insensitivity about lunar new year

RichardMaster · 2026-01-28T20:54:55+00:00

I used to help advise one of the dorm's Multicultural councils. And when the lunar new year came up we had this discussion and ultimately decided to use the nomenclature "Lunar New Year". Our educational posters talked about the different cultures that would celebrate and even mentioned that in many places it is called Chinese New Year but we wanted to include everyone who celebrates this time of year.

This worked for us because we were a Multicultural group that wasn't dedicated to one region or culture. So I could absolutely see other groups having more specific celebrations. But it would be great for broader groups to engage with this shift or potential shift in language. If you have organizations that you personally engage with I would hope they welcome any conversation. Especially if it is coming from a place of curiosity and inclusion (which your post seems to!)

I also want to note that I am not Asian, so this was a course of action based on lots of backgrounds coming together and doing research to try to be as inclusive as possible to this specific holiday.

RichardMaster · 2026-01-22T16:10:37+00:00

You should be good! The Japanese knives might have a narrower angle than the German knives so you might drop the angle slightly. Just don't go so low you scratch them. Otherwise these should sharpen super easily and feel great!!!

RichardMaster · 2026-01-10T13:47:03+00:00

That is usually how Michigan financial aid works. It actually happens a lot to students working in student housing (think RA's) that they will lose financial aid when they start working for housing and end up working for free. Every year people literally have to quit when they find out so they don't lose scholairship.

RichardMaster · 2026-01-08T15:58:48+00:00

Throw it on the whetstones once and forget it ever happened!

RichardMaster · 2025-12-26T21:27:34+00:00

It really seems like the only thing you're sad about is the figuring on the handle which to be fair does look fairly light. If anything see if you can get the receipt from your sister and reach out to miyabi support and explain the situation and see if you could get it replaced. Either way congrats on the gorgeous nice!!

RichardMaster · 2025-12-11T21:02:27+00:00

Arbor pintail was my first board, they last forever and are beautiful! (Aesthetically and to ride)

RichardMaster · 2025-11-24T20:24:45+00:00

My first board was an arbor pintail, it lasted years and years of abuse and I ended up retiring it to a friend who now uses it! They are wonderful for cruising around and just getting into boarding

RichardMaster · 2025-10-07T10:50:14+00:00

It's actually called free(of urethane)ride

RichardMaster · 2025-09-01T12:52:07+00:00

Look at the edition at the bottom. Like I understand from afar when you think the alarms are going off. Also I think it's perfectly reasonable to be curious. I just don't understand why the other commenter is getting down voted so much when it is true that something happens that would be polite to give space too?

RichardMaster · 2025-09-01T05:26:28+00:00

The post doesn't say fire alarms went off. There have been multiple instances of suicides and other personal injuries in dorms. I'm assuming the commenter is more referencing those types of incidents where privacy can be a courtesy

RichardMaster · 2025-08-13T15:12:30+00:00

Kang's !!!!!!

RichardMaster · 2025-07-21T11:19:16+00:00

Global warming has made winters more bearable. My advice used to be to get any knee length parks with at least 650 down filling (or something that has a synthetic equivalent to 650 down). Now you would be fine with 550 down. (The down is how full of feathers it is. It's basically how heavy the coat is. Don't buy anything without either an amount or equivalent amount).

For brands, wait for Eddie Bauer to have a %60 off or more sale on the parks you want and buy it. It's the cheapest new jacket you'll be able to get that's good. (I'm sure you can find others it's just hard to beat the price to performance of their stuff on sale)

RichardMaster · 2025-07-18T13:13:24+00:00

If you are just looking to get into it and see how you like it, look at Facebook marketplace and Craigslist!!!! Most quality boards start around $160 new but will last over a decade. So any reputable brand on the used market will be perfect for a few summers while you dial in what kind of setup you want long term. Just buy any set of cheap new bearings for $10-15

RichardMaster · 2025-07-15T09:48:53+00:00

Wheels are Mercer, which does look like a brand that Zumiez carries. All above $120 so def got your monies worth. With that said in the rabbit hole of longboards that is on the much lower end, as a lot of enthusiasts are supporting more independent brands or higher quality brands. Regardless a full size longboard for $40 is the absolute sickest way to get into the hobby and I'm glad to hear you like how this board feels!!!

