Chat in January 2019 - I resolve to go racing more this year

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Chat in January 2019 - I resolve to go racing more this year

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Seat Safety Switch posted:

I hope 2019 is good weird, not bad weird.

This. Please.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2019 01:38

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 13:05

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

meatpimp posted:

They don't necessarily scale with height or muscle mass, but once you know where you are at individually, it's a good number to track.

Not really. If you already know where you're at, tracking BMI offers nothing over tracking weight alone, since height^2 won't change. And neither weight nor BMI is as helpful as buying calipers.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 15:51

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

meatpimp posted:

I'll defer to the medical professional's opinion on this

I mean, in this case I'm mathematically correct, but otherwise you're probably safer assuming doctors are stupid about everything outside of their immediate specialty. It's loving scary sometimes.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 16:27

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Adiabatic posted:

Dunning-Kruger Effect alive and well!

It's well known that if you have a bad investment, pitch it to doctors.

Yeah, but no more than sometimes it's true that anyone you're talking to at any given time is stupid about everything, and most times people have at least one subject about which they are not stupid.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 17:09

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Olympic Mathlete posted:

This is how I manage to keep a job in a place where people can have the brightest mind in the country about poo poo like black holes but not know how a touchscreen works despite it saying "press here to start". I'll allow it.

It wouldn't be a problem if people stayed in their lanes and yielded to more-knowledgeable traffic.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 17:57

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Beverly Cleavage posted:

Absolutely, I'm just being a cheeky rear end in a top hat. Wife is an NP and her youngest brother is an ortho. surgeon, and both are, to my understanding, great at what they do.

What I love about orthopedic surgeons is that they make a conscious effort to play dumb despite being objectively brighter than average across the board (since it's so competitive a specialty). They have the "aw, shucks, I'm just a bone doctor, better admit them to medicine for me to consult on" act down to a science.

It was a great rotation as a student, by the way. Their surgeries are great to watch. But I'm way too lazy to be a surgeon.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 18:56

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

meatpimp posted:

On that note, a question -- everyone that I've ever known that has seen an orthopedist for anything leg/foot related has been prescribed orthotics. Is that an easy revenue stream, or is it true that feet deformities drive many/most leg/foot problems? Or is my experience outside of the norm?

Huh, I honestly have no idea. My ortho experience (other than emergecy stuff, obviously) is limited to a rotation when I was a student, and I never heard anyone mention orthotics to anyone even once.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2019 02:53

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Yeah, I used to let the car warm up for ten minutes, but now with the heated seats and steering wheel I want to be able to drive now.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2019 19:38

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Poor pupper. Give her more sushi.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2019 03:28

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

bolind posted:

My old man was a vet for over three decades. I was pretty involved in the clinic when I was around 20, racking up the better part of half a year of employment across three summers. Perhaps I can comment.

You got a university educated person with a load of expensive specialty tools and equipment, assistants, vet nurses, a receptionist, expenses for a clinic and finally the drugs and consumables aren�t exactly free. My pop�s clinic had an in-house lab, X-ray, pharmacy, OR and ultrasound scanner.

Yeah, it's not that vets have just up and decided to screw people, there are diagnostic and therapeutic options available that previously were not, and bills take into account the cost of not only operation, but also upkeep, staffing, training, up-front purchase cost, etc. Twenty years sgo, you didn't get an echocardiogram and a vet cards consult: your animal lived or died. You didn't put your cat on dialysis, you put it down.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2019 21:49

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Modus Man posted:

I am going to be building my own house, and I posted our home brewed floor plan in DIY. The more criticism the merrier. It will have nice garage at 30x40 plus room for storage. Gotta have that room for when I eventually buy a "fun" car.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3879253&pagenumber=1&perpage=40#post491670277

Awesome, I love these threads. If I ever dig out from mortgage + med loans + daycare, I totally have poo poo I wanna build.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2019 08:50

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Queen Combat posted:

Hah, I have nowhere else to put this. E/N bullshit feel free to skip this entire post :

gently caress them. Yes, it is possible that this tragic event has caused them to reconsider their choices and their priorities. But it's not your responsibility to come rushing to their side to help them deal with their grief after they've continually pushed you away. You shouldn't feel guilty, and I hope you don't.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2019 04:35

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Jesus Christ. First my wife's 2015 Fit won't start (clicks and makes ... almost a 'pew pew' noise, really), and then after starting the Impreza to see if jumping it might help (it did not), the Impreza hood will not latch. But at least the Impreza started, so I can pick the kid up from daycare while my wife is in Jersey with the Forester, which in all likelihood some fuckhead will dent and/or scratch in the parking lot and I will be loving pissed.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2019 14:37

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

meatpimp posted:

Bzzzt. Incorrect answer. The correct answer would have involved piss, blood, and cum. You've missed your Tool reference for the day and have been docked 5 tokens.

