"The Pen:" Live NLHE Chat Thread
It's been about 9.5 years and 350K posts of epicness, but "It Lives, It Lives" can live no more. The OG LLSNL Chat Thre
My clutch died on me in the middle of a date, leaving me stranded.
Had to end that one early.
This is a bit of a long story. I was stationed in England during the mid-90s, and wanted to visit the newly opened parts of Eastern Europe before I transferred back to the US. I had two cars at the time, a screaming Ford Escort RS (RS stood for Rally Sport, and believe it or not, it really was a rally car version of an Escort) and an old Volvo (some numbers). I decided to take the Volvo, because I thought 1) it would be less likely to be stolen and 2) As Eastern Europe was newly open, I doubted they would have Ford parts available if it broke down.
So I'm driving through Poland, on a Sunday, when everything is closed. I've already spent one night in Poland and don't plan to spend another. This was before the Euro, and you lost a bit of money on each transaction, so I'd only converted a small amount of USD to Polish Zloty, and I'd spent most of that already. Driving through some suburb of Warsaw, and I drive right past a Ford dealership. As I'm laughing about my choice not to bring the Ford, the Volvo's transmission suddenly gives out.
This is before cell phones, so I literally have no idea what to do. I get out of the car to look around for a phone booth, and I see a little sign that says "Auto Mechank 300m" with an arrow pointing down a side street. So I walk 300 meters up the side street to a house that has the sound of tools coming from the garage. I knock on the garage door and meet the mechanic, who doesn't speak English or any other language I know, and play a game of charades with him to explain my problem. He grabs a bag of tools and a tow rope and we hop into his Lada. He gets to the car, tries the shifter, hooks up the tow rope and tows us back to his garage, and gets to work.
His wife makes us a cup of coffee while we wait. She also doesn't speak any languages I speak. As we're making plans for trying to figure out how to get a taxi, have him drive us to an ATM, and then a hotel (no one was set up for credit cards in Poland back then), their daughter comes home with her boyfriend. It turns out the boyfriend speaks a (very) little bit of English.
He translates for the mechanic, who informs us that the transmission is broken. Thanks, we knew that. Then he tells us that he "no get parts." This is pretty much what I was afraid of, so I ask him how long it will take to get parts. At this point I'm thinking I might just be better off buying a used car and abandoning the Volvo, if I can withdraw enough money to do so, or find someone who will take a check or is set up for credit cards. But after a long back and forth with the mechanic the boyfriend says "he try same part. Maybe yes, maybe no." I ask how long it will last with the old part, and he says if it works at all, it should be a long term fix.
An hour later, our car is repaired. When I ask how much we owe, he charges us some silly small amount I don't remember, but it's less than the Zloty I still have on me, so I don't even have to go to an ATM. We give the wife a trinket as a thank you gift, and the boyfriend and mechanic each a tip for helping us out, and go on our merry way. Thank god I spotted that sign.
My clutch died on me in the middle of a date, leaving me stranded.
Had to end that one early.
No blue pills handy?
Not sure which. Of course, it didn't occur to me while I was still home, to get out my phone and google prices at nearby auto parts stores.
I wonder if all the new electronics and systems require some upgraded battery. Or maybe that's all they had; guy did say they only had one in stock. I didn't think to ask if there were other options and we could get one delivered or something.
Well, whatever, it's just money. If that extra makes me go back to work, I've got bigger problems than the cost of the battery.
My Rav4 battery gave up the ghost a few months ago - it was about 9 years old so maybe not that unusual. I called AAA and they said they could come out and put in a new one for a couple of hundred bucks (as I recall the conversation). The guy showed up and said "oh this is a hybrid - it uses a different kind of battery that I don't have on the truck". He did jump the old battery and warned me to leave it running until I could get to the local dealer. The dealer said the battery was no good (surprise 😀 The new battery price at the dealer was $558 plus $50 labor.
I guess I'm lucky I can afford it but I was very surprised at the radical increase since the last time I can recall buying a car battery.
I replaced a car battery. And then a few days later my alternator stopped working while I was on the freeway in a rough part of the city after midnight. Luckily I had enough juice to make it 1/2 a mile up the offramp and onto a street that I can only describe as 'unsavory'. I planned on pretending to be on a phone call until the tow came... luckily a friend was awake and helped keep me sane minded as random vagabonds passed within a few feet of my dead Honda Civic.
Fortunately I had AAA coverage. One should always have a plan in mind for when their ICE car breaks down.
