Teh Official "Dude Where's My Forum?" Thread, Brought to you by the minds of Box, and her fiancée, Lorelei Options

[Bitter]

Oh, you forgot the /sarcasm tag.

[Box]

I thought I did a pretty good job of establishing how much I hate red and T-tops though. I could live with red if it was a hardtop I suppose, but just no on T-tops. It's bad enough F-bodies had them, then for some reason the Japanese thought it'd be a good idea to have them.

[Bitter]

True. The 94 Supra we're waiting on the title for at work is a hard top and red, I think someone here is going to end up with it (not me). The engine and trans are out already so it's prime for a swap, body is 9/10 from what I can see.

[Box]

Hmm, so many options there since it's a shell. I think doing a 3UZ-FE to mimic the later GT500 cars would be fun.

[Bitter]

LS swap and done. Just kidding, that would kind of ruin it. We've got a JDM 2JZ to go along with it

[Box]

Well in terms of handling it'd improve it, a lot of weight off the front and mass moved back and down into the car versus a 2JZ. Otherwise as much as I love V8's I have to agree somewhat.

[Box]

こんにちわこんばんわ

Finally got off my ass and set up the computer into bilingual mode so I can get a roll on learning Japanese seriously. Since the last time mentioning such I've put some more thought into it and even though I'd love to visit some day, and I refuse to until I'm remotely fluent, I don't think I'd want to live there. Even if the whole being an outsider thing was a non issue entirely I just don't think I'd be happy there, for one family is here and between being halfway around the world it'd also be an entirely different time zone so that just wouldn't work. That and it'd just be a steep adjustment in lifestyle and what I can and can't do. For the longest time I've wanted to learn a second language, and for the longest time that was Italian due to the family heritage. I took Latin back in school since it was the father of Italian, and Italian wasn't even offered, but that was a huge headache and I still have nightmares reminiscent of the Roman soldier scene from The Life of Brian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8

Anyway to make a long story short I still like the idea of being a translator of some sort and sure Spanish or Mandarin(for the love of all that is holy...) probably have more applications and opportunities stateside, which was kind of my plan from the beginning anyway, they just don't compel me in such a way that I want to learn them like Italian or Japanese. Italian has probably absolutely nil to none in terms of opportunities that'd interest me; short of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Fiat, Maserati, or Alfa needing an English to Italian translator. Japanese on the other hand there a lot of fields of interest where a translator would be needed or desired; music, automotive, video games, musical instruments, anime, manga, etc... Still nothing set in stone since I need to do more in depth research on legitimate opportunities stateside, but it's the only remotely feasible thing I keep coming back to. Since astronomer or musician are more pipe dreams than anything else, and engineering is more than likely a life sentence to boredom and increased self hate.

[cheela]

If you wanna be overseas though, teaching English is one of the best ways to get over there and get paid.

[Box]

If you wanna be overseas though, teaching English is one of the best ways to get over there and get paid.

Yep, that was always the most guaranteed aspect. People are always looking for English teachers all around the world these days since most non primarily English countries require or strongly suggest all students to learn English in school. I remember being surprised when I met a Norwegian exchange student and she said that they require English to be learned in schools over there now.

Also I got absolutely no sleep because I was too busy exploring the Japanese language function. It's actually pretty nifty and well implemented, can choose hiragana or katakana and it'll automatically suggest the most common kanji if you want it to. Just have to type in the "romaji-nized" syllables which is a pretty good solution to having a keybed setup for romanized languages I guess, kind of feels like cheating somewhat though. Once I get crap organized around the house I want to get some hiragana and katakana charts to put up along with other tools for self teaching. Still need to look around the nearby schools to see if any of them even offer Japanese as a minor much less a major, but I figure I'll be doing myself a favour by going in having hiragana and katakana down pact first. Sure I might be bored in the beginning, but I rather be bored than overwhelmed. In fact I'm making a mental note to look at schools later tonight, now that I'm finally done with the physical act of moving. Hopefully I'm not too old to learn since supposedly around 25 your ability to learn and retain starts to diminish.

[cheela]

Yup English is required in most countries and if not required than it is highly recommended which is basically the same.
and yea, definitely get a grasp on hirigana and katakana. Flash cards and charts. Do some Japanese learning apps on your phone or whatever if ur into that type of learning. makes it less boring. I definitely enjoyed speaking Japanese more than writing. It was great to walk up to a Japanese person and totally butcher a sentence but they are so nice and helpful and usually try to help in whatever way they can. It's a great country.

[Box]

I'll have to look into what all is available for the phone and computer too. Learning a new language is like being shoved into kindergarten all over again, flashcards and charts with agonizing repetition. Somebody stop me, please. I'd die of embarrassment to butcher things entirely, but I guess it can't be always be avoided. Hell it took the first 15 years or so of one's life to decently learn their primary language, and there are plenty of people that butcher English and that's all they've known their entire life and I'm sure that applies to every language. My OCD and self pride should serve me well in this instance though.

Speaking of butchering things, already I've come to realize English butchers Japanese pronunciations. Just as everyday common examples Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are constantly mispronounced. Even in official advertising over here, though I wonder if it's intentional so it matches what people expect or if it's through not knowing Japanese syllabilization.

[cheela]

Yeah, I totally embrace butchering any language now because of my days teaching English to kids in Japan. We taught them that the best way to learn is to make mistakes and have fun doing so as lame and cliche as that may seem. and so I took my own advice when it came to learning their language. and yeah ur right, it's like kindergarten all over again, riding a bike, falling, scraped knees and all. lol

It's a wonderful language though, I miss speaking it since I'm in the a state that is mainly native american and german decent....

[Box]

Well that's how you learned the first time around so it's the way to go about it I suppose, you just weren't consciously concerned with embarrassing yourself that first time.

Indeed it is, people like to say French and Italian are beautiful languages but I think Japanese is a strong contender in that area. I have a decently sized collection of Japanese music which is how I've learned the majority of what I have, looking up and translating catchy sections of a song. I have noticed Japanese artists love to throw in English into their music, sometimes a random word to a partial sentence or even a full section. One song one singer is singing in Japanese and the other singer is singing in English, really interesting blend. That's a shame though, but I think outside of living in areas with predominantly Japanese populations that'd be the case anywhere in the country. Here maybe once I've learned more than basic phrases and short sentences we can have terribly butchered conversations.

[Bitter]

You gonna be so kawaii senpai.

[cheela]

[Box]

Oh dear.

[Box]

Do I want to buy an exhaust tip, or do I want to buy Meguiar's M105, M205, and Black Wax in a vain attempt to make the Firebird's paint presentable... If it wasn't for the fact the driver door was missing a notable amount of clear I'd say sure why not, but part of me is like why even bother. I already have some Ultimate Compound, Swirl Remover Glaze, and then one of their waxes that I can't remember which. I know the Ultimate Compound won't get out the deeper scratches and swirls though. Stupid 21 year old paint, should last longer.

[Bitter]

Tip.

[Box]

Yeah what I was thinking for now. One of these days I'll have a car where the paint isn't beyond saving, bleh.

[Bitter]

but just the tip.