4 months of Oppo: WitL in Summary

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
03/24/2020 at 16:45 • Filed to: Who is the Leader, Oppositelock, Community

Just who is the Leader anyways? I can tell you that Who is not.

Hi y’all. I first posted to Oppo on December 7th, 2019. Ever since then, I have reliably posted every 1.5 days or so. I would like to take this time to thank this wonderful community for all their input and of course the good times as well. There were many days where musing over whatever was said or posted was about the only thing keeping me going. My life at present is rather tedious and difficult, but this community has certainly helped me through some lows.

My actual automotive experience is itself almost hilariously limited, which makes me continually bewildered that I have even thought up stuff to post this whole time. I am always looking out for new ideas for original content because rarely can I relate an actual personal automotive adventure.

I thought I would take this time to look back on what I came up with during the past four months, starting with my very first post.

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I sat on my new posting privileges for a few days so I could make sure to come out with a high quality post. In return, I received a hearty welcome.

I went on to create a scattering of DOTS posts and highlight a few cars for sale before I really got into a groove.

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I spent a lot of time putting together an in-depth review of my car, finally deciding to post it nearly a month after I joined Oppo. In retrospect, it might come across as slightly pedantic, but I erred on the side of thoroughness. I even managed to work in a guest star in the form of Oppo’s own Snuze.

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Of course, I made my fair share of low effort posts. I think this is probably my best.

In mid January, I published my second major review. You are doubtless quite familiar with this place by now.

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I didn’t realize how often I was going to revisit the topic. I came up with the ambitious plan of highlighting a single car and doing a reasonably thorough write-up every weekday for an entire week, somewhat ambiguously calling it !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It was here that I realized that enjoyed series posts so I didn’t have to worry too much about overall length. I am still occasionally releasing DIOCCUSA s when I feel the inspiration, but have just about exhausted my store of pictures so far.

From there, I embarked on another ambitious project that really took way too much time. I would call it !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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I really went all out with these, creating fancy thumbnails to draw attention to my hard work. Too bad the posts were of dubious legality.

The next series I came up with involved more community participation. I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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This one didn’t last as long, but I am thinking of reviving it.

My Carspotting in Google Maps series was maybe less successful but still pretty fun to make, which is really the point anyways.

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Perhaps I shouldn’t have confined my efforts to one city. I might just want to revisit that idea.

My most recent series idea was going through the inventory of a very strange local dealer. This idea wasn’t new to me, but I don’t recall anyone else serializing such posts.

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Through all this, the mainstay in my posting history has been DOTS and things I’ve seen just walking around. One interesting variation I got into lately was time lapses of various small road trips.

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Of course, on the way I managed to produce some non serialized posts that I feel warrant including here.

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Been quarantined for so long has made me antsy to get out, but escape does not seem likely. Oppo seems to have a dearth in original content in seclusion (or maybe just an increase in editorial style posts), but I haven’t had enough time in my busy schedule to make anything. Hopefully in the next week or so I can think of something.

In the meantime, I just want to thank the whole community for accepting an internet noob like me and the associated unsolicited Cruze content. Here’s to at least another 4 months years.

DISCUSSION (11)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 17:01

Glad to have you with us! It’s nice to have somebody who shares my particular weird taste in cars! :P

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 17:02

I find it odd that despite mass seclusion, there seems to have been less posting on Oppo. You would think it’d be the opposite... I suppose it may just mean that people are successfully finding things to occupy their time, and are simply doing those things more than Oppo now.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
03/24/2020 at 17:06

Maybe. There is definitely an uptick in beer-drinking, record-playing, video-watching, and hang-in-there posts, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think lots of people simply don’t have anything to post about.

That never stopped me from making a post anyways despite my limited range of automotive experience ;)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
03/24/2020 at 17:07

I would say the same. I don’t think I could have made as many of the Carspotting in etc posts without your knowledge of the more difficult spots.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 17:10

I also just went back through my posts to see when my first post on Oppo was, and it was only two days before yours! Featuring the Jehle Saphier, one of the strangest sports cars ever :) https://oppositelock.kinja.com/the-award-for-car-that-most-resembles-cheese-goes-to-1840178692 So we arrived here around the same time...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
03/24/2020 at 17:41

That is actually very interesting. I didn’t know you were just about as new as I am. And also you didn’t know who Richard Scarry is?

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 17:50

Ap parently I’m the only one who’d neve r heard of those books before. I mostly grew up with Dr. Seuss and those little golden books... That and “Is Your Mama a Llama?”, which may explain my mild obsession with llamas.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
03/24/2020 at 17:55

Good thing it is a mild case. Those llama obsessions can get serious quick if unchecked. Just look at my friend my friend who is one generation removed from being Brazilian. She almost got bested by those fur-covered South American horse wanna -bes.

The Cars and Trucks and Things that Go book is actually full of crazy real life cars, from Kubelwagens to Bond Bugs to Citroens.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 18:10

I had a book with cutaways of various vehicles. I remember it had one of a competition tractor, and I was always confused as to what direction it was facing, having no context for what i was looking at :p There was also a cross-sections book I had gotten from a library because it had water damage, which I would spend long hours staring at to see the inner workings of all sorts of machines.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
03/24/2020 at 18:32

I didnt have any detailed technical books like that but I checked out just about every car related book from the library I could find. I did have quite a few technical books about architectural styles and another about odd roadside attractions. Still haven't covered very much of the country despite my longstanding desire to go on a cross country road trip

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/24/2020 at 21:06

You’re welcome! :)