I was in Poland in the mid 90s for business and our affiliate was supposed to reserve a room for me for the night. So they drive me up to Gdansk to the hotel. Unfortunately, it is the same night as when the Pope was spending the night. My reservation is "lost" and I have no place to stay. They tell me I can't stay in the lobby for the night so I ask to put me into anything. They make the reservation and write the address out for the cabbie. I get there and it is a complete Soviet era hostel. The radio looks like it is from the 1950s. I have to pay $14 for a double, because they were out of singles. The most interesting decoration was they left all the holes in the walls where they had dug out the bugs. They literally looked like swiss cheese with at least 60 bugs removed of various shapes and sizes. It look me a long time to realize that it was deliberate so people knew it wasn't bugged.
SIAP but last year when I went to O'Reillys, two black women replaced my battery. That was very unusual escpecially in this white&brown town.
This is a bit of a long story. I was stationed in England during the mid-90s, and wanted to visit the newly opened parts of Eastern Europe before I transferred back to the US. I had two cars at the time, a screaming Ford Escort RS (RS stood for Rally Sport, and believe it or not, it really was a rally car version of an Escort) and an old Volvo (some numbers). I decided to ta
Thank God that you carry 'trinkets.'
My Rav4 battery gave up the ghost a few months ago - it was about 9 years old so maybe not that unusual. I called AAA and they said they could come out and put in a new one for a couple of hundred bucks (as I recall the conversation). The guy showed up and said "oh this is a hybrid - it uses a different kind of battery that I don't have on the truck". He did jump the old batter
Hello fellow Ravf44r. Do we have a club? I forget where I left off in the story but after my car was stolen last year I eventually got a ♦great deal♥ on a Toyota Rav4 used.
My conclusion after twice going through the car buying process is that hybrids are so different from their gas versions that they should not be called by the same model name. It's a waste of head space comparing the Rav4 to the Rav4 hybrid.
My clutch died on me in the middle of a date, leaving me stranded.
Had to end that one early.
Guess the car wanted to third wheel that night. [emoji622]
Manuals seem like a dying art, but the people who love them seem to really love them.
What is it about driving stick that keeps people hooked?
This is a bit of a long story. I was stationed in England during the mid-90s, and wanted to visit the newly opened parts of Eastern Europe before I transferred back to the US. I had two cars at the time, a screaming Ford Escort RS (RS stood for Rally Sport, and believe it or not, it really was a rally car version of an Escort) and an old Volvo (some numbers). I decided to ta
Wonderful story. The way you laid this out almost felt like I was there with you.
You’ve got an art for turning a rough memory into a great story.
It’s wild how many kind strangers show up at the right time—do you think those moments shape how you view people now?
I replaced a car battery. And then a few days later my alternator stopped working while I was on the freeway in a rough part of the city after midnight. Luckily I had enough juice to make it 1/2 a mile up the offramp and onto a street that I can only describe as 'unsavory'. I planned on pretending to be on a phone call until the tow came... luckily a friend was awake and helped
That must’ve been unnerving—scary to have your car break down in the middle of the night in that kind of area.
AAA seems like it’s worth every penny.
Did you end up keeping that Civic after that incident, or was it on its last legs?
I was in Poland in the mid 90s for business and our affiliate was supposed to reserve a room for me for the night. So they drive me up to Gdansk to the hotel. Unfortunately, it is the same night as when the Pope was spending the night. My reservation is "lost" and I have no place to stay. They tell me I can't stay in the lobby for the night so I ask to put me into anything.
That was a wild read—felt like a slice of Cold War history mixed into a travel story.
Really shows how unpredictable travel seemed to be back then—loved how you told it.
Was that the most unusual place you’ve ever had to stay on a trip?
Ever look back at moments like that and think they’re what made travel so much fun, even if stressful at the time?
my best car story is only tangentally related to the conversation, but I've never told it itt and it's nice to reminisce
Autumn of 89, had left high school and for a gap year went to 'study' at an institute for foreign students in the south of France for a year - Aix en Provence. I lived in London, but I was heading down there with my friend Dax, who lived in Antwerp (Belgium). My parents drove me over there and we stayed the night at his place before driving south in the morning. Our plan was to drive all day and night and get to Aix in the early morning.
He had an old Fiat 127 and we packed it up full with our stuff.
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=68...
We got into some trouble at the Luxembourg border and we got properly searched for drugs. Both of us had long hair and we'd had a few drinks the night before so we were central casting for pot. Either way, the border agents checked every bag and stripped us down to our underwear but they failed to check the empty Twix packet on the dashboard that had somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 ounce of hash in it.
