Anyone else trying to compete with a life?

B

blindsidefive0

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blindsidefive0
Is anyone else trying to balance a full time job, Christmas shopping (fkm), a marriage, and posting hot laps on GT5?

Ya, ya - I know it's just an excuse for not topping the leaderboard...

I just wish I was back at CU Boulder skipping 12 classes/week and the only thing I would have to balance would be A-Basin, Vail, and Gran Turismo.
 
Boulder... nice. That place looks sweet from what I've seen. But ya same boat sorda. Finished college last year and now full time job. But then again I don't think it's worth wasting too much time improving lap times. Not to thread jack but I posted a thread here about flaws of the competition.
 
Me. I only play 1-2 hours a day if that. Still in the top 100. I am going to give it a weeks break and then just make sure I stay in the top 50. I'll worry about stage 2 when it comes.
 
I'm just lucky. I had some vacation days to use up, so I have the rest of the year off, minus the wife and the gym! After that it's back to the 7 day a week 10 hours a day job of blowing crap up in a test cell :)
 
I'm in the top 15 in the south overall. Luckily I have two weeks off.(Teacher) I can only play when my daughter is asleep or kept occupied by my wife. Mix in working out, christmas stuff, and family leaves little time.
 
Full-time job, wife, and three kids (7, 4, and 2.) You know what is fun? Yesterday I was hotlapping Tsukuba and I was .3 up on a 1:05.5 going into the last turn. Had a chance for a WR, but as I was about to turn in, my 2-year old waves a diaper and baby wipes in front of my face telling me to change her. Needless to say, the momentary blindness caused me to botch the last turn. Fun stuff. =)
 
Heres a question for you...

Lets say you win? What do you do with your life? You need to move to England for a year, I'm sure you won't make enough money to cover your current life. Me personally, I am 30 years old, I own a home, I have a good job, nice car, school loans, etc.

That said if on a cold day in hell I did win, I would quit my job, sell my home and whatever else, park my **** in a storage unit and do it. Thats just me. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for what I've always wanted to do.

That said I'm pretty sure I won't have to make that decision. But serious answers from everyone... come on
 
Tommy_861
Heres a question for you...

Lets say you win? What do you do with your life? You need to move to England for a year, I'm sure you won't make enough money to cover your current life. Me personally, I am 30 years old, I own a home, I have a good job, nice car, school loans, etc.

That said if on a cold day in hell I did win, I would quit my job, sell my home and whatever else, park my **** in a storage unit and do it. Thats just me. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for what I've always wanted to do.

That said I'm pretty sure I won't have to make that decision. But serious answers from everyone... come on
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My wife to be knows exactly what would happen. Break the lease on the apt, sell the car, heck sell everything I can. Get 2 plane tickets and head out west! This is an opportunity of a life time. I slept in my car to intern with race teams in college. I will sacrifice more to actually drive. The best part is, my fiance totally supports me 'cause she's a racer too.
 
Choate - you clearly making the best of your time off, putting down some nice laps.

Honestly, it's not even the time commitment, it's the focus. It's hard for me to settle down, relax, and hit my marks when I've worried about crap at work, or if I know that I have to clean the bathroom because the family is coming over in 2 days.

If I won, I would absolutely give it a go. I would rent out my condo, put the rest of my stuff at my parent's house, probably not sell both of my cars (just the 325i, but the '95 M3 in the very rare Avus blue, and only 50k miles...mint), and drag my wife with me.

Not to get too far off topic, but this is kind of relevant - assume you won, and you get your International License. Where is the actual race series? Is it the GT4 series that the other winners are participating in? Since it's a US competition, is it a US based series? Domestic travel is no big deal - I lived that life for 2 years as a management/IT consultant, but I don't know if I could switch to the Euro.
 
I would say that I have a life, and I'm relatively high in the rankings. I just make the most of the little time i have to put towards my laps. Just focus on one track a night and be consistantly fast.
 
