the $5 on a day pass, then get some exercise walking downtown. It costs less than just the gas for the round trip, don't have to deal with parking, and best of all, don't have to deal with parking. This is one thing I do really like about our new apartment me and the missus moved to at the beginning of the year - we're only two blocks from one of the main MAX (Portland's light rail service) stations, so anytime we want to go downtown for an event or hitting the bars, we can just get a couple of day passes and ride down to stuff like the big brewers' festival (largest microbrew festival in the US), get hammered on about a billion glasses of beer, then take the train home and sleep it off. So much better than driving and having to deal with parking, having someone be the designated driver, etc.
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Jul 15, 2014 09:23
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How the hell does someone working at a hotel and is likely mid 20's not know how math works...or how to use a calculator or credit card machine. I mean I know Germany switches the use of periods and commas in numbers but 2,050.00 is very different from 2.05000 to a calculator. I felt bad but WTF Germany, I'm disappointed. Anyway if you like old cars look here - http://tinyurl.com/ntptrne If you like boats, airplanes and more cars as well as really old computers look here - http://tinyurl.com/ozeaqgu Apologies for poo poo camera phone
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Jul 15, 2014 11:56
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Did you just save 2048€ because the desk staff were dumb? Brilliant.
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Jul 15, 2014 13:49
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Sitting through a defensive driving class so I can drive campus vehicles. At least the instructor is cool about it and actually trying to make it a bit interactive.
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Jul 15, 2014 14:25
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Has anyone done a track day at Laguna seca? I have a mazdaspeed3 and on my list of poo poo to do is a lap around that track. I know I'm gonna have to bleed my brakes and put some better fluid in, along with new pads. I've never driven on a track though, so maybe I should work up to it by going to infineon or something. Edit: or maybe start with autox Google Butt fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 22:28
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some texas redneck posted:A lot of it can be blamed on NTTA. They're supposed to convert "toll roads" into free roads once construction is done. Which is why the DNT (Dallas North Tollway) now extends all the way to US 380 (hint: long distance call from Dallas), with more expansion underway. EVERY new highway or highway improvement/expansion is a loving toll road. AND they're using public funds to build them. So I get to deal with construction traffic for roads I won't pay to use that I paid to have built. loving government assholes. quote:Did I mention Dallas/DART has the largest light rail network in the nation? Thank gently caress it's actually easy to navigate (and loving cheap!), there's only 4 regular lines right now (red, blue, orange, green). And there's a few stations where you can switch lines. If I'm going to downtown Dallas, I just park at the Parker Road station and spend the $5 on a day pass, then get some exercise walking downtown. It costs less than just the gas for the round trip, don't have to deal with parking, and best of all, don't have to deal with parking. I live in Euless (dead center between Dallas and Fort Worth), and used to work in downtown Dallas. I loved taking the TRE (commuter train that runs between D & FW), switching to the Light Rail at Union Station, and then going into downtown a couple of stops, versus traffic, gas, and parking. I had to walk about 6 blocks, but the only time that was a problem was in Thunderstorms, really. And the train handled ice and snow (what little we got) a lot better. Now I work in Las Colinas (a... community? borough? area? of Irving) and drive to work. It's only 12 miles with a few pinch points, and I tend to go in 9-6 to avoid the worst. There's actually a Light Rail station not too far away, but to use it, I would have to ride the TRE into Dallas, then ride the light rail back out to Irving, which would be silly, and take 3 times as long as driving. Free parking at the Las Colinas location, too, so no problem on that front. edit: fixed quotes.
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Jul 16, 2014 00:16
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Now if only they would extend dart into Arlington. It was the largest city in the US with no public transportation system and last time I was there visiting, nothing had changed.
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Jul 16, 2014 01:04
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Darchangel posted:EVERY new highway or highway improvement/expansion is a loving toll road. AND they're using public funds to build them. Here in Austin they don't have room to shove in new highways so they are taking the breakdown lanes of Mopac and possible 183 and adding tolled lanes. Mopac is an absolute clown show at the moment. Oh and we'll probably kill off the light rail proposal because the route chosen happens to serve minorities. What a loving joke this state is if you don't have the favor of Perry and Abbott.
