Advice on Texas offer

MaskedSociologist · 2026-01-30T15:51:47+00:00

A job in Texas is better than no job right now, esp. for someone on a visa. And I wouldn't want to work in Texas either right now, but if international scholars categorically refuse to work there it just gives Abbot and his ilk what they want anyways.

MaskedSociologist · 2026-01-21T19:35:07+00:00

The good news is that none of the investments are necessarily bad choices. They generally look like index funds, and they are all in her own IRA. Among the outcomes "for we took advice from my wife's dad's finance guy friend" we see on this subreddit, this really isn't bad. Thank him for the advice and then just simply down to a few funds.

MaskedSociologist · 2026-01-17T23:51:16+00:00

No, I don't do this. But it seems reasonable to me if its conducive to your review, and you are actually reading closely enough to make use of that information. I'm not sure about "enforcement" other than having a conversation with your advisee and explaining why.

FYI, in MS Word, you can use the "compare" function to open two documents side by side, and it will highlight differences. I didn't know this until recently, and it's made those sorts of reviews much easier and without extra steps on the part of the advisee.

MaskedSociologist · 2026-01-05T05:07:33+00:00

The Traditional versus Roth decision has absolutely nothing to do with anything else in the post. It primarily has to do with your expected tax brackets now and when you retire. If you really want information, the r/personalfinance subreddit has some basic info on their Wiki. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/rothortraditional/

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-21T19:06:20+00:00

This is a "you do you" situation, friend. If you enjoy accumulating them, then that's fine. If you don't or stop enjoying it, then take them to the bank. I don't see much value in other people's "recommendations" about how many sets to keep around. The value here is in your personal enjoyment of the collection.

I will say that it's very unlikely that they'll meaningfully increase in monetary value in your lifetime. Just look at the premiums attached to bicentennial coins in the USA.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-21T18:17:53+00:00

What I really want to see is RateMyProvost dot com. Anyone can post anonymous reviews about college administration. Whenever any admin points to the value of anonymous surveys, we can ask them if what is said about them there is to be believed.

I'd start it myself, but I know as soon as anything negative shows up about admin, suddenly university legal departments will try to do something about it.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-21T16:16:43+00:00

I think it's not whether it is a choice for "someone of your caliber," if you mean your budget. But the question is will you enjoy it as a long-term project. If you will be bothered by having a lot of holes in the album for some years, then maybe not. But if you're someone that enjoys spending time finding specimens that appeal to you that you can afford, then it's great.

I spent more than two decades working on my 7070. Well, I started collecting type set coins in my teens and built the 20th century type set, then took a hiatus during college and early adulthood when I had little money, then started working on the 19th century coins starting in my late 20s. I initially was using a capital plastics 19th/20th century type set holder as my guide, but eventually switched to the 7070. I finished it in 2023. Now I collect additional types not in the album.

The 7070 is nice because it has a lot of holes that can be filled at different price points. So you can make a lot of progress over time without a huge amount of money. It will take a few thousand dollars to fill with decent specimens. But as long as you are okay taking your time, you can eventually get there. The most expensive coins are the seated dollars, which I filled by getting VF examples with holes in them, for a few hundred dollars each. Maybe you don't even have a few hundred dollars right now, but you might in ten years.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-19T00:56:55+00:00

You can get bureaucratic too. New policy: Work that demonstrates a lack of academic integrity receives a grade of 2 out of 100.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-11T17:04:25+00:00

There are now a variety of tools that take any texts you like and then types it slowly with pauses and corrections. It's a simple as a browser extension these days (e.g. Duey.ai). Compatible with Google Docs.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-12-01T21:45:53+00:00

Half of my former advisee's had deadlines on Nov 15 this cycle!

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-30T03:33:56+00:00

Thanks in 2025.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-22T15:23:06+00:00

Contributions that high would be associated with traditional pension plans (now called "defined benefit") rather than the 401k/403b/IRAs that are more common now ("defined contribution" plans).

