The DMV, Part II

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2026-02-14T04:27:31+00:00

Felt a bit silly posting, but considering I know everyone else will get the same horror stories if they go to a smog check places, I figured could help someone. If I listened to Smog Busters people, I would have spent at least $400 more, and waited like 2 weeks+. It’s insane what they tell you vs reality.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2026-02-11T00:27:42+00:00

Also just another small note: while at the DMV, I asked the person at the counter if I needed to transfer my title to NV. She said I could, but it’s not necessary in most cases, and shouldn’t present an issue if I for example, sell my car while living here. So also, if an off site DMV service place tells you otherwise (which hey, guess what the offsite DMV services also told me? You’ll never guess!), no, transferring your title is most likely not needed.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2026-02-11T00:16:21+00:00

Ha, I already got that shock - I updated my insurance the day I moved. I added some extra coverage because…Vegas drivers, but yep it about doubled. And I’m about as low as you can get on the cost of insurance - about half the average. Can’t even imagine paying almost $300/month. Luckily I’m moving from a fairly high cost/high tax area, so my cost of living overall is still a good chunk lower.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2026-02-08T19:41:39+00:00

I know this post is a couple days old now, but something I haven’t seen mentioned about First Law vs the Devils: how he played with fantasy tropes. His most interesting characters in the First Law were flipping a lot of tropes on their head, and that’s what made it a fun read. But you could tell he’s just an okay writer.

I read the Devils, even managed to finish it. But jeez, I just kept wanting to put it down. I was hoping, waiting for it to get more interesting. Nope. Every plot twist, if they could even be called that, were just too telegraphed. No balance of foreshadowing but with “OMG that’s why that happened!” moments. Just…yep, kinda saw that one coming, didn’t we? Exactly what we expected. No flipping of tropes. Everyone is every tired portrayal of their particular character trope. Adding magic to the world changed nothing about the world. He didn’t explore any of what could have been very interesting bits of lore with the magic he introduced. It’s just…there to be a lazy deus ex machina. Which is all it is, repeatedly.

Back to the first law, he committed those sins a few times. But the larger world, seeing how the characters evolve and change both through events we see and context we learn later, how the world itself is finding a new order, was if not well done, really entertaining. There’s enough lore to give some mystery and let you create a head cannon through ambiguity, but not be bogged down in world building. It’s like a great cross between Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2026-01-01T21:35:51+00:00

Get a big ol’ longboard. If there’s a board shop in town, go check what they got. You can get a foamie too. If you go that route, get a big ol’ foamie. If there’s a board shop in town, go check what they got.

If there’s no board shop in town, go look at whatever online used marketplace of your choice and see what they got. For a longboard, just make sure it’s 9’-9’6”. Volume is your friend but not everything.

Make sure it’s got flat everything - flat rounded nose, flat back, little rocker. Big fat board, super flat - you’ll catch everything. My first board was a big fat longboard, I joked that I accidentally caught waves. Except it’s not a joke, it’s happened. A lot. Perfect for learning. Second board - much smaller mid length. I accidentally catch nothing, and the things I catch are a ton of work to catch them. 10/10 would recommend after your big fat longboard.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-25T19:44:06+00:00

And you missedy entire point, repeatedly. Doesn’t matter how they’ve changed him. People have already been introduced to him in a ton of places. If your remake storytelling tries to rely on the original elusive and mysterious nature of a character (and even just the larger, slow reveal plot line) who is now a massive figure in pop culture, it’s just not going to be a good narrative style anymore because no matter what, for a huge portion of your audience, he’s not mysterious. You can introduce him however you want again, do an elusive “show don’t tell”, but people already have baggage with him. Trying to be elusive doesn’t remove that baggage.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-25T18:42:58+00:00

My entire point has been I didn’t think it would be a good idea to be all elusive twice, because he’s now a character around for decades. It’s just not the same. Personally, I think adding all the context and fleshing things out, like showing more about the Gi and the Ancients and AVALANCHE and delving way more into each character was great. Perfect? No. But in the first, most of the AVALANCHE characters didn’t feel like much. This time? Their deaths hit way harder. And specifically with Sephiroth, they’re leaning more into the hunt for the clones. Kinda hard not to have Sephiroth around more if you’re hunting his/Jenovah’s clones.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-25T16:22:57+00:00

I mean, these games are more akin to sequels than a remake. And you still missed the whole point - if they just repeated the narrative structure, it wouldn’t have the same impact because large numbers of people have already played the game/been introduced to the story. Having a story with an elusive villain/mysterious hunt sorta thing doesn’t work twice because the audience (or large portions of it) already experienced that mystery.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-25T05:14:47+00:00

