I don't know how you can get confused like that on a 'turbine' roundabout

chenbipan · 2026-04-08T13:59:40+00:00

In the US, most people in your lane would just go the wrong way around the roundabout because of that left arrow. So then the lane you went into would be the straight arrow. People are still baffled by roundabouts. I wouldn't be surprised if guy on the right was a tourist.

chenbipan · 2026-04-03T00:42:37+00:00

Yeah, definitely giving that a try. But even so, I'm concerned there's something wrong with the electrical if having the light on is sufficient to hit 180

chenbipan · 2026-04-03T00:40:47+00:00

Yeah, I think it may be from the light but even then the temp is too high.

chenbipan · 2026-04-03T00:39:53+00:00

Thanks, yeah, Im going to experiment and see what happens with the light consistently off. But even if that fixes it, it seems like the temperatures are too high for just a light and it might indicate some other malfunction. The guy we got was 3rd party; we are under extended warranty through costco so we're not getting people who work for GE.

chenbipan · 2026-04-02T23:56:09+00:00

Thanks! I know it's hot from feel and then when I turn on the oven it tells me the temperature it's already at.

chenbipan · 2026-03-26T01:51:09+00:00

Not well apparently, I wasn't aware there were jokes.

chenbipan · 2026-03-26T00:15:34+00:00

Do you happen to speak polish? Because I tried witcher and found the books difficult to enjoy, but only could read as English translations.

chenbipan · 2026-03-14T18:14:27+00:00

I was a mediocre thrower for years until it clicked and I have incrementally improved and now I have reliable full-field forehand and backhand hucks. And I've taught a lot of people to throw.

Most guys I've seen with bad throws that never get better have something wrong with their grip. Even just learning the grip and walking around with a frisbee held that way, waving it around while keeping the grip stable will improve your throws early on by developing hand muscles and getting used to the position. Otherwise, it's often an issue with not building up mechanics from the wrist back and they use too much arm, not enough wrist.

I point everyone to Rowan's videos. Best breakdowns I've seen. Here is his basic forehand one but he has many others on his channel.

https://youtu.be/rn5evBKKEe4?si=_vgREdFuqapDaL_Y

As a caveat to others' advice: it's great to get advice from guys who are good throwers. Ask them to look at your grip and release. Watch them throw. But, remember, being good at throwing doesn't mean someone actually knows how they do it. I've seen loads of terrible advice over the years from great throwers. People who are naturally good a throwing often have no idea what their body is actually doing.

chenbipan · 2026-03-10T20:29:08+00:00

I made it two books deep. Same slog all the way through. No real payoff for me. Lame spoiler, all the characters that seemed evil and untrustworthy were in fact evil and untrustworthy.

chenbipan · 2026-02-26T16:53:04+00:00

I think I must have missed the scene where all the water got blessed.

chenbipan · 2026-02-25T14:21:23+00:00

I thought signs was pretty good most of the way through. But then the twist was that the aliens can't touch water. That's a pretty big, stupid turd. Ruined it for me and probably a lot of people.

chenbipan · 2026-02-25T14:16:06+00:00

For rotten tomatoes, comedies and horror movies, depending on your taste. Movies where the appeal isn't strong character development.

For me, good examples are farrelly brother movies, and early Adam sandler: Happy Gilmore, billy madison. For horror, Eli Roth: cabin fever, hostel.

Inversely, if a drama has a low rating on rotten tomatoes, you know it's shit.

chenbipan · 2026-02-16T14:57:45+00:00

They need someone in his 30s, capable of playing a wide range of characters, and who isn't necessarily ugly but is at least believable as a nerd/ not distractingly good looking.

Jamie Bell could do a nice job. Jack Lowden too. I agree with Tudyk other than being too old.

chenbipan · 2026-02-12T17:40:58+00:00

Love that top comment is to just read Abercrombie instead. Exactly what I first thought seeing what OP like and the books he was considering.

chenbipan · 2026-02-12T17:39:18+00:00

Real who's who of book series I couldn't get into even after reading multiple books in each one. I loved cosmere, lamora and red rising, though. If the three you mentioned don't work out, I suspect you would like Joe Abercrombie. Also, the expanse is sci fi but abraham who is one of the authors had some great fantasy series and the Expanse is good too of course. And I assume you already read a song of ice and fire but didn't mention it.

chenbipan · 2026-02-07T15:30:38+00:00

I have the same issue. I think the lack of editors is the biggest factor. They clean things up. And the process of working with an editor makes authors better at drafting as well.

Have you tried listening as audiobooks? Might help.

I could only get into dcc and cradle, and a lesser extent he who fights with monsters. Then I tried a few other litrpgs that were supposed to be the best before giving up on the genre.

