Your first post vs. now; what's changed?

"TheJWT" (thejwt)
11/12/2020 at 15:03 • Filed to: None

The one upside of having a concrete date for when Oppo is being shut down has to be seeing all of the old commenters who haven’t been active in years return to share their memories and goodbyes. That got me looking back at my old posts, and realizing how much I think I’ve changed as a person since then.

My first post was on August 30th, 2013. I had read Oppo since it was called offtopic; probably around 2011 or so, but never posted anything myself. It was the summer before I would leave my Cleveland suburb and go to college in NYC. I was having a lot of anxiety leading up to that, so I finally made an account on here to talk about cars and generally try to keep my mind off of the big move looming ahead.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I was much more enthusiastic about cars back then, for starters. I’m not sure why I specified liking Alfas in particular, I guess my favorite cars were changing week to week.

I had never owned my own car at that point; about a year after that first post I’d buy my Sentra, which was replaced by a Trans Am. Eventually I grew sick of the headaches involved with old cars and my lack of knowledge or space to repair them and I bought a nice boring Honda Fit which I enjoy very much to this day.

I took a motorcycle training class a few years after because it was cheap and something that I thought I might enjoy while I saved up for my dream car, an early Honda NSX. The weekend after that class I was driving down to Columbus to buy my first bike, then my second a few months later, then my third a year after that. Now I’d say my interest in cars takes a back seat to motorcycles, both riding and working on them. I still love the NSX just as much as I did the first time I got to drive one in college, but I’m content knowing I may never own one.

Back then I also thought I’d stay in Brooklyn after graduating and work as an architect, too. I got the hell out on New York the minute I graduated, and my career as an architect, if you can call it that, is hopefully going to come to a close in about a year when I move to Japan to teach English; something I couldn’t have even fathomed back as an 18 year old writing my first post here.

So much else has changed in the last 7 years that aren’t tied to my Oppo presence; relationships have come and gone, worldviews have changed, depression has taken me to new highs and lows... I’d reckon the person writing that post on August 30th, 2013 would have a hard time recognizing t he one writing this now.

What about you? How long have you been posting on Oppo? What was your first post, and have you changed since then?

DISCUSSION (63)

Just Jeepin' > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:10

I’ve only been here 2.5 years.

My first post: https://oppositelock.kinja.com/the-jeep-experience-part-1-1827468276

I’d say I haven’t changed a bit, other than getting steadily poorer from Jeep repairs.

ttyymmnn > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:11

I have no idea what or when my very first Oppo post was. It was before Kinja, in fact, Murilee Martin gave me my star in the old system. But I just posted my first aviation history post. For me, I think what has changed is that I’ve become a much better writer in the last five years.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:13

My shitposts have become more elaborate.

Sometimes.

OK, I haven’t changed.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:14

My post was pre-kinja, I think the big difference is that I’ve done a lot of growing up over the last 10 or so years.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:18

my oldest viewable post is from June 2013, I had just come back from AX with the VSCC (Vermont Sports Car Club) At Devil’s Bowl Raceway in my 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring. Since then the VSCC has moved its AX to various parking lots as the Devil’s Bowl ripped out it’s pavement and went back to being a dirt track (Frankly, it was the right move for them and the local oval track racing scene), I bought a Volvo 242 race car, blew it up and sold it. Bought a Fiesta ST blew up it’s transmission, had it replaced under warranty and sold it. Quit my job in light manufacturing production engineering, got married, bought a whole lot of sheep and a bunch of farm equipment and a literal farm, moved to the boonies, dramatically lowered my blood pressure and my income, and now own all 4x4 or AWD vehicles except for the motorcycle, which remains in a state of semi-disassembly since it was in the process of having it’s carbs rebuilt when we moved to the farm and I have not had time/energy to work on it since late 2017. Next year I’m gonna get that thing back on the road, I MEAN It this time. I was here pre-kinja, but damned If I remember what was going on, I was drunker and more regular ly high back then.

TheJWT > Just Jeepin'
11/12/2020 at 15:18

At least you’ve been consistent with your content!

TheJWT > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/12/2020 at 15:20

Living on a farm sounds like the dream some days

Boxer_4 > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:20

I’m pretty sure I started on the FP and then offtopic in 2009. Kinja has my first post as 2012.

https://boxer_4.kinja.com/i-present-to-you-the-flat-12-boxer-diesel-from-the-1969-352978407

It’s pretty obvious what has stayed the same.

