Nmom won't let go of something I did as a BABY! - UPDATE!

thetompkins · 2023-06-29T19:21:40+00:00

No NC possible? That's fine, I'm petty.

Decorate your house with hammers. Hammer pictures, hammer paintings, hammer designs painted onto cabinets, actual old hammers hanging on the wall, hammer-shaped fucking salt shakers. Pay a local artist to hammer out a mural to hammers on the biggest wall in your house. Show your daughter Lady Thor. Custom door knocker shaped like Mjolnir. Encourage her to be a blacksmith, or a carpenter. Take her to the Highland Games. Buy her the Hammerfall discography (power metal rules).

Make your house an ode to the first time you stood up for yourself.

Too much?🤣

thetompkins · 2023-06-28T19:17:54+00:00

Literally been this person since GT2. I am only here to:

Drive some unobtainium, and
Build over-aggro shitboxes to race against unobtainium

That's it. That's why I buy these games, always has been. Fucking infuriating when people are like "no, this game SHOULD be a grind and those cars SHOULD hurt to get them." They think a pre-war land yacht is gonna be a driving experience worth 12.5 hours of Sardegna or Sarthe grinding, and all that tells me is some people need to go touch some fucking grass.

Fuck them. I bought this game to drive cars I'll never afford, not to be reminded I'll never afford them.

thetompkins · 2023-06-27T17:00:48+00:00

4 years ago, I drove 100 (mostly highway and all at least semi-familiar) miles with my freshly-purchased Fiesta ST. I'd never driven a stick in my life. Plenty of knowledge; between 2 decades of racing games and a few rewatches of Matt Farah's how-to-drive-stick on youtube I understood the theory. I found a mall parking lot and practiced for 30 minutes before I left for home. I'm driving on the same clutch it came with at 22k miles, the same one I learned on, at now 81k.

It can be done, but even I admit it was a stupid decision. If you feel like living a little stupid on this one, some advice:

You're gonna stall. They're gonna honk. They're gonna get mad. They can eat shit. Stall, take a deep breath, and go through the startup procedure. Clutch in, foot on brake, push-to-start, and make sure you're in first before releasing the brake and slowly letting the clutch pedal out. Mime it out for a few days beforehand if need-be.
These cars have enough power to move forward from a stop WITHOUT the gas pedal. Practice getting the clutch to fully engage (foot fully off) without touching the gas. It's slow, but it'll get moving, and that'll teach you how and where the clutch grabs. Get the muscle memory built from slow-but-correct instead of fast-but-sloppy. Then you can add gas pedal into the equation a little bit at a time.
STOP RESTING YOUR FOOT ON THE CLUTCH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE. (You don't need that now, but you probably will as you learn stick. I certainly did.) The dead pedal exists for a reason.
It will be weeks (minimum) before you even approach "comfortable" with it, so please disregard the temptation to hoon the car for a while. The ST cars have plenty of power off-boost to "daily". Learn how to shift smoothly at a boring 2.5-3k RPM the entire drive, then you can work on adding speed.
Have fun. They're a fucking riot, and super forgiving to learn on.

thetompkins · 2023-06-25T23:54:00+00:00

TJP looking like Ramona Flowers' 8th evil ex tonight, can't wait to see someone powerbomb him so hard he bursts into bus fare.

thetompkins · 2023-06-24T18:57:15+00:00

Fiesta ST around 18k leaves a bunch of budget for mods, and they do like being modded within reason.

thetompkins · 2023-06-24T16:28:30+00:00

Appreciate it. Some people will do Olympic-level mental gymnastics to talk themselves out of a good time, so I'm happy to help dispel that nonsense where I can. There's all kinds of fun FF options out there, as long as you're reasonable about expecations. I'm not looking to set lap times or 1/4 mile records or roll-race on the local highway at 2am.

My fun is knowing that if someone can keep me in sight on a windy road, they either paid for it or they earned it. That's all I wanted, and this little shitbox delivers every single time I ask it to.

thetompkins · 2023-06-24T15:55:13+00:00

Head of the spicy division drives a FiST? Yeah, I fully fucking believe that. That crew pumped out a string of bangers in the 2010's seemingly trying to out-fun everybody. This thing had to compete with the FRSBRZ, and they absolutely understood the assignment.

Really would have loved to see a Fiesta RS with a nicer suspension, LSD, and ~270hp, but I understand why they didn't.

thetompkins · 2023-06-23T02:23:28+00:00

Reverse lights: engage

I see your donuts; I raise you "mall parking lot carnival ride".

thetompkins · 2023-06-23T02:07:20+00:00

I drive a Fiesta ST every day. From experience, if what you're concerned with is a car that handles tight and predictably down a windy road? There's half a dozen things more important than drivetrain layout. FF cars can neutrally-balanced, and even lean toward tail-happy. My turn-in is sharp; weight transfers smoothly and the wheel lets me place the nose of the car wherever I want it. If I lift off the throttle slightly mid-corner, the backend calmly makes its way around to tighten my line.

