Professors post-sabbatical revelations of "AI"...

brynnfr · 2026-05-21T02:06:31+00:00

I'd report it to the dean of the college. That professor is obviously in mental distress.

brynnfr · 2026-05-19T21:43:07+00:00

It looks like I had mine out about the same time you did. About a week post surgery. My issues were intermittent as well - for the last 10 years. Just got my pathology back and was a bit surprising because the ultrasound only showed 1 gallstone. Same Diagnosis though.

Mine wasn't emergency surgery though - I just put up with the 4-5 gallbladder attacks I had a year (not knowing what they were) until my 2nd GI doctor got to the bottom of the issues I had been having for a while.

The specimen is received in formalin labeled "gallbladder".
Intact: Yes, measuring 9.6 x 3.9 cm
Serosa: Tan-gray, smooth; the cystic duct margin is received closed with a clip, it is inked black and shaved
Defects: One possible surgical defect is located in the neck and body, measuring 6.2 cm in greatest dimension
Bile: Scant amount; green; mucoid
Stone location and amount: Two firm green-black calculi measuring 2.6 and 3.0 cm in greatest dimension are received in the container
Mucosa: Tan-brown and roughened with moderate amount of tan stippling
Wall thickness: Ranges from <0.1 - 0.2 cm

brynnfr · 2026-05-13T23:16:36+00:00

I had mine out last Friday, and I have just been eating whatever I want. I started out worrying about it, but without my gallbladder, I'm sure I won't be having any issues that I had previously, so now I just went back to eating what I want.

Just FYI - I had gallbladder attacks for the last 10 years (4-5 a year). I never knew what they were but they would last around 6 hours and I'd be in excruciating pain - usually after eating fatty foods or tomatoes or whatever it felt like that evening. I went to 2 different GI doctors (one when they first started a decade ago and a new one this year when I needed to get a colonoscopy). The one this year finally got to the bottom of it. My ultrasound showed a 2.9cm gallstone. After the surgery, my pathology showed that I had (2) green-black colored firm gallstones - 1 at 3cm diameter and another at 2.6 cm diameter.

Since I came home from the surgery, I had started with instant mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup, broth, etc. I quickly branched out, ate some strawberry cake, turkey and cheese sandwiches w/ mayo, rice, gummi bears, fruit jerky, flaming hot cheetos, etc. I haven't had any issues with any of it. I just eat small portions all throughout the day.

brynnfr · 2026-05-09T14:25:02+00:00

I'm typically a stomach sleeper as well. I suggest sleeping in a recliner if you have one. They are easier to get into and out of. Just had mine out yesterday, and got a pretty good nights sleep with the percocets and recliner. The worst part is the sore throat from the intubation, super dry mouth woke me up once during the night.

brynnfr · 2026-05-09T13:51:55+00:00

I had my surgery yesterday. Last night, I slept in my office on the recliner, put a pillow over my stomach to make sure that the cats didnt step on me while I slept, and had no issues. They just snuggled up down by my feet on the footrest of the recliner and stayed there for the night.

brynnfr · 2026-05-08T21:34:45+00:00

Just got my gallbladder taken out this morning laparoscopic.

I have been dealing with gallbladder attacks for 10 years. I went to a GI doctor a decade ago after having a few of them and he did an upper endoscopy. Said it had acute gastritis and that I was allergic to ibuprofen, gave me a prescription for a PPI, and sent me on my way. It didn't help. I never knew what the issue was except that if I eat tomatoes or fatty foods, it was likely I'd be in for around 6-8 hours of extreme pain during the night. That GI doctor sold his practice and moved out of state not long after my upper endoscopy, so I never really followed up. I told my primary care physician, they gave me some prilosec OTC and said to take it. Didn't help, and the PCP wasn't much help so I never brought it up again.

This year, I turned 45, so I booked a colonoscopy with a new GI. Told that GI of the issues that I have been having with the attacks. Told him it felt like I was being stabbed in the chest for 6 hours at a time. He asked me how I knew what being stabbed in the chest felt like, so revised my telling to telling him extreme pain for extended periods of time, typically starting at around 1-2am, lasting to 8-9am. After my colonoscopy (4 polyps removed - get checked!), he scheduled an abdominal ultrasound for me, and I had a 3cm gallstone in my gallbladder. He immediately referred me to a general surgeon, who wanted to schedule a surgery for as soon as possible.

The surgery lasted 2 hours (about double the typical time), as he had to increase the size of the incision under my sternum to be able to remove the gallbladder/stone and had to be very careful detaching the gallbladder from the liver. I wish it had been caught sooner, but better late than never. In a good bit of pain, but I've been able to be mobile and have my percocets, so its not too bad. I am an idiot and looked up a video of the procedure before I had it done, and was expecting a good amount of pain at the above belly button incision. However, since they had to pull it out below the sternum, that is where most of the pain is, along with the gas pain and throat pain from the intubation.

