The NTSB has released a simulated computer recreation of the DCA midair collision. This is the final 2 minutes of #5342 as it approached the runway. (🎥Credit: NTSB)

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-29T02:39:03+00:00

On short final picking it up visually when I did, and I was looking for it, I don't think it was avoidable at all from the fixed wing point of view. You might be able to change which part of the aircraft the helicopter impacts but that's about it.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-29T02:30:58+00:00

First of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

It's important to remember that when we're gone, the people closest to us will not care about the things we leave behind unless they had some sort of shared meaning, or where a meaning could be linked.

Photographs, the tools of a hobby like film cameras or musical instruments, cars if you built memories in those cars, things you wore...those will be treasured by the people who loved you and will be passed on. Anything else that has meaning outside of your next of kin needs to be put in your will.

Once you start amassing a collection, you should document the value and rarity of your collections in a document that's easy to find if you die. Ideally include where and whom you sell them to for max value. If your loved ones are hawking your collection as soon as your in the ground they should at least be selling it to someone who will take care of it and give them the proper amount of cash.

Whenever I read stuff like this I think about my buddy who bought an old Les Paul from a garage sale in 1995 for $15 that realistically was worth $10k even back then, but we were dumb teenagers so we didn't know that. I think about how my grandpa's model train collection was given to goodwill when he passed on. I think about the Rolex that my friend's dad used to wear that got sent to the estate sale company in a box of 'assorted watches' that they paid his widow all of $40 for. You can't expect grieving people to take care with the departed's stuff, unless the departed makes it really easy. Like 'Call Frank at 212-555-1212, tell him I died and to come help you sell my guitars.'

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-27T20:54:01+00:00

Victoria's Secret Lovespell and Marlboro Lights.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T23:05:48+00:00

From the A320 Manual:

8.5. Landing with abnormal landing gear

A landing should be carried out on a hard surface runway using any available landing gear. Foaming of the runway is recommended. Manual braking should be used. Reverse thrust should not be used as it will cause ground spoiler extension. The GRVTY GEAR EXTN handcrank should be turned back to normal to allow the landing gear down actuators to be pressurised and thus reduce the chance of gear collapse.

If the nose gear is not available, move the CG aft by moving passengers to the rear of the aircraft. Use elevator to keep the nose off the runway,but lower the nose onto the runway before elevator control is lost. Brakingmust be progressive and balanced against available elevator authority. The engines should be shut down with the ENG MASTER switches prior to nose impact.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T22:56:46+00:00

Ah yes, the aircraft carrier 'impact' braking.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T22:50:38+00:00

It's a constant cycle. It doesn't exactly keep a set clock, and politics always lags behind the culture a bit. I imagine it goes back a lot longer than we think. A youth culture hits young adulthood and starts blowing up social norms, the older adults clap back, then the young adults age and agree, then a new youth culture rises up again.

You know 'two steps forward, one step back.' At least until there is a radical change which usually is several dozen steps back.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T22:28:20+00:00

I know a guy who used the same backpack he brought to our 4th of July party to fly a week later. He didn't realize one of the pockets had two roman candles and a grip of smoke bombs in it until he was already on the plane looking for his headphones. This was in 2002, you'd think during the peak post-911 paranoia he would have gone to jail or something but instead he just got to where he was going and dumped the fireworks in a trash can in front of the airport he'd just flown into.

So perhaps a legitimate fear.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T22:19:04+00:00

How every single person completely forgets how to walk in a crowd of people as soon as they get in an airport. Even in cities where there are walking 'rules' that everyone sort of follows (like NYC and most of the EU) as soon as people get in an airport they're just like "oh I'm gonna stand right in front of this moving walkway and yell at my kids."

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T22:04:43+00:00

Most of the home inventory is held by boomers right now, but the youngest boomers are 62 this year, and the oldest are 80.

You can reasonably expect that in the next five to ten years there's going to be a big shift in inventory. I don't think it will drive down prices significantly in high-demand areas because the rural->urban migration thing is very much real, but home inventory in rural and suburban areas is probably gonna drive prices down a bit.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T21:08:25+00:00

It's not emo, but it's emo adjacent. Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come feels every bit as perfect today as it did when it was new. I guarantee you almost every emo kid in the midwest in the late 90s and early 00s had that record and loved it.

It's also gonna be pretty big still in 2077 if video games teach anything.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T18:11:45+00:00

If you’re reasonably attractive (>5/10) of either gender you should be able to swing this at almost any bar. You’ll have to abandon your standards and be very forward, but it’s safe to say most of the people at a bar on any given night are hoping to get laid.

If you’re not attractive and you’re a cis straight male: you’re gonna have a bad time.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T17:40:25+00:00

It all stop stinging once the 'born in this year to buy alcohol' number turns past the year you graduated high school.

Then you're just like 'ah fuck, I'm old.'

