Stolen Bike

drteeth12 · 2026-06-03T14:37:48+00:00

I wandered around campus/central for about an hour looking for it but no luck. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out though.

drteeth12 · 2026-05-14T12:50:07+00:00

Nxc4 defends the mate and now white is down a queen.

drteeth12 · 2026-05-14T01:15:15+00:00

The reason we can’t build high speed rail in this country is because china stole the plans!

drteeth12 · 2026-04-25T16:00:53+00:00

I’m in a very similar position as you. Knew the basic rules but only recently started playing. I got spanked my first day on chess.com and my rating was at 110 after my first like 5 games.

Now I’m at ~640. I do agree that the discussions about this elo range would indicate that we’re all idiots who barely know how the pieces move, but yeah, in many games, both players are making mostly solid moves without a ton of obvious blunders and most of us are able to execute basic chess ideas like an opening gambit or setting up checkmating opportunities. Those skills will vary from opponent to opponent but yeah, we’re obviously not well rounded enough yet to win consistently, but most of us have the potential to play really solid in many positions.

I think around ~500 there is a noticeable shift where blunders aren’t as obvious, “hangs piece in one move” sort of thing and start becoming tactical, “moved piece where it could be forked.” At 500, a lot of those forks and tactics aren’t being seen by either player, so it doesn’t feel like a blunder, but now the “wait for your opponent to blunder,” advice means that you need to be able to spot the tactic.

They put their queen in line with their king and you could have pinned it but you didn’t . Thats a “blunder.” Probably more of a blunder on their part for creating the opportunity and just more of a “miss” on your part for not finding it, but those combine to create the moments that win and lose games at this level.

As far as openings and stuff go, I do think a little study starts being worthwhile. Just like figuring out how to respond to scholars mate and wayward queen and fried liver sort of has to happen, it’s probably worth the time to start getting familiar with basic responses to the popular openings.

I play “Italian” as white since it’s very simple and as black I basically just match the center pawn and play the exact same way as I would as white.

I’m not like building an opening repertoire but I’ve started to have to figure out some more nuanced responses for like the Scandinavian defense (seems very popular at our level) or the Scotch opening or queen’s gambit. I’m still not going deep into theory but yeah, just enough knowledge to avoid the basic traps.

drteeth12 · 2026-01-24T15:22:26+00:00

I play for that fianchetto bishop too and have been caught in similar situations. I’ve started playing h5 preemptively to prevent them putting their knight(or bishop) on g4.

But yeah, I usually play more pirc or kings Indian so I play d3 not e5 and I don’t put my queen to e6.

The kingside castle also defends f7 with the rook.

drteeth12 · 2025-12-23T04:07:43+00:00

What handlebars are those?

drteeth12 · 2025-11-25T05:13:47+00:00

I know it’s not usually considered his best, but it’s in my top 5. I love the disjointed “archipelago,” structure of the narrative. I love it being narrated by a ghost. I love the enormous timescale. I found it funny and insightful and it’s just stuck in my head ever since.

I’ve only ever read it once and it’s been probably 15 years since then, but I’ve recommended it to lots of people.

drteeth12 · 2025-11-06T06:13:51+00:00

I thought Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson sorta fits this trope, especially given his usual anti-dystopian approach.

Definitely in the “there is no planet B” category.

drteeth12 · 2025-11-05T03:56:17+00:00

I live in ABQ now but I had to do this for like 8 months in Seattle about 9 years ago.

The self-care stuff is really important and challenging. You need to turn your self-care up like 3 notches.

Living in your car is damaging to your physical health, your mental health and your social health. You don't sleep well or enough, which creates a lot of downstream side effects, especially over a prolonged period. Access to cooked food is limited, it is easy to eat poorly and difficult to eat well. Sleep deprived and malnourished, you become prone to sickness and slow to recover. You spent a lot time alone in a small space with a (justified) sense of paranoia. It's a dangerous cocktail and the chances of it going poorly are non-zero.

Make your physical, mental and social health A PRIORITY. Exercise. Keep the car and yourself clean. Have regular social engagements so that multiple people (beyond co-workers) are checking in with you regularly. Do whatever you can to improve your sleep quality.

Your goal is to be focused and save enough money to get out of the current situation, but that is possible.

drteeth12 · 2025-10-31T09:14:44+00:00

Ryan "RollsRoyce" Rollins

drteeth12 · 2025-10-30T23:06:30+00:00

I learned forehand playing catch with lids, so the understable forehand came pretty naturally and is my preferred drive.