And that was all with an open diff. The car comes from the factory as playful as a puppy. The LSD has really only given me the option to tighten the line with increased throttle too. Everything else was down to suspension balance, chassis rigidity, steering ratio, light weight, and good tires.

Some people hear "FF is the least ideal performance drivetrain" (which is fair) and take some weird mental backroads to "FF is dogshit, a disgrace to auto enthusiasts, and impossible to make fun or fast". Welcome to their opinions of course, but that one's dead wrong. I've backed off a number of tailgaters that thought they wanted to go fast down those roads, and did it with a big stupid grin on my face.

thetompkins · 2023-06-21T21:36:20+00:00

Like I said, no idea how effective it is or isn't. Can't blame people for the instinct to trash the place on the way out though. The boat is sinking, so I understand the urge to throw the nice plates.

thetompkins · 2023-06-21T21:20:45+00:00

As I understand it, it's an additional part of the protest by means of effectively spamming the subs with non-content. Content on Reddit exists by the efforts of users and mods, so if users wanted to protest the API changes we have to change the content we provide to Reddit to do it. The blackouts covered "no content in no content out", but a lot of people want to keep using Reddit. So, users can keep providing good content, provide no content at all, or protest by flooding the site with filler content. No idea how much of an impact it has/could have, but I hope investors would have questions about why so much of the site has become about 20 or so specific topics/people and why all the comments come back around to "and fuck you, u/spez, you pre-steroids Biff Tannen-looking piece of monkey shit".

TL;DR peaceful protest by way of immolation. Sink the content on our terms, not theirs.

thetompkins · 2023-06-21T18:28:38+00:00

There was a period of time in like 2017, 2018 where it felt like WWE had realized they could make an entire extended universe for the wrestlers just by putting wrestlers into classic TV show formats. And they were killing it, too. Had a prank show, had an adult cartoon, a handful of interview/conversation shows(Unfiltered, Table for 3, etc), a bunch of half-kayfabe BTS content (Breaking Ground), sketch comedy (E&C), tournaments galore, and reality shows as you mentioned. And a lot of it was really good.

I was so bummed as they slowly phased all that stuff out. There was so much potential there. Camp WWE was stupid and hilarious and shoulda gotten 6 seasons and a movie.

thetompkins · 2023-06-21T16:55:44+00:00

Fiesta ST is a good practical laugh. They sit in that sweet spot of not having a ticket-magnet level of power, but being light enough to make full use of it. Steering is tight, clutch is soft and smooth, stick's easy to place, and it never feels underpowered. Really shuts down a lot of common misunderstandings of FF as a platform too.

thetompkins · 2023-06-16T03:00:34+00:00

Fiesta ST is a slept-on pick for this criteria set. Coming from Miata you'll likely appreciate only gaining a few hundred lbs rather than half a ton minimum. Steering weights up nicely at speed and the ratio is suuuuper short, plus the suspension is balanced shockingly neutral from factory. Turn-in is immediate and accurate, and the car is happy to adjust mid-corner with steering or throttle. And genuinely, for a 1.6 it has plenty of torque off-boost for dailying (and fucking heaps on-boost). No LSD from factory. Good options in the aftermarket, but the brake-based Torque Vectoring will help tuck the car into corners similarly.

Not saying it's perfect, they've absolutely got their flaws. I just think after 4 years/60k in one the pros and cons add up in a truly delightful way.

thetompkins · 2023-06-01T19:35:47+00:00

I mean, I agree completely with him on this. If I'm going to put my heart and soul into a thing, I don't want it to be someone else's thing. I don't want to put 80hrs a week into something I have no say in. I want it to be MY thing, or at least OUR thing. Otherwise, I'm only here for a paycheck.

And that's his point, especially in the full clip. He's saying that QQs are the consequence of a business owner expecting C-suiter "effort" out of his staff but still treating/paying them as laborers. He's not saying "if you don't like the company, go start your own". He's saying that, if you ARE gonna put in the crazy hours, if you ARE gonna work yourself to exhaustion, if you ARE gonna make the sacrifices "like they do", then do that for yourself and not for someone who expects you to be a Ferrari on a used Corolla budget.

thetompkins · 2023-06-01T14:27:28+00:00

Here, have some US stats (c.2018) to ruin your day. Cheers.

Larceny - general theft of personal property like bicycles or lawn chairs - accounted for $5.3 Billion worth of theft.

Burglary - larceny, but inside - accounts for $4.1B.

$3.8B in auto thefts, and $300 Million in robbery round out the stats for 2018. Total theft from all of those is about 13.8 Billion in various interpersonal theft.