What has changed is that I’ve gone from being a high school kid and all that entails to being someone with a career now.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:20

Everything and nothing.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/hello-oppo-1651286837

In a way, I’m still some kid in Ontario with a cheap car. Except it’s six years later , I’ve been to college, lived on the west coast, picked up a legit auto journalism gig and swapped the Cutlass for a Sienna, then a GMT400, then a Crown Vic, then a G35, then an E90 325i. I don’t listen to nearly as much pop-punk and -core stuff as I used to, although I still frequently enjoy dance punk and nu-rave. I’m all grown up and yet the same as I ever was, just a bit quieter and less serious. Life’s too short to take yourself too seriously.

RPM esq. > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:23

I started posting in 2013, initially only contributing occasional cocktail recipes, before moving in to typical DOTS and “what car should I buy?” posts. I have grown up a lot since then, although not as much as RPM Jr. has. In that time I have gone from quite junior at my job and buried in student loan debt to management as a partner in the business, split up with my then-partner after 16-ish years, and gone through 7 cars (plus 3 more for Jr. and the former M s. RPM ). It’s been quite a ride. I’ll do a post like Huzer’s listing the cars.

PowderHound > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:23

This is the first post on file for me but I feel like I had a good few before that:

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/ive-done-it-1445222347

What’s changed? I’ve moved around a good bit and got a WRX not too long after that post

For Sweden > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:26

People kept screaming at me

Kinja'd!!!

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:29

i think ive been here for 3 years or so....not a whole lot changed...tho i finally landed meself a lifers contract at work so no more employment insecurity yay

then 2 weeks later the rona happened and its by no means sure the company will survive it...sooo.. back to employment insecurity....boo

other than that ive cut down on my drinking a lot and as a result my postits have mostly become less manic

and as it turns out i really love doing my f1 live posts....gonna miss that shit

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:29

It’s really pretty good, I have no set work hours. Some days I do 2-3 hours of work and goof off the rest of the day. I have no boss to answer to except myself, and my coworkers are sheep. Sheep almost never talk back, usually do what you ask them to do, and are remarkably nice to hug. HOWEVER, Income is spotty and irregular, sheep die randomly and sometimes horribly, I live in the middle of nowhere and have to drive over 8 0 miles to get half decent sushi, and on some days I have to work 20+ hours or the farm may li terally collapse. Also, If I’m not my own mechanic we will go broke in a matter of weeks, which is a great excuse to buy tools, but also a situation that requires I pull the engine out of a 1990's J ohn Deere Gator UTV to change the starter motor and weld up the rust holes in the frame while also managing repairs on various 20+ year old equipment. I get to own a lathe though, which has already paid for itself several times over.

Thomas Donohue > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:36

This might be a good indication of how little I’ve learned over the last 5(?) years, but how do you find your first post without clicking through five years of shitposts?

TheJWT > Boxer_4
11/12/2020 at 15:38

Posts like that were what brought me here in the first place

TheJWT > Thomas Donohue
11/12/2020 at 15:39

Only 5? I had to click through 7 years of shitposts to find mine

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:39

12/07/19

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/dots-blasphemy-edition-1840286724

Kinja'd!!!

I still mostly post stupid cars I’ve seen. I don’t think I’ll ever top this for sheer stupidity though.

Kinja'd!!!

Though the other car in the post was close.

It would literally be my second post that I had multiple people recognize the location.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/dots-kroger-edition-1840302419

I do know a whole lot more about cars than I did then. I didn’t lurk long before joining and I had only discovered Jalopnik earlier that year. It only took a few times navigating to there from the comments that I decided to stick around. I had an old ‘ Who is the Leader’ burner so I did a commenting spree to get e nough of a history to get my proper account given access. It was like two days old so Party-Vi must have not been paying attention.

I still drive an automatic Chevy Cruze, I still like Citroens, and I still post DOTS. Can’t say too much has changed over the past year in my posting habits but I’m out of high school and in college living in the big city so my life is quite different.

Milky > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:39

July 2013 for me and holy crap was my writing terrible early on. I've done a lot of growing up while being on oppo.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/12/2020 at 15:42

I would love to imagine the chronology goes like this:

1. bought a whole lot of sheep

2. bought a bunch of farm equipment and a literal farm

3. moved to the boonies

Picturing you temporarily keeping your animals and farm equipment in a suburban home or maybe apartment is hilarious.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/12/2020 at 15:43

Sheep almost never talk back

I hope not

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Thomas Donohue
11/12/2020 at 15:44

index=26 0

https://kinja.com/tomonomics?startIndex=260

https://tomonomics.kinja.com/this-1955-porsche-356-pre-a-speedster-went-for-258-000-1684064583

Thomas Donohue > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:46

I do recall when I first starting posting (whenever it was).....that ini tially I was only posting to my own page, not Oppo. After a few posts, I realized what I was doing.