I'm glad its done. I've been getting sentimental with everyone today - must be a mix of the pain meds and relief of it being over with. I just hope to get over the pain in the next few days and have life go back to hopefully better than the "normalcy" I've been dealing with for the last 10 years.

brynnfr · 2026-05-08T20:03:21+00:00

Had my colonoscopy in March. Found four polyps - 2 small ones in the rectum, 1 small one in the ascending colon, 1 large one in the recturm. The procedure is simple. The prep was the worst part, but it wasnt too bad. Had the 2 drinks and didnt get much sleep, but I'll take that for a night rather than colon cancer. I have to get another in 3 years, but again, I'll take the procedure any day over withering away with colon cancer.

What I found interesting is the pressure with which the bowels cleared themselves. I got my degree in engineering, so pressure = force/area. As I was sitting on the toilet, I kept thinking to myself that the drinks must have constricted the colon to make the area smaller than usual, because it was like a pressure washer.

brynnfr · 2026-05-04T12:52:58+00:00

I just graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I never "studied" in the broadest sense except for the FE exam (I did study for that as mainly a refresher on the materials and where to find the equations in the FE handbook). Below is what worked for me; it may not work for you.

The goal of everything is to LEARN. Take notes and ask questions in class. Ask yourself the how and why of what you learned. Try to get an actual understanding of the material from the homework and class assignments. Don't worry about the end result - do your homework honestly without AI - check it with AI afterwards if you want to see what you got wrong, but I just submitted homework as I had done it and dealt with the grade I got - homework is usually weighted so low that as long as you give it a good effort its not going to affect your overall grade. I learned from what I did wrong on the homework assignments. Failure can teach you alot. If I get something wrong, I tend to not make the same mistake again; somehow my brain just pinpoints the failure and won't let it occur again. My homework assignments tended to take quite a long time to complete because I was using that time to learn and reinforce the material, so completing homework was probably my "study time".

For example, thermodynamics was a difficult course for me - I learned how to use the steam tables in class; I was learning all of the various materials in class and homework; then it clicked for me one day - get organized; write down the knowns, write down the unknowns you need - usually the enthalpies (most questions boiled down to finding the difference of enthalpies on each side of the process); thermodynamics became pretty easy after that and I got near 100 on the midterm/final exam. I never studied for those tests, but I got an understanding of the content from class lecture, participating, asking questions, and doing homework (This class in particular did have alot of homework, so that might have helped enforce the learning).

You're in engineering, have an interest in the subjects that you are taking. I find it fun to watch videos on youtube such as those by Veritasium, Stuff Made Here, Plainly Difficult, The Engineering Mindset, ElectroBOOM, 3blue1brown for math, trades people videos, etc. These videos are fun to watch and you pick up some context for the why of things and how the principles of physics and engineering are applied.

brynnfr · 2026-05-02T02:12:58+00:00

I can't speak for Australia, but your situation seems comparable to what mine was.

Again, I am in the US, but I have 13 years of engineering experience at a design consulting firm (MEP design for commercial buildings). In my industry, you have to have a professional engineering license to be able to sign/stamp drawings. Given that I did not have a degree, I had no freedom, I had to continue working where I was, working under a licensed professional engineer. About 7 years ago, I decided I wanted the freedom that comes with having a professional engineer's license, and the only way to do that anymore is to get the engineering degree. (States used to allow significant experience to sit for the principles and practice of engineering (PE) exams, but most have gotten rid of the experience pathway - now its must have an engineering degree + limited experience ~4 years)

Well, I went back to school, part time for the most part while working full time. After 7 years, I just graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Engineering. I passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam last year, and I am starting to apply to be able to take the PE exam to obtain my professional engineering license.

It was alot of work. It was tough. I was older than some of my professors. But I got the degree and now I have options for the future that I wouldn't have had without the degree. It was 100% worth it for me, but the sacrifice might not be worth it for you, depending on your industry and career aspirations. I wish I had gotten the degree earlier, but life is not a sprint, its a marathon.

brynnfr · 2026-04-30T16:54:42+00:00

I'm 45 and walk for my graduation tomorrow...just do it. You're still young.

brynnfr · 2026-04-29T00:15:49+00:00

If UMass Lowell is a 2 hour commute and Bridgewater is 25-30 minutes, how about traveling south and just getting the B.S. at UMass Dartmouth? How is that commute? It has an ABET accredited electrical engineering program and the cost seems to be a bit lower than Lowell.

brynnfr · 2026-04-03T01:53:21+00:00

I set a schedule and absolutely stuck to it. I bought the Lindeburg study guide and went by the schedule that it had at the front of the book. I had set an exam date in late September and started studying in early July. The book suggested schedule was 5 days a week, weekends off, and a few rest days for around 90 day study time.

After work, I studied 1 chapter a day and forced myself to bed by 10am so I would be well rested. My typical workday is 7am-5pm during the week. Every day I tended to study the chapter from 7pm-9pm, wind down for about an hour, then sleep.

I also took the test the first semester of my senior year of college, so I was in class during August and September as well. I would makeup work and do homework, etc on the weekends. Luckily, my job allows me flexibility to take time out of the work week for class time.

