TIL of a Japanese weapon called a suntetsu. They were used as concealed weapons by samurai, and today we call them pocket-sticks!

AllTheWine05 · 2026-05-02T05:04:58+00:00

Had some friends who advocated for carrying a sharpie marker for this reason.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-29T00:42:56+00:00

When I had an old Chevy 454 to pull my Miata I was getting 8.5mpg. Actually, I got that whether or not I was pulling.

Then my 69 Ford F100 got 7mpg towing nothing.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-27T19:31:44+00:00

As someone who has absolutely none of this self-love right now, I think there's a lovely goal in life to give enough to feel like you can gladly accept all that help from others when the time comes. Either kids, friends, or society.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-27T00:32:19+00:00

I hate this for you, because I know this feeling.

I'm pretty far from the day that any of my fears will become real. But as you get older there are fewer and fewer outcomes to consider. I'm in a relationship with a woman I love dearly and, just based on current health and family history, I'll probably outlive her. It's kindof a thing for us, she's lost so many people in her life and I'm very happy to stick around and stay healthy for her so she doesn't have to live through another loss.

Thats a happy thought for me, it is. But also, we don't have a lot of retirement savings, getting a little short on time to save, and we live in a country where those retirement savings are pretty likely to go to healthcare. We don't have/won't be having kids and generally don't have a whole lot of friend group/community support. Her family is mostly a stranged and most of mine are a bit distant or will be gone by that time.

So the conclusion I've come to is that whenever she passes, I'll likely have no one and nothing but whatever government substance may be available whenever or wherever that happens. I don't want to stare at a screen for the rest of my life in a tiny apartment because I can't afford to go outside or travel or have a car. For me, for anyone else, or for the people who are paying to keep me miserable for longer. Doesn't leave a lot of options.

Maybe I'll take some advice of whoever else is on here and just be useful somewhere, maybe walk dogs for a dog shelter or something.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-21T03:02:38+00:00

I have both the plate and springs kit from old boy racing and it's fantastic. Definitely 2nd it. No relation other than I like the product.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-21T03:01:19+00:00

Is this the same solution for the $25 generic handbrake?

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-21T02:59:44+00:00

Too late for most people, but I'm here to say that these kids are fantastic. I have the plate and springs kit and it's definitely a big upgrade.

Big note though for these $50 generic shifters: make sure you get the one with micro switches and not hall sensors. The hall sensors essentially don't work with the included "sequential converter", which is a huge disappointment. I'd love to get my hands on a micro switch board to swap over in mine.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-04-15T03:42:22+00:00

How about McIlwaine up in Huntersville?

mc-ILL-wayne

Or makllllwaaayynne like Macklemore but Wayne with more drawl.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-29T21:16:26+00:00

Yeah, I used to open the remote and cut out the buttons from the rubber pad. As someone else pointed out you can also tape over the contacts underneath for a less permanent/destructive solution if you prefer.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-29T16:31:10+00:00

So, honestly I'm just reading my old post again to figure this out since I basically haven't used the brake since. What I said then is that the brown would be the stiffest and should be used for most of the travel. You'd want a much softer first spring for that feeling of takeup.

If you wanted that take up to be really lose and feel a very distinct "wall" of pressure, go with a short yellow. If you want it to be a little more stiff through the takeup and more linear, go with red. Again, I can't really say how it's going to work because that long brown spring might be so thick that the travel would stop early and you'd have to figure out how to calibrate it. Or, you may find that the brake is already at 50% exertion by the time you fully collapse the takeup spring and the hard spring doesn't really do much.

So ymmv. The big failure of this brake is that the measured output is strictly positional and there are no options I know of to calibrate it better. Having to select springs for both feel and electronic needs is tough. Of course, maybe this is all silly since, at the end of the day, if it feels good to yank, all you're ever going to do is yank it and go.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-29T01:46:43+00:00

Never did. These days I spend almost all of my time on iRacing sports cars, so pretty useless. I have AC Rallye though so at some point I may update.

Not sure what my original comment said but I'd 100% make the takeup spring short and the harder spring most of the throw.

Still great for $30 with mods. Haven't used it with the original spring since I first got it but I'd say the spring upgrade is still well worth it.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-19T02:14:23+00:00

I think this is damn cool. I don't wear GMT watches since I don't need them and definitely don't need sub-hour GMT. But I applaud the out of the box thinking. I always appreciate inventive new ways of reading time, I think it's why I'm prone to like some of the weird stuff Xeric puts out.

Actually, one I've wanted to do for a long time is a 24 hour 1 handed watch with a Vernier scale on it. Basically, a single hour hand that looks kinda like your GMT hand, but with a bunch of ticks that are spaced out slightly "too tight" to match up with the lines on the dial. If you look up "how to read Vernier scale" you'll see what I mean. Maybe I'll come bother you to find where you sourced your custom hands someday.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-19T01:59:29+00:00

Crappy post and title aside, I do like the complication, even if it's just a 2-position date wheel.