Yeah, wife and child, full time job, etc. I am pretty quick off the bat but it takes me quite a while to get near the top 10 so the life hurts my end result. Some of these guys are just quick right off the bat. It takes me at least 15 to 20 minutes to get into a groove and set fast laps.
 
i'm holding out a full-time job on which i often work saturday and sunday too, as well as my girlfriend, going out with my friends... it's a good balance

the fact i'm only level 20 since i got the game and people at level 30 is commonplace now kinda reflects my life, but that's how i like it; i wouldn't want it any other way. i'd sacrifice neither my overtime (double pay £££), girlfriend time or friends time for GT5, but always manage to fit a few hours in here and there. makes it more exciting!

during the holidays, however..... GT5 is gonna get absolutely battered off!!!!!
 
blindsidefive0
Choate - you clearly making the best of your time off, putting down some nice laps.

Honestly, it's not even the time commitment, it's the focus. It's hard for me to settle down, relax, and hit my marks when I've worried about crap at work, or if I know that I have to clean the bathroom because the family is coming over in 2 days.

If I won, I would absolutely give it a go. I would rent out my condo, put the rest of my stuff at my parent's house, probably not sell both of my cars (just the 325i, but the '95 M3 in the very rare Avus blue, and only 50k miles...mint), and drag my wife with me.

Not to get too far off topic, but this is kind of relevant - assume you won, and you get your International License. Where is the actual race series? Is it the GT4 series that the other winners are participating in? Since it's a US competition, is it a US based series? Domestic travel is no big deal - I lived that life for 2 years as a management/IT consultant, but I don't know if I could switch to the Euro.
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It is the GT4 series you go into which is based in Europe. But if you read the rules closely it seems that they give you a place to live in England and spending money while you run with the team up to the 24 Hrs of Dubai. I would assume you're on your own after that, then it becomes more of a life decision. At that point you'd probably need to evaluate your results and also whether the team wants to keep you onboard (Lucas Ordonez still drives for the Playstation Team now 2 years after the competition he won). If you want to stay on and you want to be competitive you are going to need to live there. Ask Michael Andretti about trying to commute between the US and England and be a top flite racing driver. It just doesn't work.

Me personally the decision would be made, I'm staying there, I would just come home in the winter and stay with my folks. I would rather live like a nomad and be a racing driver, than live in luxury in my current life as an Analyst (and trust me my life is very little luxury I live in a 3 room co-op with property taxes that are $5k a year!).
 
Tommy_861
It is the GT4 series you go into which is based in Europe. But if you read the rules closely it seems that they give you a place to live in England and spending money while you run with the team up to the 24 Hrs of Dubai. I would assume you're on your own after that, then it becomes more of a life decision. At that point you'd probably need to evaluate your results and also whether the team wants to keep you onboard (Lucas Ordonez still drives for the Playstation Team now 2 years after the competition he won). If you want to stay on and you want to be competitive you are going to need to live there. Ask Michael Andretti about trying to commute between the US and England and be a top flite racing driver. It just doesn't work.

Me personally the decision would be made, I'm staying there, I would just come home in the winter and stay with my folks. I would rather live like a nomad and be a racing driver, than live in luxury in my current life as an Analyst (and trust me my life is very little luxury I live in a 3 room co-op with property taxes that are $5k a year!).
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That makes sense... Who am I kidding, this would be a once in a lifetime event - I would move to Europe if needed. Currently I pay a few thousand bucks a summer just to time trial my car...getting paid to drive would be a dream come true.
 
Choate51
My wife to be knows exactly what would happen. Break the lease on the apt, sell the car, heck sell everything I can. Get 2 plane tickets and head out west! This is an opportunity of a life time. I slept in my car to intern with race teams in college. I will sacrifice more to actually drive. The best part is, my fiance totally supports me 'cause she's a racer too.
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A wife AND a fiance!?!?! Wow! That is living the life!

This thread made me join the forums- lot of complaining and moaning about "my real life takes away from my gaming" Well guess what, its YOUR life, you pick what you want to do, don't complain about it. And if you DO complain - well, why don't you make some changes?

