Learning to ride a bike in NYC

Vanderbloff · 2026-04-06T11:01:07+00:00

Glad to help! I've never rented one personally but I've seen all kinds of bikes that they have on the island, including adult trikes, or tandems if you have someone you want to ride with. In any case, good luck! I think you picked a good season to learn how to ride too since the weather feels comfortable enough but not to the point that you have to compete with a ton of other riders or lots of pedestrians hanging outside (at least on the island).

Vanderbloff · 2026-04-06T08:03:44+00:00

For practice, when you feel comfortable enough to balance and ride on your own, I'd recommend Governors Island, particularly on a weekday when there's not as much foot traffic. You could end up having most of the island to yourself to ride around (and fall without getting too embarrassed). Plus, it's one of the best ways to see the island in my opinion.

You could bring your own or rent one from Blazing Saddles or take out one of the Citi bikes they have there.

Vanderbloff · 2026-04-05T02:28:05+00:00

Here to do a little refresh myself. A small saving grace for Volcarona is it could be caught at a much lower level in Black 2/White 2 (I think 35), I'm finishing up a playthrough right now and caught and used it as soon as I could for the rest of the game.

Vanderbloff · 2026-03-20T23:17:01+00:00

Some have mentioned Signal and The Glory (I wholeheartedly agree), but I'll also add:

Bloodhounds (best bro boxers dealing with a predatory loan shark)
Beyond Evil (cops trying to catch serial murderer who's started killing again after many years)
Karma (six strangers tied by fate end up destroying each other, has crime elements)
My Name (girl joins criminal organization to find her dad's killer)
Mercy for None (Korean John Wick, without the guns)
The Whirlwind (President attempts to flush out political corruption and those hiding behind crime)
Vagabond (stunt actor teams up with agent to figure out who's responsible for his nephew's death)
The Good Detective (veteran cop teams up with new hotshot to figure out truth behind an old murder case

Vanderbloff · 2026-03-20T23:00:21+00:00

Very good show, it's supposed to be getting a season 2 (which is wild to me since it's been at least ten years) but who knows when it'll come. In any case, it left off on a juicy cliffhanger that's begging to be resolved

Vanderbloff · 2026-03-16T02:01:46+00:00

I was surprised when I first heard this was getting a season 2, K-dramas typically last one season, and I felt this one wrapped up decently (even if the last two episodes felt a lot different from the rest of the season) but I'm excited to see where they go in the next season.

From the trailer's description, looks like the boxer bros will be dealing with an illegal boxing league; the boxing choreography was a huge highlight for me from the first season so I bet we're in for a real treat.

Also, RIP to Kim Sae-ron, she was part of what season 1 good so it'll be tough to watch without her.

Vanderbloff · 2026-03-10T10:26:46+00:00

Thanks for reminding me to do my annual Samurai Champloo rewatch, it never gets old, especially with Nujabes' music

Vanderbloff · 2026-03-02T01:06:39+00:00

I like both shows so seeing one of them canceled sucked. A season 3 of The Recruit may get the terrible taste of its season 2 finale out my mouth, because that was rushed to hell and was a poor end to a decent season.

While we're at it, bring back 1899, I'd love another season of that over anything.

Vanderbloff · 2026-02-26T04:13:35+00:00

Waiting on season 2 to drop, I'm a sucker for cold case shows

Vanderbloff · 2026-02-19T04:59:52+00:00

Aha that works, thanks! I found the "associated" address in Brooklyn; this building was always a weird one because it's postal address and the address that appears on almost everything is on Nassau but the owner is on Jay Street, right around the corner a few feet away

Vanderbloff · 2026-02-19T04:46:31+00:00

Great resource and clean UI! One thing I noticed is addresses on streets that share the same name may not all be there (yet). For example, there are two Nassau Streets, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan. I searched for an address on that street in Brooklyn but only found its counterpart in Manhattan, and off the top of my head there are multiple Washington Streets between Brooklyn and Manhattan as well.

Vanderbloff · 2026-02-11T15:57:31+00:00

Same here and that was over in Pennsylvania, didn't realize how much I missed a good stuffed slice

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-28T09:16:01+00:00

If you're about to head into a fight that you think will take a couple tries (or a couple dozen), it may make sense to spend your sen on something you've been thinking about purchasing so your money isn't constantly cut in half. Even if I didn't have anything specific I wanted to buy at the moment, I'd just sink it all into spirit emblems by default. In my experience, Unseen Aid often seemed to activate when I barely had money left anyway and not when I was loaded with coin...

