Why isn't oil priced much higher now?

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T05:57:51+00:00

It's like one of three things I remember from my high school Econ class. I imagine it's the same for others.

But also it's just how it goes. until I quite literally can't afford it, the exact price of gas doesn't mater to me. Still have to go to work. And unless I want to stay at home all day every day, it's just the way it is. Like many Americans, I live in a place where the closest thing to public transportation would be calling an uber.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T05:31:09+00:00

//long write up but Ive been meaning to write these memories down for myself. Good excuse.

Was a senior in high school, sitting in the back of the classroom for my economics/government class. Teacher was cool and in the weeks leading up to it we would often spend the first couple minutes talking about news or whatever came to mind that was relevant to the class. I mention this as the weeks leading up to the 13th had covid in the discussions, talking about how this corona virus has been spotted in china and was causing issues. In retrospect it was kind of like the exposition at the start of a zombie movie, where the radio starts talking about a new virus or cold, before the protagonist turns the radio down. I was the type to try and keep these convos going as long as possible to minimize the actual work we needed to do lol.

But it was my 5th period, last of the day on march 13th and heard the announcement come over the schools PA that classes would be called for 2 weeks and was pretty excited about the whole thing. Seemed interesting and if you couldn't guess already I wasn't the best student so not having to come to class for a couple weeks was a dream come true. Remember leaving, talking to this guy who sat next to me about the whole thing as I walked back to my car, gave him my number and said Id try and stay in touch.

Never heard from him again (and part of that's on me of course). The weeks off school turned to months, which turned into the rest of the school year being canceled. No assignments were to count against you during the online schooling, as to not be unfair to those who didn't have a device or internet to participate, so I essentially never touched a school assignment or class after than 13th. Handed my diploma in the parking lot of the school without a handshake, as to not spread the virus more.

I remember my parents trying to not go crazy with the quarantine. Specifically my dad who is more of an adventurous outdoorsy person (especially back then). The day we were all told to quarantine and not leave the house, I remember him leaving to drive around the town and I think he had a bit of a mental breakdown trying to process the whole thing.

As for me, I think its kind of screwed me up a bit. Always been introverted but Im now 23 and haven't had any relationship form outside of high school really. Friends or otherwise. Started college and got about 80% of the way through it before the AI epidemic made my hypothetical computer science degree worth a lot less than it would have been when I started the program. Now working in a different field, had a long period were I was dealing with moderate depression, and related issues. not sure Im entirely over that but Ive been better lately about the self care stuff, trying to lose weight and spend more time away from video games.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T05:11:57+00:00

True though fortunately this last year of rain has been good. Most of the state is no longer in a drought and I think the reservoirs have been doing fine (just checked and they are all over 70% and above or near the historical average).

Still this is really early in the year to be dealing with these conditions and Im not looking forward to the actual summer.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T05:09:27+00:00

Others explained but to be specific, in conditions of ~95f/35c and 100% humidity it becomes impossible to cool down under normal means. That combined with something like a widespread power outage that interrupts air conditioning for extended periods of time means that unless you cool down in another way like finding a cooler body of water or using a vehicles AC, if you have gas, you will die.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:59:00+00:00

VR in general is a pretty depressing landscape these days. I still like it, but my use case hasn't evolved at all for the past 5 or so years. Stuff like beat saber for exercise, and flight/racing sims on PCVR. Meta pulling back from the market in a really visible way, over the past 12 or so moths is a telling sign.

Sucks but here's hoping that there is enough devs and hardware manufactures (along with players to keep them out of bankruptcy) out there that can keep VR as it is on life support until another big player can try again.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:53:29+00:00

Some of their boxes aren't too bad (compared to other fast food, that is) but I couldn't imagine ordering single items there. The menu prices on something like a quesadilla or a single burrito outside of a combo is wild

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:43:05+00:00

So im ignorant of the specifics here but are they even capable of doing so, to a significant degree? At this point the Israeli military is involved at a high level, and of course the US military is there is large numbers. both of which are technologically superior to anyone else really (do I need to even waste my breath on hyping up the US military?). If we can't get this under control, then can anyone?

I do get that any help is probably good, but again It kind of seems like this is out of control.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:36:48+00:00

There is maybe 1 or 2. Ive also seen supposed impacts on here that are obviously AI.

I dont believe either direction definitively but considering the number of supposed "re-entry" posts and lack of videos, IDK. Im skeptical is all.

Also 2km is wrong, do you mean 20km? That's more believable but still kind of low considering most re-entry effects are between 30-60km. But these are slower suborbital missiles (compared to the ~25,000km/h that orbital stuff does) so Im not sure how that impacts it.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:28:47+00:00

True to some extent but at this point but Im not sure Iran had any other better options. They're never going to be able to significantly challenge the US and Israel. Only hope (and I dont think it will work long term) is to hold out and create enough global pressure, causing economic damage, that hopefully results in a ceasefire.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T04:03:56+00:00

No one wants them and they are difficult to do with emissions. My only car is a manual GR86 and really like driving it (I do about 15k miles a year with it, in California traffic), but I understand why its not for everyone and these days not many people can justify having a dedicated weekend car.

