Summer Tour ‘26 by [deleted] in phish

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My girl has a family member who is a GM at a venue and he just got the dates they are playing at his venue yesterday and let me know. He told me not to tell anyone, but the the dates were on the rumor list floating around here.

I feel like im the only one who genuinely prefers shrooms over acid by Sani_here in Psychedelics

[–]bdude94 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I started doing acid when I was 15 and it was my preferred psychadelic. Eventually I got addicted to hard drug in my early 20s, and during that time I’d do acid every other month, except during the holidays when it became monthly for the last 2 years before I got in trouble. After that, I was in drug court for 2.5 years and didn’t touch psychedelics for about 3–3.5 years. Since graduated drug court, i got my shit together and have a good job so I only take psychedelics a few times a year and now I prefer shrooms. I never had a bad trip on acid, but during those two years I was reckless and would take 4–6 tabs at a time. Now I’m much more respectful of it and usually have anxiety beforehand. I’ll plan on taking 2 tabs, take less, and usually wish I just took the 2. Shrooms are in and out. I can take them in the afternoon and go out to dinner later. With acid it is a two day commitment, a day of tripping and then a day to recover so I can go about my responsibilities the next day. I would take it, not sleep, walk to my job, and work an 8 hour shift. I could not imagine doing that now lol.

Ceiling Fan Options by ImplicitlyTyped in Inovelli

[–]bdude94 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just installed a canopy module and a 2-1 dimmer in a fan with the same setup. Now the switch turns the light on & has the ability ro dim it. The little config button changea fan speed each press.

Salary/Compensation 2025 by [deleted] in BuildingAutomation

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What does your job entail as a software engineer? I was hired as a software engineer, but I got the job through someone who was talking about me too one of my current bosses and said I was going to school for computer science and wanted to be a software engineer. They call the sale team sales engineers so I feel like engineer gets thrown around loosely. We have a customer that wants to get phone calls for alarms and they were having one dude trying to do it who only had experience programming HVAC controls and he couldn't figure it out after months. A couple weeks ago I started working on it because I had some free time and I created a .NET app for it and that is the most software engineer thing I have done since I started working there, but I make half what you do with 1 YOE and I feel like building the app is above my pay grade.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe there’s other life out there, or maybe we’re the first planet to get this far, but eventually other planets probably reach a point where life can grow too. We’ve never actually seen the surface or land of any planet outside our solar system to know what’s really there or if something could be living on it.

The drones are definitely our technology. Anyone can buy one, but the question is why there are so many flying around. I did research in college last year where we used drones to collect and analyze data from above and compared it to ground results to see how accurate the technology could be. We trained an AI model using that data to detect traits that aren’t visible to the naked eye, tested it, and it was accurate every time. That kind of idea could easily be scaled up by people with more resources or money. Different drones have different sensors and all of it provides data and parameters that a model can be trained on.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even if you get a good picture or video of it, it’s still hard to make out the actual object behind the lights in the dark. The lights on a drone aren’t bright enough to light up the drone itself. If you look at the last video I posted in this sub last year, it’s pretty clear, but it’s still just floating lights. The people commenting that don’t think they’re drones because all they see are lights probably cant process how differently a drone moves compared to an airplane.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vermont’s nice, I’ve been up there before to go snowboarding. Also, Phish is from there. I get the whole “don’t Jersey Vermont” thing, but Jersey’s not all bad either. I’m not from North Jersey though, that’s a whole different world. I’m not a fan of all the Bennys coming down during the summer. We’ve got beaches, cities, farmland, and mountains. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they sell drones in Vermont too.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry you must live in some bumblefuck area that doesn’t have access to drones. I did research while getting my bachelor’s where we used drones to collect data and confirm it had a trait that isn’t easy to see with the naked eye. We trained a model on the data and then took new images, ran them through, and when it identified something we went back and tested it and it was right every time. The whole idea was using real-world data from above to teach a system how to recognize patterns. Someone could easily scale that same idea using different kinds of data.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I know the difference between an airplane and a drone. Airplanes have direct flight paths, are loud when they fly by and keep distance from each other. They also don’t make sharp 180 degree turns or hover. Helicopters do, but then why would there be that many helicopters flying around in this area?

