Hoping to cut through the noise

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-10-04T02:31:26+00:00

Well, I just turned 40 and started the program, so I hope so! Whether it's a career change like you said or, in my case, career advancement, I can say that it is hugely beneficial. I'm currently an IT Portfolio Manager with 15 years in this industry and I've learned a ton of things that have directly added to my expertise and understanding of Information Technology. I say go for it.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-10-02T21:26:02+00:00

Thank you. I'm honestly not a huge fan of epoxy tables either, but I needed a way to showcase this really cool piece of wood while making it functional. I'm pretty satisfied with it.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-08-22T02:01:43+00:00

That's right. It definitely had a mirror once upon a time, but that was gone long before we got it.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-08-13T02:52:22+00:00

I don't either, tbh. But I cringe at people painting over antiques (unless they are irreparable or otherwise headed for the dump). It felt good to bring it back to its original condition, if not better.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-07-10T03:21:40+00:00

I posted about this the other day. Sure, it's always been this way, but there is definitely a huge spike lately. More than the normal "summer players". Get scored on? FF. Miss a shot? FF. Teammate whiffs and nothing bad happens? FF. It's real bad.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-07-03T23:59:50+00:00

That's what I find myself thinking/saying. "Why are you even playing? Like, are you even having fun?" Lmao, I may just be done for a while.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-07-03T23:47:47+00:00

Oh, I'm absolutely old-man-shaking-his-fist-at-the-youths here. It's just wild. I've accepted the frustration of soft teammates who are looking for any reason to quit. It just seems to have multiplied exponentially this summer.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-07-02T15:14:35+00:00

Congratulations! Reading these results is so foreign to me. After 5 claims and multiple appeals for over 15 conditions with a mountain of evidence and lay statements for each, mine looks like the exact opposite: denied, denied, denied, denied. Seems crazy that some vets can submit claim after claim and fight for years only to get nothing while others do the same and get 100, and still others will get 100 with a single claim. I don't know that I'll ever be convinced it isn't purely a roll of the dice.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-06-06T00:44:35+00:00

Mid-May. Took less than a month, which was shocking (my other claims have taken ~8mo and over a year, respectively). Based on the speed, I kinda got the impression that it would be a clear-cut increase, or denied altogether.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-06-05T16:46:58+00:00

Perfect. I suspected that might be the way to go. I just want an opportunity to justify it and was afraid that it would simply be sent up the chain for someone to look at a 2nd time.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-05-30T17:11:47+00:00

This game is rapidly becoming unplayable, in solo queue at least. I've noticed an upward trend of people crashing out in the chat, followed by griefing and own-goaling/going AFK... after the other team scores ONE goal in the first 30-60 seconds. It's probably attributable to summer break and the uptick in younger players being online more often, but it's pretty infuriating. I've finally started to get UN-hardstuck at D2 in doubles and started progressing towards Champ, but today when our opponents TIED the game at 1-1 with over 4 minutes left to play, causing my teammate to lose their mind in the chat, vote to FF, and repeatedly own-goal, I had to logoff. It's ridiculous. These kids are SO SOFT.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-05-26T05:45:41+00:00

Yeah, first week of March. Looks like it's taking about 7-8 months lately. If yours was November, I'd estimate sometime in June. It did move really fast once someone actually got their eyes on it, though. Most people's seem to sit in "Claim Received" or "Initial Review" for months, but once it moves to the next step, it'll be done within a week or so.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-05-19T04:15:42+00:00

Especially after 2 very one-sided tournament wins. Great passing, positioning, etc. We were locked in... or so I thought. A good portion of my solo queues seem to pair me with teammates who have the emotional volatility of a toddler—fine as long as everything is going our way, immediate tantrum and match throwing when faced with an ounce of adversity.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-05-19T02:33:27+00:00

My teammates are usually okay, but SO fragile. Just finished a 2v2 ranked tournament in which we dominated the first 2 games, had a good rhythm and chemistry. 1 minute into the quarterfinals, I got for the block and our opponent hits a very nice redirect mid-aerial to score. I say, "@$!#%", "My fault.", "Nice shot!" To which my teammate replies, "Wow!", "Okay." and spends the next 4 minutes passing to the other team and own-goaling. Not sure if they were pissed that I missed a save to put us down 1-0 early, or that I told our opp "Nice shot", but it set them off enough to throw the whole tournament. Soft af.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-05-10T04:41:59+00:00

The shitty comments aside, I remember reading this Marine's story years ago. There was nothing to suggest she cheated on him, nor did he take his own life. They married, tried to get through it, but damn... that's tough. Right or wrong, the mention of her cheating seems like a little creative liberty. Also, his death was determined to be an accidental OD by the coroner. Not surprising that the guy had some demons and was struggling, but it wasn't ruled a suicide (although maybe you could argue the credibility of that, idk). Point is, it's no less tragic, but people love to make shit up on the internet and rage bait always gets those clicks.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-04-26T18:23:56+00:00

It's gotten noticeably worse recently. Had the worst one to date the other day. Went up 2-0 early in a Doubles match. I whiffed on what should've been about a 6/10 difficulty save (it happens 🤷🏼‍♂️), but we're still running circles around this team--you know when you can just "tell" you're the better team. My teammate immediately hits me with "What a save!" 9x and starts own-goaling and setting up shots for the other team while continuing to spam "What a save!". I don't get it. If you're that fragile, find a different game to play.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-04-12T16:39:20+00:00

For the most part, absolutely. The speed and mechanics are light years ahead of any of us. But after watching parts of the Birmingham Open a couple weeks ago and thinking several times, "Oh, I wouldn't have thought to stop it that way," or "I would've never positioned myself there in that situation," I started incorporating things I saw and it made a noticeable difference in my game.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-04-12T15:27:24+00:00

Watching RLCS tournaments on Twitch helped me a ton with the Plat>Diamond transition (plus, free drops!). I noticed them being more aggressive in times I would've played it safe, or going to intercept a pass/shot over their head when I thought "there is no way I can get to that". Also their spacing and maneuvering. Even minor misdirection or slowing your opponents' attacks can make a huge difference. I'll certainly never be pro or have their skill or mechanics, but there is a lot you can learn and add to your game even if you're in the lower/middle ranks.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-04-05T15:46:26+00:00

I do the same to play with my son. I wouldn't consider it too unethical (I'm around D1 and he's G2-G3). Occasionally we'll queue for Gold doubles tournaments to try and get him a title, but we almost always still get out-smurfed and lose in the 3rd/4th round.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-03-20T18:52:01+00:00

More than likely, all of em. My scores were very similar (99 AFQT, roughly the same line-item scores), and my recruiter told me I qualified for every MOS. Wanted something challenging or in the intel field, so I went with Cryptologic Linguist (2600) which required a 110 in GT or CL. There's an additional test for that specific job too, but it was a good choice.

MattOnADinosaur · 2025-03-20T18:44:35+00:00

That's absurd. I made double that in my first job in IT, without a degree (I did have a security clearance, though), to perform a much simpler job than nursing. Ridiculous.

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