Breakthrough cases? Pshhh, this is fine. Right?


The canvas patio enclosure came in. The front porch is no longer a wind tunnel, nor covered in tree detritus.


Slow progress on the backyard structure. Weekdays have been pretty busy and weekends have been hot. The 2x2s on the roof numbered something like 40 to span the width. This was the first of three sections. Yeah, it's a big project.


And it looks like Zero came out with a (good looking) sport classic model. Not sure if the carbon fiber is factory or aftermarket, but that bike is a huge visual step up from my S.



I logged in to LinkedIn for the first time in awhile. It asked me to 'setup' my account. Huge grammar pet peeve that you wouldn't expect from a two trillion dollar company.


On the flip side, I've never seen a company eliminate binding arbitration from its terms of service. Good for you, Amazon.


This week LMC announced it had come to an agreement with a hedge fund to raise "up to" $400 million. The LMC subreddit quickly announced, "Funding secured! ATVM loan next!" and tried to get traction in WSB.

/u/UtahSurf

This is a real truck that has passed safety tests and a real factory that is tooled up. Previous management sucked and sunk the stock price into the dirt. There are some lawsuits over some phony preorders that they'll have to pay fines for... which every EV SPAC is subject to in one way or another. Short interest is high and it's primed for a decent squeeze. Production will be in September. Made in America. A true underdog story happening in a rural Ohio town that needs the jobs badly... and they've been on a hiring spree. CNBC+Cramer hate this stock. Media hates this stock. Ford hates this company. Shitty+crooked previous management+media hate has created tremendous value and a prime candidate for a nice squeeze.

New name, all the normal talking points: Burns bad, short interest, America, squeeze. Nothing substantive like, say, a video of the truck driving up and down a mountain at freeway speeds. It's going into production in just over a month (right?), why is the bull case still flag waving and a non-existent squeeze?

The WSB commentary went along the lines of, "this agreement is share dilution through a financial pawn shop, the hedgie just turns around and sells the stock on the open market". Kind of like what AMC did. It was also noted that the $400 million figure was calculated based on a share price substantially higher than $RIDE's current value.

The copium valves were turned wide open as $RIDE dropped into the mid $6 range.

/u/wsbgodly123

Great picture to go with the article. Looks like a truck shell sitting on an empty factory floor. Which is what Lordstown is. An empty shell.

Anyway, my puts are up 70.73%, 84.59%, and 10.49% so I'd say the sub has done a good job convincing me that this is the next Nikola.

Meme stonk/cult stonk

There was a pretty on-point meta post yesterday, probably directed at $CLOV and $WISH apes:

/u/cbass37

And I've prepared this friendly checklist for you to confirm, once and for all, that you are not in a cult and they are. With points, for fun score keeping! - Do they have their own sub reddit? (1 point) - Have they forbidden criticism of the ticker? (1) - Is all criticism immediately called FUD and the OP accused of being a 'hedgie'? (1) - Have they begun forming lists of suspected 'hedgies'? (2) - Are there continued, open calls for brigading despite a No Brigading policy? (1) - Are a significant portion of the members banned from WSB? (1) - Is being banned from WSB a 'badge of honor'? (2) - When the stock goes up the HFs lose, but when it goes down are they losing harder? (1) - Is there no possible way short sellers could make a profit despite the stock continually going down? (1) - With each breakdown to a lower price, does confidence increase? (1) - When it put in a new all-time low, did the sub erupt in celebration? (7)

These all seemed very familiar. Or, to quote an LMC bagholder/astroturfer:

/u/dbrgolord

Anyone that speaks negative about Lordstown Motors, and is on here writing, must shit their own bed! Stop shitting in your own bed, or get off this message board!!!!!

I figuratively can't even.

Source.

Having recently read some Hindenburg RTO scam publications and watched The China Hustle, the Chinese regulatory crackdowns have been another interesting financial saga. Didi was the first big name (unless you count Jack Ma's trip to summer camp), then came the online education industry that is already mired by fake user data. The WSB sentiment seems to be twofold:

1. This is why you avoid Chinese ADRs/VIEs; the CCP can make $765 billion in investor money disappear whenever it likes.
2. This is simply profit-taking, the sanctions will lift and the share prices will return to their previous values. I.e. this is a buying opportunity.

It seems insane that Beijing would close out billions in western investment simply to protect user data. Is it too optimistic to think that regaining investor confidence after this will be a challenge?

Dying Light new game+

We made it to old town Tehr- er, Harran. It's such a cool map.


I hope the forthcoming sequel lives up to the first game, but I'm happy to give this a second run through while looking forward to buggy action in the DLC. Not buggy like "full of bugs", but buggy like "offroader with bottle and a zombie cattle guard and a shock coil". Also probably covered in dead bugs on account of the speed. What were we talking about? Ah yes, zombies.



We ran through the Acrid unlock - drop down the salamander vendor's pit and find the null portal, then charge a few bubbles while enemies with items try to ruin your day.



I finished my ME1:LE playthrough.

The photo mode filters aren't anything to write home about, but using them for layering/blending in post can be fun.

Side quest mop up

I forgot how many side quests were resolved with text boxes. The environment and action were fairly generic, with voice/text lore to make them seem unique.

Getting through all of the side quests was a bit of a slog. The large, empty planets simply beg for community content.

Virmire

In contrast to the exploration side quests, the main quests in ME are all pretty strong. Virmire may be the best of the bunch.

Kirrahe held the line long before Hodor held the door. But way after Easy Company trained on Currahee.

It wasn't easy, but I finally decided to let annoying Ashley do the Major Kong thing rather than really-annoying Kaiden. They say Kaiden gets less bothersome in the sequels.

Ilos

Even knowing the story, letting Vigil explain the fragmented Prothean/Reaper mystery is still one of my favorite moments in gaming.

Citadel finale

The not-short-but-not-long ending sequence is great, incorporating all of the gameplay aspects of ME (including dialogue!). While other games (including 2 and 3) basically spend the entire game beating you over the head with how the protagonist is the only one who can save the galaxy, here it's Vigil saying, "Yadda yadda *substantial exposition* OBTW you had better get back to the Citadel, stat!"

I also (for the first time) let the annoying council get turned into space dust. I had a lot easier time getting renegade points in this playthrough. Maybe because I'm older and crustier, maybe because I know it ultimately won't affect what Space Kid thinks of me (ME3 saltiness).

The renegade points (I think) meant I could convince Saren to off himself, before coming back as mecha-spider-Saren. I meme, but the entire end sequence is pretty excellent.

ME2:Legendary Edition awaits.