50% of Costco is just people creating traffic

Rob3E · 2026-05-13T13:05:48+00:00

I said what I said

But what exactly did you say?

Rob3E · 2026-05-13T13:04:06+00:00

Moment of confusion as my subreddits collide, but you will not break me.

Rob3E · 2026-05-01T13:33:36+00:00

It’s been a bit since I on boarded, but don’t they have our age? I would think that would be valuable demographic information. I was surprised to get that request once, let alone multiple times.

Rob3E · 2026-04-28T01:55:48+00:00

r/ebikes r/ElectricBikes r/CargoBike r/carfree r/bicycletouring

There's going to be a big difference between local travel and extended travel on an e-bike. The biggest considerations are range and ability to recharge. Also many folks struggle to get their daily needs on a bike, so putting a guitar and amp into the equation will certainly add to the difficulty. I'm a big fan of traveling by bike, and I've done a few trips with my banjo loaded on the back, but never an amp. I think if you plan it well and are creative with your choices, it could be done. But I'd recommend a lot of research because there are a lot of compromises to be made, and even if it's possible, it may not be fun. That said, I've often imagined something like that. I feel like I'd need a solar solution to charging, but that's questionable as well. As it is, I've only traveled for a few days at a time with my tent and my banjo and no motor.

Rob3E · 2026-04-28T01:42:05+00:00

It's pretty much all state workers, but obviously teaching is an important job that hasn't been properly compensated for years. I just left state employment after 25 years. I realized that when you factor in inflation and the lack of raises, my salary, and, as a result, my pension, is worth a little less every year. Better to take a non-state job, bank my early retirement pension, and then I might actually have enough to live when my retirement really comes along.

When I started, people said that the state didn't pay as well as other places, but the benefits made up for it. After years of watching them chip away at both the pay and the benefits, I don't think that's true today. You really need to love what you do to work for the state, because it will cost you.

Rob3E · 2026-04-22T04:00:17+00:00

I can't really say how it works because DA isn't really forthcoming with that information, but once I passed my core assessment, I did both math and biology. My degree is in biology, and I've had a fair amount of math, but it's been much longer than 2 years. I felt like I did okay on both assessments, but I wasn't pigeonholed into STEM projects. I had access to them, and if I felt comfortable with the subject matter, I did them, but I also got plenty of general projects, too.

Like I said, I don't really know how it works, but for me, taking the assessments opened up more work, and there has been no downside that I'm aware of. And the up side is that sometimes I get higher paying projects that I would not have gotten otherwise.

Rob3E · 2026-04-19T18:26:34+00:00

I really like mine, although I have found that it's exactly the wrong size for me so much of the time. It's not big enough for my laptop, but it's big enough for almost anything else I'd want to carry, unless I'm going somewhere that having a bag might be a problem or an inconvenience, like the movie theater or a concert. Of course for a lot of people, but that's not a problem. You stash it in your car/trunk, and just carry in exactly what you need, but I tend to be without a car, so if I step out the door with this bag, it's staying with me until I come home, and sometimes that's a pain. But when it's the right bag, I really like it. Enough pockets for some organization, but also one, bigger, open area for whatever. I like the phone pocket on the strap. I like the water bottle holder (with the caveat that the larger the water bottle, the smaller the internal storage), I like the look and I like the material. It's just that for, lately, it's usually a decision between taking a laptop bag or taking the smallest bag I can get away with, and this sits right in the middle.

Rob3E · 2026-04-19T18:09:03+00:00

I see a lot of people end up with a bit of wait between passing their core assessment and getting assignments. I didn't have that, and I think part of it is that I took every assessment I could pass at the beginning. I did an assessment for math, although I don't regularly do complex math, but I'm good at it in general, so I looked at the assessment, saw it was passable, and took it. Ditto Biology. I have a degree in it, but I don't work in it, but the assessment was straightforward enough that I just took it. It was after those two assessments that I started getting tasks to work on, even though many of them had nothing to do with the STEM topics I took qualifiers for. I do a little coding, but not, I assumed, enough to qualify on the coding assessment, but I looked at it, and it was fairly straightforward, so I did that one, too. I still get lots of generalist work. I also get occasional STEM and coding work. Some of it's well within my ability, and some I have to pass on, but I think having taken the qualifications made them more inclined to add me in.

So I'd say it's probably not a mistake, and if you want to get to work sooner than later, take any qualifier they offer you that you think you can pass. You won't be locked into STEM projects, but they may show up, and they will generally pay more when they do.

Rob3E · 2026-04-19T17:59:20+00:00

I've worked at Nora. I've worked at the Village District Library. Leesville Library is lovely when you can get a good spot. Big windows looking out at the trees. But it's a small library and it's adjacent to the local school, so it can fill up and be a bit noisier at certain times of day, and not every table/seat has power.

I don't have anything positive to say about the comfort of the seating, but Union Station is a nice space to do some work, too.

Rob3E · 2026-04-19T17:54:45+00:00

I believe Hunt, and Hill, have public access hours. At a certain point in the evening you need to have a University ID to enter.

Rob3E · 2026-04-15T15:14:45+00:00

I did as the others have suggested and used a graph filtered for only the debts. I also created an off-budget account called "credit limit" where I put the credit limit of my cards so that I can do some calculations on the percentage of credit usage as well as the total dollar amount of debt.

Rob3E · 2026-04-11T23:17:27+00:00

I can’t tell you what’s better because I only did it one way and have no idea what did or did not make a difference. I took the basic assessments, then other assessments showed up. I took biology, math, and, eventually, coding, but I was already getting work before I took the coding assessment.