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Jul 16, 2014 01:23
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Rhyno posted:I failed a CPR class in high school. I just sort of stopped and said "I probably won't ever need to do this" so I got up and left. It wouldn't help anyway. An EMT friend of mine said it's only effective less than 10% of the time. Could be that he's just really poo poo at CPR though.
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Jul 16, 2014 01:39
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CPR is kinda lovely. If you do it right you break all sorts of fun stuff that you can't put a cast on.
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Jul 16, 2014 01:45
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My ex has resuscitated two people since she began volunteering as a lifeguard at the local pool five years ago, by way of CPR. So I guess that's better than not doing CPR?
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Jul 16, 2014 02:04
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Nidhg00670000 posted:My ex has resuscitated two people since she began volunteering as a lifeguard at the local pool five years ago, by way of CPR. So I guess that's better than not doing CPR? Other people have cooties.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:17
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Google Butt posted:I know I'm gonna have to bleed my brakes and put some better fluid in, along with new pads. Why would you think you need to do that? If you've never driven to the limit on a track your first time out is not going to require anything more than your street car in street car trim. There is nothing wrong with bleeding your brakes, but unless you are super special with innate talent you won't be exceeding the bounds of a street car your first time out. I mean, unless you push it enough to crash, which won't be the fault of your brakes. Autocross is a good idea, but even better is HPDE (hight performance driver education). This is the answer to "how can I make my car go faster for the least amount of money" regardless of what you drive.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:24
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Day 5 of this god drat cold. Its the worst, but the cough is going down finally, with a few coughing spells here and there. Doc said its a full on virus so there was nothing to take other then rest, lots of fluids and some cough syrup to ease the coughing. gently caress being sick.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:27
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Motronic posted:Why would you think you need to do that? If you've never driven to the limit on a track your first time out is not going to require anything more than your street car in street car trim. First time out my co-worker set his brakes on fire which we all had a laugh at.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:31
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8ender posted:First time out my co-worker set his brakes on fire which we all had a laugh at. A bleed and pads aren't going to fix that. I know you weren't' suggest this, but I just once again want to plug getting some HPDE. It's so much better than an eBay CAI.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:34
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gently caress spending money, just drive it harder and harder until you spin out. Then dial it back a tiiiny bit.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:35
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Motronic posted:A bleed and pads aren't going to fix that. That's what she said
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Jul 16, 2014 02:36
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Motronic posted:Why would you think you need to do that? If you've never driven to the limit on a track your first time out is not going to require anything more than your street car in street car trim. Sorry, you're wrong on this. It's not difficult to make stock brake pads disappear. A Mazdaspeed3 is a lot of car and is fast as hell, when I'm going into a braking zone going 120+ mph, I really don't want to be second guessing whether or not my brakes are on fire. It's a safety item.  If you've never done autocross, you can get away with a mild pad like a Hawk HP+ for your first couple of track weekends. A full brake job with new rotors, new aggressive pads, and an ATE TYP200 flush is a Good IdeaTM.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:37
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Ripped into the junkyard 10-bolt tonight. First stop was the passenger tube to check out the factory stamp. Axle code JA, which translates to a 2.73:1 open diff. Hm, that's no good. Now the car this came out of had side pipes, a fiberglass hood, slapper bars, etc. so surely he swapped that out for something a little more serious, right? Open it up - inspect carrier - count gear teeth And we have... ...the factory 2.73:1 open diff. No wonder you junked your car, it was probably slow as balls. Idiot.  Now what the gently caress do I do with a Series 3 open diff carrier?