You have been docked ten: it's "poo poo, blood, and cum."

# ¿ Jan 22, 2019 23:12

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

mariooncrack posted:

If you have someone to help you, have one person hold down the latch button while the other one closes it. I had to do that on an older Nissan Altima I had.

Good plan, hadn't thought of that. I didn't have anyone else anyway, so I ran the car until the engine got up to temperature, and it loosened up the cold grease a bit.

Gonna try starting the Fit again today when the temperature has been above freezing for a while, but I don't have high hopes. I'm pissed, but a starter shouldn't be super-expensive. Hopefully it's not electrical gremlins or, again, something insanely stupid like someone topped off the radiator with water at an oil change or something.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 14:34

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Olympic Mathlete posted:

I forget if you've mentioned this but are you sure it's the starter? My GS started acting up when it got colder and it wouldn't click over so I ordered a new starter. It's not the starter but rather a tired old battery (poo poo battery).

I hooked up the jumper cables to the ol' trusty Impreza and just got clicks out of it. No RuurRuurRuur of the thing trying to turn over.

But who loving knows. I'm sure there are a thousand catastrophes it could be.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 15:25

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Huh, good to know, might try it after I sleep.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 16:20

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

fridge corn posted:

If the battery is really low on charge it will need a few minutes to absorb enough to start the car. If it's stone dead it's likely that it won't be able to take anything and is hosed. What's the voltage of your flat battery?

I couldn't tell ya, but I can say that the thing started up yesterday and today. So when it warmed up a bit the car started. I mean, it was nine loving degrees outside when it didn't start. Still, gonna have to check the battery and the starter, but no big deal, it's time for the regular inspection anyway.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2019 14:25

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Olympic Mathlete posted:

Gotta say, the Impreza has only ever not started when it had been sitting for a few weeks. Fired right up yesterday. I love that car.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2019 15:11

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

STR posted:

Hope you're not in a state that does OBD2 checks then, the low battery probably wiped the ECU's readiness monitors out.

I think Pennsylvania does, but I don't understand the ramifications here. Surely people have gotten their vehicles inspected not long after they had a dead battery.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 14:39

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Fender Anarchist posted:

If the ecu puts out that code that says "monitors not set", you will fail your emissions inspection. If that's gonna be a problem, I suggest looking up the "OBD2 Drive Cycle" for your specific car, and following that to the letter. Most parts stores will pull codes for free, so you can check there and once your ecu comes back with no codes you should be good to go.

E: Resetting the ECU can hide an existing problem that takes a while to actually trigger the trouble code, so if they find out it's been reset recently, policy is to assume that's what you're doing and fail your car.

This seems freaking weird, since looking up the drive cycle there's some stuff in there that seems pretty freaking specific to arise in normal driving. I have an OBD-2 dongle floating around somewhere and I'll see if there are some codes. Given how easily the thing fired up today I think it was more "oil like concrete" rather than "almost dead battery" anyway. Even if the monitors aren't set right now, my wife'll easily put a few hundred miles on it by the time it needs to get tested. Still, all of this is great to know since I had zero clue about it beforehand, thanks.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 14:56

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Rhyno posted:

I have an end of service letter and confirmation number from Comcast with a final bill total of $45.

But my account is still open and is at $279 and they're refusing to backdate it despite me cancelling service over 60 days ago. I'm on hold again.

Record that poo poo.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 19:01

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

InitialDave posted:

Not being an employee of the US government?

Too narrow, lotsa other people got hosed too.

While I'm always glad to see Trump take an L, next time I'd prefer if it didn't, you know, drive people into taking out shady loans, pawing their stuff, having to hunt for food handouts, etc.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 23:10

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

The Prong Song posted:

You act like this hasn't happened every year for the past decade whenever one side or the other wanted some pork barrel spending for their pet project.