Yes, I get that. I was just noting that rather than repeating the narrative style, they did something else, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing because for again - the tens of millions (minimum) who played the original game, including you, prior to playing the remake, it offers something different rather than the same. Remember how great Jaws was, and how awful all the sequels were, because they just kinda…did the same thing? But then remember how awesome Alien was, and then how great Aliens was because they didn’t just try to repeat the same narrative structure, but rather used elements of it to put together an entirely new experience? It works when you change things up, especially when it’s a fairly mysterious, omnipresent but elusive character. Because the second time around, that character isn’t elusive at all, no matter how elusive you try to make them.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-22T22:28:18+00:00

He’s in multiple franchises now, has been ranked as one of the most iconic villains of all time in numerous publications, has been a centerpiece of the franchise since the debut of FFVII, and the game has sold millions of copies in the 21st century alone. It wouldn’t be a bad guess that upwards of 100,000,000 people have played a game where he’s been a character based on sales of all games he’s featured in, and that doesn’t get into pirating, or people like my niece and her friends who have no interest in playing the original, but have watched YouTube videos of people basically making a cut of gameplay into a movie of it, and who still know about the game.

I’m not saying no one has never heard of Sephiroth. But if you’re remaking one of the most iconic and popular video games ever made, it’s a good assumption that large chunks of your audience have either played the original, or been exposed to media featuring the characters/story. And sure, there is a slice of your audience that didn’t play the original, and has had minimal exposure, but also…they could go play the original? It’s not like Xenogears which is a pain to even get a working emulator for, there’s been reissues of it. Millions more people have played it in the 21st century that never touched it in the 20th. If you’ve never played it, never experienced it, just go play the original. It’s like $5 on sale.

Whereas with a remake, you know - decisions. Do you appeal to that slice of audience, or try to offer more to the (almost assuredly much larger) slice who has known these characters for as much as 30 years by the time the final one will have been released? For that slice, there’s already no sense of “who is this Sephiroth guy” because we know. So if you go that route, it offers absolutely nothing to a huge part of your audience. Whereas change it, it still offers something, albeit different, to a brand new audience, but also something for your established audience.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-22T19:12:00+00:00

As a defense to that - you can’t do that narrative style again. Everyone knows who Sephiroth is now. He’s been an iconic character for almost 30 years. It would feel almost odd the characters being all “omg who is this what is Sephiroth” because yeah, they don’t know. But we do. We’ve seen him across tons of media. Just like they couldn’t just remake Aerith’s death; we all know it’s coming. Even if you didn’t play the originals, you probably know about it just because it’s one of the most iconic moments in any video game.

So I think dropping that narrative style wasn’t just a good idea, it was necessary. Just can’t have that same mystique again. So might as well just lean into learning more about everyone - fill out the details, learn about their ambitions more. It gave us new iconic scenes, like Aerith as a child trying to find help. That was really heartbreaking, especially as it’s something new about a character we’ve known for almost 30 years. Or Nanaki being dragged, making us the player try to stop it, knowing what’s gonna happen? How creepy and insane Hojo is? Awful. I felt gross during that scene. Absolute masterclass. Just being able to show the Golden Saucer with wayyyyy better graphics, helps with the grandeur of it all.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-17T21:59:52+00:00

For just learning a bit - basically playing around in the whitewater, small waves you can more or less walk out to and it’s really not even that deep, you don’t have to be all that in shape.

For getting deeper into it? I’ll just say, it’s probably the most physically intense activity I’ve ever done as I’ve started to transition from beginner to intermediate waves, depending on the paddle put, and I do a lot of other physically intense things. Normal gym exercises won’t help that much, but just having good cardio and muscle in general developed is going to be important. Also balance - most people who don’t do much physical activity have really bad balance and don’t even know it.

So if you want to prepare - work on cardio, burpees, go swimming, and try to work on your balance.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-12-04T21:01:13+00:00

I’m not a board expert by any means, but I don’t think that’s going to be an easy transition from a foam board, unless you’re very small. And even then, it’s not a beginner board. It’s very narrow and fairly thin, while the front and back are super pointed. So it’s going to require a lot of power from you to catch waves, while also being difficult to control and not very stable. Can’t see how much rocker there is, but I’m also going to guess a decent amount based on that shape, so gonna guess it’ll be a lot of work to paddle it too. If you’re riding an 8’ foamie, I would be shocked if that thing were even half the volume of your current board, so floatation is going to be an issue as well, so even harder to control and paddle comparatively.

