Mental disorder anyone?

[Lunatech]

I think I have a mental disorder, which as of yet has not been recognized or named by any psychiatric, medical or automotive organization. So I’ll call it Bipolar Automotive Enthusiast Disorder. Basically it comes down to this, I spend so much time in the car that I start thinking of ways to get better horsepower out of it then I start thinking of ways to get better mileage, then I start thinking of ways to merge the two and get the best of both worlds. Eventually I come to the conclusion that I would probably wind up with exactly what I have now. This leads to thoughts of taking it to one extreme or the other. Go really fast mileage and reliability be damned (turbo, nitrous, BOTH, but you have to drive 100 + miles every day. OK. Then how about going the best mileage you possible?(taller gears, smaller engine) Nope, you still have to carry all your gear with you and travel up hills on the freeway; you want to be in 3rd with it floored all that time?

This start to lead to BAED depression.
It is my belief that many people suffer from this serious affliction in silence. It may lead to lashing out verbally or even physically. So, search your own heart and soul and be aware that you may not be the only one who is distressed by this and not even realize it.

There is a seriously large lack of research on a cure.

[evolutionmovement]

I have the same problem, so I've designed my own solution from scratch. I also have a hatred for doors and a love for open air driving, but hate the lack of rigidity of a convertible, so I fixed those problems, too.

[AWD_addict]

I don't know what "BAED depression" is, I'm not a doctor. I recommend you buy two cars, one for economy and one for performance.

[kimokalihi]

That's interesting. I've never experienced that. I've always just went for 2 cars. My metro for gas milage and the subaru is my fun car.

I have another sort of on an off depression though. If I waste my free time doing worthless things and not getting anything accomplished it leaves me feeling worthless and depressed. Makes me feel like I wasted precious time that I had and that my life is going nowhere. I think it's because of my job which I hate and the fact that I spend all day at my job wishing I was at home doing something I enjoy. After that long 5 days of work my 2 days off finally comes and for one reason or another I don't do anything constructive I begin to feel really depressed and it makes me really not want to get anything done.

I have a feeling that if I had a job that I enjoyed this would probably go away or at least get a lot better. The problem is, I've hated every job I've had. I think it's more that I just hate working for someone and being forced to do things I don't want to do. I hated school in the same way. I can't think of a job that I wouldn't hate that's available to me. Especially one where I will make enough money to support myself.

So for now I'm stuck in this rut. It's my fault though. I'm terribly afraid to give up this job to try another job because I make good money there and have benefits that took me a year to earn and with this economy I don't feel it's a good idea to try something else.

When I feel depressed I find it helps to remember that other people have it much worse than I do. So I should probably just deal with it and keep truckin.

[magicmike]

just do what I so when you're depressed, drown your sorrows in alcohol... Its always worked for me and I'm still here all alone so I know its a good solution...

[Mattheww044]

I have the same kind of problem, except I have NO money. I wish I made enough money to at least put some into my car right now, but I can't. I make 9.25 an hour and work 10 hours a week. I get $350 a month... its absolutely rediculous, last year at this time I was making 4x that much. And my boss is such a cheap bastard he won't lay any of us off, and it's hard to find work anywhere else rightnow. I guess im just in shitty position in life, and I CAN'T WAIT to get out of it... but once I do I can finally start putting money into my car. It makes me sick to see these kids rolling around in Stis that their parents bought for them and it doesn't matter if they wreck it or anything... it alll gets payed for... and Kimo I know exactly what your saying except in a different manner. In the 5 days a week I don't work I am just thinking to myself... FUCK!! I could be making money right now... I guess all I can do is keep applying... and then once I get in school I HOPE things will start to work out, but who knows could end up fucking myself even more...

/end rant

[kimokalihi]

lol no thanks. My mother is an alcholic and I've seen how that works out.

[gijonas]

The solution is easy,just stop giving a crap about milieage .No matter how much power you make the car is still more efficient than what any of the muscle car guys have.

[kimokalihi]

Matt, what do you do for work? You could always become a dealer like me and you should be able to find a job around here somewhere. It's kind of a cush job but you have to be able to listen to customer's bullshit all day long. Doesn't sound bad but after 3 years of dealing it's gotten to me and it's become monotonous as hell.

But it pays the bills. $17/hour average with tips and 40 hours a week. Business has really gone down though. The good thing is every casino has an "early out list" that dealers can sign if they'd like to go home early when the tables go dead and they start to shut them down. What this means for me is that the way I see it, the people who sign that list every day not only keep our toke rate up by going home instead of standing around not making any tips but they'll also probably be the ones to get laid off if it really gets bad!

Anyways, I hate it but if you really need the money you could do it or maybe if you have the right personality you'd like it. If you work at a place that you keep your own tips like a card room or basically any non-native establishment, you can make pretty good money. $50K per year is pretty achievable when you keep your own tips. Some dealers make $70K or more depending on who it is and where they work.

