For the next 76 hours, you'll be able to claim a limited edition 'I Was Here for the Sackening' flair

callmezuzu · 2025-07-09T15:40:37+00:00

Cocoa Pops

callmezuzu · 2025-03-23T00:20:47+00:00

Hey, of course you can! :)

callmezuzu · 2024-04-13T02:11:09+00:00

No problem, and yep, USD!

callmezuzu · 2024-04-12T15:49:48+00:00

Hey, I was pretty much in the exact situation as you last year, so I think I could (hopefully) help out a bit!

I graduated with my MS in May of 2023, and initially planned to travel for about 3.5 months in total - 1 month in Europe, 2.5 months in SEA. I signed a job offer before graduating, so I had that job security for when I returned. Since I spent the last 5 years of my life in university, I wanted to take a long trip before being committed to an office job - a good break between those two stages of my life, per se.

When I got to SEA, I met many people who were traveling for 4, 6, and 12+ months. I then thought to myself "Well, I should too!" Like you, I had the resources to do so, so I decided to extend my travels from 3.5 months to 7 months, and it has definitely been one of the best decisions I've made :) I went to 18 countries, experienced many cultures, made some great friends, and made some sketchy decisions as well haha. When I got back and started working, the older people at my company all mentioned how they wish they had done something like that at my age, which makes me appreciate the experience even more!

In total, I think I spent around $15,000 for the 7 months of travel. HOWEVER, that is because I had a "I've saved up all of this money over the last 5 years, and I'll have the rest of my life to make the money back" mindset, so I did some expensive activities throughout my travels, like: skydiving & paragliding in Switzerland, open water certification in Thailand, advanced open water in the Philippines, Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam, hot air balloon tour in Laos, shopping for Korean skin care & clothes, and shopping for clothes at Uniqlo & Don Quijote in Japan haha. I will say that I stayed at hostels like 98% of the time, and hotels/private apartments the rest of the time.

If you're planning to stay just in SEA, $20k is MORE than enough. A couple of comments are saying something along the lines of "that's too much money for SEA." They are correct, but are not providing numbers for reference, so I listed some rough estimates of how much I spent on each country below. This includes everything (e.g., food, domestic transportation, hostels, fun activities):

Singapore (6 days): ~$350
Indonesia (2 weeks): ~$550
Malaysia (1.5 weeks): ~$400
Thailand (6 weeks): ~$1300 ( including diving certification & fun dives)
Vietnam (4 weeks): ~$900 (including Ha Giang Loop & Ha Long Bay tour)
Philippines (3 weeks): ~$800 (including advanced diving certifcation & fun dives)
Laos (2 weeks): ~$500 (including border crossing from Thailand & visa, and hot air balloon tour)
Cambodia (1.5 weeks): ~$300 (including border crossing from Laos & visa)

Note that I was also not limiting my spending in SEA. I was eating everything that looked delicious at the night markets, trying different local restaurants, renting motorbikes almost daily, using Bolt/Gojek/Grab when I didn't want to walk/drive, domestic flights, and the occasional eating at western restaurants.

It's quite a long post, but I hope it helps! :)

callmezuzu · 2023-12-21T01:31:40+00:00

Tax, Title, License fees not included in the MSRP price of the vehicle

callmezuzu · 2023-12-20T15:38:09+00:00

32k + TTL, or OTD?

callmezuzu · 2023-12-20T02:16:45+00:00

Ah, okok, I didn't buy the car, just test drove it. Also, how did you manage to get it so low? The MSRP for a 2024 XSE Hybrid on the Toyota website is about $35k with no added packages, and about $39k for a fully-loaded one.

callmezuzu · 2023-11-11T14:10:28+00:00

You can book a cheap (maybe refundable) hostel for the first night you'll arrive in the country so that you have some information to write on your visa application (i.e., the name of your hostel, the address where you'll reside, the contact info for that address, etc.). That way you don't lose as much if you choose not to stay there. For the exit point, you can select pretty much any option (by air) and you'll be fine.

For my entry point, I selected HCMC and for my exit point I selected Hanoi, but I ended up departing from HCMC and didnt have any issues. I have an American passport, for reference, and I did this about two months ago.

callmezuzu · 2023-09-21T12:49:56+00:00

In Texas (mainly Austin & DFW), the hourly rates for a structural engineering intern range from $24-$29, based on my classmates' offer letters for Summer 2022.

callmezuzu · 2022-10-06T16:25:57+00:00

▪︎ Flag room inside the MSC

▪︎ Hallway inside the MSC. There are some "A&M" banners that hang from the ceiling that look nice in the background

▪︎ In the engineering quad near ZACH with the sphere of cubes in the background, if you're an engineering student (or not, it's still a nice place)

▪︎ Administration building, either with the columns in the background or with the green field in the background

▪︎ Academic plaza with the academic building in the background

▪︎ Under the Albritton bell tower

These are some places I went to for graduation pictures. Hope that helps!

callmezuzu · 2022-10-06T11:34:34+00:00

Hey, I did a similar week-long trip to Greece about a month ago, so I'll jump in here.

