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MrChips posted:Congratulations Blaise for doing what we all want to to but are too chickenshit to actually go through with. I've always felt like doing something like that, though with a house and kids it's pretty much impossible to do. And a huge part of me has the feeling that (at least in my case) it wouldn't solve the ennui and listlessness that I always feel. I'll still feel like that, just in other places. Instead I've embraced nihilism and figure I can either rot here or in another place and try to enjoy the brief moment in time I'm alive and can feel listless about it. 
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Nov 26, 2014 19:37
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CornHolio posted:I've always felt like doing something like that, though with a house and kids it's pretty much impossible to do. And a huge part of me has the feeling that (at least in my case) it wouldn't solve the ennui and listlessness that I always feel. I'll still feel like that, just in other places. It's funny that you're responding to this thread, because you're actually part of the reason I can do this. I read your thread back in BFC back in what, 2009? and was like oh poo poo, am I living above my means? I wasn't, but I became aware of a lot of wastefulness in my spending. 5 years later, thanks to much more careful spending, I can afford to take off work for a few years. Teaching the gf the same stuff to get her out of debt thought, has NOT been fun. Thanks CornHolio 
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Nov 26, 2014 19:41
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Blaise posted:It's funny that you're responding to this thread, because you're actually part of the reason I can do this. I'm glad my terrible situation could help some people out I'm not as well off as I should be at the moment, but I bought a house before I had enough saved up for emergencies, and promptly had emergencies including a tornado in my backyard (literally) but I'm doing well enough to be able to recover by spring I hope. I still remember posting that thread (I think it was '09) from my ghetto apartment, while in my underwear, on a whim. And I remember it falling off of the first page without a reply, and going to bed thinking that was it. I don't even want to think where I'd be if I hadn't posted it, or where other people might have ended up if they haven't read it.
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Nov 26, 2014 20:02
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Rhyno posted:I feel like this should be an open offer to any AI goon. Alright fine anyone who stops by can drive the Zam.
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Nov 27, 2014 05:57
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Polish posted:Alright fine anyone who stops by can drive the Zam. FINALLY THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.
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Nov 27, 2014 05:59
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Seriously.. if anyone wants to I will allow it.. PM me. Its really not that much fun but life experiences and all.
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Nov 27, 2014 06:11
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Right on man, see the country, travel. It's good to do if you've never been able to. I did some when I was younger and still get to take trips now and then. I'm hoping once my kiddos get a bit older I'll be able to start doing road trips again, which I miss.
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Nov 27, 2014 07:57
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Polish posted:If you stop by the Philadelphia area I'll let you drive a Zamboni. I'm in Philly now. How's it handle compared to a Miata?
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Nov 27, 2014 17:42
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Blaise posted:I'm in Philly now. http://www.simeonemuseum.org/ Go check it out. Also, I'm 20 mins south of philly if you want to come fix the MJ for me
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Nov 27, 2014 17:52
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Like a boat. I'll be there Friday 9-5 if you want.
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Nov 27, 2014 17:52
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KILLBONI 2014.
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Nov 27, 2014 17:55
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Come to Asheville for a while and drive yet another MJ!
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Nov 27, 2014 18:09
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If you find yourself in Detroit, drop me a PM. I'll show you around and introduce you to our excellent food scene and fantastic Michigan beers.
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Nov 27, 2014 18:57
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Someday this will be me...someday.
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Nov 27, 2014 22:27
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If you're near raleigh NC and need a bed to crash in feel free to stop by
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Nov 28, 2014 08:13
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deratomicdog posted:If you're near raleigh NC and need a bed to crash in feel free to stop by Same, although I'm down the street in Durham. Just give me a week's notice.
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Nov 28, 2014 15:09
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Polish posted:Seriously.. if anyone wants to I will allow it.. PM me. Its really not that much fun but life experiences and all. Prepare to start booking vacation packages for goons. Make partnerships with airlines and hotels. MrChips posted:Congratulations Blaise for doing what we all want to to but are too chickenshit to actually go through with.
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Nov 28, 2014 15:17
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I did this once. I wound up largely back where I started, but it was worth it.
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Nov 28, 2014 18:28
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This is excellent. I demand pictures!
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Nov 29, 2014 06:38
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deratomicdog posted:If you're near raleigh NC and need a bed to crash in feel free to stop by Wrar posted:Same, although I'm down the street in Durham. Just give me a week's notice. Oh gross, goons live in Raleigh, too? Ugh.
