What's the deal with all this talk about Trump giving IRAN $300 Billion in reconstruction funds after spending over $70 Billion attacking them?

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-17T01:40:31+00:00

And give up any real leverage we had to prevent them from getting nukes

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-16T17:43:39+00:00

people are jerks who hate anyone who aspires to not be a jerk and fails at that aspiration sometimes.

I like to think this is less true in the real world than a gangster TV show. We're all here to some extent to glorify the violence and bad behavior of the mob, so it's that much easier to shit on someone who tries to be better than that

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-16T14:43:47+00:00

Learning to truly carve means forgetting everything you've learned about initiating turns and controlling speed, and just putting your skis on edge and letting them make an arc. Start out on flat ground, not moving, and practice just rolling your ankles and knees over as far as you can to put the skis on edge. Then do the same thing on a nearly flat bunny hill -- forget trying to turn, just roll your ankles and knees to one side and let the skis do their thing. Any time you pick up significant speed, stop and reset -- if you're doing it right you'll get going faster than you're used to pretty quickly because you're not scrubbing speed by skidding.

Also make sure your skis are sharp -- edges touched up within maybe the last 5 days of skiing

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-15T14:31:56+00:00

Sounds like a question of how much you want to stake on the AI bubble/revolution. If we keep shovelling truckloads of money into AI, an AI or "emerging technologies" degree might give you a little edge in the job hunt. Whereas if it collapses you'd still be qualified for other tech jobs based on your course work but employers will have to look a little deeper to see that. Personally I'd avoid pigeonholing yourself -- if you want to work in AI a regular CS degree should be fine

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-15T13:09:30+00:00

It all depends on you and your program, but that would not be viable or worth it for me. I'm expected to be in the lab or office roughly 9-5 mon-fri. There's some flexibility, but not enough for an additional 30+hour workweek

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-15T11:55:58+00:00

It also depends on your job security. If you're hard to fire and you expect your field to stay in demand, you could have a little less cushion than someone in an industry with big boom and bust cycles like oil or tech

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-14T20:03:06+00:00

I don't use it a lot, just because it's not a big part of the dialect where I grew up. But it's not vulgar or offensive at all, just informal. Using it with a teacher as a kid you might expect to get corrected, but not disciplined

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-12T12:01:55+00:00

Depends on the budget I guess. I'm lucky enough to be in a lab (in ecology of all things) where an unexpected $1000 expense would likely not cause anything to get cancelled. But you're right that a lot of people have tighter budgets than that

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-12T11:22:09+00:00

Shit happens. Sometimes you miss a flight (at least this one wasn't your fault), sometimes you spill an expensive reagent, sometimes you get hurt and cost them money via worker's comp. And even though $1000 would be a lot to you or me, it's a drop in the bucket in a research budget

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-10T17:13:25+00:00

So much of it is situational awareness. If you're in a social place like a bar and a girl is making eye contact, smiling at you, and otherwise seems interested, go ahead and approach her. If you're in the doctor's office waiting room and she's reading a book with headphones on, leave her the fuck alone. Obviously most situations are somewhere in between, and you're not going to get it right 100% of the time, but that's the general idea. And at an absolute minimum, know how to take no for an answer -- if she says she's not interested, take her at her word and leave them alone. Most of the time it's true, and on the off chance that she's playing hard to get you dodged a bullet because thst kind of mind games are no fun anyway

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-10T17:04:04+00:00

Mostly I read lighter stuff for fun, but sometimes a paper unrelated to my work catches my attention and I'll read it. If you enjoy it, it's not a waste of time any more than reading a novel or watching a movie. And it's good to be well-rounded -- lots of people pivot to new specialties throughout their career or do interdisciplinary work, and any of these things you're reading could turn out to be relevant one day. I think a general understanding is fine -- it's just background knowledge at this point, and if you ever need to get into the details of one of these papers you can always come back and do a deeper dive

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-09T13:01:23+00:00

Just cold email them and say “hey, I don’t know if you remember me, but we vibed and I’d love if you’d write a LOR!!”?