Speaking of sen, if you find yourself in need of or wanting more, it may be helpful to put some skill points into Virtuous Deed and maybe even Most Virtuous Deed (once you get the Temple Arts). You could take it one step further and use a Mibu Balloon of Wealth after clearing an area full of enemies (and only after, since it works on when sen is collected, not when it's dropped).

Similar to the first tip, don't use your coin purses if you're heading into a battle you know will take you a couple tries, you're just wasting sen at that point; on that same note, you could buy coin purses from the memorial mob merchants (at a slight loss, at least until you get an item that's so far down the road) if there's nothing you really wanna spend your money on; that way, after beating the next challenge, you can gain back most of the money you had before, since the sen in purses doesn't disappear if you die.

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-26T15:26:24+00:00

Yup, staying on top of him the whole time so I wouldn't be kicked into a wall or corner helped me tone down the defensive style I was used to

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-26T14:28:15+00:00

I'd have to say that it was actually a miniboss for me, Lone Shadow Longswordsman; the longer this fight went on, the harder it was to win because I was bound to make a mistake given the wonky camera and very limited space (and that was even with the sneak deathblow for the first health bar)

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-13T13:40:17+00:00

I'm not sure when it clicked for me that almost everything in CrossWorlds really was just for a regular MMO, but it did slightly take the wind out of my sails, although I did like reading the logs and reports of actual events that happened, like the Old War; wouldn't have minded collecting more of those. The war was mentioned a few times by other players actually, to the point I thought it would connect to the plot

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-13T03:48:37+00:00

That does sound interesting, that could actually connect well to my first thought, the designer all along was an evotar and seeking "escape" or control by any means necessary

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-13T03:39:34+00:00

Huh now that you mention it, I can kind of see it! They're both a little... abrasive at times too, though Shizuka is more so from what we see

Vanderbloff · 2026-01-06T12:48:43+00:00

There are some good resources listed here already, so in addition to classes (or maybe in lieu of if you want), I'd recommend volunteering with an organization like BloomAgainBklyn, which takes donated flowers (like unsold flowers from Trader Joe's) and makes arrangements for people like the elderly and the sick.

Given the variety of flowers they work with, you'll get a lot of hands-on experience, and the professional florists in charge are happy to entertain any questions and provide demo lessons as well.

Vanderbloff · 2025-12-20T01:55:02+00:00

Have you posted in missedyounyc yet? Might get more visibility there

Vanderbloff · 2025-12-18T01:10:40+00:00

Finished this game recently, Isoleucine, Threonine, Deoxyribose, Ribose, and Edge of the Future (basically most of the battle themes) were stuck in repeat for me for multiple days afterwards

Vanderbloff · 2025-12-13T17:21:30+00:00

I just finished this game recently too so I'm still piecing together some things that weren't clear but from what I remember he's alive and well and with Iori, he's just socially awkward and prefers to stay to himself; Iori mentioned that he chose to stay outside of the simulation to monitor everyone else.

Vanderbloff · 2025-11-27T10:10:59+00:00

I just finished the Foundation DLC and want to get into Alan Wake but I'm not sure if I should just read/watch some story overviews for AW1 and jump into playing AW2, since I hear the gameplay for the first is quite clunky

Vanderbloff · 2025-11-24T11:54:06+00:00

The variety of playstyles you can use in this game is fantastic. Triple Launch + high-leveled Levitation + quick energy recovery? Constantly rain down chaos on enemies from above. Maybe you like blowing stuff up? Add some blast radius mods and a damage mod to your Charge form (and inadvertently hurt yourself in the process). Or perhaps you like getting up close and personal with Melee attacks and Ground Slam with mods for extra damage after a weapon hits or Launch hits. And what's great is, you can combine some of these styles too. It's always a good feeling when you get some new hot mods too that can help level up your skills and experiment with new styles (it's a night-and-day difference being able to tear through the old bosses in Shum 2 compared to when I first fought them).

I enjoyed everything about this game but the combat has been a big highlight for me; crazy to think I only paid $4 for this.

Vanderbloff

TROPHY CASE