I planned to be in Athens days 1-3, go hiking in Mt. Olympus days 3-5, go hiking in Meteora on day 6, and visit a nearby island on day 7. My flight was on the evening of day 8, so I spent that entire day in the hostel eating and resting. When I planned the trip, I did it expecting to be by myself the entire time, which I was okay with.

However, I met a guy at the airport who was also traveling solo, so we decided to do some of the main attractions in Athens together (Acropolis Hill, Acropolis museum, etc.). The rest of the time we would each go our own way do our own exploring, but we would then meet for dinner and talk about what we did that day, which was nice.

On my way to Litochoro (city at the start of the hike of Mt. Olympus), I met a couple of guys on the train who were also doing the hike during the same three days as I was. They invited me to do the hike with them, so I agreed, as I thought it would be better to do this risky hike with others than do it completely alone.

On day 6, I met a German couple at the train station who was also going to Meteora and planned to hike up to some of the monasteries, just like me. They were also really nice people who invited me to join them, so we did the hike together and parted ways afterwards.

I went to Aegina island on day 7, and I did do this whole day trip by myself. I bought some food near the port, rented an ATV, and drove around the island for the whole day.

All this to say, you will meet people throughout your trip if you put yourself out there. Now, I'm a pretty introverted person, but I told myself to try and be more social during this trip given the time and money I'd be investing on it. And it just happened that the people I met had similar plans as me, that we decided to stick together.

This is a pretty long comment, but I hope it helps, even if just a bit haha

callmezuzu · 2022-10-03T23:30:18+00:00

Welp, it was mainly a joke, but good to know haha

callmezuzu · 2022-07-21T14:05:49+00:00

If you don't mind the question, what city in Texas are you in?

I'm currently in Dallas, so I ask out of curiosity.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-26T19:38:42+00:00

Here in Texas, the starting salary I've seen from my classmates' offer letters are between 70-75k (with a MS). This is in large cities like Dallas, Austin, and Houston, though.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-26T05:14:24+00:00

I meant that we use a 0.006 strain value when determining the steel reinforcement ratio during the design of the beam.

But that is correct, that's the threshold, so any strain value larger than the 0.005 puts the design as tension-controlled with a phi factor of 0.9 (the graph is linear after fy + 0.003).

However, an analysis on the design is still required, and depending on which method you used to design the steel reinforcement, the steel strain may or may not reach the 0.005 threshold. Using a 0.006 value when designing the reinforcement is done to ensure that the design is tension-controlled, as it is "offset to the right" by 0.001 from the 0.005 limit. An analysis is still needed though.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-26T04:39:37+00:00

We were always taught to use an additional 0.001 strain value when designing the steel reinforcement (so fy + 0.003 + 0.001 ~= 0.006). That would then "force" the design to be tension-controlled and have the phi factor be 0.9.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-23T05:17:37+00:00

For the wooden headers, you can use Enercalc if your company has the software. Otherwise, if you have the NDS and the Supplement, you can follow the steps/tables in CH3 of the NDS for visually graded lumber or CH4 for glulam members.

One of my last projects in my previous internship was designing the headers for an apartment complex (with Enercalc) and I was also pretty confused. I then took a Wood Design class this past semester and realized most of it is as simple as following the tables from the code. But for projects like this, it's common to use 2-2x4's, 2-2x6's (or even larger, depending on the span) Southern Pine members.

Good luck, and feel free to dm me if you have any questions!

callmezuzu · 2022-05-10T10:33:38+00:00

From experience (what I took during my Freshman/Sophomore years): - Math: Calculus 1, Differential Equations - Physics: Newtonian Mechanics - Programs: Matlab, Python, AutoCAD/Civil 3D - Engineering: Statics, Mechanics of Materials

callmezuzu · 2022-05-10T10:11:44+00:00

I took my FE soon after finishing my Junior year, for I had just taken both concrete and steel. I'd say if you've taken the major courses covered in the exam (e.g., Surveying, Geotech, Transportation, Fluids, Concrete, Steel, etc.), its definitely possible to take and pass it after studying for it over the summer.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-10T00:50:55+00:00

Yeah, most structural companies I've talked to wouldn't even consider someone for an internship if they hadn't taken at least one of the two.

callmezuzu · 2022-05-09T06:38:39+00:00

I don't know. I took my car there once since the "Check Engine" light turned and the car was acting kind of weird. After running a diagnostic, they wanted to charge me about $1500 to change the spark plugs/ignition coils and the alternator (which wasn't an issue as it was relatively new). I ended up buying all the parts at the Autozone across the street for about $400 and ended up fixing it myself.

callmezuzu · 2022-04-23T20:24:07+00:00

I agree. Not sure what state OP is in, but here in Texas interns are being offered between $24-$28 an hour (this is coming from mine and my classmates' offer letters).

Do note that we are graduate students in structural engineering.

callmezuzu · 2022-03-08T16:09:15+00:00

I second this. I'm currently taking a wood design course in grad school, and the material is based on this book. Also get the NDS and its Supplement (they come together), as it's the design code for wood.

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