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    1. Home
    2. AkioOhtori
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    AkioOhtori

    @AkioOhtori

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    2740
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    Location Tulsa, OK

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    Scheduled Posts Photography

    Best posts made by AkioOhtori

    • A nightmare from which I did not wake up [PERSONAL CONTENT WARNING]

      By the time I got the phone call he was already gone.

      Late last night my partner discovered my 12 year old dog, of my avatar, sleeping in his bed. After failing to rouse him, he found him unresponsive and didn't appear to be breathing. He carried him downstairs to our friend who rents the garage apartment, a former zoo keeper, and after attempting rescue breathing drove to the emergency vet.

      I, of course, am/was out of town for work. I got the call at 11:50. My partner was at the emergency vet and they were looking after him. Shortly after he explained the situation, the vet came in and gave the prognosis: based on body temperature they could attempt CPR but the likihood of bringing him back was slim to none. I declined, not wanting to put anyone through that, and that was the end of the very best boy.

      No one is really sure what happened. Apparently he had a normal day, played, watched squirrels, and hung around. At some point he went upstairs to nap, normal for him, and... never woke up. Best we can tell it was an undetected heart problem or... something. No use speculating so, and I can't stress this enough, lets not.

      I am devastated, but take some comfort in knowing he went peacefully in his sleep and we didn't have to watch him have a long decline in heath or have to make the very hard decision I knew I was coming eventually.

      I didn't get much sleep last night and have not cried that hard in my life. I got to experience all the tropes. The numbness, the hollowed out feeling, the pain in my chest, the feeling of sliding into a pit not sure if I was afraid to hit the bottom or afraid I wouldn't...

      As for what to do now, I have no idea. We have another week of work to do, my whole team is here and what we're doing is very important. On the flip side, I don't think anyone would blink if I loaded up the car and drove the 8 hours home today. On the other, going home and spending the next week without much work to do (as stated, everyone is here) and the empty spot in my office here he usually lays... doesn't sound ideal.

      I'm inclined to stay and my partner is cool with that, but I'm about to meet with my boss and see what he thinks.

      "Dog A" as I refer to him on here, his actual name being Miles, was my first dog as an adult. I picked him up in 2011 while on a job in southern Kansas. He was cute and weird and we had an instant bond, so when the sheriff came to round him on my last day on the job, up I threw him in the back of the work truck and he has been my best bud ever since.

      He was quirky and stubborn and smart and just the best dog I'd ever had the privilege of spending time with.

      He will be greatly missed.

      989257b7-aea3-4826-ba1b-6e07b90d4bd4-image.png

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • ICE VS R1T: OUR ROAD TRIP WITH A RIVIAN (with Bonus Content!)

      How does a fresh-off-the-line R1T compete with our eclectic mix of off-roaders both on and off the road? The answer likely won't surprise you Oppo.

      For better or worse I decided to post the details of our shenanigans over at the Oppo Drivetribe. If anyone wants to share it to the offroad tribes you'd be doing me a solid for sure. Right now I'm sitting at a frankly pitiful number of view and I don't know if that is because I posted to the Oppo tribe or because it is early yet. 😬

      All that said, as a treat to Oppo and to encourage you to click through, how about some Oppo exclusive content that didn't make it into the main article?

      e00c2f0b-3445-4521-adb7-74a4a765e958-image.png

      Some details on R1T problems

      Still going to be a little vague because these are all issues I expect will be fixed soon, if they haven't already. Basically Andrew had a number of software issues. For us, the two big ones were his speedo reading incorrectly and his fugging brake lights.

      The former we suspect was his car not doing the math right to calculate speed. Basically felt like he'd been fitted with larger wheels and tires (which I think is true for the offroad package?) and the speedo was off. He checked the settings and it was indeed programmed with the right tires, so something was off in the code. This was mostly annoying because we spent a lot of the trip with him in the lead and as a result going 5 under the speed limit on the highway.

      Speaking of annoying things with the Rivian in the lead, the adaptive cruise suffers from the same problem as many of the other systems I've used: the following distance is laughable. The Rivian's system, in a lot of ways, is better than most. I recall being in a rental Camry and having it routinely come up behind someone on the highway only to slam on the brakes right before I started to change lanes to pass. The Rivian at least is very gradual in its slowing down, but for those of us following that means Andrew would lose 5-7 MPH before he started to pass. For him, no big deal, for me in my old Rover regaining that speed while going 60+ MPH is a process. (The Rover is great and almost peppy at the low end but suffers on the highway.) Unclear if this is just how these systems work or if this is something they're going to fix in the future. For my part I've encouraged Andrew to have them look into it. But (again) in my experiance this isn't abnormal and at least a lot smoother than most systems. Just not great for a convoy or a semi-inattentive driver. (I suspect Andrew drives a lot slower when we're not around...)

