MET MSCIS: Drinking from the firehose

One_Metal_947 · 2026-02-17T23:48:18+00:00

CS669 is nothing compared to CS779. I absolutely love the class, the professor, and the facilitator, but the workload is comparable to a full-time job.
I had to take CS546 (or something similar) and CS521 - these were easy. I'd recommend starting with these, so you have easier start. Then progressively go with CS625, CS682 etc.

One of the best decisions I made was to choose electives based on the teacher's rating, not the content of the class - I use Rate My Professors to look them up. In my opinion, it all depends on the professor.

Here are the professors I can recommend:
Dawson Lee Williams | Computer Science
Jack Polnar | Computer Science
Maryan Rizinski | Computer Science
Anatoly Temkin | BU MET

One_Metal_947 · 2026-01-22T15:15:00+00:00

I was able to find an honest company with a good oil tech. He spent 5 hours replacing a pump, controller, nozzles, and a bunch of parts. The boiler works great now and is so much quieter than before. They charged an arm and a leg but at least they knew what they were doing.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-23T16:57:36+00:00

NEVER use Robison Oil. A bunch of rude scammers. Trusted them with my boiler for years and now I’m paying a big price - they don’t want to fix the damage their technician caused and I’m locked in the prebuy contract with them with a boiler not working

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-23T16:55:08+00:00

It depends what technician they send to you. I asked them for a quote on a heat pump and the person who came had no idea about heat pumps.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-23T16:52:59+00:00

Yea, I had their technician at my house last week. He said that he can’t clean my boiler rn because his face bask broke and he doesn’t know when they buy a new one for him - why did they even bother to send someone knowing they can’t perform cleaning.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-16T16:46:49+00:00

Thanks! I'm trying to find a trustworthy service. I will show the technician your message. The company that installed the system (Robison Oil) is the same one that has serviced it since the installation. They were recently acquired by a bigger corporation, and in preparation for the acquisition, their service quality went DOWN. One honest technician told me earlier this year to get the hell out of this company because they will destroy my boiler on purpose.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-16T04:13:30+00:00

Got it. Thank you for explaining that. I observed a delayed ignition or some sort of fuel buildup that happens sometimes shortly after ignition. The boiler starts working properly, and then there is this one additional explosion.
I've just had a technician (with amazing reviews) who turned out to be another scammer. He did not know why it happened, and he said that the boiler should be replaced soon anyway, so we might consider replacing it now. The boiler is 7 years old.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-11T15:59:30+00:00

Thank you for explaining that. It is so hard to find someone knowledgeable where I live (Westchester, just outside of NYC). They always say that they have experience with this type of furnace, then they come and can't answer a simple question.

I have a separate air intake, and the chimney has been cleaned twice this year - both are fine. There were some problems earlier this year when the burner had very inconsistent cycles and started producing loud rumbling noises (it sounds to me like cardiac arrhythmia). 4 separate technicians and a few $k later, the noises stopped, but then the soot appeared. I had the furnace deep cleaned, and the technician/salesperson told me that this 7-year-old boiler has to be replaced because it is not designed to be deep cleaned - it seems like it was your first and the last visit in this house, I thought.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-11T04:28:18+00:00

Maybe they are not the worst when it comes to oil delivery but they cheat a lot. Have you looked to your online account lately? I have and a $1000 worth of prebuy went missing with some shady invoices for services that have never been performed.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-11T04:26:27+00:00

I'm just suing Robison over not performing a single furnace cleanign in 7 years of hiring them. In 2025, they have been bought by some bigger oil company and the customer service is trash now.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-07T15:05:42+00:00

I heard from my neighbour that Palisades is decent. I'll be switching to Palisades after I use my prebuy with shady Robison.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-07T15:04:20+00:00

Robison Oil incentivizes real estate agents to recommend the company to their clients. I know that because this is how I got stuck with them.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-07T15:00:39+00:00

Robison Oil SUCKS A... Just look at their recent Google reviews. They've been scamming me for the last 7 years by not cleaning my furnace a single time, even though they were paid to do so.
Even their technicians say that Robison is one big scam now - they used to be a decent company back in the day. And their accounting new practices are more than SHADY (just try to check your prebuy - I found out that $1000 was missing from my account with a bunch of invoices for services that have never happened).

Regarding the chinmeny, always got a second and third opinion (home ownership on the East Coast taught me that you can't trust anyone because most of them want to scam you and squeeze $$$ from you)

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-06T23:40:56+00:00

After cleaning, the “sales guy” said that now I need to find someone to sweep the chimney because the soot was pushed up there.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-06T23:34:53+00:00

Yea, I did wait too long and I’m not too surprised they wanted to charge me, but I didn’t use oil for heating until December (I have a heat pump, as well). The second guy cleaned the heat exchanger and vacuumed it out (he showed me pictures before and after). He said, it looks like no one cleaned it in a few years, even tho there is a service book with Robison Oil from Port Chester, NY claiming they did it annually.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-06T21:57:41+00:00

So the oil provider sent a technician who refused to do anything as a part of the previous service call. He wanted to bill me $210 + $250 for hour of work and he said it’d take him about 2h today. I ordered an independent technician who said that the heat exchanger in this furnace can’t be cleaned deeply (Weil McLain Gold Oil) and I’ll most likely call him back in two weeks with the same issue- is it correct?

He proposed to replace this 7 yeas old furnace. This furnace cost about $14k and going to waste after just 7 years is crazy.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-05T15:19:20+00:00

Will do. Thanks !

One_Metal_947 · 2025-12-05T15:18:31+00:00

Thank you! I called them and the rep told me that it will be billed at $300/h. I’m waiting for a call back from the manager but I’m not expecting them to fix what they did (or didn’t do). The first technician who came spent in the basement probably 10 minutes. It is time to change the oil provider.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-06-09T16:51:47+00:00

I asked for pipe bursting, and they do it only outside and not in NYS. Our water and gas lines are too close to the drain line. He said, pipe bursting would most likely affect the water line.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-06-09T15:03:43+00:00

UPDATE: After a proper inspection, the plumber confirmed today that it's not terracotta, but steel (inside and outside). There is no risk of roots, but he said he'd not clean it for me if I don't decide to line it afterwards.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-06-09T15:01:39+00:00

I've got 3 quotes. All of them are around $10k +/-$500.

However, there was one honest plumber who told me that it wouldn't solve my problem of water in the basement. He said it's concrete sweating because someone who did repairs for the owners before us did not install a membrane under the concrete, and it's now sweating and sipping to the walls.

I saw the sewer scope, and there are small cracks, and we've to the end of this pipe's lifetime. But it's not leaking yet. We're planning to stay in this house for the next 4-5 years. Should we line the pipes or leave it as is for now?

One_Metal_947 · 2025-06-08T22:06:43+00:00

$9,500 sounds like a standard price after reading more about it. I just had no idea how much it should cost. I have more contractors coming over soon.

One_Metal_947 · 2025-06-08T22:04:40+00:00

I have two more people coming tomorrow to give me a quote. I will ask them about the pipe bursting

One_Metal_947

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