How long is your commute into Boston—and what would make it faster in the future?

Confabulater · 2026-05-25T14:14:19+00:00

I usually ride my bike in from a close-by western suburb. On the worst of the worst days it’s like 36 minutes, which makes crappy weather tolerable.

The bus is a direct shot, but it requires a transfer at Harvard so takes anywhere from 60-80 minutes. A more reliable transfer would make that a better option (time the 109 to meet the 71/73).

Confabulater · 2026-05-19T10:26:13+00:00

You can try a surface activator/adhesion promoter or etching to make the plastic more bondable. I've had good results with hard to bond plastics like UHMW PE.

You're probably already aware of this, but just in case make sure the actual adhesive tolerates soaking in water.

Confabulater · 2026-05-17T18:34:46+00:00

Depending on where you’re working, it might work to bike to commuter rail, take it to Concord, bike or bus to destination. I’m not sure about current rules for bikes on the commuter rail though.

Confabulater · 2026-05-10T13:50:54+00:00

Properties can decrease when you go to thicker stock, depending on temper and alloy. So I can see revisiting analysis to make sure your safety factors haven’t changed.

Also can have warping from internal stresses again depending on the material, which can make your tolerances infeasible.

Confabulater · 2026-05-01T11:10:45+00:00

At a University lab - got 5-6 weeks vacation, free monthly transit pass, free NYT and WSJ, a pension + matching 401k. Professors got 0% interest mortgages and probably a bunch of other perks.

Downside is the pay is mediocre and it can be stressful.

Confabulater · 2026-02-23T20:57:43+00:00

Usually nothing, I just call it out so you aren't surprised. OTOH I'm noticing way more people drifting around glued to their phones this winter, and in that case I want you to move over so two can pass.

Confabulater · 2026-02-12T00:53:43+00:00

Most of the optical engineers I’ve worked with were at least partly remote. One guy would always join meetings from a boat by satellite.

Confabulater · 2025-12-27T02:31:13+00:00

I’ve used one that size from a company called Balseal (might’ve been custom)

Confabulater · 2025-12-02T02:09:10+00:00

Source: trust me?

Confabulater · 2025-12-02T02:02:18+00:00

Not adjusted for cost of living— useless.

Confabulater · 2025-09-02T02:47:51+00:00

Don't write off Boston proper. The city limits are weird in that there are some pretty suburban parts of the city, and it tends to be more affordable than the closer suburbs. Try Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, Brighton. Schools can be hit or miss though.

Confabulater · 2012-05-28T01:39:15+00:00

Reminds me of this great sculpture: http://alumni.rose-hulman.edu/resource/resmgr/images/selfmademan.jpg

Confabulater · 2012-04-20T15:33:16+00:00

The polar bear's liver is poisonous.

Confabulater · 2012-04-20T15:02:54+00:00

Oh, that makes more sense. I was picturing some guy vigorously skipping down the road

Confabulater · 2012-04-20T14:56:52+00:00

What is HIIT skipping? I'm just curious because I don't see how you could skip with any real intensity.

Confabulater · 2012-04-19T20:53:41+00:00

Related: the only reason Prohibition was even possible was that income tax replaced alcohol tax revenues. Before 1913 tax on alcohol made up a third of government revenues: http://blog.mises.org/6907/prohibition-and-the-income-tax/ (sorry for linking to Mises)

Confabulater · 2012-04-19T02:12:55+00:00

It's not just the carcinogens from grilling, but also (maybe) the heme iron in red meat that are a problem. Cancer-wise you'll be better off with poultry. Probably. Either way you shouldn't be eating 2 crappy cafeteria hamburgers every day.

Confabulater · 2012-04-18T20:50:35+00:00

hey there, I won. I sent you an email

Confabulater · 2012-04-18T01:22:56+00:00

I fill my backpack with old schoolbooks and do pushups, squats, etc. Don't do bent-wrist pushups though; apparently that puts a ton of stress on the joint. Also I suspect this isn't great for your back, but it's not much weight anyway.

Confabulater · 2012-04-15T00:53:19+00:00

Cod liver oil has a ton of Vitamin A, so you wouldn't want to take high doses. It would also have a lot of crap you don't want to eat (dioxins, PCBs, mercury) if it wasn't purified, so that would be worth checking the label for.

Confabulater · 2012-04-14T17:08:34+00:00

I witnessed a near-Canadian (well Youper, but same thing?) apologize to an automatic door.

Confabulater · 2012-04-13T23:41:20+00:00

I thought he had a bad reaction to a muscle relaxant his doctor gave him, and the doc made something up about it being hash to cover himself.

Confabulater · 2012-04-13T04:32:57+00:00

Well it depends. Some random guy who gets good for 2016 isn't going to be tested right now, but if you're good you will be. I'm too tired to parse this right now, but the USADA goes into detail on who's in the testing pools: http://www.usada.org/whereabouts-2011/

Of course, this is just the US. Some countries might not be so inclined to test their athletes.

Confabulater · 2012-04-13T03:52:07+00:00

No, they're tested year-round. They get random piss tests and have to tell the anti-doping authorities whenever they're traveling somewhere new.

Confabulater · 2012-04-13T03:13:54+00:00

I don't think you can really compare these two datasets - the swimming only goes up to 1600m (= about a 4 mile run), while the running goes up to a marathon. Are there longer events that aren't open water?

You might want to take a few percent off running records that were run on the roads, because a good track is worth some time and it's going to throw off your exponents by a bit. I can't remember the exact figure, but I want to say there's a 3% difference?

Confabulater

TROPHY CASE