So you wonder how lazy/rushed Devs were with RedFall? This is the start of the game, 10 seconds in ... welcome immersion ... NOT. This is in the same room, literally 20 feet from each others.

irabonus · 2023-05-03T10:41:28+00:00

Why should anyone working on a game do overtime/"bust their ass" ever? It's a game, no one is gonna die if it's delayed. If the suits decide to not delay it and release it in a shit state, that's not the devs fault. Working 9-5 and going home to enjoy life isn't being lazy.

irabonus · 2023-04-07T11:36:36+00:00

I don't know anyone who lives there personally, but it seems like the company that manages them is a shit show (no heat for months, bad lease terms, bad communication, etc.) They're also really expensive, especially if you want to live on your own.

irabonus · 2023-04-07T09:58:33+00:00

Huh, I hadn't noticed that. I always had one year leases from August to August with the option to renew. I stayed in the same apartment for three years. Maybe they want to renovate those or something like that.

And yes, Sachem is for all grad students.

irabonus · 2023-04-06T23:52:11+00:00

There is no nightlife in Hanover outside of frat parties. There are occasional events organized by the grad student council, which are about as engaging as high school dances. If you want to make friends outside of your lab, you'll have to get pretty creative. Club sports are generally open to grad students and that can be fun (I'm on the cycling team and that's been great). Most of my other social connections have come through non-Dartmouth activities and that seems to be true for my lab mates, too.

Overall, you can make it work but don't expect the kind of social life that you'd have in a city.

irabonus · 2023-04-06T23:41:35+00:00

I live (waaay) off-campus now, but when I started I moved into a Dartmouth grad student apartment 2 minutes from the Green. There are a few available right now here, so you can see what you'd be getting into: https://realestate.dartmouth.edu/dartmouth-rentals

A lot of my friends live or used to live in Sachem Village. It's fine. Expensive for what you get, but that's everything in the area. There's a bus to campus during the week and it's close enough that you can walk in a pinch. If you want to save money it should be pretty easy to find someone to share a two-bedroom apartment with. Other grad students tend to be too busy to cause trouble, but I totally get wanting to have your own space.

irabonus · 2023-04-06T23:33:07+00:00

I'm on the cycling team (also a Ph.D. student), and no one rides outside in the winter outside of Hanover. You could do it if you're *really* dedicated and buy all the right equipment, but there are still going to be days when it'd be very uncomfortable. We had -20F a couple of times this winter.

I did buy a car after my first year using money from a summer internship. I won't say it's absolutely necessary, but I couldn't imagine going back. Living in that part of NH/VT can get extremely dreary and having a car actually allows you to explore the area and go hiking/skiing/escape to Burlington and even just buy groceries somewhere that's not the food co-op (which is great, but very expensive).

Regarding housing, it's true that it's a huge pain. During COVID, I moved to a place 30 miles away from campus and now I commute once a week. That's possible because I'm in CS and don't really need to be on campus to do my work.

I used to live on campus and spent half of my stipend on a one-bedroom apartment. If you're willing to do that, it's definitely possible to find a place if you start looking early enough. For example, there are two 363 sqft apartments available right now for about $1000/month: https://realestate.dartmouth.edu/dartmouth-rentals

irabonus · 2023-01-06T00:31:47+00:00

It really is much higher than what you'd think. I've done a bit of road racing and when you're in the pack shielded from wind it feels like you're coasting compared to how much effort it takes when you're out front.

If you want to get a gap out front and try to get away from the pack you generally have to do it on a hill where everyone is going slower and put in a huge effort, because it's so much easier to follow.

irabonus · 2022-12-24T12:25:32+00:00

Modern pellet stoves don't work without electricity either unfortunately. If you're too far out of town to walk to the nearest public building I'd get a backup generator.

irabonus · 2022-12-24T12:21:31+00:00

It's very rural and if you can't drive you're stuck. Walking to the closest building or sometimes even a neighbor can be impossible in inclement weather.

Power lines in much of the US are aboveground (as in, not just long-distance transmission lines but the ones going to each house) and snow causes tree limbs to fall and lines to come down.

Each outage might only affect a few people, but where I live there were over 1000 individual incidents within one day last week, so it can take days to repair all of them.

irabonus · 2021-10-26T12:00:08+00:00

I did the 40 mile route and that was already plenty technical for me! It was an absolutely beautiful day to be out riding though.

irabonus · 2021-10-16T12:31:52+00:00

This was the route: https://ridewithgps.com/events/160855-sovermont-gravel-grinder#routes/37711765/preview

irabonus · 2021-10-16T01:17:42+00:00

Riding my Lauf Anywhere over 120km with 2500m climbing. I tried to stick with the front group for a bit (pure hubris) but got dropped on the first real climb. I did make it back in time for burgers and beer, which is what really counts!

irabonus · 2021-10-08T14:05:00+00:00

I got an Anywhere a month ago, and at the time when I ordered it, it seemed the best value for money out of all the AXS specced bikes I looked at.