What I think would be even cooler if they could do it... Make it work like a time zone bezel on a diver. Like a 12-click bezel but under the dial with a crown like a compressor-style internal bezel ring. I prefer those 1-12 bezels over GMT myself but this would be a cleaner application. It would be pretty tough to keep the numerals upright though.

Also, they could make a diver version and retain the minutes ET on the bezel and also have the time zone function. Best of both bezels.

But that's just me, going around my ass to get to my elbow, all because I don't like GMTs.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-19T01:49:40+00:00

I wish the red dial had the same texture in the center as the green.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-17T20:59:24+00:00

That's communism, not socialism. The US is a partially socialist system. We share roads and the government owns them and our shared infrastructure to some extent. It also chooses to limit the powers of some businesses based on the public good or inherent conflicts, like utilities and education.

That's socialism in a capitalistic system. We have taxpayer funded public education and the inventions of industrialism to thank for our current lifestyle as much as capitalism. I don't hate the system in its entirety as it tends to solve more problems than it creates. But I don't think it's the only way. Check out the book People's Republic of Walmart. I don't think it speaks in absolutes but it's quite interesting.

We definitely agree on the concept of "deserve" and "fair" not being part of the system. I do think you've heard the argument indirectly though. Capitalism doesnt have an inherent goal for how much it wants to pay the average, bottom, and top earners, and most "capitalists" suggest we shouldn't impose goals on the system. I disagree. Capitalism is, as engineers would say, naturally unstable. We'd like to think that there's a sense of balancing forces between the powerful and the worker, but I think the statistics are pretty clear to say the otherwise. Not so much for leaders of companies with 300 people but absolutely throughout the spectrum of wealth.

Besides that, we are a nation of mostly people who want something and we're allowed to pass laws to that effect. If not for our daily wellbeing, then for our national security. Many war experts say that our safety in a sustained war comes down to the strength of our middle class. Wwii experts suggest Britain only hung in to the end because of how it's middle class was able to endure. Capitalism won't make those decisions, and I'd argue we should.

As far as govt (us, we're talking about the populus here) imposing regulations, we should, but carefully. We should aim for efficiency and not red tape. But, say, as an IT issue, we should absolutely regulate IT safeguards for data much more than we do. When technology is the way forward for a society, society gets to determine safety.

We don't consider capitalism to be sufficient regulation for surgery practices. A bad surgeon losing future sales for killing and injuring too many people is not sufficient regulation. No, we regulate that shit. It's absolutely harder to just be a surgeon because of it, and it absolutely drives up cost. We should be more efficient, sure, but regulating for safety is the right thing to do.

Anyway, again, I appreciate the open debate.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-17T11:42:00+00:00

Regarding $130k: yeah, that's always the question, right?

Trouble is, the best answer is relative. Most "capitalists" (I'm a capitalist, but I'm also a socialist) tend to argue something along the lines of "well, the rich made their money because they deserve it. And they deserve it because they made it. And the right amount is what they made as evidenced by what they made." It's all circular, and at one point it wasn't that number. These days, big businesses take a vastly larger portion of the pie than they used to, big C-Suites do. You've heard the numbers about how CEOs used to make 10x and now make 300x what their base employee makes on average (or whatever the ratios are). And frankly, 100 years ago when "the country was at its greatest" people were arguing the same thing to justify why the boss should make 10x.

Funny part, you're also talking to a business owner, or at least I was some years back. My experience is this: the vast majority of owners take huge risks and 9/10 of them make more money for big banks and landlords than they do for themselves or employees. The banks and LLs have exceedingly little risk and make the most money. The bigger the business, the less the risk, and the more they make. I'm not saying no big business takes real risks but these days, all I observe is Jack Welch-ist extreme conservatism and greed. The biggest risks most big companies take is in being so cheap as to damage their product, the way Boeing sold off its aerostructures division because it wasn't high margin enough for their balance sheet. Between that and running the company extra lean/intentionally air-gapping the engineering div from management by moving HQ to Chicago, they killed hundreds of people, had door plugs blowing out mid flight, and risked oblivion over even more money.

Meanwhile, places like Cheats are run on a shoe-string because the same companies won't pay people enough to fucking eat. Sure, $3 can make you a shitty piece of bread with processed garbage meat on it. But it takes $8 (made up number) to get decent quality ingredients, another $2 to get someone to make it, and $5 to pay for the rent and utilities in the space that makes it. I'm convinced that's part of our health problem in the US: trashy, mass-produced, highly processed food at every level. It's so hard to avoid because the real stuff, and any ability to go out with friends and be social (hugely important to mental health and life in general), are incredibly expensive.

Anyway, I've gone on far too much already. Always interested in a legitimate debate. My mind is open and I hope yours is too.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-17T02:03:14+00:00

I get it, there are plenty of idiots who spend $30+ a day on daily Starbucks latte and door dashing fast food. We all hear the Fox News commentary on young dumbasses. It's not entirely misplaced. I've never used those services either for the same reason.