Either way, driving on we got scared about the upcoming French border and...deciding we couldn't waste the hash, we split it in two and ate it, although he ate more than me. I'm not sure how many of you have eaten hash but it takes a long time to come on....like hours...and then it comes on like a freight train. Either way, we got through the French border and drove on and it wasn't til we were approaching the city of Dijon about 3 hours later that the hash suddenly hit. Anyway, it absolutely ****ing smashed us. Neither of us could see properly and we decided to head into Dijon and find a place to stop. We basically started tripping, which wouldn't have been so bad, except the car broke down on a minor road at what was probably early evening peak hour. That was a problem exacerbated by the fact that we got uncontrollable giggles and were literally incapable of asking for help or explaining ourselves to anyone. This went on for at least an hour with traffic building up and French guys screaming and hooting at us. My buddy ended up in the foetal position on the floor of the passenger side and I had to go to a petrol station, buy a pencil and paper pad and write down a cry for help in French, all the time laughing so hard my face creased up. You can imagine it took a while before anyone wanted to help
Eventually some young guys gave us a tow and pushed us into a parking spot in a very sketchy part of town. Dax's giggles turned to tears and he had a seriously bad time for a few hours - violent shakes and a load of fear as his trip went nasty. We were too scared to leave the car and tried to get some sleep to wait out the night and then find a mechanic in the morning, but were woken up at about 2am by the car next to us having it's window smashed by a few young guys. We disturbed/shocked them just as they were about to rob our car too.
that was enough for us and randomly, the car started immediately so perhaps it there had never been a mechanical issue and we've just ****ed it up in our stoned state
Wonderful story. The way you laid this out almost felt like I was there with you.
You’ve got an art for turning a rough memory into a great story.
It’s wild how many kind strangers show up at the right time—do you think those moments shape how you view people now?
Thanks, mang. Stuff like that definitely influences my views of people. When I was a kid, the bus fare increased, and I was a dime short. Some guy on the bus threw a dime in for me and I thanked him effusively and told him I ride this bus all the time, so next time I see him, I'll pay him back. He said "no, pay it forward." When I asked what he meant he said "you'll see someone else who needs a hand at some point. When that happens, help them out and think of me."
That interaction completely changed my worldview, and I've been trying to live up to his example every day. And I definitely have continued to find kindness from strangers when I need it most of the time as well. Even in these polarized times, I find that when most people see someone who needs a hand, they offer it, even if that person doesn't seem to be from their tribe. Though if someone has a bumper sticker that shows someone is in the other camp, I'm not so sure it would happen as consistently.
For those of you with a lot of life experience: I’d love to hear your thoughts on love, marriage, and raising kids. Do you think there’s an ideal timing or stage of life for these things, or does it just depend on the person? Looking back, what do you wish you knew about relationships, marriage (whether love or arranged), and family 20–30 years ago that you
1 with a bullet - never love someone for who they could be
that's the most painful thing imaginable
feel free to bail on relationships
your partner is exactly who they present themselves to be and will never change - it's easy to fool yourself into believing certain demands/annoyances/personality traits etc will ease up with time or as they get older and mature (or fall deeper in love with you) but that won't happen
if anything, they are only showing the tip of the iceberg of the true level of that which they will take it eventually
and people can both love you and want to be with you and yet still have zero respect for you and treat you like garbage - just like with nima's homophobia and love for ladyboys, the world is a complex place
do not settle for a long term partner - even if things are great and there's zero issues - if you're not super into her a couple months or even a year or two in, how you think you'll stay interested enough to make it work for the decades you'll be together facing constant temptation and turmoil and chaos
date a lot - go on dates with women you're even mildly attracted to - 10,000 hours is real - you'll be a much better partner and lover with your eventual soulmate after all those practice sessions with those you were only slightly into
confidence is incredibly sexy - it's hard to straddle the line between that and overstepping into creepy and arrogant but no woman in the history of the world wants to date someone who is unsure of themselves
initiate physical contact whenever possible and always go in tiny incremental steps - ie you're sitting at the bar together, at the nearest plausible opportunity just have your knees make contact and hold it - not footsie or anything, just simply swing your legs over so they gently come up along hers - if she pulls back then hold off and if things go well conversationally maybe try again later - if she doesn't move her legs then she's into it and as the nigh goes on try to make more physical contact wherever appropriate
ie in a loud bar/concert etc gently approach and tap whatever nub on her ear which serves as a flap to cover the hole shut and speak to her gently - it's very intimate and initiates physical touch, and importantly - gives social cover to the woman because it's a practical way to talk
not every woman will orgasm through penile insertion - every woman will orgasm with the right mouth and finger work - be sure to always sort them out
and ask for feedback and whatever you get - don't be butthurt - it took years and many failed partners before i learned how to touch someone correctly and if i never got feedback on that i'm still probably be pawing at them like a toddler eating mashed potatoes
disclaimer - as a family man etc i'm an objective failure - 0 kids, 1 divorce, 1 other long term relationship with someone who i hated for most of it but as dating partner i've done very well for myself
Guess the car wanted to third wheel that night. [emoji622]
Manuals seem like a dying art, but the people who love them seem to really love them.
