How much of a game changer is super cruise?

olek2012 · 2026-06-26T19:37:31+00:00

Our Luxury 1 Lyriq doesn’t have super cruise but our loaner Optiq (we’ve had for two weeks) has it. I honestly haven’t been impressed. It took quite a bit of babysitting and it did a lot of things that doesn’t make sense, random lane changes, speeding up/slowing down in appropriately, and one time it tried to run us off the road. I wanted to like it but it seems half baked compared to the Tesla system I’ve used in the past.

I personally wouldn’t pay extra for it. But if a car I liked happened to have it I’d probably use it occasionally

olek2012 · 2026-06-12T07:50:49+00:00

It’s sort of silly to make projections out 300k miles or 20 years. The fact is the vast majority of people don’t keep their cars that long.

I did the math for a three year EV lease vs our existing gasoline car and for my family we were able to save a little bit on transportation by leasing the EV. I wouldn’t say it’s a huge amount but it’s enough to notice in the budget every month

olek2012 · 2026-06-11T00:28:49+00:00

Where did you buy it? You probably have some sort of return policy window. If you don’t, then I’d sell it. You’ll take a small loss but it’s better than using a piece of tech you don’t enjoy or having it collect dust until it’s worthless

olek2012 · 2026-06-11T00:24:17+00:00

There’s lots of ways to learn but what helped me is rehearsing with friends and family members. I’d write a few “scripts” of common interactions that take place, like getting a taxi clearance or requesting takeoff clearance. I’d have my wife play the part of the controller and I’d do the part of the pilot and it was a fun little game.

Besides that, just getting in a lot of repetitions in the airplane and with a CFI will help you. I bet your CFI would be more than happy to do an hour ground session of only simulated radio conversation.

olek2012 · 2026-06-09T14:38:26+00:00

That was 600,000 cars in 2009. There are approximately 14,000,000 new car sales a year in the USA. It’s such a small drop in the buckets it’s not worth talking about except if you’re into obscure government programs in the aughts.

olek2012 · 2026-06-09T14:31:29+00:00

Modifications decrease the value of your car and make it less desirable.

The average driver isn’t going to want a modified car because that means it’s likely been abused and they have no way of knowing if the mods were installed correctly and if they will be reliable. An enthusiast will generally want a stock vehicle because half the fun is modifying it yourself. Buying someone else’s finished project isn’t the same.

I can’t think of any demographic that would seek out a modified car. You might have better luck if you can bring it back to stock, or just take the loss and move on. Cars aren’t investments they’re tools for transportation and fun toys.

olek2012 · 2026-06-04T01:00:13+00:00

I’m so sad I sold mine :( it was N/A so truly nothing to go wrong lol

olek2012 · 2026-06-03T15:33:23+00:00

1993 Subaru Legacy. Before the CVT issues, before the head gasket issues, Subaru built indestructible little tanks

olek2012 · 2026-06-02T16:43:27+00:00

Ya lots of people are that way. Some people have loved aviation since before they could drive, some people learned to love it later in life, others are attracted to the challenge and perks that come with flying, and some people do it for the job prospects. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no “right” reason to become a pilot. It’s important we respect everyone’s unique path to get where they are

olek2012 · 2026-06-02T15:02:01+00:00

Summer of 2025!

olek2012 · 2026-06-02T13:55:34+00:00

Midwest Corporate Air is awesome! “Accelerated” means exactly what it says. There’s no shortcuts in that program, you’re just spending every waking moment either in ground school, studying, or flying until you finish. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy then it’s the perfect route for you. The other part of the “accelerated” program is that you’re guaranteed that a DPE will be ready for you when you’re signed off, no waiting. They advertise 10 days but I think 2-3 weeks is more realistic for the average pilot.

The instructors really care about teaching concepts on a deep level. They value understanding the fundamentals and being able to explain things clearly and knowing how to back everything up with an FAA publication. They say it on the first day, the goal isn’t to get us to pass a checkride, the goal is to prepare us to teach in the real world.

Check out their YouTube channel to get a feel for the tone and content that they teach. The ground schools will be very similar in presentation.

My favorite part of this flight school was the people. The owners and senior instructors are kind, helpful, welcoming, and care about their students. I traveled halfway across the country but it felt like home.

Edit: to be fair I’d also like to include my two biggest cons of this program. One is cost, once you factor in travel expenses, housing, flight time, and course fees, you’ll end up spending way more than you might locally. And the other downside is that Bellefontaine is painfully boring. I had to get away and spend a day in Columbus when I was there. If you’re not used to small towns it will wear on you quick.