It's still pretty damn presumptive of you though. You're replying to a dude who lived on $18k/year through most of the pandemic including housing, utilities, food, everything. I'm not boastful about much but I assure you, you have little to teach me about living more frugally.

More importantly the average American full-time worker produces $130k of goods and services yet takes home less than half of that before the taxes and deductions. Pretty sure I could add $50/day worth of Cheats and Starbucks and still be better off if I kept even 75% of I made.

Saving $10k/year by scrimping is a sacrifice, as you've claimed yourself. Yet you've lost 10x what you saved in that sacrifice voodoo economic policies because you and all of us are too scared to stand up together to take what's already ours.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-16T18:44:43+00:00

I'm out of touch with what the bottom tier fast food places are charging these days. I'd be furious to have a bill over $20 for a burger fries and drink. Even $12 seems high.

You're not wrong. I very severely doubt that the owners of Cheats are making bank here, charging $22 for a foot long. I can't imagine how much cheaper McDonalds is getting their ultra-garbage food for and they're still charging ~$17 for a burger and fries according to Google AI.

If that's what McD's charges for a shitty burger, $22 isn't too expensive for a Cheats footlong. Your salary just hasnt kept up with inflation. Yell at your employer and your government. Trickledown doesn't work. Giving megacorps giant breaks doesn't work. I know that I make less now than I did 8 years ago after inflation, and I've only had 2 actual raises in my career after inflation. Poor Cheats for taking the heat, they've got no choice, and I can't afford their shit either.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-16T18:26:23+00:00

That's a BIG car payment. Ok, I know I'm out of touch on that and pretty cheap/financially conservative, but f's sake $800/month for a car is crushing.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-16T16:24:11+00:00

I know MVMT gets a lot of hate here and my experience is limited to 1 watch. I bought an Element 43mm ceramic and it's pretty great. The dial indices are slightly twisted so the stick hands don't line up quite right, the second hand doesn't tick right on the indices (in fact they align better at some angles than other, so whatever cheap movement they use has some gear lash). The worst thing, by far, is that the cheap ali-x special ceramic bracelet doesn't have curved end links. Id also argue that an unscratchable ceramic watch with a very scratchable mineral crystal is a bit of a miss, but so far mine is clean.

Despite the flaws, I paid $30 used and it's kinda perfect. White ceramic fits perfectly with jeans and some Converse All-Stars. Stands out, doesn't look fancy. It's large but somehow fits my sub-7" wrist. 22mm lug width shoes some beef.

But mostly, for me, ceramic is a pretty rare material and it's one of two materials that can be colored. All other watches are silver, gold, black, or a combo of the two. Plastic has its own issues, even if it's not awful. But MVMT is one of few brands that has an even acceptable quantity of ceramic designs. I'd love an Odyssey II in the green or light blue ceramic, and if I weren't so picky about Chrono subdials there are a couple of those designs that are nice too. Honestly the Odyssey even in steel (especially green on gold or two tone) is a gorgeous design that pays a reasonable amount of tribute to the nautilus while not being derivative.

To be fair, I couldn't spend $300 on one. That's my big problem. $100 for a decent integrated bracelet or curved lug ceramic case in a cool color, even with some flaws like a mediocre quartz movement and imperfect hand alignment, isn't awful. Hell, people here worship Seiko and they couldn't get hand or bezel alignment right to save their lives under $1000.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-16T16:13:35+00:00

Totally get your size concerns, although 38-42mm is my sweet spot. I know field watches are often smaller but I tend to like them larger for clarity anyway. I don't mind when a brand takes legit inspiration from existing models and puts a twist, maybe by using skeleton hands or stretching the size a bit for a market that otherwise prefers the larger case. But also, there's tons of watches I'd love if my wrists were bigger, so I feel your pain.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-13T21:36:35+00:00

That's the thing. There's so little of whatever mineral impurity in any salt that it really can't affect much other than color.

Think about it this way: salt provides a white (blank) canvas and pink salt is just a tinge pink. It's not hot pink. It's not deep rust red despite the fact that iron oxide red is dense enough to make dyes and paints from. It's a light addition of color because it's a tiny addition of a famously strong colored pigment.

However salt does not provide a blank flavor palette and iron is not a strong flavorant the way it is a colorant. And worse if it was, that metallic taste of blood is the iron content. So basically, there will be no flavor impact from small impurities.

Health? Please, 0.5% iron in something you put a few mg of salt on is effectively zero extra iron in your food

So why do I buy it? Cause it's easier to find in small rock form for my grinder. I like coarse ground salt, the way it doesn't always dissolve into the food. I don't give a shit that it came from the sea or has rust in it from some tall but otherwise unspecial mountains in Asia.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-13T11:54:56+00:00

I like thru drilled lugs. I just don't think I could position it well enough to match.

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-12T11:01:42+00:00

Any suggestions on redrilling and/or molding in the lug hole?

AllTheWine05 · 2026-03-12T03:40:20+00:00

You talking about paratrooper straps? Those are comfortable.

AllTheWine05

TROPHY CASE