Then again, looking at my page, I seem to have done it many more times over the years. That’s some good drunken shitposting right t here.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Milky
11/12/2020 at 15:46

Writing like every other day on here on average has vastly improved my writing.

TheJWT > Milky
11/12/2020 at 15:46

I had to wade through so many cringey posts of mine before I got to the beginning...

Chariotoflove > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:47

My first post was a screed against asshole cyclists. It wasn’t typical of the attitude I like to project here now. However, I was irritated about cyclist bad behavior (Still am), and I also thought it was cooler to be “edgy” than I now do. I have come to believe that edgy-ness is most often just assholish-ness with extra vocabulary thrown in.

Bandit > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:48

I’m a lot less cringey now, it hurt to scroll through old posts. Honestly probably a good thing it’s all getting wiped.

f86sabre > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:48

I was around late in the off topic and early into the Oppo days. It was just a linear stream of consciousness thing then. Still fun though.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 15:48

That was in fact mostly how it happened. We rented a property in Williston Vermont, a suburb of Burlington. Our landlords owned a bike and ski touring center and our sheep grazed the fields and open grassland of the site. We installed a large Garage-in-a-box in our driveway as our first barn, made hay there, parked tractors in our driveway and occasionally slaughtered sheep by the roadside hung from tractor loaders while athleisure-clad soccer-moms pedaled by on bikes worth more than our yearly rent. The worst part was the suburban dogs, who have no manners and people treat like their spoiled children. No sheep were lost to them, but over 20 chickens were killed by local dogs in total. The farm purchase was the bridge between #2 and #3 on your list.

TheJWT > Bandit
11/12/2020 at 15:49

Same here 100%

PyramidHat > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:50

The first posts on my account are around 2014 (I think I posted earlier, but wasn’t there some Kinja changeover or something?) Regardless, I was about 50 lbs lighter than I was now, if that counts...

Gamecat235 > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 15:52

My first post was sometime around October/November of 2010. Although I was commenting for a bit before then. This was pre-Kinja and I spent a while shooting after getting that precious star. And in fact I earned my star on Lifehacker, Io9, Gizmodo, Jezebel, and Gawker before I got one on Jalopnik. (Yes I got around - no I never got a star on Deadspin, Kotaku, or Fleshbot)...

My posts went from inane subject to inane subject but when Kinja started up I had some free time and a lot of curiosity . I ended up being selected to be one of the initial moderators of Oppo (and helped to write the first few drafts of the handbook and had the first post on Kinja Oppo - it was about beer, this should surprise no one).

I ended up writing the guide on how to create your own user community blog back when that was a thing. And that was how I got to know Ernie and the rest of the Kinja support team. I slowly flirted away from Oppo and spent a lot of time on the other community blogs writing about all sorts of stuff. But mostly music and beer and then coming back here to talk about cars.

It was a hell of a journey and being part of the mod team was awesome and kept me here a bit more often than I would have otherwise. But I regret nothing. This community helped me through a lot, and I have made MANY friends who I am still regularly in touch with, and who I have met, hung out with, travelled to see, or even in the case of Guard Duck, was one of his last non -family visitors before he passed.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Thomas Donohue
11/12/2020 at 15:59

Who is the Leader’s already given the numerical answer in your case, but just i n case someone else has the same issue...

Once you go to the second page of y our post history , you’ll see the URL ends with “startI ndex=20" (it doesn’t do it on the first page of post history). Replace that number with 100, 200, etc (or leap straight to 500, 1000 or whatever if you know you’ve got a massive post history) , till you get a page with no posts and you’ll know you’ve gone too far. T hen go back down by 20s till you see your earliest posts. (it gives you 20 posts per page).

TheJWT > Gamecat235
11/12/2020 at 15:59

Crazy this little off topic forum has been around over 10 years now...

Also, I wonder how many people on here remember Fle shbot...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/12/2020 at 16:05

I’d love to believe that you slaughtered sheep in the front yard and the HOA forced you to move to a proper farm.