Last time I checked you are the one who picked your job, to have a wife, to have kids, to buy a ps3 and to buy GT5. Either do something about it, or just stop complaining! GEEEZUS! And for all of you adding to this poor guys whine and cheese party - someone will ALWAYS Have a bigger commitment than the next guy - if you have one kid and a wife, someone has two kids and wife - and then theres the guy with three kids, a wife and a 60/hr a week job!! But wait, theres a guy with a 80hr work week!!!

Bottom line; stop complaining!
 
blindsidefive0
Is anyone else trying to balance a full time job, Christmas shopping (fkm), a marriage, and posting hot laps on GT5?

Ya, ya - I know it's just an excuse for not topping the leaderboard...

I just wish I was back at CU Boulder skipping 12 classes/week and the only thing I would have to balance would be A-Basin, Vail, and Gran Turismo.
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I'm 28, and doing just that. Working 60 hrs/ week and trying to get back on the right track and get a better job (after recently taking a crappy one because I was laid off in July from my previous good job!)

I've only been focusing on Tsukuba. I have shown pace for a clean 1'05.5 on 2 occasions!!! But I can't seem to put the lap together. Right now I am sitting on a clean 1'06.0xx for a top 40 spot in the Northeast. My goal is to get a 1'05.7 and then move on to the other challenges. I can run 1'06.1 very consistently now, it's just nailing every corner perfect that is going to net you a time in the 1'05.2-1'05.7 range. I do suspect that a top time at Tsukuba may end up being a 1'04.99 before the competition ends. We'll see.

What would I do if I won? Drop everything and give it a shot. It would literally be a once in a lifetime opportunity to do what I love most in this world for the rest of my life. I have a boat load of talent (as proven by my "real life" racing success in go karts and SCCA AutoX on a VERY limited budget) but because I don't have a lot of money I will never have an opportunity to show my real skills on an actual racetrack. The GT Academy may be the ticket. I literally would not be able to live with myself if I turned down such an opportunity. The money would be irrelevant, just to be able to race a car and provide for my family would be heaven on earth. Plus, at 28 years old, I may be "over the hill" already but I am sure going to try. :)

For now, I'm just going to focus on solidifying a position in the top 128 in the Northeast (from what I have seen I feel very confident I can achieve this.) The 2nd round is going to be a barn-burner.....

Good luck to you and all my fellow Northeast Competitors. :)

Nick
 
Yes I work in construction and my wife and I have a new 6 month old son and I can only muster about an hour per week on gt5. I am ranked #1 in my region... No I'm kidding more like 450. I Have A lot of room to Improve on the tuned car track, so we will see if I can get in to round 2.
 
@Forcednduckshn

Sounds good - sometimes I think, if I could just get past the Gran Turismo part...

Go karts and autox can translate well to the real track. I think both are a component of the Silverstone 5 day finals. My cousin is pretty competitive in NASA after having auxox'ed for a while... Autox hacks can struggle on a real circuit if they pick up bad habits of not being smooth enough, but that doesn't sound like you if you are competitive.

BTW - you whipped my ass in one of my first online races. I believe it was the LFA at Monza...my first time with that car/track (excuse). I'll expect to see you climbing towards the top of the leader board soon enough.
 
blindsidefive0
@Forcednduckshn

Sounds good - sometimes I think, if I could just get past the Gran Turismo part...

Go karts and autox can translate well to the real track. I think both are a component of the Silverstone 5 day finals. My cousin is pretty competitive in NASA after having auxox'ed for a while... Autox hacks can struggle on a real circuit if they pick up bad habits of not being smooth enough, but that doesn't sound like you if you are competitive.

BTW - you whipped my ass in one of my first online races. I believe it was the LFA at Monza...my first time with that car/track (excuse). I'll expect to see you climbing towards the top of the leader board soon enough.
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Totally feelin' ya man :) And thanks for the kind words, I hope that with a little more seat time I can try to lock in a top 20 overall for the region.