      The last and most silly problem was with the brake lights. No, they work great... sort of, but when in cruise (or possibly all the time? I wasn't clear) the brake lights activate when the car goes into regen. Basically this is the equivalent of an ICE car turning on its brake lights every time you let fully off the gas and begin engine braking. While yes, an electric car can do a whole bunch of engine braking and any amount of hard regen should activate the brake lights, this was any amount of regen, the net result being his brake lights would turn on all the time and we learned to ignore them. Andrew very much knows this is a problem and I expect they'll tweak it soon.

      Nice things about the Rivian

      The last bit was that Rivian as a company was very chill and supportive through the process. Admittedly Andrew very much has an "in" with them, but like... when shown the write ups about this trip their response was "nice photos!" Additionally I know Andrew received at least one patch early in the trip to fix some issues he was having.

      In a lot of ways it was really cool to be part of... ugh I never know what to say here. The car isn't in beta and it isn't a prerelease but like... clearly Rivian was getting a ton of data from this trip and it was cool to be a part of that early feedback process. My impression is up until now yes they've had a ton of people driving and road testing, but this one of the longer trips they had no control over. I mean... if nothing else it was an over 4,000 mile trip (for him) with a healthy mix of terrains, speeds, and temperatures AND he had three car nuts tagging along. I believe he briefly had the highest mileage customer delivered car too. Anyway, all that is to say it was super cool to be part of that process and be able to give feedback on what I actually believe is a really really cool EV.

      Anyway, I am super looking forward to seeing Rivian succeed and put out more killer products in the future.

      Other stuff

      Uhh so I took this photo but didn't have the hear to make the required dad joke about breaking down/ checking the oil:

      DSC_4305-wwm.jpg

      Our hotel in Death Valley was also crazy expensive but very pretty:

      DSC_4102-wwm.jpg DSC_4082-wwm.jpg DSC_4069-wwm.jpg DSC_4064-HDR-wwm.jpg

      I did get in a "fight" with an employee which was "fun". We rolled in after a looooooong day and could not for the life of us figure out where the front desk was. Finally we ventured up a tiny narrow driveway to discover this was (probably) check-in! Neat. But there was nowhere to pull over or park. Not neat. So I just... parked... only to have an employee that was lounging in a golf cart near by come and start barking at me. Like dude... I get it.... I bet people do this all the time and cause huge problems. But also I suspect it is literally your job to prevent me from doing what I just did. I was clearly confused and sort of looking around... maybe like... come over and help? Direct me where to park? Or like PUT UP A FUCKING SIGN THAT SAYS WHERE TO CHECK IN AND WHERE TO PARK TO CHECK IN?

      But I'm totally over it.... :ahem:

      Anyway... here are some other random photos that I like but didn't make the cut: (cc: @Photography )

      DSC_5239-wwm.jpg DSC_5188-wwm.jpg DSC_5186-wwm.jpg DSC_5071-wwm.jpg DSC_5029-wwm.jpg DSC_5005-wwm-2.jpg DSC_4964-wwm.jpg DSC_4944-wwm.jpg DSC_4911-wwm.jpg DSC_4844-HDR-wwm.jpg DSC_4835-wwm.jpg DSC_4728-HDR-wwm.jpg DSC_4617-HDR-wwm.jpg DSC_4418-wwm.jpg DSC_4377-wwm.jpg DSC_4368-wwm.jpg DSC_4366-wwm.jpg DSC_4316-wwm.jpg DSC_4312-wwm.jpg DSC_4304-wwm.jpg DSC_4259-wwm.jpg DSC_4240-wwm.jpg DSC_4186-wwm.jpg DSC_4174-wwm.jpg DSC_4139-wwm.jpg DSC_4135-wwm.jpg
      DSC_9688-wwm.jpg DSC_8299-wwm.jpg DSC_8248-wwm.jpg DSC_7969-wwm.jpg DSC_7754-wwm.jpg

      Anyway... main article is here on Drivetribe! Hopefully this was enough of a bribe to get you to click through! ❤

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • An apparent Oppo tradition

      @Tripper 's recent post reminded me of the car badge + trash can thing I think I'm right in saying @e90m3 started?

