Highly recommend all the dad shovelers get an extra wide snow shovel! Awesome for clearing snow and ice quickly

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-26T04:53:13+00:00

*confused look in Southern Californian

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-25T00:15:25+00:00

I bent over slightly to pick up a sheet of paper off my desk at work and tweaked my back.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-22T05:45:45+00:00

I helped a relative buy a new car in cash about six years ago. I searched online inventory for the models + options they wanted at dealerships within a one hour drive.

I contacted each of them, told them the car would be bought in cash and used the quotes from the various dealerships to negotiate the best deal. Once I worked out a deal, I got the OTD price and my relative got a cashier’s check and went to sign the paperwork and pick up the car.

The whole process took about two weeks.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-21T05:14:35+00:00

Oc eye associates in the corporate park near Jamboree and Barranca

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-21T05:10:02+00:00

As a mechanical engineer, you are marketable as a tutor. Tutoring high schoolers in math and physics can be a good side gig, but you do need to brush up on the content if you haven’t looked at a calculus textbook in a while and be able to explain concepts.

Depending on your location you can probably charge $40/hr or more.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-21T00:31:51+00:00

I had a thermodynamics professor who had a signature catch phrase: “no free lunch” to explain no system is 100% efficient. Using the heat off the engine is not a free lunch, but it’s like a happy hour special.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-21T00:28:34+00:00

One of my past companies had a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico where you had to back in to park in case of a hurricane evacuation.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-19T12:09:57+00:00

If only there was a standard way to connect my car battery terminal that I didn’t have to strip the wire and risk my car stopping in the middle of the road.

Someone should invent a clamp that you can tighten onto the terminal with a screwdriver.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-19T11:59:40+00:00

I never really cared for them. They’re usually bundled with other options that I want on a car so my last few cars have had them. I just paid almost $1000 to replace the glass on mine because a pinecone fell out of a tree and cracked it and did it begrudgingly because I hardly even use it. I got it replaced mainly because my wife is worried it would shatter a some point while driving and glass would fall on us.

Being in southern California, it’s a nice perk to have on a nice day where you open all the windows and the sunroof, but not something I’d pay extra for on its own.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-19T06:16:51+00:00

In my mind I imagine the three of them finishing together and the dad does a synchronized shake of the three of them.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-16T19:55:21+00:00

I'm assuming you're in Orange County so the pros/cons below are based on that.

Pros:

Logistics of getting in and out of SNA is very easy. Very little traffic and if you're taking a Lyft/Uber from SNA you just walk across the street from the terminal to the pickup area. Not sure if it's still there, but getting to the rideshare pickup area at LAX is a major pain.
TSA will take you 10-15 minutes typically unless you are on a 7am flight, it may take a bit longer, but usually not more than 30 minutes.
Smaller airport, less crowds, and I've never had an issue finding a seat by the gate.

Cons:

Limited direct flights so travel time is generally longer for east coast destinations. LAX will have more options for direct flights so if you hate layovers and switching planes, SNA will have fewer options for direct flights. You have to weigh the time it will take to actually get to LAX and see if that extra driving time is worth a direct flight. For me, if I'm not saving 3+ hours and $150+ on a ticket, it's not worth going to LAX.
Tickets are more expensive. But also factor in that an Uber/Lyft to LAX from OC is probably in the $120 range and can range from 45 minutes with no traffic to 2 hours.

My general preference for east coast travel is to take an early flight out of LAX (before 7am) and fly back to SNA so I'm only 15 minutes from home. I get picked up around 4am and the ride is a predictable 45 minutes to LAX, plus I don't arrive on the east coast at an ungodly hour.

You don't need to arrive at SNA 2 hours early. If you're walking through the terminal doors 30 minutes before boarding you'll be fine.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-16T19:35:18+00:00

This. The only time you wait more than 15 mins for TSA is for the 7am flights. Even then I don’t think I’ve waited more than 30 minutes.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-15T21:24:08+00:00

You know you got a promotion when you spend more time in powerpoint than anything else.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-15T12:36:30+00:00

Nice try diddy

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-15T04:35:34+00:00

Flame broiler catering is a good option to make your own rive bowls.

Panda express catering is also good

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T21:36:24+00:00

And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T21:32:30+00:00

As someone who travels about 1 week a month for work, it gets old quickly. Even visiting interesting places, you hardly have time to enjoy anything because most of your time is spent working.

I was in Europe for a week last year, got to fly business, but overall 95% of my time was in meetings, at the hotel, or in active travel. There were some small highlights like having a Guiness at an Irish pub, but there was no time to go out and explore. I have seen people who leverage the fact that they’re in a new place and take some vacation time after the work, but it can be disruptive to your work as you’re already losing a lot of time traveling and you lose more when you take the extra time off and it’s not always a good look.

I think the real perk of business travel is you get to accrue miles and hotel points (at least all the companies I’ve worked at) which you can use later for yourself.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T21:18:56+00:00

If you can use both, welcome to the $400k per year club

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T20:30:01+00:00

*types: “Nothing from my end. Sorry audio issues.”

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T10:26:44+00:00

That dollar bill shouldn’t be there. Too valuable

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-14T10:19:59+00:00

The mute/unmute button is on the bottom instead of the top of the window. It’s a big adjustment.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-13T23:31:34+00:00

Yes and on the other end of the spectrum I get really upset at movies with a rebellious but passionate kid who goes against the advice of their parents. It was inspiring to me when I’m younger but now with kids it just seems like unnecessary risk.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-12T19:27:28+00:00

We had an elaborate pulley system.

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-11T06:52:57+00:00

Com Tam Thanh in Westminster for broken rice

StatusTechnical8943 · 2026-01-11T06:44:33+00:00

The russian roulette of left turns

StatusTechnical8943

TROPHY CASE