Minor Confession Thread

In reply to classicJackets (FS) :

Got any hobbies? Join a group that's into what you're into. It's a great common denominator.

I am almost ashamed at my level of fortune. 

Short version - I read a story on the shortage of the medication wegovy/ozempic as popularity increases as a weight loss drug. The story included anecdotes of celebrities buying it up for thousands of dollars. 

The story did prompt me to finally talk to my Dr. About not being fat. 

I have a months supply in my fridge right now and cost me nothing. I'm excited for the weight loss, and sort of ashamed at the inability to do it otherwise. 

In reply to classicJackets (FS) :

I was already married and had the kids when it started. We both went to WFH. Way more limited interaction with the world outside our walls. It has been great, we choose each other to spend life with and we got closer. I got to spend more time with the kids. Having friends is nice and I miss hanging out with some of them sometimes but for me it's been a great trade. The older I get the quantity of "friends" has dropped but the quality of the few I have is way better. YMMV

You guys talking about minibikes got me looking up performance parts again.

I have two Coleman minibikes; a CT200U:

And a CT200U-EXR:

I was going to sell both of them but I might hang onto them for a bit longer. 

Dear wife, I love you and appreciate the effort, but you can't drink like the rest of us. And this whole babysitting you thing is uhh not fun.

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

If you require further enabling I can help with that... 

NY Nick said:

In reply to classicJackets (FS) :

I was already married and had the kids when it started. We both went to WFH. Way more limited interaction with the world outside our walls. It has been great, we choose each other to spend life with and we got closer. I got to spend more time with the kids. Having friends is nice and I miss hanging out with some of them sometimes but for me it's been a great trade. The older I get the quantity of "friends" has dropped but the quality of the few I have is way better. YMMV

Totally agree with this.  Our story was COVID hit during my twins junior year.  The were 100% remote for a year.  It was the Feb before they graduated that they got to go back in person for part time.  It was a blessing to have that much time together in the house with them just before they went off to college.  
 

And yes, as we've gotten older, our circle of friends has shrunk.  But I now have friends who are more family to me than my own family.  My wife too.  As tough as the pandemic has been on mental health, it has also given us some really amazing gifts that I would never have expected and don't want to give back.  

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

The Ford Flex is a decent vehicle, and I might consider one if we needed to replace the current mom-mobile.

But if they'd made them with a rear facing tail gunner seat like an old school station wagon ,I'd have bought one a long time ago.

We have backup cameras because beltlines were raised heavily so kids in rear facing car seats won't get blinded by the atrociously overbright/poorly aimed DOT headlights of the vehicles behind them.    Actual rear facing SEATS are gone forever, unless you can convince the DOT to go back to sealed beams, and make HID and LED headlights illegal on public roads.

In reply to Wxdude10 - Mike :

I agree with the statement that my close friends have become more like family too. My casual friends (which were mostly work friends) have become less important to me. Funny enough the casual fronds have been replaced by the GRM forum. There are so many regulars that I feel like I am friends with. In most cases I don't know their real names, how old they are, what they look like or anything. But they post enough that I know what's going on with some of their life, their hobbies, what they want next and I am invested in their success. 
I guess the confession is over the last 3 years you all have become my casu friend base. 

In reply to Peabody :

Trust me, I'm a pretty good self-enabler. I've already done a few mods to both. The next step is a torque converter. Then comes the bigger engine with billet internals so I can remove the governor.

You'd think that because these aren't real motorcycles that modding them would be inexpensive, but no. It's hard to justify a $900 engine on a $600 minibike. 

Today's minor confession:

I found that Wallyworld has VP Racing 5 gallon "utility jugs" on sale for $34.99. Its the cheapest price I could find (price plus shipping. The big mail order parts houses were cheaper but had ridiculous shipping charges). WM has free shipping at $35. I had to find a filler item to get me over $35. Enter the $0.30 packet of Kool-Aid. I had to order it for pickup but I have no intention of picking it up.

Thanks for your sacrifice, $0.30 packet of fruit punch Kool-Aid. 

classicJackets (FS) said:

My wife and I got married and became parents as COVID hit. We also had each just started new jobs, that became WFH. The friends we spent time with moved away in the years since. I don't know how to make new friends, or how to spend time away from my wife and children. Do I want to move? Maybe. Do I even want to make new friends? I wish I knew. But something feels like it's missing.

There is, as they say, a lot to unpack here.

We're in a similar situation.  My wife and I became parents in the summer of 2019.  We were never social butterflies anyway, and tend not to make friends easily, but the whole Covid shutdown kicked off just as the kid started walking.  We have no family in the area and what was a comfortably introverted lifestyle became genuinely isolated, especially for my wife.  I was able to continue working at the office, but she was almost a prisoner in her own home, a 24-hour slave to the kid, and it took a tremendous toll on her.  It was tough on me as well since I became the only adult she could talk to for longer than it took to check out at the grocery store.