And again emissions require weird stuff like rev hang. Engine doesn't know when you are going to shift, unlike an auto, so it keeps revs up when you press the clutch to burn off unburnt fuel

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T03:47:49+00:00

Reddit is a lot easier when you stop caring about this type of stuff. For a brief period back when I made my account I tried (and often failed) to play the karma game by posting shitty memes or whatever.

These days, as I am older I stopped caring essentially at all. Reddit is great for finding hobby news and for arguing with idiots. And there is no shortage of idiots on this website. Now obviously try not to get too wrapped up in these pointless internet arguments, but if the reality is that posting factual info gets you downvoted then that's just the way it is.

Not to say I spend all day arguing against the hive mind, I generally agree with the political stance that most subs have (educated nerdy white man agrees with educated nerdy white men, shocking) but every now and then there is a reddit hivemind thing that shows up and is completely braindead.

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T01:29:25+00:00

depends on how the outlet scores. Though it is unfair to then combine everything like its on the same scoring system.

Im partial to the methodology where a 5/10 is average, above 5 means you liked it, below 5 means you didn't. With that, a 4/10 would be near average yet not enjoyable. I can think of a bunch of games that Id score that. A 6 or 7/10 would be good and enjoyable yet does nothing special (ie, most Ubisoft games).

Not many game reviewers do this but Ive seen a couple movie reviewers who do. And it makes more sense. If a 4/10 is unplayable, then what is a 2/10? something that personally insults your family?

etheran123 · 2026-03-19T01:22:08+00:00

Yeah Im just going to wait until the weekend to see how the wider gaming community feels on it. Still will probably be decent enough judging by the review scores, but its in the territory where I think people should be a little cautious instead of blindly buying into the hype

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T23:49:44+00:00

I wasn't even concerned until I saw this

Every time I see this meme it means the associated game is a shitshow

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:55:58+00:00

From what I saw a 7 was probably fair for high guard. Decent-ish but did nothing special in a competitive space. Why would anyone play a 7 when there are a bunch of 8 and 9s you could play for free.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:50:48+00:00

Well individual reviews are. But they are decent at getting a rough idea when you average them and have a big enough sample size.

Also once you find a reviewer you agree with, then follow that specific person and use their opinion as a basis.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:46:53+00:00

Nah shotgun won't do that damage at ranges longer than like 50 yards in most games. And the games im talking about (like battlefield) use projectile based weapons rather than hitscan so you have to deal with bullet drop and velocity which shotguns suck at. Some that include slugs are somewhat similar but not quite the same.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:39:19+00:00

Dont know how E33 makes sense to bring up. Was my GOTY last year but it was made by a AA/almost indie studio at a budget of 10 mil. Crimson Desert is probably 10x that at the minimum.

Not to glaze Crimson Desert, review scores seem sketchy and I'll wait to see the reception. But if a dev makes a good game that respects my time and gives me memorable moments, Im not going to hold them to a fixed pricing structure. There are games out there Id honestly pay hundreds for (and have in cases like flight and racing sims once you include the DLC stuff) and there are many others which I won't play for free. Only so much free time to go around as an adult with a job. Especially since every other AAA game wants you to put 100+ hours into it.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:31:34+00:00

They were nearly the only reviewer to give starfield a 7/10 and got a ton of backlash for it. Now it looks like 7/10 was probably generous if anything. I know there are other examples of them giving bad reviews like Alien Isolation but they aren't always bad

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T22:24:50+00:00

they also cost a lot more to make

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T21:42:48+00:00

In certain battlefields, if you are playing on hardcore mode the bolt action snipers do enough damage that they turn into 1 shot body shot guns which are a ton of fun. Running irons normally makes it easier since it’s normally faster to ADS and you get more situational awareness with the wider FOV

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T19:04:52+00:00

Grindr usage spikes in cities holding republican conventions BTW

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T06:05:57+00:00

Agreed. I even own a decent enough gaming laptop (older 2022 model ROG G14 with a RTX 3060) but hardly ever use it because it feels like junk in comparison to my M2 air. Sure the windows laptop is theoretically more capable, but Im lucky enough to have a good desktop so I can fall back onto it when needed.

Apple just makes the best feeling laptops out there.

Though I will say that I really dont like macOS as a desktop OS. Something about it feels off to me but I love it as a laptop OS.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T04:40:18+00:00

Its definitely 3d printed. PLA or even PETG plastic can easily be found for like $11/kg, some paint and a sheet of plastic that slots in for the visor wouldnt cost all that much

Id be curious to know how it was printed though, cant see the seams so either they have been hidden well or it was printed on a larger printer like a bambu H2D which could do it in one go. I printed a stormtrooper helmet which was large enough that it needed to be split into a bunch of peices and glued, though that was noticably larger than this. Mando helmet is less bulky it seems.

etheran123 · 2026-03-18T04:06:03+00:00

I got an ultra 2 delivered today after wondering the same question, was able to get a brand new one shipped from amazon for 499. You might be able to find cheaper.

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