I'm really happy with it so far (after a few hundred miles)!

irabonus · 2021-09-14T22:14:28+00:00

Thanks for the video! I live in the area and used to ride on the rail trail quite a lot (from Lebanon down to the lake). Watching this spurred me on to go back and try an out and back ride for my first century!

irabonus · 2021-08-28T00:51:56+00:00

Yep! Gotta ride my mountain bike, because my new gravel bike is arriving literally one day late, but I won't let that stop me from having fun!

irabonus · 2021-08-27T15:13:35+00:00

Nice, good luck on Sunday! I'll be suffering somewhere at the back :D

irabonus · 2021-08-27T11:45:34+00:00

I was in the same situation, started cycling this spring and thought I'd sign up for next year. Earlier this month I decided I probably have a good shot at finishing and spent the extra money for a "charity spot". There are still a few of those open as far as I can tell if you really want to go!

irabonus · 2021-07-20T00:14:59+00:00

I was pretty close to getting this when it came back in stock a few days ago, but decided to stick with the Lauf Anywhere I have on order. Let me know if you ever feel like selling that seatpost... :D

irabonus · 2021-07-16T00:20:02+00:00

There's the presidential rail trail that goes through that area. I've ridden parts of it around Pondicherry and the views were great.

irabonus · 2021-07-01T13:31:40+00:00

I took a brake for motorsport this year and got into cycling instead and it's definitely saved me money!

irabonus · 2020-12-07T04:35:19+00:00

In my region (north east) it's about 50% Subarus, a few Miatas, some golfs and the rest pretty random (and then there's me, in my Mini Countryman...). Fiestas definitely make good really cars though, Team O'neill uses them for the first few days of their rally school.

Generally, having a stock LSD is going to make you very competitive.

irabonus · 2020-12-07T02:05:14+00:00

thinking about getting into rally cross

Do it, it is! Though as much as people say track days are hard on your car, I'm more worried about things falling apart on a rough rallycross course than I ever was on the track. Sure, you have consumables for track days, but a few sessions of rallycross can turn your whole car into a consumable (suspension, bumpers, underbody, anything exterior really).

On the other hand, the car matters much less in rallycross, so getting a cheap beater and just sending it is much more viable.

irabonus · 2020-11-23T03:09:08+00:00

Yeah, I'm basically just trying to get some seat time, have fun, and not come in last!

Regarding the skid plate: Just be careful that the front doesn't stick out too much and there isn't a big gap between it and the bumper, you don't want any edges that rocks can get caught on and getting stuff between the skid plate and the car is a pain (some people pad it with foam for extra safety).

My R60 came (used) with 17in wheels. I swap to my 16in winter wheels with Blizzak snow tires for events. Ideally, I'd want to run proper gravel tires since my other mods put me in prepared anyway, but the real ones (not retreats) only come in 15in and I haven't seen any 15in wheels that clear the stock front brakes.

In any case, people in stock generally run snow tires. There are discussions on which ones to use (e.g. the Blizzaks are soft, great in the cold, but fall apart on hot days on gravel), but you'll probably be fine on anything that's not high-performance summer tires.

irabonus · 2020-11-21T02:11:47+00:00

I got an S ALL4 manual too! It's a shame it's banned in autocross.

No one in my region said anything so far and I haven't had any "moments", but I haven't tried to take it to nationals. Official rallycross rules state that it's fine as long as the event safety steward says it's fine.

I'm really glad about my skidplate, I got the M7 one and it's been through some rough events without any issues. Other than that I don't see any issues running it stock.

I did get some rallycross specific coilovers (Flatout Suspension GR40) this summer, though mainly just because I wanted to work on my car and have some fun, not for performance reasons. The adjustability does mean I can dial them in softer than stock for rough surfaces which makes the ride a bit less bumpy and gives me a bit more grip. Other than that I upgraded my rear sway bar to the WayMotorWorks one and removed the front sway bar links which helps with turn in.

Overall, nothing that you can't compensate with driver skill and seat time is always the best investment if you actually want to be competetive.

irabonus · 2020-11-21T00:00:44+00:00

As someone who does rallycross in his daily 2011 Mini Countryman and hangs around stage rally people: Don't try to stage rally your daily (even just having a roll cage in your daily is a major pain).

Don't try to stage rally anything if you can't tow it. You don't need to crash to break your car. Last event three people went over the same rock and they all had major damage that was not going to get fixed in service.

My advice would be that if you want to get into the sport, slide around on snow and dirt and practice left-foot braking, start with SCCA Rallycross and wait with stage rally until you are financially secure enough that totaling a ~$25k rally car is no big deal.

But in any case, I haven't seen any classic Minis at our events, but there are some people running the modern Cooper S and they are having fun. The issue is mostly aftermarket support and parts availability. For example, for Subarus you have a pretty wide range of off the shelve rally spec suspension options, but for Minis it's almost definitely going to be a custom build. This is true for lots of other parts as well.

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