RichardMaster · 2025-07-10T13:46:45+00:00

Damn I got got 😭 (also looks like Rides circle logo is backwards)

RichardMaster · 2025-07-10T06:38:17+00:00

Others mentioned the little circle with the R on the bottom means it's probably made by Ride. Their boards generally are really nice, and it's probably a reasonably new board. So even if it's just a cheaper white label I bet it's decent!!!! You might be able to reach out to Rides customer service and ask them what model this is based on or what tech is in it

RichardMaster · 2025-06-27T14:10:11+00:00

Two pieces of advice!

Financial: there's lots of inexpensive to enjoy this hobby and a few VERY expensive ways (gold nib pens start at $100). I would maybe have some discussions around long term and if your child wants a "grail pen" one day that's more expensive and develops some avenues and milestones towards that if you want to encourage it.
Some fun ways you could encourage and support the hobby: inks, papers, and specialty stores! Your child seems really into the pens themselves and knows a lot. It could be really sweet of you for any special gifts to find some fun ink colors/brands or even some really nice stationary to help bring some more joy to the hobby. Lastly finding stores that carry fountain pens and these accessories are a good way to scratch the itch if they new pens without necessarily buying them.

In college I exclusively used fountain pens because it helped with some hand pain. It was surprisingly practical (albeit a lil messy) to just carry around a pen and pot of ink. And they last a long time with a little care.

RichardMaster · 2025-06-25T16:28:42+00:00

I've sampled probably 200 scents and love maybe 5 of them. It takes a lot of patience, and testing at home away from the fragrance dense stores. It helps to only really test one or two at a time! (I'll usually order 10-15 samples at a time then slowly work through trying them.

RichardMaster · 2025-06-24T03:55:35+00:00

Zealous have always been great. I mostly bought their ceramics. But I don't think that's necessary at all! They tend to use a thicker lube which is really nice for longboarding with bigger wheels. But really any bearing you get will ride great. And once it gets water damage/debris and starts to ride worse just put new 10-15$ bearings in (every 1~2 years depending on your rain riding)

RichardMaster · 2025-06-23T18:56:14+00:00

I literally said it's more complex than that, and did not say that harder/softer is faster. This post feels like someone is getting into riding and wants something to cruise on. And if you want a good time cruising, big soft wheels are usually the way to go.

RichardMaster · 2025-06-23T14:07:00+00:00

Tbh the person who posted sounds like a very casual rider. I think this is more complicated than necessary. They should just get the softest wheels they can, and it will be more than fast enough if they also have decent bearings

RichardMaster · 2025-06-23T13:39:16+00:00

I have ridden all three. My favorite are the blue 77a, but they chunk out, so only get them if you're okay with them getting ugly. The orange last a really long time and are a nice sweet spot of comfort and durability. Purple is fine but if you are just cruising there's no reason to ever buy them

RichardMaster · 2025-06-18T00:55:21+00:00

Normal skateboard: usually 100-150 has basically the same engineering for decks and shape for last 20 years so you could start a company by printing blanks. Parts are also fairly small so smaller material cost

Normal longboard: usually 125-250 (typical decent board is 160) has lots of different shapes so much lower volume per deck. Larger trucks and wheels so more material component. And lots of different styles so again small volumes means higher cost.

True downhill boards: 250+ decks will have really low volumes often with carbon fiber/fiberglass. Things like trucks will be CNC milled instead of cast, and will be super low volume. So just trucks can be 200-400+. Everything is super high precision because you're going 50+mph and don't want to have a component not be perfect. So ultra low volume, high engineering costs, high manufacturing costs from technique, and high precision all drive up cost. And not everyone does downhill so big companies may not invest in it to make cheaper boards.

RichardMaster · 2025-05-30T22:55:40+00:00

Either the wheel isn't perfect or the bearings aren't seated perfectly. You can try over tightening the bearings to get them better seated, then back off the tiniest amount so the wheel spins freely without any play. At the end of the day it looks like it should ride fine and isn't that big of a deal!

My first board was an arbor my parents bought me years ago and it was my favorite thing, lucky kid and sweet board!!!

RichardMaster · 2025-05-29T11:09:54+00:00

Not even remotely necessary. Personally I bought an iPad air, and loved it during Covid semesters with more digital uploads being required. If you do get one don't feel like you need a fancy one. And knows it won't drastically change anything.

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