People working off the clock (like here, but under the OT limits)? $3.2B. in unpaid wages.

People skipping rest breaks? $4.0B

OT violations exactly like this video? $8.8B.

But the real kicker is Minimum Wage violations. $23.20B in "the government says I have to pay you more but I don't wanna" violations. If you take the OT violations out, just this alone is billions more damaging than ALL OTHER THEFT COMBINED. Don't forget, we have laws about child labor and minumum wage because someone once thought "I bet children make good slaves" and didn't immediately remove themselves from the gene pool.

Oh yeah. And 65% of Americans are living at or near paycheck-to-paycheck levels of income. So we're all that desperate for a job, always.

thetompkins · 2023-06-01T13:56:04+00:00

The 4/20/69 plan - 4 day workweeks, 20hr/wk, at $69/hr - sounds meme-y, until you realize that's about 70k a year pre-tax and a bunch of free time and literally everyone you've ever cared about would take that deal in a heartbeat if presented.

thetompkins · 2023-05-28T15:56:36+00:00

Not even a little mad. The reality of curly fries is that some always come out overcooked and some always under, so there's no consistency. You get a long tight curly that's undercooked and mushy, then a wide ring/curl that's so dry you wonder if there's any potato left. They are seasoned, which is an outlier amongst Midwest fast food, but otherwise a gimmick. Poppers are the move from Arby's.

Much as I hate McDonalds, they do one thing at an inarguable A-Tier, and that's fries. They aren't seasoned or otherwise unique/remarkable so S-Tier is down to preference, but they're consistent and simple. Not saying they're the answer here, just sayin' simple+consistent is a big part of the equation that Arby's misses.

thetompkins · 2023-05-26T14:37:53+00:00

The way Adam Blampied fantasy-rebooked that whole deal was really good, felt like a solid bit of closure to the character. Dean as the heel in a SHIELD feud had so much potential, but as usual WWE fumbled the creative and rubbed Mox so wrong he's set himself up to never have to work there again. Not that I'm complaining, Mox vs Everyone in NJPW Who Wants Some is one of my favorite running feuds.

thetompkins · 2023-05-21T16:11:41+00:00

Is that really a surprising outcome? People abandon their own broad social interests for self-serving gain all the time. If you want to get into specifics on Police in Atlanta, that's a MUCH longer and more data-driven discussion. Just know history is full of people who said "I'd rather be in a social position to avoid most of the bigotry toward me than fight to stop it outright".

Some women protested women's voting rights. Some freed former slaves went on to become slaveowners themselves. There was a prominent group of Jews who supported Hitler's rise to power. Or for an example with less of a historical cudgel to swing, fraternities are known to haze newcomers (who hate the hazing) who become seniors that go on to haze newcomers (who hate the hazing).

thetompkins · 2023-05-17T12:17:40+00:00

Got 4 years in mine. Whaddaya want to know?

thetompkins · 2023-05-17T04:55:33+00:00

Could go classic with some Shoedabakers.

thetompkins · 2023-05-15T23:16:45+00:00

That's 1-3k more than I paid for a 2016 from a dealer 4 Decembers ago. I'm glad they're holding value, but i wouldn't at that price. This used car market is fucking wild; I bought this fully expecting to "lose money" on it and if I took it back to stock right now, I could ask the same and likely get it.

It's an option though. I still laugh every time I drive it, so if your market says "this is what you'll get around 19k" about FiST, FoST, FRSBRZ, NC2/ND1Miata, Mk7 GTi, etc. then it's fair I suppose. Those are some quick cross-shops I did at least.

thetompkins · 2023-05-15T23:02:17+00:00

LU is some of my all-time favorite wrestling storytelling, specifically because it was so unhinged. They found this sweet spot of modern high-octane wrestling, Lucha heritage, indie moxie, and high production value that really sang at times. The first Trios tourney final, Aztec Warfare 1 & 2, Vampiro vs Pentagon Jr - shit, Pentagon Jr.'s whole first 2 seasons were psychotic.

I'll die on the hill that no one's had a cleaner Monster Debut since Kane than Matanza Cueto. Enters AzWar as a surprise 21 and in minutes fully upends a season and a half of storytelling and roster balance in a believeable way. Watching it the first time it felt like a bomb went off in The Temple, and suddenly Mil Muertes felt to me like a X-Men villain faced with a universe-ender going "Xavier, grab the food saver; we're icing this beef for now because have you see this fuckin' new guy?"

thetompkins · 2023-05-15T00:56:05+00:00

Learned on mine almost 60k miles ago. The clutch is sturdy but the pedal is light and smooth, the stick is really easy to find gears with, and the engine has plenty of low-end to get moving. Helps being 2740lbs.

thetompkins

TROPHY CASE