      Anyway... I was a little tipsy and got on eBay and later will be presenting my partner with a new trash can...

      8634e1ef-e0ff-4d71-aea4-6345b534b827-image.png

      I've never done a write up of that trip, but for our 2019 cheap car challenge he bought a Tracker, loved it and then it took all his money and left him stranded.

      2d9c1fca-4385-40d1-bedc-ad156fc5c76f-image.png

      Things I learned from this project:

      1. The Tracker badge is HUGE
      2. I am out of trim tape
      3. Hot glue is garbage
      4. I shouldn't get on eBay drunk
      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • Holy shit that was the worst idea ever (Just drove 500 miles through an ice storm)

      Things that were on the top of my "To Don't" list this week: Driving through an ice storm.

      What did I do today? Drove through an ice storm.

      Welp.

      PXL_20220223_224310041.MP.jpg

      So I've been out of town for an extremely important work project since Monday of last week (yes, Valentines Day.) Thing did not go to plan as a family tragedy emerged on Friday (in my post history for the morbidly curious, please do not ask about or discuss it here please). With the project incomplete and nothing I could do about what had happened, my partner and I decided we'd deal with it when I got home and push on with our weeks/lives until then.

      Well, yesterday I concluded my part of the project and the current geopolitical madness put the rest in jeopardy (long story) so I was staring down a possibly extremely unproductive day today and a 500 mile drive with an ice storm threatening to move into Oklahoma. After conferring with my partner and bosses, it was decided I'd leg it this morning in an attempt to get in before the weather hit.

      d79b593e-a9c3-4626-9683-15fd4d4188df-image.png

      That... did not go to plan.

      Just outside of Little Rock, about halfway into the drive, it started to rain.

      Then snow.

      Then ice.

      PXL_20220223_175634757.MP.jpg

      It wasn't too bad... but traffic kept getting slower.

      And slower.

      Every time I nutted up to make a pass it was always a 2WD sedan leading the slow pack in the right lane with wildly fishtailing pickup trucks attempting, but failing, to pass.

      It would have been comical it it hadn't been so arrogant and dangerous.

      Anyway... finally came to a halt after one of the mad "I can drive through anything" semi trucks failed to make a pass and crashed into the median, blocking our side of the highway. Best I could tell from a distance any chance at going around was blocked by vehicles that got stuck attempting to go around.

      Fucking typical.

      PXL_20220223_210934911.jpg PXL_20220223_210950024.jpg PXL_20220223_210955661.jpg

      To its credit, my rented Jeep Cherokee on bald-ass rental tires was a fucking champ through all of this and didn't have any issues. I considered attempting to bypass the stuck traffic, and might have given it a go but the wreck was eventually cleared and we were on the way again.

      All in all it took a little under 11 hours to make the 7 hour drive and I am still shaking from the adrenaline.

      But I am home.

      Thank you, you stupid little Jeep. You got me through unharmed and I am very grateful. 🍻

      PXL_20220223_235532513.jpg
      PXL_20220223_235836834.jpg

      PXL_20220223_235538475.jpg

      EDIT: Wow... just coming down off the adrenaline. Shakes.

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • Death Valley Done, last day with the Rivian

      For conext, four of us are embarking on a 2800 mile road trip to visit some of our favorites offroady bits in Death Valley and the Arizona Strip, one of us in a Rivian that he just took delivery of.

      Today we made our way out of Death Valley and to Mesquite, NV, from which we'll set out into the Arizona Strip/ North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Sadly, as there is no electricity, let alone EV chargers, this is the point at which the Rivian (and its owner) will leave us. It has been a ton of fun and generated a ton of hashtag content.

      Going to be offline for the next few days as we'll be well and truly off-grid until Friday.

      Wish us luck!

      DSC_4628-rs.jpg DSC_4617-HDR-rs.jpg DSC_4630-rs.jpg

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • Putting my money where my shitposting is

      With the demise of DriveTribe so near the anniversary of the demise of Kinja Oppo well... I did a thing

      eff1a593-4aea-482b-af12-1ddfa8e2d07c-image.png

      Here's to not having to move again any time soon!

      wtf (2).gif

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • Trip Progress - Still alive!

      For conext, four of us are embarking on a 2800 mile road trip to visit some of our favorites offroady bits in Death Valley and the Arizona Strip.

