noise."Happy New Year! · 4:59am Jan 1st, 2018
I don't know what time this is gonna go live: I'm about 45 minutes away from heading out to work, and I theoretically get done at 11 pm and it's theoretically a forty minute drive home . . . .
Of course, given that I'm coming to you from the internet, practically no matter what time I post this, some of y'all are going to have already celebrated the new year, and some of you won't have.
So Happy New Year's, everypony!
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There's not a whole lot for me to say about the past year that somebody hasn't already said or will have said. For some people it was a good year, for some people it was a bad year. Humans didn't cure cancer or achieve world peace or make first contact with aliens; on the other hand, nobody started WWIII (at least, not as of the time of posting), and we didn't make first contact with aliens who all want to enslave us.
Man, I really don't do inspirational all that well, do I? Let's try that again.
So I'm in a kind of curious position here. The last couple of months have been rather busy for me, which means I've actually got a backlog of stories to finish writing or editing, as the case may be. I've also got a couple of mechanic blog posts ready to cue up, and over the last few weeks I've also accumulated plenty of new material for #mymanagerisanidiot blog posts. Plus I've got a couple partially-finished ones that are just chock full of writing tips. Well, maybe 'chock full' is a bit of a stretch, but there are certainly some in there. Probably.
I was gonna make an announcement that going into the new year I was going to do mechanic blog posts on Mondays and writing-type blog posts on Wednesdays; however, the more I thought about it, with my general obsession with answering every comment, it might not be too long before I just turned into a blogger and not a writer.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course--I actually follow a couple of users just for their blogs.
If I were to alternate weeks, that would be better, plus that would make up for the fact that I'll probably run out of useful writing tips* before I run out of crazy mechanic or wrecker stories.
Then I thought that the smart thing to do would be put it to you guys. What kinds of things do you like to see? What sorts of blog posts do you most enjoy? With mechanic blog posts, do you like the theory type (like the rationality blog posts from last week and the week before), or do you prefer more of the fun "this is how I accidentally set fire to the rear brakes on a Ford Taurus?"**
Vote down in the comments!
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*sometimes I feel like I don't actually know that many useful writing tips, and that I just sort of bumble along doing what I know how to do and it generally works out all right.
**I could do a whole mechanic blog post about accidentally setting cars on fire, now that I think about it.
Now's a good time to bring up Patreon and other types of sponsorship, as well. I've often said that I don't have one because A: I don't need the money; and B: I don't want to feel obligated to anyone for what I write.
I still stand by that.
I do intend in the future to start publishing non-pony things on Amazon, and if I ever get off my lazy butt and figure out how to set up a Teespring store or CafePress or whatever the kids are doing these days, I'll probably offer some kind of genuine Admiral Biscuit merch for people who want to buy it. No idea when I'll get around to that, but you can be sure you'll hear about it here when it happens.
Meanwhile, feel free to continue reading my ramblings and stories with no sense of obligation--or, if you feel really obliged, donate the money you would have sent to me to some local charity, or some actual starving artist who's living in a dumpster.
Con-wise, I'm still not 100% sure on EFNW (although I will probably go); I also intend to go to Trotcon and of course Bronycon.
Finally, because I'm feeling frisky, I'll close out this blog post by giving you some teaser snippets of stories I'm working on.
Because I'm feeling trolly, I won't tell you what they're from.
Building a box-fort was no real effort, and it tucked neatly into a corner of the attic, almost behind a diagonal support on one side, with the chimney stones on the other. I used my pocketknife to enlarge a knothole on one of the boxes—that actually took longer than I thought it would. All the while, I was wondering if I was insane.
“Maybe.” She leaned a little bit closer to him. “How's Mom?”
“Grumpy. She says that the foal's kicking, and she blames Dad, 'cause he wouldn't let her go out on the ice.”
“She got grumpy before she had you, too.” Winter Berry nuzzled his mane again. “Come on, let's get cleaned up for dinner, okay?”
“It’s a centaur,” Rarity said, a tone of surprise in her voice.
“At least the panicked mob got something right,” Twilight muttered.
There were no noble words to be spoken. Not for her—she would go wherever valiant ponies went, he supposed, regardless of what he did or did not say.
