is ocd common amonst members of BITOG?

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This is asked half jokingly

Being a relatively new member and scanning posts on this forum, it seems likely to me that there is a high number of obsessive compulsive disorder personalities.

I know the more I got into this forum I started making many trips to autoparts stores looking for oil. Part of it was interest in a new topic, but part of it was trying to find the best oil at the best price for my needs. The thing is, I'm over a thousand miles away from needing to do an oil change. It suddenly dawned on me today "what the heck am I doing?"

I haven't been diagnosed with ocd myself, but when I get into a subject I have a hard time letting it go for a bit of time.
 
Buying oil the way a female would buy a prom dress and making a hobby out of something that can save you money, like car repair, is not a bad thing.

Getting carried away with unproductive things like ocd detailing could be a problem. I find Plato's quote, "the highest good is in the mean" to be a good starting point. That is, some preventative maintenance is good, but crazy work like changing the air in the tires and worrying yourself into a state of insanity is bad. Somewhere in the middle is the actually "best". A lot of Audi/Euro car guys get carried away with the ONLY THE BEST mentality. Say, a clean waxed car is good, a monthly detail that take 12 hours with $100 cans of wax is bad.

Two other good quotes is:

1) the car is there to serve you, not you serve it.

2) "perfect" is the enemy of "good enough".
 
It's just fun to have a stash, it's a pleasant hobby, we enjoy knowing a lot about something like lubrication, it's human to have a curiosity and to have an interest in making something better even though it already works, and there is nothing more pleasing that operating an engine that you KNOW is being treated well - this respects the engineer who designed it. also we like chatting with our male friends about maintaining engines, and it is nice to have a somewhat nice depth of knowledge so that we know what we're talking about when people ask us for their opinion in engine oil. Even though I might have a stock of 1000$ worth of oil, so what? eventually it will get used up. Some people will blow $5000 on a one week cruise, and mainly just get drunk and have nothing to show for it at the end - yet that is considered "normal". I would rather have my own version of normal - a nice stock of oil, well running engines, and a small fleet of perfectly maintained vehicles in mint condition, all pampered. My ancestors used to ride horses. They had to work all day just to put food on the table. Now I only have to work 35 hours a week, when they had to work 70-100 hours. Everything is relative. It is just important to never forget: there are people less fortunate than myself. Do not forget these people. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and "what you do for the least of these you do for me" - do not get caught up being selfish and self centred, because that is the worst disease, and it is not even called a disease, but that is what will rot your soul, much more than having a stash of oil.
 
I take it just like any other hobby. After joining this forum I actually expanded my interest in learning more about how stuff works as well as the proper way to maintain something. Also I tend to do more research before going out and buy not just oil but other stuff as well. When I need something at the auto store, I will take a quick look at the oil section. Its like going to Home Depot to buy some wood and looking at the power tools there. Some people see cooking as something they have to do, others see it as an enjoyable hobby.

Everything in moderation is good.
 
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Males like to tinker (play) with stuff. Females appear to like to "arrange" things. Neither ever stop. That's what I see more than OCD. You also have to distinguish between anal retentive and anal explusive behavior. Does your work area look like a shock trauma unit suite after multiple gun shot wound victims have been through it ..or does it look like a something FDA approved for medical device manufacturing?

I've determined that the psych' community started figuring that they needed to classify all people. Hence they assigned labels to all behaviors. You then end up with a variety of characteristics that, while not abnormal or atypical, appear to be defects that need treatment.
 
LOL!

These guys are the picture of Zen normalcy compared to the hypermiler crowd. Go visit http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/ or http://www.gassavers.org/ to see some raging, flaming, foaming OCD!
crazy2.gif
 
Yes, they can get out there ..but I still find this more of a need for building a better mousetrap ..that is, the achievement of "better". Even the carpal tunnel syndrome of finding the best sequence of buttons to push for maximum entertainment yield from the armchair remote is a form of this insatiable desire to "achieve".
 
Probably not too different from sweating 1-5ppm of Fe from one UOA to another ..or whether you should take 45 versus 52 vitamin/suppliment pills when body building (yes, but I add the .000002miligrams of rotten vine extract!!).
 
My father and I are little OCD when it comes to cars. He must have passed the gene to me. It seems to pay off for us especially when it comes time to sell one. They usually fetch a premium and sell very quickly. There is also a certain amount of pride when you pull up to a gas pump and someone comments how great your old rig looks.

AD
 
Originally Posted By: mozart


I haven't been diagnosed with ocd myself, but when I get into a subject I have a hard time letting it go for a bit of time.


But.......what did the Dr. say at the end????
 
OC... What? Why do you ask? What's the reason? What are you implying? Must read oil spec sheets... need more info! Where's my stash, must shake the bottles...
 
I think most of us are OCD about oil. Maybe not 100% scientifically, but we are OCD the way the word is used these days.

I love reading the back of my oil bottles when I'm bored. Why? Good question, there is really no good evidence for anything on them. I also like to pick up different oil weights I have sitting around and shake them and feel how fluid they are compared to the next.

That, and I base my oil selections on which oil does greatest over a wide array of engines. Hence why I have fallen in love with GC 0W-30 and RTS 5W-40. I also like PP for a thinner oil.
 
Originally Posted By: labman
Isn't it still a requirement for membership?


That's what I was wondering.. grin

I know I have some (lots depending) OCD in me.
 
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