It's okay that they went through it because it has happened before? Also, hyperbole much? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States#List_of_federal_shutdowns

# ¿ Jan 25, 2019 23:20

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

slidebite posted:

The beautiful thing of a central vac is a floor sweep/toe kick. The ones in the kitchen and the mudroom (also near where the catbox is) are incredible time savers. Just a quick sweep with a broom or swiffer type thing, get it within a foot or so of the sweep and <gulp>. Gone.

If I ever pull out the main "vacuum" wand I am still blown away by the suction, it could probably lift the planking right off the floor if I wanted to. I also love how I literally never have to change a bag more than 1 per year. I'm sure there are different brands/quality out there. Ours is a Husky Storm and it's a beast.

e: Also, another thing that you had no idea you needed until you have one: A hi-flow pot filler right on the stove. You don't use it every day, but when you do it's drat nice to have and kicks all sorts of rear end.

That looks amazing. With four loving cats it would be wonderful for making both litter and cat-hair tumbleweeds go away. One more thing to design into the house we'll never build.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2019 16:16

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Our kitchen cabinets could use a rehab, but there is so much in this house that could be fixed or improved that I honestly don't even know where to start. With a little ~~idiot rear end in a top hat~~ thirteen month-old running around wanting to chew on things, I think I'm going to jump into getting the doors and frames stripped and repainted. Due to their moving parts (yup, multiple prior owners painted the hinges, including ones who lived in the era of leaded paint) and general wear and tear, the encapsulating paint has chipped.

This is, uh, not cheap to have done by professionals with lead abatement certification.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2019 12:51

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

NitroSpazzz posted:

We redid the floors, bathrooms deck and I'm slowly working on the garage/unfinished basement. The kitchen got a new coat of paint but that's it. It's going to be a long, expensive process to redo everything so we're putting it off for a while and building up as much of a renovation budget as possible. Going to be scrapping everything and tearing it down to the plywood floor and blank walls then building back up.

To be fair that isn't hard at this point. Nice wall though

Daytona 24 red flag for rain and standing water with a bit over 7 hours left.

The kitchen floor is so uneven, if we ever completely renovate I think we're going to have to go so far as to remove the original 1930s subfloor in order to shim or sister to something approaching level. Obviously this could be done without removing the subfloor, but the way the radiant heat is installed is suboptimal and the best approach would be to replace everything with Warmboard or some equivalent structural subfloor. The rest of the house has the same humps, but they're up against walls and don't have as much of an obvious effect on the floor. I do sometimes wonder if fixing the support posts in the basement to correct the underlying fault is the answer, but I'm sure that would crack every interior wall in the house.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2019 15:13

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

STR posted:

(such as "over yonder, 3rd tree past that 61 Chevy in the levee")

That's what happens when the good ol' boys are drinking whiskey and rye.

To be fair, they were told the levee was dry.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2019 12:33

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Lightbulb Out posted:

My car wouldn't start yesterday at -25, but would start today at -25. The world is truly a mystery.

The Fit that wouldn't start last week even when it "warmed up" to the 20s started today at 6 degrees. I think it's because I made sure it ran long enough to warm up every day. The Impreza almost didn't start, but decided to in the end.

But -25, man, poo poo.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2019 16:29

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

Humphreys posted:

I posted the doggo in one of these chat threads a while ago. Apparently he has a tumor in his jaw (well 95% sure according to vet). It's super aggressive in how it just puffed his face out. Time to get into my headspace that my boy might not be around next week.

As a pup 15 years ago:

Maybe last year:

Yesterday:

I'll be looking for a rescue for sure but in time.

Our floofball cat Buttercup passed away on Sunday. Tet Jr walked around for a day looking under things, looking for her and yelling, "Cat!" There are three others but she was his favorite.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2019 13:22

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 13:05

tetrapyloctomy: Feb 18, 2003; Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.; Nap Ghost

meatpimp posted:

Poor kid. How's he doing? Sometimes kids handle and process that stuff better than adults.

He's 13 months old, and I think he's largely forgotten. Which is sad as well, in its own way.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2019 14:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Chat in January 2019 - I resolve to go racing more this year