Agreed on the AutoX hacks. A lot of guys think they can drive anything because they can hack around at the local lots. But I think "ego combined with bad drivers" is something we'll have to deal with at every level of motorsport, even in GT5 online racing! Haha!

I took a 9th place (trophy finish) in B-Stock in my AP1 Honda s2000 this year at the SCCA Solo National Championships in a field of 54. I was sitting in 6th place after Day 1, but had a rough day 2 and lost a few spots. Still, it was a very strong performance, beating the 2008 National Champion and a 3 Time National Tour Winner in the process, both in wayyy faster cars (s2000 Club Racer Models.) It was a blast! Here is a link to the PDF'd results - I'm on page 4, Nicholas Barbato: http://www.scca.com/documents/resultfiles/15171_Results book file.pdf :) I even got picked in SportsCar mag this year as a potential Championship winner!!! Haha I knew I didn't have a chance against the fast CR guys though...

Yeah I remember racing you too!!! Thanks for letting me win so I feel better about myself ;) I saw you at the top of the leaderboards in the academy and I was like woah I raced that guy! Nice!!!

I also managed to beat the godly GTP-TimeAttack in an IMPUL-GTR Racing Soft race on Suzuka....but I had literally been practicing that combo for like 3 days haha!!! I raced him the next day in his own lobby and even though I was flying around the course he was still about a second faster (or one in case, over 2 seconds faster) on every combo we ran!! The dude is no joke. Humbling. But he's awesome to watch and a really cool guy.

I'll add you as friend and we'll get some races going for sure. Don't kick my butt in the GT Academy too badly, please. I need to save face. :)
 
Yes, he is blazing fast.

I see you are from Connecticut. If you want a nice way to get into circuit driving, check out COMSCC. I've done a few events with them over the years, and next year I'm looking to set some track records with my 325i in the Showroom Stock B class (I hope!).

They are a local club to the northeast, and everyone is super helpful. Your s2k will be an absolute blast. The format is competitive time trials, so it's a good bridge between parking lots/airfields/karts and the "bumper cars" of SCCA IT and SPEC classes.

Tracks for next year probably include:
Mosport, Mont Tremblant, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen, New Jersey Motorsport Park...no Limerock (they have that stupid fancy club arrangement now)
 
blindsidefive0
Yes, he is blazing fast.

I see you are from Connecticut. If you want a nice way to get into circuit driving, check out COMSCC. I've done a few events with them over the years, and next year I'm looking to set some track records with my 325i in the Showroom Stock B class (I hope!).

They are a local club to the northeast, and everyone is super helpful. Your s2k will be an absolute blast. The format is competitive time trials, so it's a good bridge between parking lots/airfields/karts and the "bumper cars" of SCCA IT and SPEC classes.

Tracks for next year probably include:
Mosport, Mont Tremblant, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen, New Jersey Motorsport Park...no Limerock (they have that stupid fancy club arrangement now)
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Yeah, I'll check it out! The natural progression would be to toss a roll bar/cage in it and start doing some time trials. Though I might want to choose another platform (i.e. something with a hard top :) ) before I go that route in case I have a major incident. Maybe when the whether get's nice again I'll see you out there. I've been for a few hot lap sessions as a passenger at Watkins Glen in a GT1 Corvette and Ferrari F430 Challenge car w/ good drivers (on track days.) THOSE were some amazing experiences. My life flashed before my eyes cresting the top of the esses when I did it the first time. After that though, for the rest of the sessions I was actually quite calm riding along despite the driver pushing really hard. I just kept thinking "man, I should be the one driving, not watching!"

Nick
 
Forcednduckshn
Yeah, I'll check it out! The natural progression would be to toss a roll bar/cage in it and start doing some time trials. Though I might want to choose another platform (i.e. something with a hard top :) ) before I go that route in case I have a major incident. Maybe when the whether get's nice again I'll see you out there. I've been for a few hot lap sessions as a passenger at Watkins Glen in a GT1 Corvette and Ferrari F430 Challenge car w/ good drivers (on track days.) THOSE were some amazing experiences. My life flashed before my eyes cresting the top of the esses when I did it the first time. After that though, for the rest of the sessions I was actually quite calm riding along despite the driver pushing really hard. I just kept thinking "man, I should be the one driving, not watching!"