The good news is that things have started opening back up.  Our boy has taken a few activity classes put on by the local parks and rec department and is now attending their preschool.  It's done him a world of good and has also given Mrs. Monohue a few precious hours of autonomy four days a week.  She can use that time to run errands or just enjoy not having to wrangle a 30-pound demon for a while.  She has also made connections with other parents, set up play dates, etc., and those are as good for the parents as they are for the kids.

The other good news is that men reportedly make friends circumstantially.  The suggestions others have made to join a group with similar interests make sense in that regard.  If returning to the office for work is an option, even if only for a couple of days a week, it may help.  Theoretically, I could WFH probably three days a week, but I would have a very hard time maintaining my sanity without regular, face-to-face interaction with the people with whom I work most closely.  If you have an opportunity to attend play dates, birthday parties, etc., they might do you some good as well.

It's been a damned tough three years, that's for sure, and we'll be wiping this poop off our shoes for a long time to come.  Hang in there.

EDIT: You said it feels like there is something missing.  There definitely is.  For us, what we missed most was freedom and grownup conversations.  Thankfully, those are both coming back into our routines.

The other point I want to make before I forget is that it's really critical to check in with your wife and see what she needs. She's living in the same world as you are and is probably relying on you to make up the difference. 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

Don't let the interwebs scare you. We use those clone motors up here for karts like you guys use Briggs and billet parts and fw's are not common. My buddy won karting nationals and never used a billet flywheel or rod. With stock springs they'll hit float long before you're in any danger 

I get a ton of F1 racing "news" in my Facebook feed because cars or something.

It's full of snippy quotes and inter-driver shade and rules politics and team drama and whatnot.

All of which keeps my interest level in F1 at approximately zero.

Duke said:

I get a ton of F1 racing "news" in my Facebook feed because cars or something.

It's full of snippy quotes and inter-driver shade and rules politics and team drama and whatnot.

All of which keeps my interest level in F1 at approximately zero.

Same. The only motorsport I follow is Formula Drift, which is honestly a pretty wholesome sport. I've personally seen drivers, in their race suits and helmets, helping repair the car of a competitor that they have to face in the next round, and helping develop a competitor's car in the off-season to make it more competitive. If there is any drama, it's by and large pretty private and buried. Formula 1 just seems like a miasma of unpleasant personalities and ridiculous rules and petty rivalries.

ExcessKuma's Foxbody thread got me thinking about having another Foxbody as a project car.

The V6 and 4 cylinder cars are basically throwaway cars now.

I always thought it would be cool to do a lightweight, high revving 4 cylinder build. Something that revs like a bike and screams like a methed out banshee.

What about a rotary swap? Hmmm... 

Step 1: Buy a ratty non-V8 car

Step 2: Gut it, brace it, install decent suspension.

Step 3: Swap in a rotary

Step 4: ???? 

stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:

Step 4: ???? 

Esslinger and lots of final drive

I'm browsing car dealership sites right now, thinking of selling the entire fleet (except for the Miata) and just buying some high performance coupe.  It would help solve my problem of lack of time/space to work on my cars.  If I didn't have an aversion to car payments, and a hard time enjoying a car I'm actively paying for, I think there'd be a Mustang, Challenger, or M2 headed for my driveway.

Peabody said:

stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:

Step 4: ???? 

Esslinger and lots of final drive

Hmmmmm, yes. 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

+1

Any time I found a clean '79-82 four cylinder notch, it had a V8 swap.

It seems that Esslinger may not be the go-to it once was for 2.3 parts, but Racer Walsh has lots of goodies. At decent prices, too. 

I'm so used to being the one that's told "not interested" or being ghosted after a first date, that it's weird when the shoe is on the other foot. Not any more pleasant either.

I am being recruited for a role that would be a change in course for my career, which is ideal. But the role would put me basically back in touch with some of the folks I work with today. Pay would increase and future career prospects open up, but it's a little scary to jump ship. Especially since it couldn't be a clean break :) life is confusing

I ended up in an odd place as friends go as well. We moved away from our friends and families when we married in 02. We were so busy with jobs and stuff we never really made any friends here so most of my friends were "imaginary" internet people. Mostly here, and a few car groups on Facebook and Twitter. Through the years I met a few but most remained mostly here online, though still a very supportive group for so long. 
 

When Covid hit and every part of my life went to E36 M3 so many of you were here for me long after most of the real life people I knew stopped checking in or found things to awkward to talk to me. I also made some close friends through a Facebook support group that have been awesome people. 

You all are some of the best people on the planet and as I have gotten the chance to meet more of you in person I have felt a joy I haven't in a long time.  

I never would have realized how odd it sounds to a normal person if my girlfriend hadn't pointed it out this weekend.  She assumed that Pat, Michael and Brad were people I maybe grew up with or something.  In a weird way I have. 
 

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

........so most of my friends were "imaginary" internet people.

LOL - one day I made a comment to my lady about a friend on GRM and it was awkward.  Friend?  IIP?

We can call it as: one of my IIP's; Imaginary Internet People.