She rummaged around in her saddlebags for a chocolate biscuit and nibbled on that while she considered the terrain in front of her. Now she'd gotten high enough up that the snow was covering everything it could stick to, and she knew as she got further aloft, it would be thick enough to hide crevasses, which was another thing she'd have to watch out for.
When he was only fetlock-deep in the water, he shook himself off as well as he could, then rejoined his partner on the beach.
“There'snothingaround here,” he said. “I haven't smelled anything too unfamiliar.”
“Me neither. At least the briefing said what humans smell like, but I wish they could have given us a fresh human artifact to smell, so we'd be sure.”
Rainbow grinned. “So you're saying that rushing in without thinking is a smart thing to do?”
Twilight’s ears flattened. “Sometimes boldness succeeds where caution fails,” she admitted.
With a twist of the key, the big Speedwell Ironworks straight 8 rumbled to life.
That left him with his second option. Riskier, but if it worked, victory would be complete.
“Get me a pegasus messenger,” he barked. “I have new orders!”
“New orders!” The shout went around the camp, and moments later a young pegasus swooped in for a landing.
“I’m out of paint.” Splish Splash shook her hoof, rattling the ball in the empty can. “Or else this thing’s broken again.” She pointed the nozzle back down towards the roof and pressed down; nothing came out except for a gentle hiss of propellant.
“I’ve still got a bunch left.” Heavy shifted his withers, sliding the chainsaw as much out of the way as he could. One of the straps had gotten snagged and had broken, and now it slid around his body. It liked to settle against his foreleg, which wasn’t so bad when he was flying, but it got in his way when he tried to land.
Happy New Year, Admiral!
Looking forward to seeing you and reading more of you stories. I like all your automotive blogs. It's like reading an episode of Car Talk, only better!
Happy new year and honestly I like all the blogs. The writing tips are interesting, the theory is fun to puzzle out with Tachyon and the idiot people ones just make me laugh.
Not one of those previews looks like it could be from Onto the Pony Planet. Harrumph.
Happy new year. Legit wanted to let you know that I'm wearing my Admiral Biscuit shirt right now and will as I ring in the new year. Just happened to grab it this morning, so thanks for helping me look "festive." :)
Personally I enjoy the repair, bad boss, and wrecker blogs. However I can see how you want to answer every post would eat into your writing time.
"As long as we rush in boldly, right?" Rainbow Dash's grin was in danger of meeting behind her ears.
Oh, yeah. I’ll take a serve of that.
Okay, I know that the straight 8 was killed off because crankshafts would wobble themselves to pieces. But there is just something cool about 8 in a line for an engine. I saw a video of a hot rod that was built with a Packard straight 8. It sounded glorious.
Safety, packaging and fuel economy are also killing the inline 6. A V6 fits in a smaller space, and is easier to build a crumple zone around. But I am going to miss the Aussie Falcon with its straight 6. 4 litres, double overhead cams, variable valve timing, and a turbo. What a beast of a motor. The factory had to keep it detuned so as not to embarrass those that bought the V8 version. The upshot of which is that the “Barra” motor has become the engine swap of choice here.
I’m waiting for whatever story has the Speedwell Ironworks straight 8.
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Well, that puts me in pretty noble company.
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Idiot people are kinda my bread and butter (and they really were when I drove a wrecker). For better or worse, I'll probably never run out of idiot people material.
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Dammit, I knew I forgot to put something in the blog.
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You can't go wrong with the AB shirt. As somepony once said, it's comfy and easy to wear.
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And I'll admit, those are fun to write.
Yeah, it does. But it gives me a chance to interact with y'all, and I don't think I'd be having as much fun if I didn't, you know?
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RD does rushing in boldly with panache.
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Yeah, that was a chronic problem for long inline engines--the crankshaft's huge. Plus you need a giant hood to fit it in, and you've got problems with the intake manifold and exhaust manifold. Those were, admittedly, solvable problems.
Packaging is the biggest problem, especially for a straight 8. You need a design that's long and narrow, otherwise you're just wasting space. There isn't really anything built these days that fits that criteria, and even in trucks they're shoving the engine back under the cowl.
The good news is that that's one of the stories that's complete except for editing.
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WOOHOO! Smelly humans, that's what I'm talking about!
I want to know eeeeeeeverything....
I never expect to need to know how cars work, but the details are fascinating anyway.