What is it about driving stick that keeps people hooked?
They are just more fun to drive.
Curious for those of you that are or have been married — how did you meet your life partners?
ex wife - met at party
ex partner - tinder
current partner - bumble
re - arranged marriage - one of my best friends parents are moonies and although he's not in it, they threatened to cut him out if he didn't go with it so he did their arranged marriage thing - went through a literal binder of moonie women and picked a very attractive swedish woman who he got along with an knew a little from some junior high moonie youth trip to europe
they have a very strong marriage today
I would set your cutoff at 35. Perhaps lower if your community has a sharply different normal age of marriage. Dating 40+ is bad because they are all single moms.
can confirm
actively dating in my early 40s
chasm the size of the grand canyon between late 30s and early 40s
late 30s you still are a viable option to childless singles 25-35 looking for children
early 40s those women swipe left looking for a younger partner - which leaves you with a boatload of 35+ year old women who:
1 have kids
2 don't have kids and never want any
3 don't have kids but want them but are just utterly terrible people hence why single and never had kids
so still wanting to keep that option open of having my own kids - single moms are basically the only option
Either way, the border agents checked every bag and stripped us down to our underwear but they failed to check the empty Twix packet on the dashboard that had somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 ounce of hash in it.
flew from hartford to dc just a few years after 9-11 and forgot i had a joint in my cig pack - they thought i had bomb residue on me and when i told them i wasn't in the military nor had been hanging out with people in the military they told me that residue was military grade only and no civilian would have had contact with it so i'm taken into a back room where they methodically go through all my stuff
guy grabs my cigs - opens it, laughs out loud and says "you're lucky I don't like paperwork" and only then do i realize what he saw - didn't toss because by then i was already through security 😀
driving through country road in my hometown back in high school (rural new england) and pulled over for a broken tail light - was smoking a joint with my buddy at the time so we drove it way too long before pulling over to air it out and had put the joint into the ash tray and closed it figuring that would put it out
mid stop the smoke is actively coming up from the closed ash tray - the cop doesn't miss a beat and says "you may want to make sure that gets put out" before continuing to lecture me that it's unsafe to drive with broken lights and if he sees me driving at night again before fixing it i'll get a ticket
spring break driving through baja mexico with 2 ounces of mushrooms in the car and we hit a military checkpoint - they tell us to get out of the car and take everything out - searching piece by piece - looking through every compartment and nook and cranny - they must have been hard up for cash and wanted a bribe because they were really going hard at it and somehow didn't know the the back passenger seat had a pull down slot that worked as an arm rest and trunk access which had a compartment inside which is where all the drugs were - was crazy lucky that feature and volvos not too common down there and they never thought to check - took us about 10 minutes to repack the car after they said we could go because they'd taken everything out
Guess the car wanted to third wheel that night. [emoji622]
Manuals seem like a dying art, but the people who love them seem to really love them.
What is it about driving stick that keeps people hooked?
Driving manual makes you more involved in the driving process/more involved with the car, and it's simply more fun IMO. You can leave in 3rd gear to get max torque on an onramp, you can use engine braking, you can double-clutch once you get good at it. You can jumpstart a car on a hill without a battery by dropping the clutch. You can have your kids shift for you from the passenger seat.
Re: manual. Also more control in bad weather. That may not be as true any more with automatic all-wheel drive cars though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadtoPro View Post
Curious for those of you that are or have been married — how did you meet your life partners?
I met my wife at a local bar (the Frog Pond) in the east village NYC in the early 70's just after getting out of the army. We talked a long time and I was hooked - we ended up leaving NYC and after hippying around the country for a couple of years we ended up in LA and finally got married. Been together now for
for nearly 50 years 😀
if you like witty yet absurd comedies - super troopers is on the mount rushmore of that genre - incredibly good film and massive disappointment that comedy troupe was never able to quite capture that same lightning in a bottle again
