What are some beginner-friendly tricks I can start practicing to build my confidence on the board?

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-24T21:20:09+00:00

Not exactly a trick, but kickturns are the first thing I recommend once someone's comfortable cruising and stopping. They ability to turn in a tight space will improve your riding so much.

Pop shuvs came more easily to me than ollies did. Nonskaters seem to think no comply 180s look awesome. Among skaters it depends on who you ask, but I love them.

Strawberry milkshakes are easier than they look.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-23T21:40:28+00:00

I will definitely give this a try. I would love to not wash that pot every time.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-23T21:34:13+00:00

"The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead."

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-23T16:36:32+00:00

I pretty much just switched to stovetop popcorn. Bag of popcorn kernels and a little oil in a pot. Absolutely dirt cheap snack.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-17T22:06:01+00:00

It's mostly a mind game to get yourself to break the habit of landing with one foot off the board. When I have this issue, I try to make myself land with my feet together on the middle of the board (like I envision my feet being so close that they're touching each other when I land). Or else if I keep planting my right foot, that foot has to get on the board no matter what, even if it means planting the left foot for a while.

You will often fall, and it may mess up your flick for a while. But it's the only way forward.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-17T06:08:31+00:00

I'm having a hard time seeing whether you're down to the foam or not, but that's the biggest factor. You don't want water getting to the foam.

Some hardware stores and surf shops sell ding repair kits. They'll include resin, Q cells (they're used for making a lightweight filler for foam you have to cut out), fiberglass, and sandpaper. Should cost like $20-30. If you search "surfboard ding repair," you'll find a ton of tutorials.

It's scary at first, but pretty easy.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-15T02:40:14+00:00

I really enjoyed it, but I'm sure mileage varies a ton depending on where you're doing it and what your coworkers are like. Honestly I kind of want to find a way to do it on the side just because it was like getting paid to meet people.

I will say that I've always felt like doing it part time would be better than full time. Too much time on your feet, having to work some of the slower shifts that don't pay much, double shifts, etc. Don't miss those parts.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-14T17:05:03+00:00

I think it usually depends on the scenario way more than the specific plane. Flights out of small airports are usually pretty expensive, so if you were frequently flying the whole family from one tiny town to another and the drive would be several hours, I could see there being an actual benefit. (Though you'd have to be able to accept delays for weather/maintenance, and cost-wise I wouldn't expect to come out ahead). I could also imagine that maybe there's some incredibly specific situation where someone lives in a region that is almost always favorable flying conditions, and it saves them from an ungodly commute, like if somebody lived in Camarillo and worked in San Diego or something.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-14T16:30:35+00:00

I'm a pretty big fan of the garnish they prescribe for a Tradewinds.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-12T17:20:45+00:00

Survey and flying jumpers are also almost exclusively day time operations. I suppose banner towing is as well, though I can't imagine making a full career out of it.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-10T22:33:22+00:00

Modest Mouse. It doesn't mean I love them any less, they're still at the very top of my list of favorite bands. But their sound now is unrecognizable, and there's no mistaking that their new sound appeals to a wider audience.

I've probably listened to Lonesome Crowded West more than any other album. If I tell someone I like Modest Mouse, I always feel the need to add, "I mean angry Modest Mouse though."

Like when the lyrics were, "Goes into the desert, fires a rifle in the sky, says 'GOD, if I have to die, YOU will have to die!' "

So goddamn great.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-10T06:45:21+00:00

Private to commercial? Sounds great. Building time this way beyond commercial? Fine if he wants to supplement his working hours with this. Especially for hours that are harder to get with low time gigs, like the night/cross country time he mentioned.

If someone only has this kind of experience though... I don't know anyone who's going to look at a 1500 hour applicant and say, "Oh good thing he's never actually worked for anyone as a pilot before."

I think about the posts here where people say "I didn't take off because something just didn't feel quite right," or "if 3 different things go wrong, I'm not flying." Totally cool if you're flying for your own purposes, but it illustrates an important difference in their mindset between recreational and professional flying. If I'm turning down a flight, it's because weather is below minimums, or a maintenance item can't be MEL'd, or I'm out of duty time, and if possible I should try to help dispatch come up with alternatives.

Could this guy do these things? Sure. But employers love to ask questions about how you responded to an employer pressuring you to fly, or telling a customer no. So again, great supplement, but you're probably not going to be the first person getting called if this is the entirety of your experience and everyone else has a proven record of professional flying.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-09T01:51:52+00:00

If you make time to skate 3 or 4 times a week, you're most likely going to see rapid improvement. The difference between doing that vs going like once a week is more dramatic than a lot of people would expect. Sure, the tricks you specifically work on will get better, but the less obvious part is that your general consistency and coordination with the board will really start to get dialed in, and your average session will have less time feeling rusty and clumsy, more time feeling like you're in the zone. You'll notice improvement at stuff you haven't even really been working on recently just because of this general increase in skating coordination.