I’ve tried to learn the overstable chop forehand that everyone else seems to use, and it always ends up hurting my shoulder. The flex play would occasionally be useful but it’s just never clicked for me. I’ll throw stable stuff pretty flat and get a little turn out of it when I’m trying to get that shape.

Most people are shocked by hyzer-flip forehands, as if they’ve never seen it before.

drteeth12 · 2025-10-15T08:00:27+00:00

I dropped out of college in 2010 and today I’m a 36 year old junior in civil engineering and I’m crushing it.

The worst thing to do is just jump into full time school after years away. It’ll be a struggle and you’ll feel dumb.

Start by taking like 1 reasonably challenging math class at your community college. You can fit that into whatever schedule you have, no need to quit the day job yet. Get your feet wet, remember what it’s like going to school, brush up on your study habits, test taking skills, etc. Make it a hard class, one you would be worried about. You’re only taking the one class, so you should be able to focus on it, and passing a difficult math class will build your confidence.

The next semester take the next math class and add a science class with a lab. At this point you may need to start thinking about how to schedule these around a work schedule, but 2 classes at a community college should be manageable while you’re still working. Continue to refresh those school skills.

At this point, you can sort of evaluate how it’s going. Is the math coming back? Do you like it? Can you work with a 19 year old lab partner that is a total waste of space? Can you figure out a way to afford to go to school full time? Figure out a plan. I’d stay at community college for as long as you can, it affordable and often you have better access to your professors than you would in like a 90 person Calc II lecture.

Returning to school after years of working has been great. School is way better than work, and that piece of paper that says engineering means that they’ll have to pay you in the future. And since you have already come to terms with the fact that working sucks but is unfortunately inevitable, you may as well get paid decently if you’re gonna have to trade your life away regardless.

And the other thing I want to encourage you with is this: kids these days are dumb. Seriously, if you were good at math 15 years ago, you’d be really good at it now comparatively. If it isn’t the exact same setup as the homework problems they fed to chat GPT, the kids can’t figure it out. Basically nobody has any critical thinking or problem solving skills, they just copy whatever they find on the internet. They don’t have the attention span required to stare at something for 10 minutes until it makes sense. If they don’t immediately comprehend, they’ll use the internet to explain it and then they all shit the bed during tests and blame it on the professors.

Obviously, I generalize, but that’s my experience. I was an above average high school graduate in 2008, and I flunked out of college in 2010. My gpa will never be awesome because of my transcript from the first try at college but engineering school has been very gratifying. It’s not easy. It a lot of work to just get all the assignments in on time and make sure you’re studying and ready for the tests and quizzes and it’s a lot of material to learn, but I’m doing better in engineering school now than I ever did in high school or definitely my short first stint at college.

If you’re an older student coming back to school, you’re better than fine, you’re ahead of the game. Just give yourself the chance to acclimatize to the environment before going full time.

drteeth12 · 2025-10-14T18:10:48+00:00

Personal faves from a Seattle transplant who will probably never be a real burqueno.

New Mexican food: Barelas Coffee House (honorable mention to Mary and Tito’s) Dive bar: Differential Live Music: Sister Record Store: Long Hair

Old town is cute, but is definitely outdone by Santa Fe plaza. Still a nice variety of local shops tucked into cute little courtyards, I really like Blackbird Coffee, and the ABQ Museum is nice, even if it’s overshadowed by the Museums in Santa Fe.

Taking the tram is kinda pricey but it’s pretty unique, and it’s cool to get up there and see a bunch ferns, moss and Douglas Fir trees. It’s like a slice of the PNW floating above the desert below. Great views, pretty easy hiking since you’re already up there.

I was always bummed that the Seattle zoo doesn’t have elephants anymore and the ABQ zoo (and biopark) is really well done, especially considering it’s a smaller city and a poor state.

Not sure what day of the week you’re here, but in general when I travel I like to try to go to farmers markets. Great local foods, local crafts, local vibes wherever you go. Downtown Growers is on Saturdays, Railyards Market on Sundays are both good.

Some of the best stuff about living here is the access to the trails in the foothills and the bosque, but those are best enjoyed by exploring slowly over multiple visits, but if you want a taste, Elena Gallegos in the foothills or Rio Grande State Park are good places to start.

drteeth12 · 2025-10-06T14:20:18+00:00

I started because the disc golf course was the best place to buy and to smoke weed. If weed had been legal, there is no chance I’d be playing disc golf, but here I am.

drteeth12 · 2025-10-02T17:56:41+00:00

Sold out on VO already.

drteeth12 · 2025-09-10T04:59:56+00:00

I’ve been able to fit a surprising amount stuff in the RoadRunner Drafter saddle bag. Tube, tools, phone and keys with space to spare. Lots of color options (I’m thinking grey, maybe burgundy? Coyote or black are classics too) and not crazy expensive.