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Jul 16, 2014 02:43
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Phone posted:Sorry, you're wrong on this. It's not difficult to make stock brake pads disappear. A Mazdaspeed3 is a lot of car and is fast as hell, when I'm going into a braking zone going 120+ mph, I really don't want to be second guessing whether or not my brakes are on fire. It's a safety item. Oh, I forgot to look at your av. Totally right.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:51
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Google Butt posted:Has anyone done a track day at Laguna seca? I have a mazdaspeed3 and on my list of poo poo to do is a lap around that track. I know I'm gonna have to bleed my brakes and put some better fluid in, along with new pads. Lseca isn't really that dangerous. Sears point is way more likely to wad up a car. and yes, you should get new brakes and pads. It is the only mod that really is needed for the track. I strongly disagree with the other poster, unless you have a car made for the track you need higher temp pads. In fact, I'd argue they're more important for new drivers because they don't know how to preserve their brakes. Don't do your first track day without an instructor.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:54
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Motronic posted:A bleed and pads aren't going to fix that. That was the solution after the fact! Also new rotors.
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Jul 16, 2014 03:10
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Motronic posted:Why would you think you need to do that? If you've never driven to the limit on a track your first time out is not going to require anything more than your street car in street car trim. This is outright dangerous advice. At the VERY least, it gives the brakes a drat good service and that is next to mandatory for any track time. Plus stock pads are almost always only good for being quiet and not for consistent hard stops. A MSP3 is a fast car, the stock pads are not up to the task - what are you doing giving such bad advice? You should know better. quote:Sorry, you're wrong on this. It's not difficult to make stock brake pads disappear. A Mazdaspeed3 is a lot of car and is fast as hell, when I'm going into a braking zone going 120+ mph, I really don't want to be second guessing whether or not my brakes are on fire. It's a safety item Absolutly. Now Phone has it right - and as I said, it's good to give the brakes a refresh at any time. If you are using the fact it's track time, then good.
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Jul 16, 2014 05:13
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:
Polish it up, put some electric motors on it, and make a little desk ornament. I could watch something like that for hours.
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Jul 16, 2014 05:30
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Cat Terrist posted:Plus stock pads are almost always only good for being quiet and not for consistent hard stops. A MSP3 is a fast car, the stock pads are not up to the task - what are you doing giving such bad advice? You should know better. Unless the rest of the world got different pads, the OEM pads on the MS3 are actually pretty damned aggressive. They dust like gently caress and had better initial bite than Hawk HPS, and are probably about on par with the HP+.
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Jul 16, 2014 05:55
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Agressive stock pads are one thing, dealing with repeated full on application from over 100mph is another. Those things have pretty big rotors, right? That will help a little. Stoptech pads are cheap and would probably be an improvement over stock, but they aren't a track pad. I do know a number of people who have been on track with them though. Otherwise carbotech has a pretty good range, and probably something with a higher MOT that will not be too harsh. In other news, I'm looking forward to my recovery ride tomorrow after the last couple of days on the bike. Think I've done about all I can to be ready for the 100mi mountain bike race I have coming up. Doing a fork service this weekend and might put on a new front tire if my shop can get me the one I want in time. jamal fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 06:21
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Series 3 carrier: make a desk toy out of it! Then buy a new one of the proper deck height off justdifferentials.com for a reasonable price. Phone posted:CPR is kinda lovely. If you do it right you break all sorts of fun stuff that you can't put a cast on. *is still alive* *complains about broken ribs*
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Jul 16, 2014 07:26
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*more DFW talk* well, looks like I won't be going there unemployed either. He offered me a spot on the crew. I'm kinda looking forward to this.