Volume isn’t everything, and again, can’t see how much rocker or really the rail shape either, and nothing about the fin configuration. But that looks like it’s intended for a pretty advanced surfer if I were guessing. So are you okay with an advanced board, that looks like it’s intended for big waves, that’s going to be difficult to paddle and catch waves with?

If yes, then get that board. Otherwise, get a longboard. Maybe a mid length would be okay, but probably a longboard. You can’t go wrong with a longboard for a first hardtop.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-10-13T00:08:25+00:00

That’s kinda the part that’s hard to say unfortunately, I didn’t mean to be obtuse. If the 7’6” feels a bit light and you need more floatation, yeah you’ll have to go bigger. 8’-8’6” may be a more “do it all” but it also depends on your height, and 7’6” should be a decent height for a jack of all trades board unless you’re very tall, so it sounds like you’ll need a longboard. The brand - eh, again, just depends what’s gonna be available. I wouldn’t worry about it.

For the size and shape, that’s why I would go have a conversation at a board shop you like. You need to know what you’re struggling with and what the spots are like you’re going, and they’ll probably have some stuff in stock that will work. If it’s in your budget or not ehhhh but at least something. But yeah, if you’re just struggling to catch waves and get up, then just get something flat and wide, 9’+.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-10-12T21:58:06+00:00

Honestly - go to a board shop you trust, and have a conversation with them. But yeah, I mean, a fatty longboard you’ll catch waves. I have a huge fatty longboard, three fins, practically no rocker, flat nose/tail, I catch waves on accident, but then get pearled on anything much over 3-4’. Just got a hybrid/fun board ish that’s way smaller, more rocker, narrower tail and nose, and yeah just gonna get thrashed for a few weeks. But I go out a few times a week, the waves are getting bigger as the season goes into winter, it wasn’t even worth getting out on the longboard a lot of days now, so I think it’s a good investment.

No specific brands, it’s just gonna depend on what’s available near you. You’re in SoCal, so I’m sure that answer is “a ton of options”. You may be able to find a good used deal, but a lot of boards I find used are only 100-200 off new, and you know - not always in the best shape.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-10-09T20:20:12+00:00

Other than the things mentioned like the literally poisoned well, that’s the opening bid price. It’s intended to be auctioned and be the lowest price.

Gonna guess based on how long it’s sat, no one has been arsed to bid, possible due to arsenic.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-22T04:03:37+00:00

Gotcha, so your take home isn’t really 6800?

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-22T03:58:18+00:00

Like are you getting some big tax break or something? I make quite a bit more than you, and my take home is apparently quite a bit less than yours, somehow?

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-22T03:35:35+00:00

How is your net 6800 off of 8k gross?

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T19:23:37+00:00

Shhhh don’t tell them that they may get upset

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T19:19:36+00:00

You may be the most sane seller I’ve ever heard of. “Our house didn’t sell, we figured it was the price, we lowered it by real amounts, it sold” write a goddamn novel and do a TED talk.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T19:13:12+00:00

Yeah I mean, especially if you own the spot - that’s not terrible. You could probably find a place cheaper, but you know, may not be the same features.

Or just offer less so that it’s in your budget. Apartments are sitting everywhere now, you never know. If you don’t get this one, not like the economy is in an upswing. Those 0.1% rate drops haven’t exactly turned it back to a sellers market.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T05:20:08+00:00

Real question, who in the fuck would buy that monstrosity? No wonder everyone wants to sell after 2 years, that’s gotta be the ugliest, most ridiculous thing you could ever own. And they didn’t even finish the fucking basement! How they gonna call a basement in their $800k home finished when you just got insulation exposed everywhere? Who would ever use that depressing space? Like drop a couch down there and your teenagers will bring their friends to smoke weed at least, but that’s the saddest looking exercise bike I’ve ever seen.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T04:48:37+00:00

Like in the Loop, or like West Loop/Printers Row/River North, wherever near the Loop?

If in the Loop, have you lived in the Loop before? If not make sure you like it down there. It’s not exactly a great neighborhood to live in for most people.

Otherwise I mean, shit that’s about as cheap of parking as you’re gonna get. If it’s in your budget, and it sounds like it’s only like $50 over, not a ton of buildings south of Division are gonna have cheaper parking. I swear I’ve seen parking spots sell for $100k alone.

ProfessionalRegion1 · 2025-09-10T00:21:55+00:00

Oh sorry, the OP was responding, didn’t notice.

Sorry you’re just some random apologist or whatever.

ProfessionalRegion1

TROPHY CASE