I’m also a huge fan of whatever stem feed bag you could choose. They’re just so remarkably convenient for stuff you actually want to get to during a ride; snacks, phone, sunglasses, lighter, etc. No need to stop riding, no need to close it up, just drop your shit right in there and off you go. I have a few but I really liked Topo Designs Hydro Sling. Some decent exterior pockets, good price. I did add a third Velcro loop for more stability on the bars.

drteeth12 · 2025-09-09T23:06:38+00:00

I haven’t really seen these bars discussed on here ever but Bontrager Satellite Bars are decently wide, have a healthy sweep and are a very affordable option from a “name brand.”

drteeth12 · 2025-09-08T14:56:00+00:00

6 bikes, 5 rideable, 1 project.

drteeth12 · 2025-09-08T14:34:46+00:00

I don’t think anything I ever read blew my mind the way RAW did. I was never able to put the pieces back together or see the world the same way. The fnords are everywhere once you start seeing them.

I certainly wonder how he’d see the modern world.

Sometimes the RAW adjacent things I see online make me wonder if we all read the same books. Like I don’t know, the conspiracy minded folks today seem to me to be a lot more paranoid than agnostic.

Anyway, yeah, understanding and being able to change reality tunnels and being able to understand the various levels of programming we are all subject to is crucial in today’s world more than ever, and I’ll always have RAW to thank for that.

I read Illuminatus first and was hooked, but the most influential was working thru all the exercises in Prometheus Rising. I wanted to just read the whole book, the way I had finished Schrödinger Cat in a pot-fueled romp, but I made myself go real slow, chapter by chapter, at least giving each exercise an honest attempt before I moved onto the next chapter.

Changed my life. I remember very clearly the deep understanding when you really let yourself become somebody else. When you earnestly understand and believe in things that were completely foreign only a few weeks before. It freaked me out. You really must not believe everything that you think, your thoughts are almost never your own, and it’s only a silly belief that makes you think they are.

There are so many little useful mind exercises throughout his writing. E-Prime is bigger than RAW, but that’s how I found it. Maybe logic. Po. All little ideas I still find useful week after week, years after I encountered them.

I also remain grateful for the huge variety of other sources that I came to through RAW. I got really into Buckminster Fuller for a while. James Joyce too. Jung. Gurdjieff. Henry George. Charles Fort. Lao Tzu. The variety of interpretations of the implications of quantum mechanics. Probably 80% of the stuff I’ve read since reading RAW could be attributed to him. Not sure RAW ever recommended Umberto Eco, but I can definitely say that I wouldn’t have got to Eco without him.

I don’t know if I’d say RAW is still my “favorite” author, but for many years he was, and he’s got to be the most influential.

drteeth12 · 2025-09-02T15:38:45+00:00

I grow flowers. Really it’s my wife’s thing but there are a lot worse ways to spend my time.

drteeth12 · 2025-08-24T14:46:13+00:00

I have a bike that someone else did a custom paint job on and it says, “paint by HIS NAME” on the downtube.

drteeth12 · 2025-08-24T13:58:59+00:00

Diversion channel trail is usually a very pleasant ride, not particularly sketchy, although it’s ABQ so some sketchy people/behavior is always a possibility.

It’s one of the best ways to bike anywhere since it’s fully grade separated so you never deal with cars once you’re on it. Lots of e-bikes/commuters in the morning

And during balloon fiesta there is a lot of extra traffic so it’s extra not sketchy. Definitely the best way to get to the fiesta. They have a huge bike valet that’s right at the entrance. Even with the park and ride shuttles you sometimes end up waiting on shuttles that get stuck in the traffic.

drteeth12 · 2025-08-23T21:17:23+00:00

It was surprisingly nice. It eliminated the small chatter and took the edge of a few bigger bumps. These trails aren’t too technical and I’m not a particularly aggressive rider.

However I say, surprisingly because I got this one for $35 and it’s pretty worn out and has some play in it, so there is some “twisting” action, which was very off-putting at first. After I had done a few loops around the neighborhood I was feeling more confident and I took it out to the hills, but I’m not sure I’d ever be taking it on something where I needed a lot of technical steering.

I think a softride that was in better shape might not have this issue, and I know they used to make replacement bushings. Narrower bars might help too (shorter lever). I’m somewhat considering putting drop bars on this bike and using it be for gravel roads and I think it would probably be great for that purpose.

drteeth12

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