I am interested in the mechanics of, well, being a mechanic, and I also enjoy the funny stories. So I'm probably not much help here.
All my true-stories are cashier stories, and I try to only keep the good ones. I've had some pretty random things happen in last the two and a half years.
Happy new year Biscuit! Here's to the ride that never ends.
Spent most of the evening drymopping and boiling water to pour down the floor drain.
I never paid attention to the advice to leave a faucet trickling overnight in -20 weather to prevent pipe freezing, but I'm damn well going to from now on.
I really need a hot shower, but I dare not run any significant amount of water until I'm sure it won't come back up. It's something like -12 right now; Nowhere near as cold as last night, but I'm going to wait until it's -7 or so.
That definitely sounds like Onto the Pony Planet.
Happy New Year!
Hmm... I guess I'd prefer the order mechanic blog posts, writing advice, mechanic blog posts with a large helping of stupid people, theory mechanic stuff. I'll still try and read everything you put out though
Happy New Year!
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Oooh. Sorry to hear that. Fixing frozen pipes can be a right bitch, even after the cleanup. Having a basement helps keep the pipes from splitting, but that's not something you can usually fix (without moving).
Happy new year!
I vote for both and I spotted the A pony planet snippet. Although there are other that could also be snippet from it, that one is a certitude.
Happy New Year! May we be happy, healthy and prosperous. Let us take care of ourselves, each other and our world. May we be wise and act in the spirit of the better angels of our nature.
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Everything? That's a tall order. . . .
Well, alright, that's something I'll press forward with.
I bet you have. Being a cashier is one thing I don't think I could do. I'd wind up strangling someone.
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Yeah, depending on where your pipes are . . . of course, if it gets cold enough, it doesn't really matter. Couple of years back, we lost our water at the shop when the village's pipe under the street froze.
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You are correct!
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So in other words, keep on keeping on? I can do that.
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Happy New Year to you as well!
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Both, huh? Y'all are gonna wear me down.
There's only one from any given story.
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Wel, I figured that a first part explaining how rationality work is needed to enjoy the "How I Put That Motor In Fire", so both. At the sme time.
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Setting the motor on fire isn't something that the PCM is equipped to handle.
Actually, amusingly, a lot of things that we do to cars for either diagnostics or repair is not something that the PCM likes to cope with. Not turning on the key is important in some repairs (or else you set lots of codes).
If we're voting, I of course am interested most in anything OPP related, general Earth-Equestria crossover as a second pick. Teasing us with these snippets is almost as cruel as David Weber's teaser snippets.
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Got it! OPP and Earth/Equestria in general. I think you're gonna be happy with a lot of what's coming down the pipeline.
First: Happy New Year Admiral.
I know I am a little late to say that, I hope you don’t mind.
I enjoyed both type of blogs, I am an interested layman when it comes to cars, so your theory type is sometimes a little bit much, but I like reading it and I learned a lot about cars that I didn’t know before. You can explain theories very good, most of the time I can follow your train of thoughts.
The more fun type is my favourite. The blog post that stayed most in my memory was: How to Get Your Mechanic to Spit in Your Oil. I hope I never become one of those customers as I hope I never become an annoying patient. Working with people is never easy and every job has is do’s and don’ts, there is a pattern in being annoying that my patients and your customers share.
Your worldbuilding blogs and the pony view of humans as well as life on earth are really funny too. The realistic pony and realistic Equestria blog post are also fun to read, there so many things I did not think of. I know they are meant for other writers as writing tips, but they are entertaining even when you don’t think of writing fanfics. I like reading them because it gives me something to muse about and changes my view.
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Heh, no worries there; in my personal life, we haven't even gotten around to celebrating Christmas yet.
That's always one challenge when writing automotive blog posts. I can't begin from the very basics (well, I could, but lots of people would be bored by that). Then again, I personally do enjoy learning new stuff that's beyond my learning curve, which is part of the reason why I don't really want to go to the most basic basics.
I do think that in general, just "don't be a d
k" is good life advice, and will do you well in most situations in life.
Heck, while I do tend to advertise those as for authors, I think that straight-up readers benefit from them as well. Even when it's just my own theories which aren't necessarily backed up by canon (which, quite honestly, is most of them).
So I guess the overall theme is keep on keeping on? I can do that!