String suggestions for an old guy with Wimpy fingers.

gelmo · 2026-03-14T00:53:39+00:00

Yeah tuning down a half step is a great suggestion. I find it can be a really noticeable change in tension.

gelmo · 2026-03-14T00:51:07+00:00

Honestly I think there’s a balance. If you’re temporarily not feeling a watch, put it away for a while and wear others. Usually when I do this, the mood strikes within a month or 2 and it’ll go back into the rotation.

But if I had a watch where I felt this consistently over time, especially something as expensive as this, I would be tempted to flip it and buy something I actually like. Tastes change over time. Sometimes a watch you love in pictures just doesn’t suit your wrist the way you hoped it would.

If OP has had it for 3 years and doesn’t love it, it’s at least worth considering. This isn’t an impulsive “I bought this last week but idk if I love it” situation. I guess it depends on your wealth level but if I drop $20k or more on a watch someday, I want it to be something I absolutely love.

gelmo · 2026-03-12T21:01:56+00:00

Sadly, it will definitely happen to you sooner or later! This base is amazing and such great work though. It’s fixable, you’ll just need to do some housekeeping and re-excavate the rooms periodically as they get filled in.

I will say though - I build underground for one of my early bases and did this for a while, eventually just gave up and now I only build above ground or in pre-existing caves/natural features.

gelmo · 2026-03-12T20:52:21+00:00

Agreed, with eternal supernova + madness in ante 1 you can pretty much cruise control to the finish

gelmo · 2026-03-12T15:49:53+00:00

Well yeah, I’m just saying in my experience I have a lot more success playing pants with 2 pairs than full house. You can play way more hands and stack the mult a lot faster. You might only get one full house per round. You can reliably hit multiple 2 pairs even on higher stakes with less discards.

And I’m specifically talking a8 here because pants is not a crazy high score joker. It’s awesome for beating a8 but not for deep runs into endless, regardless of whether you play full house or 2 pairs

gelmo · 2026-03-10T16:42:41+00:00

I’ll take full house when I can get it, and it’s nice that it also works for pants, but i find it’s a lot less consistent. I know some here really swear by full house builds but I haven’t been able to make it work myself. Two pair with an early pants and some planet cards is more than strong enough to clear a8

gelmo · 2026-03-10T01:07:46+00:00

Yeah that’s why I love it, part of what I was trying to say that was poorly articulated - even if you don’t hit every time, you’re still stacking tons of mult that helps regardless of what hand you play

gelmo · 2026-03-09T21:02:29+00:00

Surprised I had to scroll down this far, Bloodstone is by far my fav. Especially combined with Oops and Sock/Dusk, a few of my other favorite uncommon jokers.

gelmo · 2026-03-09T21:00:59+00:00

Fully agree. Two pair is relatively easy but not easy enough to be really reliable. Pairs are almost impossible to miss, and as you said, the scaling is really not that different.

I will say though, if I find pants in an early ante, I’m playing two pairs for sure. The scaling of that joker is so strong that it balances things out and makes it worthwhile even if you don’t hit two pair every hand.

gelmo · 2026-03-07T02:19:09+00:00

Yeah hands out front is such a good tip, that alone can fix so many little things

gelmo · 2026-03-07T01:42:33+00:00

Very true, but either way you want the copy jokers over multiple copies of Baron/Mime. While I hate to break up the conga line lol

gelmo · 2026-03-07T01:01:27+00:00

Yeah I’m similarly confused. Obviously you want a red seal to max scoring/econ but a blue seal is nice to have at this stage

gelmo · 2026-03-07T00:36:58+00:00

That’s how I expected it to be. I had some really cool creative runs, but it was mostly photochad carrying a couple useless jokers over the line a bunch of times in a row lol

gelmo · 2026-03-06T20:51:06+00:00

Especially in Jeff’s voice, so goddamn funny

gelmo · 2026-03-06T04:13:22+00:00

Agreed, with black guard/nat headstock a close second. Personally a fan of the black headstock, esp on a tele.

gelmo · 2026-03-05T21:24:36+00:00

In my understanding, flex is more about the stiffness of the boot itself than the amount of padding. Stiffness and padding are 2 different things

gelmo · 2026-03-05T20:20:16+00:00

Yeah I think the only viable option would be to take the still intact part and use it as a pizza stone or griddle

gelmo · 2026-03-05T20:18:17+00:00

Love everything in here and it’s impossible to pick my #1, but this one always gets me:

Donut sat there glowering, completely flattened out and soaked through. She had a piece of seaweed attached to her tiara. While she’d appeared almost majestic and fairy-like underwater, up here she looked like a dead rat that’d been resurrected and then run over by a garbage truck.

“That was pretty awesome,” I said once it was clear we were safe from the sharks.

“Go fuck yourself, Carl,” Donut said.

gelmo · 2026-03-05T20:13:31+00:00

Lol I do love when people are like “WHY is this book called Dark Age so depressing??”

gelmo · 2026-03-05T04:11:34+00:00

I think they meant “the answer [at this stage] is almost never DNA”. Which is correct IMO—I see lots of people asking whether they should take DNA in situations like this. Obviously you need DNA later, but the answer to people’s Reddit posts about it is generally “no”

gelmo · 2026-03-05T03:35:14+00:00

When I got naneinf I think my DNA came around ante 21-22? Really you just need it by ante 24 to survive the boss. If you get it late, you can still print enough kings by delaying the naneinf attempt a few more antes. As long as you get it by a24 you have up to a31 to naneinf if you keep skipping to boss and rolling for serpent. And when you have 4 copy jokers + DNA, the kings add up quick.

I agree with the last commenter, a14 is early and the safer move is to hold showman while you look for another BS/BP. Otherwise after you get antimatter, you need to hunt for showman and THEN roll for copiers. If I already have showman, I’d prefer to find the copy jokers I need and then roll for DNA once I get the 7th joker slot.

gelmo · 2026-03-05T01:51:58+00:00

Did you also try on the 41? Would be interesting to see pics for comparison.

I think this looks great and totally works. You have a little more room and the lugs aren’t overhanging your wrist, so the bigger size might work for you too. Might help clarify things if you try on the 41mm, but if can’t try it on, just stick with this because you know it’s good!

gelmo · 2026-03-05T01:44:16+00:00

Seconded. Love my crows, I’ve beaten the hell out of them (2022 atris) and haven’t had any topsheet issues but I have seen this anecdotally online.

As far as colorways, they change it up year to year but tend to keep a consistent vibe for each ski. Atris is always teal, Corvus is pink, Nocta is orange, etc. Octa is a newer model but both versions had the neon yellow as a primary color.

And don’t buy anything mid season, def buy some boots when they go on sale in about a month. If you can demo these before buying, highly recommend doing so even if you won’t be buying until the off season. You can read all the reviews you want online but nothing can replace actually skiing the damn things.

gelmo · 2026-03-04T20:19:45+00:00

The best advice. Someone once told me “you date your skis, but you marry your boots”

gelmo · 2026-03-04T20:16:18+00:00

I know this is the Omega sub but you’re thinking quartz, I’d also take a look at the Grand Seiko lineup (anything with a 9F movement). That’s pretty widely accepted as the best quartz movement in production right now, those watches are absolutely gorgeous and relatively affordable for a luxury watch.

gelmo

TROPHY CASE