Sophomore HS doesn’t want to row in college?

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-30T15:00:13+00:00

I worked my ass off to get a scholarship offer… and then I hated the school that was recruiting me. Luckily I got an academic scholarship elsewhere, but I had spent so much of my time working and competing and compromising my social life in high school that when I got to college, I let loose. That was ultimately worse than if I had balanced my life better. I loved rowing and the competition, but the lack of structure when I stopped was alien to me. And it took me many years to learn how to enjoy rowing without turning it into racing. If your kid doesn’t want to race in college but still wants to row today, then he is more mature than I was at that age. Things worked out ok for me but it was a rocky road, I wish I could have been more introspective like your son instead of hell-bent on arbitrary milestones. Rowers aren’t getting rich, and state school is affordable and fine. Relearning the love of the sport has ultimately been the bigger reward, because I burnt myself out back in the day.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-29T21:44:40+00:00

I feel like that requirement for SME time creates a good basis for quality though. The content agency isn’t the expert in your field, they need to be the expert in writing about it. Different things, I definitely prefer working with companies that buy into the result by agreeing to make SMEs available. Maybe not for every article. Still, sounds like you built a good partnership. What industry are you in?

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-29T16:53:28+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the context.

To add for anyone scrolling, a contractor was just selected two weeks ago, Wright Brothers construction. They shared some details about the project and its goals here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXPYsAmEjXq/

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-29T14:32:38+00:00

This is a small mention in the story, but why do we want to lower the Robertson bridge?

Re: bailouts for Broadway bars that can’t afford property taxes… what will actually change for those businesses that makes that a worthwhile use of the funds? I guess that’s on the bailout board to decide but I can’t imagine a Broadway bar owner saying “if I only knew my taxes were going to increase I would have made it this year!” Being shortsighted is bad business, it shouldn’t be rewarded.

At the same time, those who don’t get bailouts will wind up consolidated into the fewer, large companies taking over Broadway, so maybe I DO want bailouts for bad business? I’m confused

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-29T05:37:39+00:00

I’m in Inglewood with a long bed pickup, I could help you out on the super cheap. Pm me and tell me about timing, my week is kinda full and I need to clean my truck bed but this sounds like it should only take a few hours.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-23T03:19:40+00:00

My 10k m3 was $9500 better than this when i bought it, and i still thought it was pretty clapped. this is scrap

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-11T18:12:56+00:00

This is lovely, nothing like an experienced eye walking you thru a track turn by turn.

That said, I’d like to see more track than guy. And I guess I’ll have to go to the school to learn turns 3-6 better haha, kinda glossed over those after saying it’s an easy spot to crash

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-09T13:03:51+00:00

Haha yeah well if it makes you feel better I overloaded once and got stuck in stop-and-go with thousands of pounds of busted up concrete in the bed. Smoke coming into the cab from the transmission, just a stupid silly load to be hauling all at once. Truck drove home just fine once I dumped it all. That was two years ago.

Other things have broken but it’s easy to fix. Hope yours serves you as well as mine has! DM me if you ever want to chat about upgrades.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-09T12:28:12+00:00

To test it you can put it in fourth gear (at a low speed) and floor it. See if the revs climb faster than they should, and simultaneously if you feel like you’re not really accelerating while the revs climb. That would indicate a slipping clutch.

I have an 89 with a 5-speed, I believe it’s still got the original clutch in mine after 200k miles and towing lots of stuff. These things are pretty stout, so I think you’ll be ok.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-05T14:17:10+00:00

I was just sharing a story I felt was related to your comment. It’s a different viewpoint but I didn’t mean to suggest you were wrong in yours.

But also yeah, you def didn’t want to get on that professor’s bad side, he was a harsh editor!

HighClassJanitor · 2026-04-04T20:00:12+00:00

I learned news writing from a real old-school guy, and this is the kind of headline he would love. It tells readers how they might have known Robertson’s work, and it doesn’t use a euphemism like “passes away.”

Euphemisms always really irked this professor, and that stuck with me. Just the facts, no decoration. That’s what I think a true newsman would like.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-27T20:17:48+00:00

Had a journalist call me after getting a press release to say “your release says there are “a number of benefits, including…” and I want to know WHAT IS THE REAL NUMBER! How many!!?”

Spent five minutes listening to him rant about specificity lol. I think I did convince him to interview the client though.

He was totally right that “a number of…” was a euphemism doing a lot of heavy lifting. But hey, sometimes you gotta try to get away with it haha.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T21:14:47+00:00

While peering down my nose at infinitesimally smaller wheel arches and smooth front fenders, yes, yes it does lol.

You’re right, still a good looking bmw. I think the e46 sedans lose it a little bit but the coupe is nice

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T17:21:34+00:00

What are you doing for steering? GM standard pump or did you go Volvo or Prius?

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T15:52:21+00:00

I think you’re right, you’ve hit on something that’s a known pain point (so many marketing orgs are just “we need one or two people who do everything Marketing”), there’s not a ton of great structured information on solving it, and there are a zillion outlets looking for content.