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Nov 29, 2014 06:59
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Sounds great! What are you doing along the way? Bringing bikes or skis? Let me know when you're in MT. jamal fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Nov 29, 2014 |
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Nov 29, 2014 07:03
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CroatianAlzheimers posted:If you find yourself in Detroit, drop me a PM. I'll show you around and introduce you to our excellent food scene and fantastic Michigan beers. Another Detroit/Ann Arbor goon checking in to extend an invite.
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Nov 30, 2014 15:09
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I'm in the middle of my own ~3 month roadtrip around the US and Canada. Quit my job and packed up my car, I have a futon that fits perfectly in the back of my Forester so I sleep on that with my dog and camp everywhere unless I'm staying with friends or family. It's been great so far, I bet you won't regret it.
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Nov 30, 2014 15:22
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More power to you! If you end up in the northeast, come on by. You can't drive any of my MJs though because none of them drive right now. If you want to get into aerospace again, but more hands on, I might know just the place... small team, everyone wears a few hats and we do hands on stuff as well as desk work and engineering/design.
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Nov 30, 2014 15:32
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kastein posted:More power to you! If you end up in the northeast, come on by. You can't drive any of my MJs though because none of them drive right now. I'm back in the northeast for a week, I'm actually driving my brother's MJ at the moment. Been removing all kinds of trash from my mother's house, as my gf and I are moving in for a few months.  Thanks for the offer btw! In the meantime, sorry for no updates for a few days, been very busy prepping to return to the NE (temporarily). A fellow AI buddy may actually join me for my 2 week trip back across the US starting next week. The $600 F-150 is next on the chopping block, come Monday. 
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Dec 1, 2014 22:27
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Ripoff posted:I'm pretty sure any 30 year old now that is going through this stuff is actually having a mid-life crisis. I'm just waiting for the day that someone actually proves that wifi and cellphones cause cancer, and our generation will be dead by 60. Hey, you've hit on my retirement plan. I'll be dead by 60. Good on you, Blaise. I'm starting to look at doing something similar, my current corporate gig pays well but has me so stressed and frustrated over poo poo that literally does not matter that it's ruining my life. The siren call of an actual bachelor's degree is starting to sing loudly. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Dec 1, 2014 |
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Dec 1, 2014 23:06
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I went on a 4 day roadtrip and I feel like that was too much but it was a pretty stiff ride. Good luck. I lucked the hell out I guess. Didnt go to college, fell into a state job (at a college ) at 27 and I can retire with a pension at 47 if I wanted.
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Dec 1, 2014 23:26
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I didn't get this drastic about it because my resources were more limited, but I definitely went "gently caress the system" and hit the road after college. I ended up doing seasonal work most of the year and road tripping for the months in between. I kept it up for a few years until I got homesick enough that it wasn't fun anymore. It was an amazing experience. A little advice: the world is full of institutions that throw really hurfy tantrums about you not having a permanent address. As long as they're cool with it, having you and/or your lady's parents bundle your mail and fedex the important stuff to you periodically will save a lot of grief versus trying to explain to a bank or the DMV that you live a nomadic existence.
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Dec 16, 2014 23:56
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Good luck with your adventures, I look forward to following this. If you're ever in Central Texas you have a place to crash at.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:04
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OMGVBFLOL posted:I didn't get this drastic about it because my resources were more limited, but I definitely went "gently caress the system" and hit the road after college. I ended up doing seasonal work most of the year and road tripping for the months in between. I kept it up for a few years until I got homesick enough that it wasn't fun anymore. It was an amazing experience. This is great advice.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:12
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I've had two tickets for 'incorrect address' on my license before, which I just don't understand being a thing since I've been living in the same state as my license the whole time. Good idea to just have a 'permanent' address somewhere regardless of where you really are.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:15
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How did they catch you? Did you admit it to a cop, or did they perform some database fuckery?
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Dec 21, 2014 00:43
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Insurance card didn't match address on the license one time, and the other he asked where I was going and I said work, which was in NYC and not Albany as on my license.
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Dec 21, 2014 04:18
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I guess it's time for a little update. I've left Seattle. Lucky for me, a friend of mine (also an AI-er) chose to fly out and join me. This it the rough route we took (excluding the drive from Denver to Philly, which is just a straight line):  Day 1 was heading from "rainy" Seattle towards "sunny" California. It was anything but that. We got a late start and made it to rt101. As you can see, our stay on US101 was VERY short. Day 2 was heading back to I-5 to avoid the ridiculous rain along the coast. We slabbed it all the way to California. Day 3: Break. As it rained. Hard. All day. My buddies place in SF had his palm tree falling apart above it. Day 4: Headed over the Sierra Nevadas and towards death Valley. Unfortunately the best (highest roads) were already all closed for the season Not a challenge at all...    Day 5: Death Valley. Oh Death Valley. It's so incredible. I can't wait to go back. A preview:  Merry Christmas all! Will post more soon
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Dec 24, 2014 20:26
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Wow, great thread! You've clearly made the right choice and have a lot to look forward to. There's nothing like leaving a poo poo job, knowing you have something awesome waiting for you...freedoooooom! Congrats, my friend! Those are some awesome pics.