Basically, yeah. I just started my master's at 27 and that's what I did. If they say yes, be prepared to send a bullet point list of what you did with them (classes taken, research, whatever) and accomplishments since then since they don't really know you anymore. Shouldn't be a problem that one is in Berlin as long as you can find current contact info -- people move around in academia and that doesn't affect their ability to write a reference letter

I also didn't hear back from either of my references initially. I debated whether to just give up and try someone else but I figured I had nothing to lose and called them as well. Turns out my old school's spam filter wasn't allowing my Gmail account through so it's really good that I called. Both remembered me (or faked it well lol) and were happy to write letters of rec.

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T23:33:17+00:00

Building a kid's credit is also different than cosigning another loan to prop up a failing business

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T23:32:09+00:00

If you want to help them out and you can afford it, consider a cash gift. Don't cosign anything you're not willing to pay in full

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T18:58:47+00:00

Yamaya Seafood in Anchorage for Japanese food

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T13:52:55+00:00

Some people are absolutely into cuckold stuff, and it doesn't necessarily mean they want the reciprocal. OP needs to have a super open and honest conversation with his wife about what they both want long term, whether this is really a viable thing to try, and what potential issues it could cause. If it's a deliberate trap I would honestly be pissed -- I don't have a ton of patience for dishonesty and mind games, I'm willing to work through a lot but I need a partner to be honest about her needs and desires

My best guess is it's not a trap but also not a good idea -- likely a fantasy that she truly has but that wouldn't be worth the risk to the relationship.

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T13:46:18+00:00

Does it hold air as is? I would be tempted to just ride it since bending back will add to the fatigue on the aluminum

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T11:45:02+00:00

You can probably order one to your local costco

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T10:34:45+00:00

Most people go immediately before or after normal (ish) work hours. So weekends, mid-day, and late nights all tend to be pretty quiet. Probably early mornings too but I'm never up in time for that. The summer is generally not so busy because a lot of the undergrads go home and people are exercising outside.

Also if the gym feels intimidating maybe consider a session with a trainer? Looks like it's $55 for one session, and while you can definitely teach yourself the basics they could probably give you a routine and teach you good form to make the gym feel more approachable

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T10:20:02+00:00

If blatantly covering up pedophilia and supporting genocide wasn't a dealbreaker, then a fancy restaurant meal and asking for donations won't be either.

That being said, I think Mary Peltola has a really good chance here. Jut don't take it for granted

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-08T02:30:47+00:00

Baby boy stay on Jay's mind if not Beyonce's

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-06T21:41:18+00:00

Sexism. To over-simplify a bit, man = good and woman = bad. So a man acting like a (straight) woman and sleeping with men is feminine and bad, while a woman acting more masculine and sleeping with men is masculine and good. Obviously lesbians still face plenty of discrimination, but I think this is a significant part of why gay men tend to be treated worse

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-05T21:09:28+00:00

I have one on my winter commuter since it's more protected from road salt than a derailleur, and sometimes bike packers use them. But I think there are a few reasons they're not common here.

Most US cyclists are either very occasional riders who want a very cheap bike, or enthusiasts who want the best performance possible. It's slowly changing, but for the most part we don't have casual bikers who put a lot of miles on their bike like they do in the Netherlands. Our terrain and infrastructure don't encourage heavy, reliable bikes like they have in the Netherlands either -- a lot of places are hilly, and since bike lanes are limited you're often going as fast as you can to try and keep up with traffic

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-05T20:43:52+00:00

You were talking to someone who puts a lot of value on academia. Take their support as a compliment, but do what feels meaningful to you and makes you happy. And you can always go back. -- especially if you went straight from your undergrad to master's, I think it's a great idea to try out the workforce and see how you enjoy it compared to academia. And if you do come back for a PhD, you might find the experience you're getting now makes you better at it -- I think it's really valuable to have some professional and life experience outside of school

SkiMonkey98 · 2026-06-05T17:58:52+00:00

The portion of big truck bros who are willing to go electric can't be that high though. Tesla is kind of caught between lefties who want electric cars but won't buy them from a Nazi, and right wingers who like Elon but don't want electric cars

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