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Jul 16, 2014 07:51
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Drove to Denton to finally get the belt swapped on my car. The original belt... looked brand loving new, aside from the fact that half of it was just gone. One crack in the (remaining) ribs. No glazing. It didn't look 9 years old, it didn't look 97k miles old. If you could forget the fact that half of the belt was missing, it looked like it had 10k. It was the biggest  moment I've ever had with a car. Upside is my old mechanic charged me basically the cost of a decent lunch to swap it (obviously he owned a real belt tensioner tool instead of the poo poo AutoZone loans out - and I tossed him about double what he asked, since he just got back from vacay and still got me into the shop, plus I consider him a good friend). It was good to see him again, haven't seen him in over a year. Got to shoot the poo poo a bit.He'd seen timing belts split in half like that, but never a serpentine belt. Weirdest thing is he's 99% an import guy (mostly Honda/Toyota), and rarely touches domestics, but had nothing but positive things to say about Ecotecs when they're well maintained. We did discover my first oil leak on mine, but it's a tiny bit of seepage from the valve cover by the CPS. I'll probably swap the gasket in a few weeks. I NEVER expected an import mechanic (especially one who cut his teeth in a Honda dealer) to rave about a GM product, but he has a high opinion of the Ecotec 2.2 and 2.4. Also a "what year model is this again?" when he got in to move it into the bay. Most of the stuff he's worked on for me before has been total ricers and/or beaters though.   Old belt had 3 ribs left on most of it. More than I thought, if I'd known it was in that good of shape I would have driven with the a/c on, since it was a 35 mile drive to his shop. It took about 10 minutes for him to swap the belt.Looking at the tensioner, it looks like it has a casting flaw on the pulley itself, which just happens to line up with where the old belt split. The replacements almost all have plastic pulleys... but also rotate the 3/8" drive hole 45 degrees, which makes it a fuckload easier for Toothless Joe to swap a belt hisself. I love riding TRE - it's comfy, it has wifi, and a regional pass from DART, The T, or even DCTA gets me on there. Did I mention it's comfy as hell? I still have my parking permit from DART - for awhile, they charged at the far northernmost train stations for parking, unless you provided proof you lived within a DART service area (car insurance showing an address, say, in Plano, was enough for me). They recently lifted that requirement in exchange for something else, but I still have the sticker. The sticker supposedly qualifies for whatever they replaced it with. Devyl posted:*more DFW talk* well, looks like I won't be going there unemployed either. He offered me a spot on the crew. I'm kinda looking forward to this. PM me when you get here, your cholesterol needs to meat some amazing tacos. You'll die an early death, but it'll be a delicious death by food. My lunch today (... yesterday now), which would get me a literal rear end kicking from my doctor, was $5.41 with tax, including a drink.  La Sabrocita in Denton, recommended to me by a bartender years ago. It is literally a hole in the Shifty Pony posted:Here in Austin they don't have room to shove in new highways so they are taking the breakdown lanes of Mopac and possible 183 and adding tolled lanes. Mopac is an absolute clown show at the moment. Oh and we'll probably kill off the light rail proposal because the route chosen happens to serve minorities. I actually took Amtrak from DFW to El Paso to visit my dad a few years ago (which meant a train to San Antonio, through Austin, and an overnight layover with some train humping in SA). I'm fairly sure Amtrak's lines actually run down Mopac. If not, it looked a lot like Mopac. Definitely running down the middle of a busy highway, it was a major  for me.Also, that trip is 26-28 hours by train. 8-12 by car or bus. 1 1/2 by plane. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 10:51
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gently caress unlit roadworks. Cost me a helmet and some time off my bike with some decent bruises. Buuuut - hey, wear ya helmet, mine cracked but it stopped my head from cracking. Winter clothes also stopped major road rash.
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Jul 16, 2014 11:41
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Cat Terrist posted:gently caress unlit roadworks. Cost me a helmet and some time off my bike with some decent bruises. Use one of these, silly: http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Rechargeable-Headlight-Headlamp-Bicycle/dp/B00JGNEMAQ
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Jul 16, 2014 12:00
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STR catte (and soon to be myself) are on the way to the emergency vet. He was in bad shape when I got home last night. I laid down with him on the floor for awhile (at least a few hours). Poor guy's brain is gone at this point; he didn't recognize me, didn't know how to do anything except breathe and puke up foam. Pupils are uneven, he's twitching... I'm more emotional than the typical guy, but goddamnit..
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Jul 16, 2014 13:31
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some texas redneck posted:STR catte (and soon to be myself) are on the way to the emergency vet. drat man, that sucks. A lot of people disagree, but to me losing a cat/dog is like losing a member of the family. You get to know their personality over 10-15 years and they are a legitimate friend. 
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