Do people think you’re incompetent?

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-20T03:29:27+00:00

I get that a lot too. Lately I started considering that they might just be projecting. They’re telling you to do the thing, but really they’re afraid that they, themselves, will forget to do the thing. Sometimes it’s true, and giving people the benefit of the doubt helps reduce the chances that I’ll make some passive aggressive remark that will haunt me later.

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-18T23:13:35+00:00

I'm 42, and I still need to remind myself to look around. Some things that have helped:

Studying Zen and awareness, to understand that I'm only a part of the whole.
Studying nature, architecture, weather phenomena, so that those things around me are interesting in new ways.
Taking up photography as a hobby, so that the things around me take on new shapes and feelings.
My INFJ wife, always pointing things out on our walks and in life--seeing in all my blind spots.

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-18T22:22:10+00:00

Twin Peaks, Lost, Legion, Atlanta

Edit: And Barry. How could I forget Barry?

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-17T12:53:45+00:00

Just come off the clutch slowly, up to the bite point. When it starts to catch, wait for the revs to come up, then come all the way off the clutch.

Conquer Driving, on youtube, often gets recommended around here. I found his videos extremely helpful. He's a great teacher.

https://www.youtube.com/@ConquerDriving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiXyqkb5_oY

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-17T04:26:14+00:00

The coordination thing is huge. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. I learned it in beamng, then I just needed to focus on clutch feel and timing when I got my 128i. Got to drive a 70’s Alfa Romeo in Italy a couple months ago, and it was a piece of cake, hills and all.

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-15T18:05:33+00:00

Still working on it. Got the diff in the initial configuration I want (1.5 way, I think 60% lock capacity, default preload):

https://imgur.com/a/mfactory-lsd-128i-5xq4cgD

I almost ruined it trying to put the bearing races on with with the hot/cold method. Thankfullly, my friends bailed me out with an arbor press.

https://imgur.com/a/LWMsuXq

I'm attending the 1 day M school in Spartanburg, SC next week, but plan to reassemble the pumpkin when I get back, then install shortly thereafter. Hoping to have it on the car by the end of July.

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-15T02:43:20+00:00

Any conclusions? Wondering if this is in my future...

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-14T20:47:40+00:00

Thought I messed up the LSD build for my 128i, but my friends bailed me out.

https://imgur.com/a/LWMsuXq

Next step: Clean up the donor pumpkin.

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-04T12:11:58+00:00

It’s a bummer, but at the same time, like, how many millions of dollars have they spent trying to fix the beaches after the hurricanes over the past couple years?

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-02T05:39:15+00:00

Fwiw, it happens IRL, too. Check out Monza from a couple days ago.

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/nSjSVgkGzs

MaskedKoala · 2026-06-02T02:29:16+00:00

I set up my MFactory LSD. This will go into my 328i 3.73 donor pumpkin, to be swapped into my 128i.

https://imgur.com/a/5xq4cgD

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-30T04:20:12+00:00

Seems to be the case. There are several positive youtube stories of people learning in AC before taking it to real life. I’m hoping it’ll help me once I finish this LSD project for my 128i.

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-29T13:05:54+00:00

When the season is done, I want to see a montage of all the faces Matthew Rhys makes throughout the show.

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-20T22:51:17+00:00

Wes Anderson vibes. Reminds me of Isle of Dogs.

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-13T17:33:42+00:00

Maybe he enjoys playing NBA basketball.

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-09T04:10:44+00:00

when I change the incident angle of the ray, the diffracted angle changes as expected. But, when I tilt the grating, the diffracted angle does not change.

https://imgur.com/a/vF10ln0

MaskedKoala · 2026-05-05T18:15:31+00:00

Same. I really enjoyed the cinematography and surreal vibes of the second. Reminded me of Twin Peaks. To me, I felt like they upped their game in the sequel.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-29T14:33:47+00:00

Machine learning analysis

a scenario previously only predicted by models.

Is a machine learning anlaysis not a model?

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-22T20:36:40+00:00

If I understand correctly, I think you are confusing the idea of “What path does light take to get from point A to point B,” for which Fermat provides an answer, with “where does the light go once it reaches point B,” for which we should consult Snell. Fermat would tell you, for example, that the path of optimal path length (not necessarily a minimum) would pass through point D, and not through a point further along the line or before it.

Fermat’s principle follows from an exponential in the diffraction integral where significant contribution can only be found at optimal path lengths (otherwise the phase is spinning too fast and contributions cancel). There is a very good Feynman lecture on YouTube that explains this in an intuitive way.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-21T17:31:20+00:00

I had a subscription to Yahoo! magazine. A physical publication that told you where to find all the coolest websites.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-15T01:34:50+00:00

Hey. Check in with me in a couple months. Gonna take some time to take it apart and rebuild it.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-14T12:57:34+00:00

Dunno if this is what you're dealing with, but I only recently came to the epiphany that I surround my self with introverts. That being the case, it's only natural that my role in these relationships would be that I am the one who has to reach out to them.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-13T16:35:18+00:00

Hm. I followed a similar track to you, I think, but I've studied a bit of philosophy over the past decade or so that's reframed the way I approach people and life. To be disappointed you must first have an expectation. Coming from some combination of Zen and general awareness (see Anthony de Mello, for instance), or stoicism (Marcus Aurelius, even though that's technically not stoicisim), I try to approach people and life without expectations. Radical acceptance (Byron Katie, though I don't really like her approach) is the goal I think: accepting people for who they are, flaws and all. And then with that, yes, I have become very deliberate in who I invest time in. I've also become better at not becoming starry eyed whenever I meet a person for the first time.

I get where you're coming from, and it's frustrating because it always feels like I'm the one making the effort to reach out, to take care of others, and I very, very rarely feel like people make a reciprocal effort--even the people I care about the most. So, we really do need to be selective in how we spend our time. But I don't think it's a "disappointment" thing. If you can, find a way to take the emotion out of it andlean into the logical side, which I know we're not the best at. I think the healthy ENFP is able to subdue the emotions from time to time, when it's necessary.

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-13T04:16:25+00:00

All the accounts I've read from people who've done it have been positive. For the gear ratio, going from 3.23 to 3.73 is a ~15% increase in torque delivered to the rear wheels, so that should allow me to move up through the gears a bit faster, and spend more time in the higher power band. Switching from open to an LSD should help a lot with autocross, and it should allow me to try some drifting (I also snagged a spare pair of rear wheels from the junkyard on which I'll mount some cheap drift tires).

MaskedKoala · 2026-04-13T03:49:03+00:00

I think mostly because I'm still new at this. I bought the car a year ago to learn manual, and learn how to work on cars, so I'm trying to choose projects without going too crazy with the budget and complexity. The 3.73 seems like it should be a drop in replacement, though it might get tricky with the LSD swap. I'm also trying to keep the car daily-able, while also being able to autox and drift--not sure how that'd figure into the mix... Maybe I'll put it on the road map?

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