      When we last left our heroes, we'd left the Rivian for dead (and by that I mean he went home) and we headed into the Arizona Strip in order to get some Grand Canyon action. For this, we were somewhat following in the footsteps of our 2017 selves, hitting "Nutter Twists Road" which proved challenging back then but we assumed would be laughable now... (spoiler alert)

      Being that we were 90 miles from the nearest paved road, internet was a hard no, so here we are.

      Anyway, all that said we faced the most challenging offroading we've ever had to navigate, met some amazing people while we were out there, and had an exhausting blast of a time. Also reminded why I love the Disco aired down with the sway bar disconnected. So composed! ❤

      Now chilling in Page, AZ, consuming our body weight in whiskey, prepping for a 500 mile drive tomorrow.
      DSC_4936-rs.jpg
      DSC_5009-rs.jpg
      DSC_8968.jpg
      DSC_5106-rs.jpg
      DSC_5140-rs.jpg

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • New Floof Friday [Updates]

      When we lost our long time very best boy in February, two things became very clear to me: I never wanted to feel that pain again in my life and (B) if I had to feel it again, which I must because Dog B is still with us, I never wanted to be without a dog to help me/us through.

      Realizing that I was trapped in a loop, there was only one option...

      PXL_20220701_214622099.jpg

      Meet... Well she doesn't have a name yet but we have a strong candidate for one. Unlike my last two pups, she wasn't found on the side of the road and was, in fact, adopted from a shelter.

      Border collie mix, about 4 months old, surrendered today by the previous owners. No official name yet but we have one in the chamber that I'm not ready to commit to yet.

      So far doing okay with dog B, he has only attacked her once... Which for him is pretty much getting along with something. My sneaky plan of slipping her in under the radar seems to have worked. We brought her to a seldom used dog park and then went and got dog B. So they got introduced there... And then thrown in the same car... And then the same backyard... And then the same house. The gradual introduction seems to have tempered his hatred of all other dogs in his territory. Dog B is a sweetie but... Also a jealous little fucker.
      PXL_20220702_001916578.jpg

      PXL_20220701_225628353.jpg
      Right now she is very exhausted from what I assume was a very long day. Trying to convince her that the crate is not the worst place to be. Crate training try one was a disastery. Training try two... Well so far so good. Right now I'm just laying on the floor next to the crate and she's in the crate. So far no freak outs.

      So... Assuming everything goes well expect to see a lot more pictures of this new little fluff. I'm very excited to see what she grows up into.

      Next day pupdate

      PXL_20220702_135236800.jpg
      Crate training went.... Ok
      First try ended in a meltdown. After a reset she settled in okay and slept through the night with her crate acting as my nightstand.
      Potty training is going good so far. No accidents yet, but we had one close call. It has been so long since I've had to do this shit!
      Currently gnawing on a rawhide and being stinking cute

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • all hail!

      I was in search of a pen holder (because reasons) and these little guys came up. How could I not?

      PXL_20220224_192626515.jpg PXL_20220224_192638101.jpg

      They are... not great... especially for $10. But they're cute so who cares?

      If you are in need of some Lord UppU chieseium, you can get them here.

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • Jag won 1st place! (plus car show photos)

      Ok. Title is a bit misleading considering it won first place in its class... which only included three other vehicles. Still! First! I can add like $1k to my asking price now... right?

      PXL_20220611_191819685.jpg

      To roll it back slightly, I went to the EuroMotor Extravaganza in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, this weekend. Since the show is hosted by the Jaguar Club of Oklahoma (and I'm trying to sell the Jaaaaaag) I figured I'd clean up the S-Type R, stick a for-sale sign in the window and give it a go.

      Turns out I was the only (!!) green Jag there! Blasphemy!

      Anyway, with much work and some advice from @svend and @davesaddiction @HammerheadFistpunch , I got the water spots out of the Jag's paint, the interior detailed, and it generally looking pretty lovely, and apparently the people agreed...

      DSC_6295-HDR-rs.jpg

      Shameless excessive HDR

      Interior cleaned up lovely, though trouble is in store for the driver's side bolster.

      PXL_20220611_204231892.jpg

      Additionally the Jag now, properly, has some stolen art in the trunk...

      PXL_20220611_204242365.jpg

      Ok maybe not "stolen". There was a silent auction benefiting the local animal shelter, so I put in a bid for this and won it... because I was the only one who bid. No real place for it... but I'll figure something out.