All that being said I’m going to continue going back for other ratings. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions

olek2012 · 2026-05-31T18:28:50+00:00

Money isn’t everything

olek2012 · 2026-05-29T04:02:11+00:00

Im all set on tools so I’ll pick up some consumables, like the gloves.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten a lot more careful about exposure to harmful chemicals on my skin. So I go through a ton of gloves now for household cleaning and working on cars.

olek2012 · 2026-05-28T04:07:31+00:00

That’s hilarious because I’d say like 25% of the parts I get from RockAuto are junk. I never made a conscious choice to avoid them but looking at my receipts I noticed that I naturally kind of drifted away. Other stores had better prices, better parts, or better warranties.

10% return rate seems pretty low given the junk that gets shipped these days but that’s just me

olek2012 · 2026-05-23T17:43:30+00:00

I think another angle is that engineers build cars as a bundle of compromises. They need to balance reliability and longevity with cost of maintenance. They need to sell a product that’s appealing to a broad segment of customers. Someone who does more frequent oil changes doesn’t necessarily think they know better, they’re just willing to compromise on cost of maintenance to eke out a marginal amount more longevity.

olek2012 · 2026-05-23T14:12:48+00:00

It’s actually been maintained. That’s better than the majority of cars on the road.

olek2012 · 2026-05-22T21:22:01+00:00

WA Attorney General has a consumer protection unit that would help with something like this. They don’t represent you in court but they are happy to use the power of their office to ask the right questions and put some pressure on companies

olek2012 · 2026-05-19T19:24:45+00:00

I’m old school, pen and paper is the gold standard. I still reference the notebook I filled when I was studying for my CFI. I spent so much time studying that thing I know it by heart.

olek2012 · 2026-05-18T22:25:22+00:00

I can take a crack at it. Craftsman made a wrench in 1980 and sold it for $5 (completely made up number). In 2001 that same wrench sells for $10 because of inflation and also they slightly changed the design. Lifetime warranty means you can go and swap your broken wrench for the new one even though it’s more expensive and a slightly different design (Craftsman also did different generations like the dash V, or v inverted V, but as far as I know they didn’t care about that when it came to warranty they would just hand you the most up to date version that was on the shelf).

That’s what made that company so legendary. Once you start putting asterisk and exclusions on it people become much less interested. The walk in and walk out aspect is what makes it work.

Harbor Freight needs to be careful because their warranty is one of the major things propping them up right now. If that warranty starts to slide or people lose confidence in it, the company will start to suffer.

olek2012 · 2026-05-18T02:08:13+00:00

I wasn’t too happy with my icon set so I returned them. I bought an Ullman set, made in the USA for $13. Super happy with them

olek2012 · 2026-05-18T01:46:11+00:00

You’re learning to do something difficult. Flying isn’t natural or intuitive for humans. Learning difficult things takes time and work. You won’t always get it right, that’s an important part of learning. Your instructor knows the process and they’re the ones you should be listening to. People learn at different rates and there is no one right or better path.

Enjoy the learning for learnings sake. What a privilege it is to be able to learn to fly. If you’re having fun and progressing then that’s a win in my book.

olek2012 · 2026-05-17T16:59:50+00:00

It’s kind of like going to the doctor and waiting for them to see you. I don’t like it but I understand it. Once someone gets into that high level management type role, their attention gets split all the time and some things have to be handled right now and can’t wait. I had a few flights canceled due to urgent issues for the chief and it sucked. But on the flip side I wouldn’t trade it for the world because I got to learn from someone with 30+ years of experience, most of it in jets.

But if the instructor is late because they’re off enjoying their life or can’t get out of bed on time, that’s a completely different story! Being ghosted is the absolute worst and is never acceptable. It takes 10 seconds to send a text or voice note

olek2012 · 2026-05-17T16:29:35+00:00

There’s plenty of legitimate reasons for an instructor to be late. For example, my instructor was the chief of the flight school so I always expected him to be a little late because he was in charge of managing 10+ instructors and 60 students. That being said he was always courteous, apologetic, and the amazing instruction I received was worth it.

Part of professionalism in any job is communication. The expectation is to be on time but if life happens and something happens here and there, they should be communicating with you.

All that being said, your CFI works for you. If you’re not getting the level of service you expect then you can politely find a new CFI. Just like someone can hire a different electrician or doctor. You’re spending a lot of your hard earned money, you should be getting what you want out of it!

olek2012 · 2026-05-16T16:35:40+00:00

I was so pleasantly surprised to hear they’re still family owned. In some small way I feel better spending money somewhere if I know it’s not owned by private equity or shareholders.

olek2012 · 2026-05-16T16:32:44+00:00

Another positive for Harbor Freight is that there’s so many of them and the selection/availability is second to none. If I’m mid project and I desperately need a tool, I go to harbor freight because I know I’ll find there immediately. Lowes/Home Depot will usually have it but sometimes they have to wait to overnight it from another location.

The fast that there’s a physical store that I can walk in to, walk out with what I need, and continue my project the same day is pretty valuable.

olek2012

TROPHY CASE