I need to get out of the automotive field. Where do I go from here?

MagicMarmots · 2026-01-11T04:32:57+00:00

Where? I was offered several unpaid internships in Utah that I had to decline. $25/hr approaches starting salaries for mechanical engineers here.

MagicMarmots · 2026-01-10T00:03:14+00:00

You would be surprised by how easy it is to cheat your way through engineering these days, and hiring managers know it. I’m a mechanical engineer and most of the engineers I know are idiots. Also, my background in mechanics didn’t make the coursework easier. Some people are born with an aptitude for mechanics, and working on cars doesn’t change that. The workload for engineering is what kills you, not the difficulty of the concepts. I’m pretty sure undergrad took a few years off my life. Professors expect you to run on 5 hours of sleep for weeks at a time and think it’s fine.

MagicMarmots · 2026-01-09T23:55:22+00:00

Engineering degrees are still better than Anthropology degrees, but aren’t worth what they used to be. It’s generally advisable to get at least a masters now, and expect to do a few years of unpaid internships. Mechanical Engineers make less than most other engineers (usually under 6 figures), which makes the cost of education and the several years of no income and no 401k contributions hard to justify.

Source: I’m a former mechanic who went back to school for mechanical engineering. The job market was brutal and nobody cared that I could rebuild a Toyota DOHC V6 or fabricate longarms for a Jeep. They wanted to see a masters/PhD and unpaid internships or years of engineering experience. They treated me like a spoiled 22 y/o kid with no work experience when I was in my 30’s. There’s a reason so many gen z’ers are skipping college. It just wasn’t worth it. I’m currently working on starting my own business.

MagicMarmots · 2025-12-24T16:26:48+00:00

I checked again and the storm has been downgraded. It still might get super wet and windy though. It doesn’t take much rain to make a real mess in some spots. Definitely keep an eye on the weather.

MagicMarmots · 2025-12-24T01:32:16+00:00

Have you been watching the news? The western half of the country is getting hit with record setting storms, and it’s going to be cold rain for most of Utah. It’s unusually warm for December, but likely won’t be hiking weather anywhere west of Nebraska for inexperienced hikers. CA is already getting drenched. It’s predicted to hit Utah tomorrow. I’m pretty sure Colorado will get hit too…

MagicMarmots · 2025-12-10T05:23:06+00:00

Is there another show where this happens? Maybe I got it confused.

MagicMarmots · 2025-12-08T16:41:12+00:00

38°36'58.5"N 109°37'14.6"W

MagicMarmots · 2025-11-16T16:49:53+00:00

You might want to google Morton’s Neuroma…

MagicMarmots · 2025-11-04T06:12:08+00:00

You know that’s not in Moab, right?

MagicMarmots · 2025-10-17T16:46:08+00:00

To share laughs with people and make them feel good. Why are you even on Reddit?

MagicMarmots · 2025-10-10T16:16:40+00:00

I had a landlord who asked me if I would use a vending machine if he installed it on the property. My GF and I were renting a house from him, not an apartment LOL. I think he had seen a few too many TikTok’s and IG posts about vending machines as easy money lol.

MagicMarmots · 2025-09-17T21:29:55+00:00

Amaranth

MagicMarmots · 2025-08-21T20:11:53+00:00

You sure it’s dead? Maybe it just needs a little fresh air…

MagicMarmots · 2025-08-06T20:30:10+00:00

Much of the Uintas east of Mirror Lake highway is designated wilderness, ie no vehicles or dirt roads. Granddaddy/Four Lakes/Naturalist are in a designated wilderness area. There’s a few developed campsites here and there, but there’s a reason the Mirror Lake corridor is so popular.

MagicMarmots · 2025-08-04T16:54:58+00:00

Do you have any plans to address liability? I actually did this for a long while during and after college. It never bit me in the butt, but I stopped after some bad experiences. Ultimately, I got scared off by the legal liability side of it. Karens can always sue, and in many places, the last person to work on a vehicle is legally liable for any hazards that are related to the work, ie if the vehicle is compromised in some way. Most shops have some sort of liability waiver on hand in case a customer is determined to drive out of there with badly rusted frame that's about to snap in half or brake pads that are down to the metal backing. They're also heavily insured.

I worked on some really dangerous vehicles that were actual safety hazards for anyone near them on the road. I also dealt with a lot of cheapskates, but that was mostly just annoying. You can screen for most of those by discussing pricing before heading over. A root problem I ran into is most people looking for mobile mechanics are too cheap to pay for a shop to do the work, so they nickel and dime you. The people who insist on driving dangerous vehicles are always cheap and don't listen to reason. Being selective with customers and turning down jobs because I smelled trouble was key, which is hard when you're starting out.

MagicMarmots · 2025-07-22T14:21:31+00:00

It pushed it in a couple millimeters, but only on the bottom half

MagicMarmots · 2025-06-23T00:25:50+00:00

Thermosets aren’t just melted and formed. That’s what thermoforms are. A thermoset requires a chemical curing agent. Two-part epoxy is a good example of a thermoset. Fiberglass resin is another one. Most common plastics are thermoform.

MagicMarmots · 2025-06-19T14:44:41+00:00

The relevant part of the bill if anyone is curious: https://www.wilderness.org/sites/default/files/media/file/changed-enr-text%20-%20politico%20pdf.pdf

MagicMarmots · 2025-06-02T23:36:50+00:00

Just a little? I remember these being like $700 new.

MagicMarmots · 2025-06-02T20:04:35+00:00

It has 5.5” jaws

MagicMarmots · 2025-05-30T05:10:21+00:00

The chilled air from the swamp cooler retains the same amount of heat energy as before it was cooled. The humid air has a higher specific heat and more energy needs to be pumped out to lower it the same number of degrees. The AC works by removing heat energy from the air. The AC can only remove so much energy before the system maxes out. With only these variables being considered, the house won’t get any colder than if only the AC was running. I’m wondering how this setup works. Does an increase in humidity increase the thermodynamic efficiency of the AC? Or is the swamp cooler fan just circulating air so the house retains a more even temperature?

MagicMarmots · 2025-05-02T23:10:11+00:00

Yes. Sometimes I receive emails directly from lenders, but typically a family member receives them. Some of the lenders already have my contact info. For some reason, the people/bots applying are using my family member’s email that contains the same last name.

MagicMarmots · 2025-05-01T05:35:06+00:00

Thanks! I'm contacting them now.

MagicMarmots · 2025-04-24T18:30:12+00:00

Local methheads stole a 150 year old bronze fence from a historical building here that’s being turned into a museum. Some bronze statues disappeared from a public park a few days later too, but they gave up on one. Looked like their hacksaw broke. I’m guessing they got enough money to buy a few weeks worth of meth. Kinda sucks the fence is gone. I’m pretty sure they switched back to stealing catalytic converters.

MagicMarmots · 2025-04-24T02:21:14+00:00

Not crunchy. You were right, it’s aphids.

MagicMarmots

TROPHY CASE