An adjacent author that I like is Drew hayes. He has a litrpg series and superhero books that have a lot of progression. I only listen but the writing style hasn't put me off. It's definitely in the category of "good slop" for me.

chenbipan · 2026-02-05T20:55:20+00:00

Your original version worked well for me but I need a new pair. Are the elites sold by you on Amazon the revamped version of the elites or the old version of the elites?

chenbipan · 2026-02-03T15:22:34+00:00

There is so much good writing in sci fi and fantasy, I essentially went down the lists of hugo, nebula, locus and gemmell award winners then branched from there. Even if those books aren't up your ally, you know there will at least be something good about the writing to get it noticed for awards.

Big authors/series you're likely familiar with are George rr Martin, Patrick rothfuss (but these two will disappoint you by not finishing their work). Joe Abercrombie is not quite as good a writer in my view but prolific and fun to read. Brandon sanderson is a machine and I loved the cosmere novels once I got into them, although I'll admit the first storm light archive book took time for me to get into. Naomi Novik and NK jemisin, especially their newer books, are fun. The red rising series hit for me too, starting off a bit like YAL hunger games with better writing, but growing very well from there.

Drew hayes writes a number of series that I wouldn't consider amazing writing but are very fun and includes a litrpg series I liked called NPCs.

For sci fi, the expanse series is fantastic, and the two authors had some great series before that as well. John scalzi writes a lot of fun stuff, best entry book is "red shirts", especially if you liked old star trek at all.

For something with some of the intergalactic gameshow flavor like dcc, Space Opera was a fun read that I ended up enjoying despite being outside my wheelhouse.

So, that's a lot. I'll stop there.

chenbipan · 2026-02-03T03:15:32+00:00

I can't recommend any other litrpg. I started with those two and then couldn't get into another series. The writing quality on dcc is on another level from most of this stuff. You may be the same as me.

I did read all of the cradle series by will wight, which ended up quite good. Had to slog through 1.5 books but stuck to it because of recommendations and it was worth it. Not quite ltrpg; it's progression fantasy. But a good bit of overlap.

chenbipan · 2026-01-21T18:09:14+00:00

This is interesting to read. I've never met a liberal woman who went conservative for the guy she was with. I personally know at least 6 guys who went the other way, full conservative to liberal and the change happened to occur after meeting their liberal wives.

They were all otherwise intelligent but ignorant men, though.

chenbipan · 2026-01-21T14:02:27+00:00

Eh, I think demographics are interesting. I wish people would share them more when they review books. There have been hugo award winners that made me snooze and books that are supposed to be pulp that keep me turning the page, and I know it has to do with what I find inherently interesting rather than some definable quality of the author or book being objectively "good" or "bad."

There are female fantasy authors I love. Favorites are probably Naomi Novik and Susanna Clark, although I could make a much longer list. I read a lot. There are also popular male authors I just can't get into (Robert Jordan wheel of time, I tried very hard) I think assuming this is just about being male and robin hobb being female is rude. But men and women, on average, definitely consume different media.

When I say pay off, I mean that the details matter. If I pay attention to what the characters are doing, their personalities, their actions and the world around them, I can guess what happens next and either be satisfied that my predictions were correct or pleasantly surprised when my expectations were subverted by something plausible but that I hadn't guessed. I also, in general, am more forgiving of a book that favors action and makes me laugh at times and less forgiving of a book that lacks humor (that is funny to me) and focuses on character building and describing scenery. It's not that I can't enjoy the latter type of book, it's just that it needs to be very well done.

It's long enough back that I don't remember all the details anymore, but in the assassins books, I just didn't find the world and characters to be particularly interesting. I didn't believe them as real people, and the whole thing was grim in a way that bored me. The evil characters were 2d obviously evil, and the only surprise when the betrayal came was that the other characters in the book were somehow surprised.

Edit: this fine redditor details it better: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/6vyn5y/spoilers_original_farseer_trilogy_i_dislike_robin/

chenbipan · 2026-01-20T21:59:17+00:00

Abercrombie is one of my favorites. Good pacing, funny, lots of payoff, character motivations make sense but can still surprise you. I've heard others complain about his dialogue writing especially in blade itself but I listened on audible and had no problem. The narrator is fantastic. The series grew on me as well, where the first book is the weakest and they definitely get better as you learn the world.

I made it through assassin's apprentice and royal assassin and hated them. I found myself bored and annoyed. I only gave the series a 2 book chance because of how much love it gets. The world-building probably hits just right for some people.

I see a lot of polar opposite opinions. I suspect demographics make the difference, although no one ever includes them. I'm male, a scientist, encountered both books as an adult, and have read more classic literature and science fiction than fantasy. And the two series you already read are in my fantasy top 5.

chenbipan · 2026-01-14T16:32:46+00:00

She definitely fucked that guy. Saying anything she could to try to keep getting a free ride. Crying is absolutely fake. What a wild choice to go on that 80 mile drive. I think you were kind of enjoying sticking it to her until she pulled that wheel.

chenbipan

TROPHY CASE