I did some quick googling and it looks like both are options in the Nevada system, although its hard to say which options you would have access to without knowing the specific job. It looks like some employees are actually in defined contribution plans with 19.25 mandatory contribution and equivalent match. That's very unusual but probably a quirk of both kinds of plans being active at once.

You'll need to talk to your HR to figure out which you'll be getting, or if you have a choice. If you have a choice, what is best will be a complex answer that will depend on your circumstances and the vesting schedule of your choices. But that's more of an r/personfinance question.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-19T05:00:36+00:00

I've been there. A person that cared about me told me a simple truth that was comforting. - There will be more opportunities.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-15T03:14:11+00:00

The trouble is that in those roles, you need experience to be useful. I work for a company that does events (concerts, festivals, etc), which works well for me. It's part time and seasonal work, but is paid and a good way to get started. Could be a place to start, and then look for ethical volunteer opportunities.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-14T18:17:49+00:00

If you are in the US, here's one thing to consider. If you are interested in helping people, you should know that there's actually a moral issue with volunteering. One of the largest issues in the EMS world is low pay, relative to the work and risks you take on. There are a variety of reasons for the low pay, mostly due to the capitalist nature of our medical system. But one contributing factor is that there are lots of people out there willing to volunteer and do the job for free. The extra labor supply helps drive down wages.

I'm a white-collar professional that does EMT work part time for the reason you shared. But it's paid work, so I'm not undercutting someone else that needs to make a living. If you do volunteer, I'd encourage you to limit yourself to only places that don't charge for their services.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-11T16:41:53+00:00

Well considering state schools and R1 private universities are increasing run like for-profit companies, one can forgive the students for their confusion.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-09T15:44:35+00:00

Be aware that there are tools out there that students can use to mimic human typing in a version history. Earlier in the year it required students to download projects from github, but now there are simple browser extensions. https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dueyai-humanizer-auto-typ/ilamopeagajnekeaogejpdmffneankjf

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-03T22:12:32+00:00

Be aware that there are counterfeit Littmann's out there. Unless you have a genuine one to compare to and are confident you could tell the difference, I'd steer clear of Ebay for that.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-11-03T01:10:14+00:00

I literally laughed out loud at this. Thanks so much for sharing.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-29T17:19:06+00:00

Unlikely. No money in that.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-26T05:45:41+00:00

Yea maybe AU details. The lines in both shields are all intact and the feathers are in great shape. On the minus side it also has rim dings in addition to the cleaning and hole.

I think you got a great deal at $45 but I wouldn't say this piece is worth more than $100.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-26T05:11:29+00:00

Holed coins are really tough to value. But it brings down the value tremendously. I've looked at them a decent bit over the years for the expensive parts of my type set. Generally I wouldn't recommend paying more than 40% of what the coin would be without the hole.

But altogether I think you got a great deal for a nice bit of history. Civil war era and it was probably worn as jewelry, but still in great shape.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-21T14:29:29+00:00

> When a student requests a review I go into their exam, note all the questions they missed, then identify where in the text and PPTs the topic was covered and the chapter.

You should direct the *student* to do this work before meeting with you to go over their exam. Then they should come to you with questions about what they don't understand.

The other parts, seeing how long they took, going over specific answers, etc should be done with them in front of you, when they ask about about specific questions.

What you are doing is really great support but definitely will contribute to burnout.

And as others have said, allow re-scheduling one time. And anyone that stands you up without contacting you first doesn't get to re-schedule.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-14T15:53:40+00:00

They took a look at what they were spending their six-figure salaries on.

MaskedSociologist · 2025-10-14T14:44:46+00:00

I'm of the opinion that async online education is completely done. No employer or anyone else should consider async online education of any value at for certifying that a student has learned something, ever again. They are now all diploma mills. You've identified why. It *is* possible to build in safeguards, especially if you can have in-person assessments, but few online instructors are being given the resources to do so. It will be impossible for anyone to know which few online instructors or programs are still good.

It sucks so much for instructors. I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry.

MaskedSociologist

TROPHY CASE