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Dec 24, 2014 20:37
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loving. Awesome. Livin' the dream man. Livin' the dream.
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Dec 24, 2014 20:47
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You loving bypassed us?! Yer a big meanie.
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Dec 24, 2014 21:13
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Oh Death Valley. I really can't make this any more clear: If you haven't been, GO! GO NOW! Death Valley is a park of extremes. Extreme heat, extreme altitude changes, and extreme changes in vegetation/scenery at every turn. It's truly incredible. Since December is low season for Death Valley, very few people were on the roads and trails with us. If I had to recommend a month, I'd probably recommend October or February though: not because of the temperature, but because of the length of the days. The temperatures were mid 60s daytime and mid 40s at night which was totally awesome, we just had to make a very conscious effort to be active from sunup to sundown. A great map to use is available here, although I'd get a printed map upon entrance to the park. FYI, there is no actual entrance where you pay a fee, it works on the honors system. I have a yearly pass, but if you choose to visit, you could easily skip the $25 entrance and explore for free. I strongly suggest paying the entrance or a yearly pass, its truly an incredible place. As with most national parks, you can see the 'main' attractions with a regular car. This is boring. Don't do it. Flex your hard earned american  and purchase an  SUV to really get out there.Our goal for our first day in DV was to get to racetrack playa. As described here, this is a playa with rocks which move across the bed and leave streaks after themselves. Their mysterious movement has been debated for a very long time. Really cool stuff.  Starting off in Panamint Springs (bottom of map), we decided that rather than driving the 75+ paved roads plus 27 miles of what we had been told were AWFUL washboarded dirt roads, we would just shortcut and cross Hunter Mountain (see in pink). We asked a few locals. "Roads closed" "Never been that way, but I have a Malibu, so I just drive around" "I really wouldn't recommend going that way" "You ummm, got four wheel drive?" So since exactly nobody recommended we go that way, we set out exactly in that direction. We came across a guy in a nicely modded JK Rubicon who had been through the night before, and said it was a piece of cake, never even needed 4L.  Here's the entrance to the road. Nothing but gravel, total cake. My buddy Josh had never been off road at all, so he was pretty nervous when I'd slide the car a little, but it really wasn't bad.  Firearms are illegal in National Parks? Never mind California... if you're out here, I'd suggest being armed. There's NOBODY ANYWHERE. The odds off running into law enforcement is zero, but the chance of running into some, uh, interesting people, is likely. The road was mostly like this. We saw a few bikes that turned around, and a Tundra that I thought we were going to have to pull out (his lady looked VERY annoyed). He somehow got out on the last try. Then we came to a fork in the road, and Josh poo poo his pants. Me: "That's the road" Josh: "What road?" Me: "That way, that's the road" Josh: "THERE IS NO ROAD. Dude are you sure about this? The road lead up the mountain but had clearly not been touched. The Rubicon guy, if he came through the night before, had clearly missed all of the snow.   So I said screw it, put it in 4Lo, enabled the locker, and sent a text to the gf with my location (somehow had service?!?). I didn't tell her what was going on, but figured if she didn't hear from me, at least they'd find us eventually.  Heading up the trail we came across some cows. Why the hell they wanted grass at 8000ft vs somewhere reasonable is totally beyond me. But they definitely gave us a  look.  What's the map say again? IN WINTER CARRY CHAINS. ROAD MAY BE CLOSED. drat. They were serious. As far as I made it.  So we chained up. We were SUPER close to the top. Victory was so close.  That did exactly nothing. In retrospect, we should have chained the front wheels. I kept sliding into the embankment due to not having enough steering control, and I was more traction limited in the front than the rear due to having an open front diff. It was already 1PM at this point. The altitude was getting to us, we were getting frustrated and we REALLY wanted to make it to racetrack by sunset. So we turned around, and I took this quick photo:  Next: Driving to the racetrack the plebeian, normal way. Blaise fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Dec 24, 2014 |
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Dec 24, 2014 21:45
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I am jealous. Completely. Take "Going to the Sun" once you get through Montana/Canada.
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Dec 24, 2014 22:09
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Viggen posted:I am jealous. Completely. What is up with you Yanquis and assuming Canada is some homogenous strip across the northern edge of your country? Canada adjacent to Montana is completely different from Canada adjacent to New York. Visit all of it! We will welcome you! This trip is awesome.
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Dec 24, 2014 23:40
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