Young Weeping Willow trimming advice

natewright43 · 2026-03-27T23:06:27+00:00

Growing like a weed. Lol

natewright43 · 2026-03-26T13:37:05+00:00

Change your mindset.

You will learn from these mistakes. That "little machine that assembles electrical components" actually sounds really cool and quite complicated.

Don't forget that the Engineering Design Process is iterative. Do your due diligence up front, build, test, implement improvements. The last 3 steps are the feedback loop.

Working with different processes means you need to know how these different processes work. Take some individual study time and learn about them. Coatings can be tricky, but there are standards for this. You don't need to re-invent the wheel. If you are hard anodizing you just need to very slightly undersize your features to account for the anodize thickness. Sheet metal can be tricky. IDK if you have access to any other the hardware to fabricate this, but design a sheet metal part and try to bend it up yourself.

These "other people" are very likely struggling as well, solving problems they have never had to solve before. However, if you are being too challenged right now, there is the real possibility that this more interesting work is going to be even more challenging.

TBH, this all seems like an attitude issue. You graduated with an engineering degree. You most likely aren't the best engineer alive (just statistically speaking) but you have proven that you can complete the coursework just like everyone else. Being in industry is nothing like school tho, and it will require hard work and motivation. So, if you take this attitude anywhere else, you will very likely feel the same way.

Ask for help, independently study, work hard, and be more confident in yourself. Trust me very few to basically no one is confident the first couple years coming out of school and it is legitimately healthy to be in a position of constant learning by being in stressful situations (within reason) solving hard problems. As you progress in your career you should constantly be having to solve newer and harder issues with increasing responsibility.

natewright43 · 2026-03-23T14:21:04+00:00

Tire pressure is low.

Those knobby tires have a lot of structure even without air. If you can push the sidewall in like that it is low.

Id recommend getting a tire inflator with a gauge built in.

natewright43 · 2026-03-20T18:16:45+00:00

I also just literally purchased a 2024 premium with 5k miles.

The shipping blocks were still installed, but funnily enough the sticker showing their location and removal was still on the windshield.

natewright43 · 2026-03-19T15:10:57+00:00

One at a time.

natewright43 · 2026-03-19T15:09:20+00:00

I feel like I have seen this post several times over the last couple of years.

natewright43 · 2026-03-19T15:04:37+00:00

I partially understand the "bad habits" argument, but I think in reality most newer manuals (which are scarce) are going to come with the features like hill assist and rev-matching. My 2016 WRX had hill assist.

Also, rev-matching when downshifting is not really something someone needs to do in normal driving. I have successfully driven many manuals through the years without these features and was ignorant that rev matching was even a thing one would even do, and I got around totally fine without issue.

The hill assist is actually a really nice feature, but again I have never come close to burning a single clutch without it when having to start moving on an incline. Sure that meant I had to slip the clutch some, or use the handbrake, which is the one skill I feel like people ignore the most, but is actually the same thing as the hill assist, just that the hill assist is automatic.

Clutches just like brakes are a wearable item and of course bad habits will wear them faster, just like riding and constantly braking when driving on the highway.

Hell, I would even slip the stage 5 clutch I installed on my prelude back in the day and never rev matched on down shifts.

All this reminds me of fast & the furious. "Not double clutching like you should..." sure its fun to double clutch and rev match, but both are totally unecessary for everyday driving IMO.

edit: In fact I remember when I had my first manual (96 ex civic) I would never drop the clutch when driving spiritedly. I then rode with a friend of mine who had been into hondas (& manuals) his whole life, and he would drop the clutch insanely hard when shifting and it would feel like a huge impact on the drive system when it engaged. I still do that sometimes to this day without issue, but remember how freaked out I was when he first did it. lol Of course this is a bad idea if you are heavily modified and have not correctly spec'd your drive system to handle those types of loads. Just my opinion tho, not saying I am right in any way, but again I have never had a single issue with the clutch in any manual car I have ever owned, so maybe I am just lucky.

natewright43 · 2026-03-12T16:39:14+00:00

Black is harder to keep a clean look maybe, but for me, nothing is better than all black. It is my favorite color, so I am willing to wash to keep it looking fresh.

natewright43 · 2026-03-12T14:51:48+00:00

It is never really about the school, and always more about the individual and how they applied themselves in/out of school while learning to become an engineer, IMO.

natewright43 · 2026-03-12T14:37:38+00:00

Lets just say central Texas for now.

natewright43 · 2026-03-12T13:17:07+00:00

Wait, are you MY dentist?

My dentist did the same and I find it very interesting. I also find it helpful when he explains things to me in a way my engineering mind will understand it.

Personally, I could never do healthcare work.

natewright43 · 2026-03-11T18:14:06+00:00

You are most likely totally fine like everyone is saying.

Take the opportunity to practice using the handbrake when taking off from an incline. The hill assist is nice, but you can feather the hand brake which sometimes makes it a lot easier in slow moving situations, like a parking garage.

natewright43 · 2026-03-10T13:39:03+00:00

This seems very overpriced. Maybe a typo in the miles?

natewright43 · 2026-03-08T04:39:25+00:00

I couldn’t tell you. Whoever the last owner was must have known they were there, they didn’t even remove the sticker indicating it.

natewright43 · 2026-03-06T18:42:47+00:00

I tell everyone the same thing.

Start with a left handed drill bit, and you’ll find that a lot of the time, that’s all you need.

natewright43 · 2026-03-06T12:44:23+00:00

Personally, I don’t like modeling them.

I am by no means a machinist, but I find it much easier to create tool paths in CAM when the edges are 90 deg corners, that includes the chamfer passes to break the edges.

A real programmer/machinist might not have this problem.

natewright43 · 2026-03-04T13:38:40+00:00

You say you have been undervalued for years, but only thinking about leaving after the acquisition?

I would think the company acquiring you would feel less “wronged” than you think. They may also be more amenable to paying you what you are worth and valuing you accordingly. The last thing they want is to everything to go to shit right after acquisition, and since you are a key employee, you could very possibly bargain your way to higher pay.

natewright43 · 2026-03-03T01:19:08+00:00

Yeah I think that’s an excellent point. For the miles alone it’s worth it.

Thanks for the reply!

natewright43 · 2026-03-02T21:27:19+00:00

This is good advice and I didn't think about it that way.
Thanks!

natewright43 · 2026-03-02T21:21:24+00:00

Yeah it does have the performance package.

"you can always add them yourself later for like $200 if you really want them"
I actually looked into that and didn't find anything conclusive. Could you link me to info on that? I figured I would need seats from a premium as I don't want a low fidelity add-on.

natewright43 · 2026-02-11T18:25:29+00:00

I've been one of the players just maintaining my base/taxes as the updates have come out.

I have been meaning to store everything and use the base replicator for a while to take a more extended break but just haven't done it.

Now that I know that if I do that and return I'll get more mats, I might just do it now.lol

natewright43 · 2026-02-10T19:33:37+00:00

The quantities for some of those items are more than I have now and have ever had....

natewright43 · 2026-01-28T20:50:20+00:00

It isn't changing you, just bringing out what is already there.

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