Nick
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You will need a roll bar, 5 point harness, and arm restraints in the drop top. However, it's an absolutely awesome car - my cousin has one.

The ONLY time I've ever thought "wow, I could die" was at WGI last year with my dad's 964 tracking out of the esses and approaching the grass at 130mph and getting up to 142ish heading into the busstop (estimate based on RPMs)...although in the same car with bad tires (Joke-ahama Advans) I got sideways over the top of T2 at Mont Tremblant when I was still learning the fast line and putting down more power over the hill...bad place to start losing it in a rear engine car. I think you are doing about 90mph over there and the runoff isn't that great - scared the life out of the corner worker, but it was the greatest "save" of my life.

BTW - Have you ever raced karts at On Track Karting in Wallingford? I'm probably not on the leaderboard anymore, but when they re-did the layout went a couple times after work when I was traveling for consulting. I got w/in about 0.2 or 0.3 of the track record with the 9hp "Super Karts".

...to bring this back on topic - I'll have to balance my go-karting (F1 Boston has a Monday night league w/ 6hp indoor karts), ice racing (in New HampshAH...again w/ the 325i), and COMSCC schedule over the winter and spring w/ this competition if I move on a couple rounds. First event is 5/2 at Mosport...good warmup for Silverstone if hell freezes over and I make the finals as long as there isn't a conflict.
 
blindsidefive0
You will need a roll bar, 5 point harness, and arm restraints in the drop top. However, it's an absolutely awesome car - my cousin has one.

The ONLY time I've ever thought "wow, I could die" was at WGI last year with my dad's 964 tracking out of the esses and approaching the grass at 130mph and getting up to 142ish heading into the busstop (estimate based on RPMs)...although in the same car with bad tires (Joke-ahama Advans) I got sideways over the top of T2 at Mont Tremblant when I was still learning the fast line and putting down more power over the hill...bad place to start losing it in a rear engine car. I think you are doing about 90mph over there and the runoff isn't that great - scared the life out of the corner worker, but it was the greatest "save" of my life.

BTW - Have you ever raced karts at On Track Karting in Wallingford? I'm probably not on the leaderboard anymore, but when they re-did the layout went a couple times after work when I was traveling for consulting. I got w/in about 0.2 or 0.3 of the track record with the 9hp "Super Karts".

...to bring this back on topic - I'll have to balance my go-karting (F1 Boston has a Monday night league w/ 6hp indoor karts), ice racing (in New HampshAH...again w/ the 325i), and COMSCC schedule over the winter and spring w/ this competition if I move on a couple rounds. First event is 5/2 at Mosport...good warmup for Silverstone if hell freezes over and I make the finals as long as there isn't a conflict.
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Oh man I'm glad you realed it in and kept it shiny side up!!! :) I probably know who you are in real life. What's your name? Haha.

Funny you mention that, I have been running at On Track Karting for years, since it opened and know the owners very well and still run there occasionally. At the risk of sounding arrogant (and believe me I am not arrogant at all!!!) I am one of the pound-for-pound fastest guys that run there. If there is one motorsport skill set that I can say I have truly "mastered," it is 6hp go-karting. I go down and try to provide instruction to friends whenever I can, and might even start instructing kids there this winter. I weigh 220lbs, so I will not be setting any lap records any time soon! However in the weight-classed leagues there, I have never lost a race and took pole, fast lap and swept the whole season with wins last year. Only the fastest, lighter guys can match or beat my times (and there are some very light, very fast guys that can put a hurting on me without ballast, that's for sure) :) (Again please don't think I'm cocky or anything, I'm no Michael Schumacher but I'm just keeping it real for the sake of conversation.) I actually was forced to move to the low weight one year(150lbs or less) league because no one was within 1 second of my times in my appropriate wieght group and people were complaining. I still managed to finish 3rd in the lightweight championship with a couple of race wins, despite giving up (at the time) between 6 tenths of a second per lap because of the weight penalty. We datalogged it- 10lbs was worth just about exactly 1 tenth of a second there on the shorter track configuation. I really wish that they would do weight ballasting in the leagues, it's really the only way to let the good drivers compete on an equal playing field.