      Anyway... here are some photos of all the other, lesser cars that showed up, starting with the vehicle that won best in show:
      DSC_6287-rs.jpg

      And a Corvette-swapped Morgan

      DSC_6313-HDR-rs.jpg

      And then some other cars that are also clearly inferior to my S-Type (/s)

      DSC_6335-rs.jpg DSC_6332-rs.jpg DSC_6326-rs.jpg DSC_6323-rs.jpg DSC_6320-HDR-rs.jpg DSC_6317-HDR-rs.jpg DSC_6316-HDR-rs.jpg DSC_6305-rs.jpg DSC_6302-rs.jpg DSC_6301-HDR-rs.jpg DSC_6292-rs.jpg DSC_6291-rs.jpg DSC_6290-rs.jpg DSC_6288-rs.jpg DSC_6287-rs.jpg DSC_6286-rs.jpg DSC_6284-rs.jpg

      There were also a ton of BMWs, a few Swedes, and a bunch more Alfas that I didn't photograph for some reason. With a heat index of 110F (43C) I think I just... forgot to keep taking pictures. 😓
      7d0b3f41-0d24-4182-a848-d452f1bbc6d4-image.png
      Saving the best for last... I did say this was for the local animal shelter so of course there were PUPPIES!!

      DSC_6341-rs.jpg
      DSC_6339-rs.jpg

      Absolutely adorable. I did not come home with one, but I may be back soon... Sticking your hand in the pen was like putting it in a very ineffective garbage disposal haha

      Anyway... overall a great day but now I'm hot and tired and considering avoiding working on the Land Rover, at least until it cools off some... 🍻

      DSC_6308-HDR-rs.jpg

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori

    Latest posts made by AkioOhtori

    • RE: Does any state do DMV well?

      @davesaddiction When I got my RealID the "megacenter" was pretty awesome right up until the server in OKC went down and we almost all got kicked out. (It came back just in time)

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: Does any state do DMV well?

      @davesaddiction Oooohhhhh DPS. I was going to say the tag system works well, but yeah anything involving DPS is a shit show. Actually drove on an expired (out of state) license for a year because I didn't want to deal with them.

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: Dwellings of Oppo: Show Us Your Rad Pads

      @CarsOfFortLangley Oh hey might as well... House built in 1918

      DSC_2692-HDR-edit-2_c.jpg

      Office

      DSC_2960-rs.jpg

      Not many photos of the inside because it is rarely clean but...

      2019-02-16 18.10.00.jpg 2019-02-16 18.09.54.jpg 2019-02-16 18.09.51.jpg

      Hmm that room has a way better layout now but I don't have photos of it, apparently

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: New laptop is complete

      @pyroholtz About 28 pounds, female, willful and a bit lumpy.

      Oh... laptop specs? Lenovo P53, 40gigs RAM, 1tb m.2, 9th gen i7

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • New laptop is complete

      It has a sticker now.

      PXL_20220809_021320346.jpg

      Going to do temp duty as a security assessment laptop before getting wiped and converted to my road trip workhorse laptop, so the sticker seems appropriate. I kinda wish I'd gone with grey to match the ThinkPad logo, but oh well.

      Daisy says hai

      PXL_20220808_150008448.MP.jpg

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: F'ing Air France and Delta airlines!

      @MUSASHI66 Delta did something similar to us when we flew to Canada last year. Canceled one leg of a flight, rebooked it for a week later, but kept everything else the same. We ended up rebooking with another carrier but curiously the flight that was "canceled" sure did seem to still take off when we were there...

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: Jeep thoughts along with Arkansas and Oklahoma thoughts.

      @Mazda616 welcome to my neck of the woods! Yes it is very hot here right now. Welcome to hell.

      Wrangler seems like an interesting choice for road trip vehicle... But I guess you knew that going in haha.

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: сука блять...

      @Mr-Ontop Still alive, though mostly seems to be doing voice acting after the stroke

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: Had to axe a small animal to death [gross content warning, no photos]

      @bbg2d said in Had to axe a small animal to death [gross content warning, no photos]:

      @AkioOhtori Subs are still plenty loud and it would depend on your distance to neighbors. Even with a suppressor, it's still noticeable. The axe was a good option.

      Yeah... my neighborhood as high density as you get.... Lots measured in sqft not acres haha.

      ab27367a-b958-4932-82fa-bc8729e215fb-image.png

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori
    • RE: сука блять...

      @Skyfire77 It is pretty delightfully campy and features some units like the ones pictured

      56909e6c-3903-4c45-a5f1-1154d4ba3846-image.png

      04668464-0326-469b-aaa1-3caf6c9c93c4-image.png

      posted in Oppositelock
      AkioOhtori
      AkioOhtori