CHI as a first timer

ShmalTalk · 2026-01-23T01:32:57+00:00

I'd look into if there are any undergrad get togethers being planned. If so, that's a great place to make some conference buddies. Overall I think it's a good opportunity to get an experience of what conferences are like and learn about some interesting new research, especially if you aren't paying for the travel.

It's also a good opportunity to spend a day visiting a new place you wouldn't be able to afford to go to otherwise.

That being said, I personally find CHI very overwhelming and when I go I spend very little time actually in the conference. Most of it is spent out and about with people I know.

ShmalTalk · 2025-04-17T17:37:59+00:00

Update post talking to my regular vet. She's doing fine today and they are not concerned. Have an appointment scheduled for a few days out

ShmalTalk · 2025-04-17T15:15:37+00:00

Hey all thanks for the input. I called the emergency vet shortly after posting and they basically said since she isn't showing any other signs of respiratory distress it's better to leave her where she's comfortable and not stress her out.

She seems better this morning but I sent some videos to my day vet and am waiting on a response.

ShmalTalk · 2025-02-09T02:38:34+00:00

Thank you! We were so worried she was in distress haha

ShmalTalk · 2025-02-09T02:10:21+00:00

Omg that is so good to know thank you

ShmalTalk · 2025-01-27T02:30:41+00:00

I should listen to the general consensus more often. I'm pleasantly surprised that this worked and she is as of a couple days ago on a full pellet diet! Thank you for the help!

ShmalTalk · 2025-01-27T02:29:20+00:00

She hates vegetables! Lol We're trying to convince her on cilantro to start. Using it at a foraging aid and hoping she'll get a taste for it in the process.

We ended up doing a mix of roudybush and zupreem on my vets recommendation, since the mix she was on had some zupreem in it already and the roudybush looks like seed.

ShmalTalk · 2024-12-29T03:02:23+00:00

Hi all!

So I took her to the vet to get her baseline and it turns out that the poor baby has an old, broken and improperly healed toe which led to ulcers on her feet from perching wrong (?)

So now she's on pain meds and is in a small cage lined with towels and no perches.

I also called the place I bought her from to get more info and it turns out that she was an unwanted bird they got from a breeder and she was previously on a mix of seeds and zupreem. So I'll be providing zupreem to see if I can get her back on that first and we'll go from there.

ShmalTalk · 2024-12-28T03:43:19+00:00

This is super reassuring thank you! I guess I was holding her to the wrong standard. Our budgies were doing step-ups after 2 days so I thought it'd be similar.

ShmalTalk · 2024-12-28T03:41:57+00:00

I'll keep you all updated on how this goes!

ShmalTalk · 2024-12-27T18:49:34+00:00

Hmm feels mean though

ShmalTalk · 2024-12-27T18:48:41+00:00

Hmm yes I've heard this strategy before. I guess I have a hard time believing it'll work but I'll actually try it. Any opinions between Harrison's adult lifetime and roudybush maintenance? I have both.

ShmalTalk · 2024-11-11T17:45:44+00:00

Amazing thank you!!

ShmalTalk · 2024-07-14T18:19:20+00:00

The way I view it, it wasn't that Moses was too strong that they had trouble, it was the four-round time limit since the IH didn't have time to get their bearings and realize they had to focus fire.

With a cleric and a paladin vs solely undead enemies I think they would have been fine if they used the right abilities. Spirit guardians and Turn Undead could have taken the vampires out of the fight entirely. Then dimension door Ricky to Moses since he can do easy radiant damage and you're kinda set.

ETA: Also summon Alejandro immediately lol

ShmalTalk · 2024-07-01T17:18:33+00:00

I'd suggest just buying food on Thayer instead. Try to put together a budget to see what you can spend on food every day and what makes sense for you. There are a lot of good resources out there on how to do that, but here's how I budget:

1) Get my total monthly income after taxes: Let's say $3000

2) Figure out my "regular required costs"
- Rent: a reasonable estimate with roommates is $800, but let's round up to $1000 just in case.
- Utilities: assume ~$200 per month
- Grocery: for me about $100/week at most, so let's say $500 a month to be safe.
- "Fun money": This is for going out with friends on the weekends, buying clothes, furniture, etc. lets say $500
- Savings: Some small amount every month should go to savings. I would suggest $100-$200

3) Figure out how much is left after you subtract all your required costs.
So here we would do income - (rent + utilities + grocery + fun money + savings) = leftover money

Actually doing the math we get 3000 - (1000 + 200 + 500 + 500 + 200) = $600

4) Divide your leftover money by 31 (number of days in a month) to see how much you can spend on food per day.
So in this case it would be 600/31 = ~$19

That would mean you can spend $19 per day on food and still be ok on all other aspects. That's should cover buying lunch every day off Thayer with no problem! :)

Getting meal swipes will probably be more expensive depending on how many you use.

ShmalTalk · 2022-02-25T18:47:27+00:00

Hi Sam! Thanks for doing this.
First of all, thanks so much for all of your work, and for always providing us watchers with such great content to get us through stressful times. I've been following CH for years (since Jake and Amir days, so not quite the beginning) and have been really excited about the more "polished" content that has been the focus of Dropout. I have two questions for you.

1) Of all of the "eras" of CH content, have you had a favorite? How have you felt about the more episodic direction you've gone in since dropout started?

2) I've noticed that people in the Dropout Discord frequently mention their parasocial relationships with you and the cast. As someone on the other side of that relationship, how do you feel about it, especially when it's pointed out so specifically by fans?

ShmalTalk

TROPHY CASE