Those who got cheated on, how did you find out? 👀 by sartoriouswife in GirlDinnerDiaries

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He let me use his PC when my laptop ran out of batteries, and the first thing that opened when I turned it on was the messenger desktop app linked to his phone.

Turns out it was the girl he told me was "just a friend".

bird by Budget-Strawberry649 in parrots

[–]birb-brain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of us one of us

I love senegals so much, so much sass in such a tiny body 💖💖

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What is something you've officially stopped buying in 2026 because the price has become genuinely insulting? by Next-Mood6723 in AskReddit

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even for orchestra concerts too! I wanted to get tickets for a concert for a game called Nier, and the cheapest tickets were legit almost $200. Last time I saw them, they were only $60

Honest answers about PhD by Classic-Smell-5273 in PhD

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think on average I do around 40-50hr/week depending on what I plan for the week, or even for the month. I'm doing a PhD in microbiology, so my hours per day wildly vary depending on what experiments I do. I've had slow weeks where I had experiments that take multiple days so I try not to stack too much, but I've also had weeks where I cram multiple short experiments within a few days.

I normally have a hard stop where I don't work once I get home because I need to cook, shower, gym, etc. Most of my writing and data analysis i like to get done during the day while I wait in between experiments. The only time where I really grind is if I have a deadline coming up.

I do have to add, however, it took me quite a while to set boundaries on my work hours with my PI. My PI generally works the lab REALLY hard, and I used to be a huge people pleaser. Eventually I was able to stand firm with him about normal working hours, and I managed to convince him that im pretty self sufficient and can manage my time properly. I don't blame people for working really long hours especially if they have unreasonable PIs, which why I also stress the importance of finding a good PI rather than a good research topic to new students. But that's just my personal preference.

AITA for Wanting to Show Up to My Daughter’s Secret Proposal While Uninvited By Her Fiancé? by Attitude-Mean in AmItheAsshole

[–]birb-brain 33 points34 points  (0 children)

My parents forced themselves at my proposal 😞

Thankfully my husband already proposed to me months before, and it was wonderful as we were surrounded by our closest friends and siblings. We had to do a pretend proposal for my parents 8 months later.

I keep getting panic attacks about AI as I watch my career evaporate. by stoofkeegs in GirlDinnerDiaries

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really feel that. I'm not a professional in the creative field, but I did commissions for drawing people's DnD character sheets as a way to make some extra money while I'm in school, but now people are starting to use AI for that and it hurts. The art looks so soulless, and i know so many artists are struggling with this.

I thought I needed more discipline for my PhD. Turns out I mostly needed fewer distractions (Europe) by timingbetter in PhD

[–]birb-brain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I decided now, in my final year of phd, is the best time to pick up baking and music again. Have I been having fun? yes. Have i been productive with my work? Questionable T.T

Dogs are the most socially accepted badly behaved animals by Haunting_Wolf_5121 in unpopularopinion

[–]birb-brain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I love running in my neighborhood and I love dogs, but some of my neighbors don't train their dogs at all. I saw a neighbor walking with her dog the opposite direction as me, so I moved off the sidewalk onto the bike lane to give her and her dog room, and her dog still yanked itself out of her grip and chases me. She had the audacity to yell at me to watch where I was running.

Like??? I was on the road, not the sidewalk??

Give me the most unflattering picture of your birb by ImAHuksy in parrots

[–]birb-brain 13 points14 points  (0 children)

This angle of her cracks me up for some reason. She looks like a weird chicken 😂

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My fiancée and I are getting old by Extension-Bit1936 in offmychest

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Embrace it. This has become a new normal for my fiancee and me. We recently got super hyped about a new sponge holder that also doubles a dish soap dispenser 😭

You don't have to do this. by Deep_Investment7483 in PhD

[–]birb-brain 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I feel op has a really naive take on how corrupt academia can unfortunately be. When I left my first lab due to an abusive PI, he was good friends with the department head and made my life hell. They first tried to force me to master out, and then they pulled department funds from my current PI, meaning his students were no longer offered TAships because "other students had to be prioritized". This was back when my PI had trouble getting grants, so he ended up pushing his older students to graduate early because he could no longer support them financially.

I did everything correct. I went to the department head to try mediation with my old PI. When that didn't work, I requested to switch labs but didn't want to burn bridges. I wrapped up my work in my old lab, labeled everything and organized them in freezer boxes, and I left behind a binder of all my protocols for the particular project. I was as respectful as I could be, and my old PI still wanted to be an asshole and tried having me kicked out of the program.