In the new configuration the weight is an even bigger factor. I haven't data logged it, but I suspect it's in on the order of .13-.17 for every 10lbs. I've raced and won in leagues at Endurance Events at GPNY and F1 Boston and the weight penalties are very similar. I really haven't been concerned with it as the past year was hardcore autoX year. I think my best time in a 6hp (haven't run any 9hp's there yet) was around a 40.0, maybe a high 39. I would imagine if you're very close to the lap record, you're probably somewhere in the high 38's/ low 39's?

Are we off topic enough yet? haha :)
 
well, I'm a student who's in a new area of the country...so, I only know a few people. only problem is, I'm also trying to write an album full of 14 solid songs...having to write the bass parts, program the drum parts, and write and sing lyrics.....since GT Academy has begun, I haven't touched my bass, sadly.....also, there's not any guitar. just drums and bass a la DFA79.
 
I'm getting about 2 hours a night of seat time. I've got a 5 month old, so that's about all I can ask for. I'm just hoping to get through round 2, the top 16 regionally. If I can get in to the top 8 regionally, I'll be thrilled. I seriously doubt there is a chance of me getting the top spot though; that's what I meant in my first post.
 
luskiiimj
I'm getting about 2 hours a night of seat time. I've got a 5 month old, so that's about all I can ask for. I'm just hoping to get through round 2, the top 16 regionally. If I can get in to the top 8 regionally, I'll be thrilled. I seriously doubt there is a chance of me getting the top spot though; that's what I meant in my first post.
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Right on...

I guess it puts things in perspective - if you win does that mean the baby grows up in UK? "Luckily" for me I don't have kids to worry about.
 
No wife or kids but work has me training so i can do everyones job so i don't have much time for the game. Plus i play flag football and my car just got out of the shop so my weekends will be busy.
 
Nice, man - that sounds fast. You sound a bit better than me...you should be on my team for an endurance race or something, lol.

IIRC I thought the fastest 9hp times were JUST under 38s, and I think I remember either a 38.100 or 38.200. I don't remember which, but I remember it was close and an even number. That was like a week or 2 after it opened - I'm sure now 37.x is common.

On the old track (pre fall 2009) I ran 0.55 under the "qualifying" time w/ the 6hp karts for my weight (152lbs). I think that was a 36.450...I do remember that. On the new track I think I remember a low 40 (like 40.2 or something like that)...I think that makes sense because I remember the new track was just under 4s slower than the old track.

My name (and racing name at OTK) is Nick. I was pumped that there were no other "Nick's" registered. I wonder if they'll still respect the "super license" or if I'll have to earn it again... Either way, I haven't been back there since November 2009 or so, but whenever I travel through going to NYC I have an urge to hop off the highway and get into a kart.

I only got to go a couple times a month over about an 8 month period when I was working out of Hartford, but OTK is way > F1 Boston. I've just done a couple BMW club events at F1, but the corner workers are OK at best. I'm signed up for my first league ever, so hopefully that goes well - I was looking at times and they aren't the best. I ran a 19.40 at Track 1 in a kart weighted to 200lbs during a BMW club tournament (FTD by 0.3s), and most times are right around 20-flat for the first timers league...probably because it's so damn expensive that no one can afford to go there and practice, including me.

I've only run there once, but BMW club had an outdoor enduro at F1 Outdoor in Bridgewater, MA. I loved the track, and they had nice 9hp karts. I got the pole during the 10 minute practice for our team, and we were doing really well the entire race (passing slower karts on the grass was fun), but they messed up the scoring and timing. They said we came in last, when we were obviously on the lead lap (I know, right - if you can't win, blame it on the refs...but I'm serious).
 

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