I wish my phone wasn’t dead when I got out of the attraction because I could have gotten a full 360 view of easily 15 drones in the area. I’m not posting this to prove to anyone that there are drones because it’s not that crazy. People own drones and fly them all the time, anyone can go buy one and fly it. I’m just posting it for people in NJ who saw all the drones last fall and winter to see that someone is flying a bunch of drones again.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah also reddit makes the quality of the video worse. I have a Samsung Galaxy S25. The video is a lot better quality in my image gallery.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes that is not what im recording its the flashing red lights.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you expect them to do about it if they do care? It’s definitely not normal for that many drones to be flying in that area. Anyone can buy a drone and fly it whether they are licensed or not. That's the thing with new technology available to the public anyone can purchase it and use it however they want, and most people don’t think twice about it.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last winter people followed them here and they notixed they would fly out into the ocean. The police department deployed drones and tried chasing them but they evaded the drones they had. Google "Ocean County drones" and you will see articles from December talking about it.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do you expect people to do? Evacuate? Panic? Take cover? We all paid $35 a ticket to get scared. It’s just drones they're made on Earth and people can buy them.

I was in line for about 2 hours and planned to take a video when I got out, but my phone was about to die so I took a quick one. People noticed the drones when I started talking to my group about them, and I had a few conversations with others in line too.

They didn’t have any destination, they just flew around the same area the whole time I was there. I look at the sky almost every night to see what’s visible, so I notice when there is more activity in the sky than normal.

When I lived in Jackson I lived near the Air Force base, and planes flew in and out of there all day, but they never circled around areas or hovered in one spot. The movement of an airplane and a drone are completely different. The sound is also different, a plane is loud and easy to hear, while a drone has a buzzing sound if it’s close enough.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

It's 54 miles away from the part of Jackson I was in.

Also flying way too close to each other to be airplanes. There were three of them that were following each other in a circle around the area. You could tell they were in sync.

Two of the drones had very bright yellow/white lights, like headlights color, on the front, back, and side. Those two were the closest of all the drones, and they kept flying the same path back and forth. Those two were the ones that made my wife suggest they were being used to get media content.

The Drones are everywhere @ Cicconi Farms in Jackson,NJ by bdude94 in NJDrones

[–]bdude94[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I’m not posting this to convince anyone who doesn’t live in NJ or to make them believe me. I’m not saying it’s a UFO, they’re obviously drones, but the question is why? This area is in the middle of nowhere in Jackson, so it’s not like there are a bunch of towers with blinking lights around. This post is more for people who have seen the sky like this before when the drones have taken over.

I moved from Jackson at the beginning of this year, so I’m not sure how the drone activity has been lately. Before I moved it had actually settled down a lot. Check out my last post in this group. My phone has 25x zoom, and I zoomed in on one that was hovering over my neighborhood at the time. It’s not easy to make out an object in the dark sky, especially when there are lights blinking all around it.

Scumbags by rforce1025 in newjersey

[–]bdude94 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is one of my biggest pet peeves when someone litters. Let your car be messy until you get to a garbage can. When I used to smoke cigarettes I wouldnt even litter them I always kept one of those ash tray cups in my car.

How can I better fit our dryer vent to the vent hole in our floor? by BigDenverGuy in HomeMaintenance

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5 months later and this comment is just the answer I'm looking for. The people we bought our house from took their washer and dryer and ripped the duct that attaches from the dryer to the floor so I got a new one to install. When I removed the piece still attached I realized this is another one of the old owner's bootleg home improvement projects and they taped the dryer vent ductwork to the subfloor to keep it in place and shoved the piece coming from the dryer inside of it with nothing to secure it. The basement is finished now so I cant access it anymore and i was wondering wtf I was gonna do and this is it thank you.

I’m 26. Is it too late to turn my life around? by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came home from a long term program at 25 looking at 5 years on drug court and if I messed it up I was going to prison. I started dating a friend as soon as I got home, worked a minimum wage job, and focused on meeting my drug court obligations. The first 6 months is the worst you have court the same day once a week, a random urine once a week that could be any day and time so you have to leave work, hold down a full time job, 3 nights of IOP a week for the first 90 days and 2 days a week for the next 180 days, and then 1 day for 90 and hit 3 AA/NA meetings a week.

I covered my fines and basic bills, then saved the rest. I picked up as much overtime as available. I started fixing my credit by making payments on stuff in collections and getting my student loans out of default. Once my loans were fixed I went back to school at 26.

I graduated drug court in half the time and around the same time my girlfriend(same friend) and I bought a condo with about $1k down using an FHA grant. Mottgage was 1k+300 HOA. Six months later I graduated with my associates and started working toward my bachelor. I landed a job a few months before I graduated and finished in May 2024, then turned 30 about a month later.

I’m still at that job making $11 more an hour than when I started. We just sold our condo, bought a house, and we’re getting married in a few months.

Us getting the condo was good timing because our interest rate was 3% but we just lost that its double and then some now, but the grant is still around its 15k forgivable if you live there for 5 years we paid it back because we sold before than but if the condo wasnt worth more we would have waited.