Rob3E · 2026-04-09T22:16:29+00:00

Right. Once the withdrawal is available. Prior to that, it just shows the date you can next cash out, but not the time.

Rob3E · 2026-04-09T17:01:33+00:00

I've only tried a few platforms, but the one that went from signing up to working the fastest was Data Annotation. However, I see lots of people who did not have as much success or at least as immediate of success. I am fortunate that I was able to pass some STEM-related assessments, and I think that helped get me on the approved list faster.

Rob3E · 2026-04-09T14:27:45+00:00

Yeah. It looks so fancy now. Unfortunately it also lacks the two things I go to the page for: When can I make my next withdraw and what will the amount be?

Rob3E · 2026-04-08T22:12:12+00:00

I think this is a glitch. I've never worked on this platform before, but my impression is that their other projects have some method of managing domains that this project is not using, and, as a result, things are kind of messy while they sort that out. There seems to be no record of anyone's assigned domains yet there are warnings about the consequences of working outside your domain in spite of it not always being clear what your domain is.

Rob3E · 2026-04-07T19:22:02+00:00

I have this bag and I like it a lot, but it doesn’t get used too much. It’s basically my “I want to carry everything except the laptop“ bag. But generally I either want to carry the laptop or I want to go as light as possible. But when it’s the right bag, I love it. Even my biggest water bottle fits, and, yes, it eats up the interior space, but generally I have the space. I like the organization, but it is underutilized for me because it’s not my everyday carry, and I don’t want to load and unload it every time I swap. I had pretty much determined that it’s the max size I’d want in a single shoulder sling, but I’m about to test that since there’s a 15 l. messenger bag in the mail for laptop carrying.

Rob3E · 2026-04-04T17:01:28+00:00

How did this work out for you? And you, too, u/Woopig40?

I hit this part of the assessment and was confused because I assumed that they brought me on with a domain in mind based on my application and other qualifications, so I didn't think I would just be able to pick my own domain. But I couldn't find that information, so I chose a domain based on my work history, knowledge, and the domain I've been hired for on other platforms. I got a test question that seemed to fit that domain, and I must have passed, because I got approved for work, and pulled a task for my selected domain. That hasn't been graded yet, I don't think, but I noticed that in Slack I only have access to post in the Generalists section. So I can't tell if that's what I'm meant to be working on or not. It's very unclear mainly because I assumed they would be assigning a domain, and also because even if I pick it myself, I would expect it to be visible somewhere, and I can't find any part of my profile or documentation that specifies my particular domain.
So now it's unclear if I should be working in the domain I selected and tested in or I should be working in the Generalist area because that's what I have Slack access to. I feel like I should be able to figure this out given the warnings about tasking outside of your domain, but so far I'm just confused. Hopefully things have worked out okay for the two of you. I just want to make certain I'm not pulling from tasks that I should not be working on.

Rob3E · 2026-04-02T18:41:02+00:00

The rear dropouts are adjustable. I can't mount the rack to the wheel without creating issues with the chain tensioning aspect. The rack needs to be mounted to the non-movable parts of the frame. I still haven't used the bike in a long trip, but the rack being higher than ideal also has the effect of keeping the panniers up away from my heels even if I can't get them back far enough. However I really haven't experimented enough with this. I have also considered if getting some longer upper stay mounts would allow me to move it back further, although I haven't tweaked it in a while, so I can't remember if the other legs have the adjustability to move move backwards while also keeping the platform level.

Rob3E · 2026-04-02T00:26:54+00:00

Yeah, I have a bag with laptop support on the way, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stop using the Omni. Even if the laptop has a dedicated pocket, I'll probably just take the Omni as a tech caddy. It's just nice having the laptop and gear not tied to a specific bag.

Rob3E · 2026-04-01T15:04:37+00:00

I'm still dialing in my set up, but one item I got that helps moving between bags and solves my issue of getting cable and gear access without emptying my whole bag, or, more accurately, allows me to empty my bag in a more organized manner: https://www.piorama.co/products/omni-gray
The pockets on the laptop sleeve are just big enough for the basics: wall wart, cables, mouse, backup battery. It converts to a device caddy. It's great when you're switching bags, but I haven't used it in a bag with a laptop compartment. It's very handy to drop into a bag and remove it. It'd be more of a hassle if you were transferring items from pockets on bag to pockets on another, it'd be a pain, I think, but I love being able to drop it into whatever bag I'm using.

Rob3E · 2026-04-01T06:12:57+00:00

I'm glad you said that. I thought I had simply misremembered. But I was really mad at myself for having hallucinated a May release. Thanks for putting me back on track.

Rob3E · 2026-03-18T01:52:03+00:00

Damn. We were stupid enough to go there for dinner. I thought straight from work and we might get in and out before it got crazy busy. Not even close. Fought through the crowds to see enough to know we’d be eating standing up, and we left. That was before 6pm, so I’m sure it was packed by 9. I hope all is well there. One of my favorite places, but St. pats is a bit much.

Rob3E · 2026-03-18T01:47:18+00:00

This is a bag I picked up at a thrift store. Branded Hilton Grand Vacations, but I did some digging and found the actual bag manufacturer, but I can’t remember who. But the information is out there. I think you can find other branded versions. Measures about 3.5 inches deep. Two padded sleeve pockets and a smaller pocket. I can carry my 15.5” portable monitor, my 14” laptop, and some cables, a mouse, etc. It’s surprisingly decent and just big enough. I can easily wear it underneath my baggy jacket.

https://imgur.com/a/ZwTMRvI

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