Though I agree that many dogs have no manners but rural dogs are more experienced with getting at the chickens.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 16:06

I’ve only been posting here since 2016 and I actually started at Overland & Expedition. Though I have been around much much longer...pre Kinja. Unfortunately, in those days, I had a burner account and anything I might have contributed is lost to me...

https://silentbutnotreallydeadly.kinja.com/dualling-batteries-1784207091

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 16:07

No HOAs in Vermont bitches. There are condo associations, but that’ s a bit different as shared buildings a rea sonable cause for rules about shared living environment.

The rural dogs no NOT to go after the chickens or else they will face consequences.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/12/2020 at 16:11

No HOA where I live either but they exist in places that were built after they became popular.

I’ve seen a lot of rural dogs that like to intimidate chickens at least.

Milky > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 16:15

Same. Plus I already went through a few years ago and deleted all my NSFW posts. Wish I could tell 20 year old me “I get it, woman are pretty, calm down though.”

TheJWT > Milky
11/12/2020 at 16:26

This was a wild place in the NSFW era...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 17:33

=1598 for me! LOL

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Milky
11/12/2020 at 17:33

April 2013 - just beat you.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2020 at 17:36

340 for me divided by just about 340 days. Wow, I posted here more often than I thought! It seems I posted twice a day about every other day. Weird.

Man, that is an incredible number! Wonder if anyone here has more?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Gamecat235
11/12/2020 at 17:41

Found your first ever post !

https://kinja.com/Gamecat235?startIndex=700

and

https://gamecat235.kinja.com/hey-i-can-post-he-says-optimistically-before-pressin-472050435

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 17:52

Oh, I’m sure some have plenty more.

Roughly 2700 days since my first post.

Gamecat235 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 17:57

That was nowhere near my first... but it’s my first that Kinja has awareness of. I actually found my old archive. My first comment was to Trampa (now Bryce W) about a KMFDM/PIG concert. in October of 2010. My first post on Oppo was a few months later.

Milky > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2020 at 18:07

p sh, ya geezer

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2020 at 18:22

Daaaaaaaaaaaanget a life ;)

That is an impressive number.

Blondude > Gamecat235
11/12/2020 at 19:03

Yeah, Kinja only saved the 6.0- era posts. Anything before June of 2012 has been gone since we first changed over.

Blondude > Bandit
11/12/2020 at 19:06

Going through my pre-Kinja stuff made me want to die lol. It’s so bad.

Gamecat235 > Blondude
11/12/2020 at 19:13

I ran a script *back then* that I custom wrote in... ahem.... VBA in Excel. That saved all of my comments. All of them. Back to that point. It’s kind of sad. So I have those ones too.

interstate366, now In The Industry > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 19:38

When I joined in 2016, I had 3 Preludes and nothing else . I sold one in 2017 (though it wasn’t picked up until last week!) and am working on selling another. Since then I’ve bought two Acuras, a Pontiac, and a Lexus.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 20:10

Wish I knew how long I was a commenter before that. I do remember the transition to Kinja (code word Tiger).

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 20:25

7 years, 3 jobs, 5 cars, a kid, and a house. But same old me. My first post was about the then new Cherokee headlights. This was when I worked at a dealership as. This was the first Cherokee we received. https://hondasfordsvolvo.kinja.com/cherokee-lights-1469484910

Jewish Stig > ttyymmnn
11/12/2020 at 20:43

Oh man, im definitely going to miss your aviation content.

pip bip - choose Corrour > TheJWT
11/12/2020 at 21:03

I started in 2015

Nothing much has changed for me

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2020 at 22:05

Tiger! Tiger!

What do I win?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/12/2020 at 22:17

Only 4 more days of Kinja!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2020 at 22:44

Boooooooo!

ttyymmnn > Jewish Stig
11/12/2020 at 23:29

I thank you for that, but there’s nothing to miss! I’ll be continuing at both The Hyphen and Drivetribe.

Kar Wai Wong > TheJWT
11/13/2020 at 12:11

What cars have been discontinued, then brought back?

Not as cringy as I thought it would be compared to some of the others . I tended to go off on tangents that were mildly-related back than.

TheJWT > Kar Wai Wong
11/13/2020 at 15:46

I remember reading that article!

Bryce Womeldurf > TheJWT
11/13/2020 at 17:15

I’m m uch less active now, on here at least . I moved on from Oppo years ago. My earliest post on here according to my current account is from 2012 but I was commenting since around 2008, if I remember right. First moved to Google+, then to Mewe. I used to put a lot of effort into showing a lot of my photography on here, but there hasn’t been much feedback or anything on them lately, so it didn’t seem worth effort .