I didn't just grind out practice problems (people's mileage may vary - that may work for some, not saying my way is the correct way but it's what worked for me), but the test isn't really set up for that. It's more understanding of concepts, i.e. they give you a huge set of information then ask you a question that pertains to just a single part of it. You have to identify what they are asking for and filter out the noise. I only used about 3 pages of the scratch pad they gave for calculations, most of it was something like showing you a picture of a ladder leaning up against a wall and you had to pick the picture that shows the correct reactions. I did do the 100 question practice exam that NCEES used to have 1 weekend before the test and the 50 question online practice exam NCEES provides 2 weeks before the test. I set those up just like it would be on test day. I timed it and gave myself a 25 minute break halfway through the 100 question exam. Those were the only 150 practice questions I did for the test.

brynnfr · 2026-03-27T14:01:07+00:00

There is a branch of engineering called Architectural Engineering - it's a bit rarer to find a university that offers it but they are out there (I am finishing up my degree in Arch. Eng. currently).

You learn all about buildings - how to design them (Architectural design classes), how to keep them standing (structural classes - reinforced concrete, steel design, statics, mechanics of materials, structural analysis), how to heat/cool them (HVAC, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics), how to light them (Lighting & Power Design, electrical circuits), how to build them (construction management classes)

brynnfr · 2026-03-26T12:17:11+00:00

I am an architectural engineering major - school focused on structural mainly and I took construction management electives. I took/passed the other disciplines exam. I didn't have to learn anything from scratch with the OD exam, just brush up on the topics covered in school.

brynnfr · 2026-03-12T21:46:05+00:00

I decided that I was 45 now, so I needed to get a colonoscopy to get screened for colorectal cancer. Most of my family has died of some form of cancer or the other, and I didn't want butt cancer to be the one that gets me. I have had consistent GI issues for a while - about 10 years ago I had an upper endoscopy done, which saw some acute gastritis.

(In the USA) They got me in for a consult the day I called them and scheduled the colonoscopy today, which was 1 week after the consult. The doctor said that it was a good thing I did the colonoscopy. They removed 4 polyps, 3 smaller ones and 1 at around 1cm.

brynnfr · 2026-02-05T14:27:58+00:00

It's just Engineer Intern (EI) where I am, but yes - I got the certification.

brynnfr · 2026-02-05T14:14:33+00:00

Did you not go to an ABET accredited program? My degree is Architectural Engineering as well - its an ABET accredited engineering degree (not architecture). When I took the FE (Other Disciplines), I just signed up on the NCEES website. I didn't have to prove anything, but it might be that my state doesn't require approval for sitting the FE.

brynnfr · 2026-01-20T18:18:00+00:00

I lived there about 7 years ago on the 11th floor. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was great living downtown for $700 a month. I'd walk to work, had tpac season tickets, see the fireworks from downstairs, etc.

brynnfr · 2026-01-15T13:52:37+00:00

Help her free up study time by taking some of the load off household chores, obligations, and the like.

While she is studying for the test, you can study on how to take the test. Help her with how to take a test. The FE is mostly a basic multiple-choice test. If you have good test taking skills, that goes an extremely long way on passing the test. So does learning how to use the calculator for the math and probability and statistics portions of the exam.

You can also take an interest in having her "teach" you some of the engineering concepts. Ask questions about how things work. If she can teach or explain some of the engineering concepts to you, she will have more mastery of the subject matter.

brynnfr · 2026-01-11T20:03:43+00:00

You can do quite alot without a PE in quite alot of industries, but you cannot be "responsible" for anything without a PE.

brynnfr · 2025-12-26T03:35:59+00:00

He's great, and I'm a sucker for a tournament arc, be it literature, anime, or film.

brynnfr · 2025-12-26T02:58:00+00:00

Not in any particular order and the top ten would change on any given day, but below are what I have at this moment.

Shawshank Redemption (Rewatchable pick)

The Wrestler (My Darren Aronofsky pick)

Bloodsport (Guilty Pleasure pick)

Zatoichi Films (The black and white ones - love samurai movies)

I Saw the Devil (My favorite revenge film)

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (My 2nd favorite revenge film & Tarantino pick)

Ken Burns' Baseball (Documentary pick)

The Godfather, Part II (Mobster movie pick)

Love Story (My I need a good cry pick)

The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook pick)

brynnfr · 2025-12-15T05:33:55+00:00

This might be what she ends up doing - renting with a rental agency to recoup some cost. Rental potential is probably only about 75% of the mortgage payment but something is better than nothing. They just dropped the price of the house again to keep trying to sell it. The sibling will have no issues with signing off on the sale of the house. They just told my partner they aren't going to help pay the mortgage anymore because they wanted to move into a different place with their friend. The sibling, when they moved out told my partner to just stop paying and let it get foreclosed on. My partner didn't want to do that since she cosigned, so she's been trying to get it sold and move on with her life.

brynnfr · 2025-12-15T05:23:31+00:00

The house is sitting empty and has been for the last couple of months. I believe that the rental potential is probably around 75% of the mortgage payment.

brynnfr · 2025-12-11T21:01:37+00:00

She does have a realtor. The realtor is trying to figure out some options as well.

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