Something to consider if you need a new job. Cool thing is, you can work anywhere in the world once you learn to deal and deal all the games. Especially craps, roulette, baccarat and poker. I know craps but not the others but craps is porbably the most important of them.

At my work I've got 401K and medical benefits. Started my 401K at 20 years old. Now I'm 22 and I've got well over $7K in it. I don't know any other kids my age with a 401K. So I'm proud of that if nothing else.

It's good because I tend to spend the rest of my money. But that's because I believe that if I don't do the things that make me happy, life isn't worth living.

[Lunatech]

Thank you Steve for sharing with the group and starting the healing process. Won't you tell us more?

AWD_addict and Kimo, I can see how having two cars could be a viable alternative for some people. I have two cars, well actually I have a car and a truck. I imagine when you or most people leave for work you drive X amount of miles go inside a building and do your job. When you're done you drive X amount of miles home, all the while carrying a minimal payload of cargo in you vehicle. I on the other hand never know how far I'll be driving or what I might encounter on the job. Since I do repair work on office equipment I have a certain amount of parts, tools, reference materials, and supplies I need to carry in the car at all times. all that weighs in at around 800#, + plus my fat butt. So all told up to a half a ton of mobile repair fury traveling to destinations unknown every day. Could be as little as 20 miles or as much as 500 in a day, I average around a 100 and it's not all flat land, and there's some pretty good sized mountains in the territory I cover. So to make a long story short (too late) unless I could switch vehicles on the fly, a second vehicle would be of no help.

And Mike: Alcohol used in moderation an be an effective coping device, but it is not the answer. I know your going through trying times, don't let it get the better of you.

Matt: I feel your pain. Although not as deeply as you do I still feel it. I'm paying around $900 to the ex support. It's a temporary situation and is coming to and end soon but I had to start over making very little at the beginning of my escape from her, that was 4 years ago. Money problems are tough but hang in there, keep trying and it will get better. It has for me and I have to think if I can do it, anyone can. Keep your chin up!

[magicmike]

Guys come on I'm joking. Besides, I can't be responsible for what I said because I was drunk when I posted...

[206er]

you just have to put on a ginormous turbo that way you can putter around off boost as much as you want getting good mileage until you want boost.

[evolutionmovement]

You really want to hear more?! Haven't I annoyed people about it enough? This is the concept model for Tigershark, missing some details and changes from the final form. The canopy will be a 2-piece instead of the single for a multitude of reasons, the taillights will be different, and the wheels will be enclosed in modified wheel pants from a Cessna 172. The headlights will sit along the sides of the vehicle nose, faired into Cessna wing tips, appearing something like the eyes of a great white shark or the exhaust stack placement of a Curtis P-40. The nose may end up being wider and will remain squareish instead of round like the aircraft I was inspired by due to headlight minimum width requirements, so in the end will look more shark than WWII fighter plane, but whatareyougonnado?

I'm going to start fabbing together a chassis model and see how faithful to the concept I can be as well as if I can fit a Subaru engine width-wise. Anticipated weight is <1500 lbs. and preferred drivetrain is Honda S2000 (but really f'n expensive), rwd using a modified Goldwing rear end and there will be essentially zero unsprung weight on the rear due to a trailing coil over behind the rear tire. As if that could make up for the unsprung weight on the front, but aerodynamics requires compromises. Tandem 2-seat, really a 1+1. Chassis cage has an integrated roll bar (where the canopy will end up dividing) and comes up to the level where the canopy sliders will be, so much stronger than a traditional car with doors (and torsional loads on a 3-wheeler are nothing anyway, so flexing will not be an issue). Side tubes will be bent in a bow shape in plan view, distributing loads away from the passenger space in event of an accident, but it just so happens to follow the aerodynamic properties of the form itself.

[206er]

steve quit talking about it and start building the damn thing already. buy the tools, buy the steel, and get to work.

[Lunatech]

Steve: That's a very cool and interesting project you've got there!:smt023 What are your thoughts about stability? Will the "fuselage" lean into turns like a motorbike? I think it should be fairly stable, as far as tipping, and there is, no doubt, some sort of using computer controlled suspension to help in that arena.

Great to see that you have ideas that are outside of the box! My mind wanders and my ideas haven't seen the box in a long while, but I unfortunately have been living inside it for reasons of finances. As such my brain gets so full of out of the box ideas I think that conflicting ideas,theories vs circumstances no way of exploring them may be a partial cause of my disorder.

As far as putting a ginormous turbo no there...again I am without the resources to do so. Even if I were to do it however, that alone wouldn't solve all the issues. But it would be a start.

Thanks to everyone for sharing. I'm feeling a little better, and I hope others are to.