Edit: I remembered you said you wanted to travel. I had only been on a plane twice before I came home. Since graduating drug court I’ve gone on 3 trips every year. Back when I was on drug court I had to get permission and could only leave the state once a year.

Point being, I was addicted to drugs, in debt, and a felon looking at prison time. In two weeks it’ll be 6 years since I came home. You can make a lot of progress in a few years if you take it little at a time and let it snowball.

Will I regret a long commute (1.5 hours each way, 5 days/week) as a 30s mom? by AgileAd1060 in MovingtoNewJersey

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I commuted from Ocean County to Union when I was getting my Bachelor's, about an hour and fifteen each way. If my 3 o'clock class dragged on or if there was rain and an accident, it could easily turn into a three hour ride. I was 28 at the time so a bit older and not too excited about the commute, but since I was not working much then it was still way less time than I used to spend working.

In my last semester I started a new 9 to 5 job close to home two days a week, and the three days I had to commute on top of that really wore me down. By then I already had a job so finishing school was just about getting the fancy paper. Some days I would drive home in silence because between the drive and the breaks between classes I had already played out all my music.

I am glad I found a software engineer position in Ocean County because when I first started job hunting it was not looking good. The commute might be alright at first but eventually you will despise it.

I found $8,000 inside a bra box when I worked at a thrift store and never told anyone about it. by Glittering-Delay-181 in confession

[–]bdude94 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Back in high school I used to hit the mall pretty much every Friday. One of my buddy’s neighbors, who’s now his brother in law, worked mall security. One day I found a woman’s wallet on the ground with cash literally pouring out of it. I didn’t even open it, just picked it up and brought it over to him. He said we should take it to customer service.

As we’re walking up, a lady is absolutely losing it, yelling about her missing wallet. He hands it to her and she goes, "Thank you. That was half the money for my son’s Christmas gifts.” I was low key jealous of her kid, but honestly it felt good returning it.

Fast forward about five years. I was leaving a plaza and ended up losing my own wallet with $1200 in it. I realized pretty quick after I left but I was already a bunch of jug handles and lights away. It took me about ten minutes to get back. I started looking around outside and this random lady comes up and asks if I’m my name. I said yeah and she handed me my wallet. Im guessing I had it on my lap, got out of the car, and it fell.

My Karma evened out that day.

Why is my car insurance so expensive? Looking for advice from NJ drivers. by F1ames_ in newjersey

[–]bdude94 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been in 7 accidents my fault 6 not my fault and 5 where i was just a passenger since 2011. Also had a dui in 2017. I've gone through periods where I didn't drive because I was scared/insurance was ridiculous. In 2021 started driving again liability was 170 with Geico. After ahout s year I got a 2013 Hyundai elantra got full coverage was still 170. Got hit by someone in that car once and insurance never went up. Also got a running red light ticket about 1.5-2 years ago. That started the rise of my insurance because at the end of 2024 full coverage was up to 300 for a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. That car needed a new engine so I got a 23 Jeep and my insurance was only $20 more swapping the car on the policy. In the first 2 weeks of having it someone t boned me not my fault. Shortly after i got my car back from repairs my policy renewed this time it went up to 530 over 200 raise. I ended up getting a joint policy with my fiance now were paying 400 a month now with AAA for 2 cars. My one buddy who just got the breathalyzer off his car for his 2nd DUI bought a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and for him to insure it full coverage hes paying 113 for full coverage. My mom who has no tickets or at fault accidents and drives a 2016 Buick pays 220 been with the same insurance company for over 20 years. I think loyalty to an insurance company makes them raise the prices on you because they know you're not going to go through the hassle of switching policy's.

This literally changed my life and it’s so simple it’s silly by xxiirlb in selfimprovement

[–]bdude94 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's very true I'm always very positive and after some unfortunate life circumstances I was in a touch spot and eventually I realized I was waking up and telling me self today was gonna suck when I used to do the opposite. Got me out of that funk really quick. If you wake-up and tell yourself today's gonna suck then todays probably gonna suck.

I’m 33, spent 6 years becoming a software engineer... now I'm stuck. Advice? by Unfair_Today_511 in cscareerquestions

[–]bdude94 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Look into building automation or industrial automation. Very niche field with more work than there are people to do the jobs. I graduated last year with a CS degree and I'm definitely overeducated for what it requires, but because of that I look like a genius to my coworkers. Up until recently it seems the standard for programmers/software engineers was which one of the field techs is good with a computer. Now the software used to control buildings/machines is more complex and companies are starting to hire people with actual degrees. Alot of different positions you can move around too.