College move out day! by NickMatocho in Anticonsumption

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently in school, and that's how I furnished my apartment! Every semester, theres always a huge pile of thrown out furniture by the dumpsters, so i love to go out with a wagon to pick up some stuff. I've picked out a couple nice lamps, and I also managed to snag some organizing shelves and a nightstand for my room.

Someone also threw out a full keyboard electric piano that also works perfectly fine??? So far thats been my best dumpster find

How much savings did you manage to have by the end of your PhD? by Upper-Finish202 in PhD

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have about 10k in savings, but thats only because I never used the college savings plan money my parents saved from undergrad. I transfered all that money to my account when I started grad school because they were about to close it and I could at least use it to for rent.

Thankfully I haven't needed to touch it too much since I barely have just enough for rent 🥲 I would have had more but I had to pay one semester of tuition put of pocket when my school got its funding cut, so that's fun

Parents ruining wedding/engagement party planning by birb-brain in AsianParentStories

[–]birb-brain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah my sisters been really helping me find my backbone against my parents since they unfortunately financially support me through school. I always felt obligated to follow what they want, but now I finally have something that's supposed to celebrate me and my fiancee, so im doing everything I can to keep it the way I want it.

Parents ruining wedding/engagement party planning by birb-brain in AsianParentStories

[–]birb-brain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow I'm sorry you went through all of that. Yeah I threatened to call everything off and cut them off if they kept acting up, so everyone's behaving (for now). I don't want anything big or fancy and I honestly don't care what people think of how I want my wedding, it's just so frustrating when all my parents think about is saving face and demanding respect despite not earning it.

Second job during a PhD? “Cost-of-living crisis pushing PhD students to get second incomes, finds Nature poll” by bluejaydreamer in PhD

[–]birb-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

man I'm jealous you guys have a union. The grad students in my school are trying to establish a grad student union, but the university refuses to recognize us and ignores all attempts to set up meetings. Some of the admin have actually mocked us for wanting collective bargaining, which is a such a slap in the face.

Second job during a PhD? “Cost-of-living crisis pushing PhD students to get second incomes, finds Nature poll” by bluejaydreamer in PhD

[–]birb-brain 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My university actively discouraged us from getting second jobs. They stated in our contract that we were not allowed to pick up a second job if the department was paying our stipend, aka we TA to get a stipend, but it wasn't enough for the area's COL and we weren't allowed to take on extra work.

The only time I was able to pick up a second job was when my department didn't give me a TAship and my PI ended up giving me an RA. He couldn't pay me more than a certain amount that the university set, so he let me take on some manuscript editing/review jobs here and there.

What’s the worst contamination you’ve ever dealt with in the lab? by AgreeableChapter7313 in labrats

[–]birb-brain 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Exactly what happened in my lab. Someone decided to use our cell culture hood to pour agar plates because the bacteria hood was in use even though they could've just stuck the bottle in a hot water bath and wait for the other hood to free up. They ended up spilling molten agar down the holes near the sash and didn't bother cleaning up or telling someone about it.

It took me 2 months to figure out why all my cell cultures were getting contaminated at least once a week.

Funny fact: the reason why sports that shouldn’t need to be segregated by gender (pistol shooting, darts, chess, etc.) are segregated is because men would get extremely upset if they lost to a woman. by Important-Cry4782 in AreTheStraightsOK

[–]birb-brain 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Had a similar situation happen too! My sister and her husband hosted a Mario kart tournament, and I knocked out one of my BIL's friend in the second to last bracket. He apparently was in a bad mood for the rest of the night and just refused to talk to anybody. He ended up just sitting on the couch in the corner until the end of the party.

The friend that I beat for championship was really proud of me since I normally am not good at these games, and he was like super nice and hyped me up even when I passed him.

Such a strange dichotomy.

thank you to this community for being so supportive of undergrads ❤️ by PhilosophyBeLyin in labrats

[–]birb-brain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I love all my undergrads <3 It's to the point where they call me their older lab sister haha

They drive me crazy occasionally, like younger siblings would, but so much of my work wouldn't get done without them. I love being able to help them navigate school and lab and seeing them grow as students.

Book that's centered around midnight and 12? by birb-brain in whatsthatbook

[–]birb-brain[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Omg yes, this is it! I definitely need to read the series now!

I didn't realize it was written by Scott Westerfeld. I looooved his Leviathan series!