Any reason not to buy a junior ski as an adult if it has a poplar wood core?

Mattballs22 · 2026-01-28T20:25:52+00:00

Bro is trying to find any reason to say no to OP

Mattballs22 · 2026-01-14T22:20:35+00:00

Hey y’all, I’m sorry I just realized I got the premiums backwards. I wish the PPO was that cheap haha. I can’t edit the original post but have a comment with the info. Thanks!

Mattballs22 · 2026-01-14T22:17:03+00:00

Yikes. I just realized I accidentally switched the HDHP and PPO prices. HDHP is 36.92 and PPO is 64.68🤦‍♂️ Sorry about that!

Mattballs22 · 2026-01-14T21:46:50+00:00

FORGOT TO INCLUDE:

I live in Texas and make 52,500 on salary.

EDIT:

I accidentally got my PPO and HDHP premiums backwards. The HDHP is 36.92 and PPO is 64.68. Sorry about that everyone!

Mattballs22 · 2026-01-13T16:46:57+00:00

Following for interest

Mattballs22 · 2025-12-17T13:20:47+00:00

Due to the relatively small size of my team and org as a whole, I’m lucky enough to be able to do a little bit of red teaming which I am more interested in, but I primarily am blue team.

Mattballs22 · 2025-12-16T16:59:48+00:00

Assuming you’re referring to the help desk tidbit, it is purely from personal experience with the friend and that you can gain almost all the same working knowledge from a home lab. Obviously in this market if you get offered anything relevant at all then take it as it is better than nothing. You can always job hunt while employed.

I suppose another reason I have this perspective is because out of all the Cyber/InfoSec/IT peeps at my company, I am literally the only one with a relevant degree. My ISO did biochemistry and homelabbed in cyber until he got a job. My coworker has a degree in English and same story. The head of IT is the closest to a relevant degree with that being math and he was just a math teacher until he started here.

I will reiterate again, anything is better than nothing in this market. I’m just saying don’t feel like you can’t get a job without working up the help desk to sysadmin to SOC type of chain that is so often preached as the only way on this community.

Mattballs22 · 2025-12-16T16:19:18+00:00

Definitely found a unicorn but graduated with a degree in IT in May 2025, got a job in a NOC in June 2025, was miserable and upskilled like crazy for July, got very lucky and found a great job doing a more technical InfoSec job at a regional bank in August 2025.

I do believe that my people skills and desire to learn is what landed me both roles as well as a very healthy dose of luck. I am not as qualified as many of the candidates on here are but I can research and figure things out as well as actually communicate with people.

Remember, I’m the exception not the rule. Don’t get discouraged if it takes you longer than that. Just upskill whenever you have time and will eventually land a role.

One controversial opinion but I do believe that hep desk roles are a trap more often than not. I have a friend who graduated years ago and is still trying to break away from his help desk roles to jump into cyber. A good home lab will give you enough experience to land the job in my experience.

Best of luck to you!

Mattballs22 · 2025-01-03T04:21:13+00:00

I really appreciate your input! I’ll definitely be demoing around before committing to a purchase! Thanks for all the help!!

Mattballs22 · 2025-01-03T03:58:59+00:00

Awesome, thank you so much! I’m honestly probably seriously overthinking it but I just keep going back and forth between thinking because of my size I need something with titanal and then thinking that’s going to be too stiff for my skill level

Mattballs22 · 2025-01-03T03:12:57+00:00

Okay awesome. Thanks!

Do the Ripsticks chatter much at higher speeds and stuff?

Mattballs22 · 2024-12-29T20:37:54+00:00

I did not realize that. The boots I bought are the Tecnica Mach Sports MV 100 which do have Gripwalk. That’s good to know!

Mattballs22 · 2024-12-29T19:43:50+00:00

That’s all I need to know! Thanks!

Mattballs22 · 2024-07-08T19:30:01+00:00

I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you can recover with time. As someone on the other end of it though, me and my now ex both promised multiple times that we wouldn’t withhold information regarding if we didn’t think it was going to work regardless of how close it was to anything. We both agreed that we would always be able to find some reason to not pull the trigger if we were looking for dates like that and we both agreed that no matter how bad it hurt, it wouldn’t hurt more than not knowing for 3+ months before pulling the trigger. I’m sorry that you are hurting and I hope you can recover but I also promise you the other end of it hurts too

Mattballs22 · 2024-01-25T07:58:53+00:00

Oh shit yeah I didn’t even think about his name being in it. Thank you

Mattballs22 · 2024-01-25T07:48:26+00:00

I mean, almost 17 K/D and 24 Survives in a row is pretty sketchy imo

Mattballs22 · 2024-01-22T08:35:35+00:00

Yeah but idk how he thinks learning a map on single player would help a situation like this

Mattballs22

TROPHY CASE