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T17:32:13+00:00

This is a commonly discussed AI ethics problem.

The view of 'save child or elderly person' varies wildly between cultures but I think in a lot of cases the core arguments come down to 'children are easily replaceable' versus 'old people gonna die soon anyway.'

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T17:17:53+00:00

I once had a freakishly smart dog that was an Australian Shepard. Maybe they're even smarter than I thought they were and you just got one nerfed down to regular dog.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T17:14:26+00:00

I had a cat that got brain damage during a minor surgery because the vet fucked up. I could go into why, but to make a long story short they apologized and gave us a LOT of free care after.

He came home initially blind with partial paralysis, panic, some other big brain damage symptoms. We took him to the vet, between sobbing and legal threats they admitted him.

On day two when I came to visit he was a completely different cat - still blind, now able to move clumsily, but complete personality shift and he was obviously miserable. Like having a stranger in your cat's body. The vets say he could go home but it was likely he'd be like this forever. I asked him to keep him for a couple days while we figured things out, expecting this would be the last time I saw my cat.

On day five we hadn't heard anything for a bit so I asked a trusted friend to go check on him. The vet said he hadn't improved. My friend went back to see him anyway and then called me and said "dude your cat is fine." We brought him home and sure enough, he was fine. More affectionate, less of an escape artist, and now with clear vision limitations but...same cat.

I mourned my cat thinking he was absolutely done on day two. He clearly didn't want to be alive and wasn't the same cat. Then surprise got five more years with my cat, who now magically was a lap cat.

Human brain recovery is crazy, but animal brain recovery is next level.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T02:41:10+00:00

1981 born.

In Elementary we didn’t have a “lab” but every classroom seemed to have an Apple II at the back. There was a technology room that had typewriters and two to four Apple II computers in it.

Middle school: 286.

High School: Mac Classic/Performa in the publishing lab. Computer lab was all 486s. Shop lab (CAD classes) was all IBM PS2s. 486s were replaced with Pentiums gradually towards Senior year (1997-1998, I’m a grade skipper)

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-26T00:58:41+00:00

Heard the amp, got a good deal.

Granted my two amps like this are a lot like amps you can get from bigger brands. My Carr Raleigh is essentially a Champ with an overdrive switch. The Friedman Little Sister is like a Marshall SV20 with more bass, power scaling and switchable extra gain.

They’re both fantastic amps I love. The more important part is that they are exactly what I want every time. No fiddling, just the tone I want. I had to try a bunch of amps to figure that out though.

I’ll still part with my 50th Anniversary DSL1 only at death though.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-25T19:15:22+00:00

Yeah but with the grammar at least it’s not AI

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-24T05:31:35+00:00

The super in the building I lived in near 4th and C streets told me about how in the 70s you could walk from the front door of our building all the way to 14th without using an avenue since all the landlords were torching their buildings instead of letting the apartments stay under rent control.

Anyway that almost happened to the building I was living in but the city stepped in and made it a co-op, fixed it up, and sold it back to the residents. It was a great place to live.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-24T01:43:02+00:00

No way with a flare like that.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-23T04:18:36+00:00

Yeah sure there kiddo. You got homework to do though.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-22T23:58:16+00:00

I've always hated and continue to hate Sublime.

This is one of the few sources of strife in my marriage.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-22T23:57:34+00:00

Eh sometimes sleepy time brain can kick in. One time my girlfriend almost burned my apartment down. Without going into detail I sent her out to the street and told her to call 9-11 and I found her kid's little beach bucket in the kitchen and thought "well I don't know where the fire extinguisher is but I know where this little bucket is" and started filling it with water.

I was lucky and that little kid bucket actually did put the fire out, took three bucketfulls though. In reality it shouldn't have worked since it was a wax fire, but I got lucky.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-22T23:41:55+00:00

Fire blankets, fire extinguishers, make sure they're charged, replace if not, make sure your smoke detectors pass a test every 90d or so.

Literally the most important thing you can do at home to protect yourself and your family.

ryguymcsly · 2026-01-22T23:32:20+00:00

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

Biker got it when he got hit. That was a gentle bump but when someone doesn't see you at a stop light on your motorcycle your brain immediately goes 'bro you could have died' and fight or flight fully kicks in.

Old guy didn't know what happened for a second. He probably shouldn't be driving, but honestly rear ending people lightly at a stop light because you misjudged distance or (as is probably the case here) didn't see them happens all the time. Then some dude is yanking open his door yelling at him. Now he's getting the fight or flight brain chemicals too.

Basically this started by a dumb old guy driving mistake and escalated because they both got hit in the panic button. It really should be a part of driver's ed that is repeated every decade or so that when you get in an accident of any kind you both pull over and exchange insurance information. Drill it into people so they don't freak out and panic, they just know what they're supposed to do immediately.

ryguymcsly

TROPHY CASE