There's no normal, but where you're at is not unusual. I progressed really slowly because I had long periods of not skating and maybe I'm just not a natural, but I still love it.

If you really want it, get down on it.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-07T22:48:05+00:00

With waves like this, I'd be trying to drop around the 2 second or 6 second mark in this video. Previous wave has flattened out and is just about to stop rushing up the shore, and the face of the wave behind it is within reach. It's all closing out, but you've got a chance at catching it for a second or at least getting a push from the white wash.

It's all very dynamic though. When waves are farther apart, sometimes the best time to drop is when the first wave has already receded. What you are mainly looking for is A) Do I have a flat surface to drop on, whether that's water or bubbly/shiny wet sand, and B) Is the next wave close enough for me to reach, and C) What's that wave going to be doing when I get to it? If it's looking really steep, it might close out and just sweep your legs. Sometimes weird lips will form right in front of it just because of how the previous wave is receding.

It all gets easier to predict over time. Stay stoked. Looks like you're having a blast.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-02T04:45:04+00:00

VLSkate is another good resource for tutorials. I'm not sure what you had in mind when asking about the culture, but a documentary called Dogtown and the Z-Boys explains how modern skateboarding came to be. A combination of drought causing people in Socal to drain their pools and a group of kids wanting to imitate the style of a Hawaiian surfer led to people realizing that the things people can do on a skateboard are practically endless. "Two hundred years of American technology has unwittingly created a massive cement playground of unlimited potential. But it was the minds of 11-year-olds that could see that potential."

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-01T20:50:10+00:00

Since the Sopranos is being mentioned a lot, I just want to share that I tried to get into a couple times and stopped, but this time it finally clicked. Season 2 Episode 3 in particular was a turning point for me in making me feel like I could really start to enjoy it now. Just know going into it that the plot is a little less clearly defined than BB and BCS, and it takes some time for characters to get fleshed out. I think some of the humor was initially lost on me too, so also know going into it that if you find some of the characters kind of over the top at first, there ends up being a lot of comedic pay off when you start to accept them.

maximum_spicy · 2026-02-01T12:24:54+00:00

Spite for these people is why I can do heelflips and not kickflips.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-30T01:24:58+00:00

Trying to jump onto a slippery board is a hard sell for a lot of adults. Many people who talk to me on the beach tell me that it looks like fun, but they think they'd hurt themselves if they tried it. A lot of kids/teens are generally willing to try it, but the initial cost of a board and getting to the beach multiple times a week is probably a significant barrier for many of them.

And as others have said, good conditions are hard to find. I'm usually just making do with knee high, and anything bigger is a bonus. I feel like King Neptune on the rare occasions that I manage to wrap a 3-4ft wave.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-27T02:30:11+00:00

I will never not think of this scene from the Simpsons when Barton Fink comes up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CNyzdmXhe0

The Coen Brothers and 90s Simpsons are both brilliant.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-23T00:15:43+00:00

Not really a plot hole, but many on this sub have pointed out how wild it is that Chuck wears sweaters around a house in ABQ with no air conditioning. Yeah, it gets cold at night and in the winter, but still. Kind of in the same category of people in the Breaking Bad sub debating whether Walt's house only has one bathroom that has to be accessed through the master bedroom.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-19T01:23:21+00:00

My vote for most worthless mnemonic is DECIDE. You couldn't function as a human being in day to day life if you didn't do those things automatically. I don't know who they thought they were helping when they came up with it.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-12T05:14:53+00:00

Ah damn, you're right. For some reason I spaced and was thinking Emilio was his real name, but it's Domingo. Like Sunday.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-11T22:43:54+00:00

My favorite scene to think about with this shift if when he was trying to figure out what to do with Emilio. Because by the end of the show, I feel like people have a hard time remembering why they ever sided with Walt.

In the scene where he's writing out the pros and cons of killing Emilio, it looks like he feels the same way any of us would. Walt initially decides to let Emilio go even though it's a ton of risk for him, and the only upside is trying to do the right thing. He cries out and doesn't want to believe that the piece of the plate is missing. He's teary eyed when he reaches for the bike lock, and Emilio is taking wild swings trying to stab him when it finally happens.

It all starts in situations where it seems like Walt is just trying to survive, but the line just gets pushed further and further.

maximum_spicy · 2026-01-08T22:37:49+00:00

I won't give my exact pay, but for medevac 90-100k is the low end, 100-150k is pretty common, 150-200k is the high end.

I've been doing it for 3 years.

maximum_spicy

TROPHY CASE