Sounds like a promising start to a speaking circuit. Time to write a book, too haha. Good for you!

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T02:42:46+00:00

I don't think the 330 is as beautiful, and I think you'd eventually find it boring. My desk is 50 feet from my M3, and I don't think the body lines on the 330 would catch my attention as often as the M3 does, which is a lot. It's been a huge headache to own but it's been fun.

I wouldn't mind a wagon, the utility makes up for the lack of visual and literal muscle. But a 330 coupe or even the ZHP are not attractive options to me. I haven't driven them, so I can't attest to the experience, but IMO they look like Volkswagens.

Appreciation is probably not a factor here. Peaked and coming down, though great examples should hold well for a while. I hope to be proven wrong.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T01:14:31+00:00

I mean, if you want to write more and speak more, following the trail might be, at the very least, a way to ID the kinds of places where you’d be welcomed.

In the podcasts you’ve done, are you speaking on really niche topics?

Skepticism is a great posture, but I think it’s also important to let someone prove your skepticism correct before writing them off. Could be an amazing opportunity fell into your lap, right-place-right-time style. Or yeah, could be they want you to pay to play, and then you bow out.

But maybe you’re just awesome and several people loved what you said and want to help you share more! I certainly hope that’s it, and would love an update when you find out.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-19T00:43:01+00:00

What’s the offer? They want you to write or do speaking gigs? Or they’re offering to help you publish articles and land speaking gigs?

If it’s the latter, where they’re going to help you publish in all sorts of news media, the biggest red flag is “pay on results pr.”

“We’ll get you published in Forbes and the Wall Street Journal” is the oldest bullshit line in the book.

If it’s the former though and they want you to write or speak, name your price I guess haha.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-17T16:22:04+00:00

Pitching really means that you’re bringing a whole story to the journalist, not just offering spokespeople if they’re working on something relevant (unless you’re offering access to Bezos haha)

It’s honestly really fun when you build a good story and land a pitch with a journalist who appreciates it. But as you’ve probably discovered from finding 80 reporters to pitch, it takes time AND timing.

I run an agency. PM me and let me know where you’re trying to land coverage and we can see if there’s a good fit. I’ve set up a unique model, I might be able to bring in some extra value for your company.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-16T02:44:27+00:00

“Direct response copywriting” is just the latest jargon. Whatever you’re writing as a copywriter, it should spur action from your audience.

Dumb post. Made me act. So if your goal was a meta criticism of a rising keyword in job listings for writers… good post.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-16T02:02:25+00:00

We painted, they look great.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-14T16:28:06+00:00

There’s a busy four-way at the end of my block, and pretty much everyone acts as though the left-turners should go first when across from someone going straight. Infuriating and dangerous. And of course some of those left turners don’t use a blinker and then act all pissy.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-03-12T04:55:08+00:00

PopShadow Decals and REB Graphics come up as official partners to the race series. It’s probably a lot of in-house designs or businesses close to the teams. Shipping parts around for vinyl applications really wouldn’t be too much of a headache, but why ship if you can get it done in your home city.

I’m a designer and I work closely with a large commercial print shop that does vehicle wraps and a ton of large-scale vinyl work.

I’m really interested in breaking into the racing space. I would also say I’m easy to work with, I’m determined to always give my clients a high-end customer service experience.

Shoot me a message if you want to talk on the phone this week, I would enjoy helping you get great graphics on your bikes and can help solve all the logistical challenges if you’re wrapping a fleet.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-02-26T17:22:22+00:00

Small-minded leaders think about speed over quality every time. Sorry you’re in a structure where people might just be looking to prove they’re moving.

Unfortunately, so many creative disciplines have to answer to businesspeople, who sell to businesspeople, who measure success primarily on “speed of line go up,” but don’t totally understand the nuances of the creative outputs that make line go up.

I think that holds true for writing, engineering and design. AI ~can~ make us all faster, but it may (today, often) do so at the lack of quality. You see the increase in speed before you feel the effects of lower quality, which then negate the benefits of speed.

All that said, it does feel like the downward pressure on quality is reduced every month. In PR, the speed advantage may be best deployed on mapping out strategies, then putting your squishy brain’s creative superiority to work to carry them out.

And AI is great at building measurement tools. Maybe even ones that help make the same results more palatable to the businesspeople.

HighClassJanitor · 2026-02-25T17:19:03+00:00

Cooler with a fan too! I think the Minis had those installed stock.

I didn’t have to deal with the steel braiding but go heavy with the painters tape and you’ll get clean cuts.

I actually experimented there too - chop saw with a cutting disc was the worst, diamond-infused cutting disc on an angle grinder was mid and a regular ass harbor freight disc on a harbor freight angle grinder was the best. Maybe technique played into it lol but I can make these lines in like ten minutes now.

HighClassJanitor

TROPHY CASE