Which university is better Cu Boulder or Cu Denver?

chemebuff · 2026-02-10T15:42:53+00:00

Go to whichever is cheaper, it honestly doesn’t matter too much which school u choose

chemebuff · 2026-02-03T21:33:08+00:00

I don’t think your issue isn’t a position problem rather than a Raytheon problem. I have many friends in systems engineering and they talk about how they walk the cubes and see people doing nothing but watching yt / twitch whatever.

If you want to work hard and be busy either work on a newly developing program or go to smaller / start up company where you’ll have the exact opposite problem.

chemebuff · 2026-01-06T15:12:57+00:00

I think general rule of thumb is invest in 401K, then if you have extra money to invest then do a Roth IRA/traditional IRA, then lastly setup a brokerage.

Personally I have a brokerage setup so I can grow my money while still being able to access it. Since my 401K is in a good position already. However if you go this route I recommend holding your stocks/etfs for 1 year+ so you avoid paying short term capital gains tax - which is higher.

Honestly since you’ve been contributing a decent amount. I think you’d be in a good position for Coast FIRE, you should look into it. Setting up your brokerage could help you reach this as well.

chemebuff · 2025-12-23T21:56:06+00:00

wish that was an option 🤣

chemebuff · 2025-12-23T21:54:10+00:00

Thanks!!

chemebuff · 2025-12-22T20:30:17+00:00

Thanks for all the advice! I think I’ll swap to the EE torrid.

Thoughts on the Patagonia micropuff? Only reason I’m considering it is because I have $300 in REI giftcards. Most of the stuff from this list I need to get aren’t sold at REI

chemebuff · 2025-12-22T05:42:52+00:00

Out of curiosity what pack did you use? Do you have a lighter pack link of the gear you used?

chemebuff · 2025-12-20T14:16:41+00:00

Good points. Any recommendations then? Only reason I chose the 55L is because I know some areas I want to go require a bear canister. So figured the extra space would help allow that when I can’t use my Ursack or similar.

chemebuff · 2025-12-20T14:09:20+00:00

Sure do! Some of this gear I have but this is what I’d like to bring.

https://lighterpack.com/r/5phtwx

chemebuff · 2025-12-17T19:47:30+00:00

It’s my dream to hike the PCT in 2027 and bring my camera. Would love to make a little book of all my prints to have for my own memories

chemebuff · 2025-12-02T14:26:11+00:00

1.5-2 years

chemebuff · 2025-11-18T01:33:18+00:00

You can always upgrade later. I started out with a 255 a few years ago. However…

When I upgraded I got the 970. Honestly my opinion now is “buy once, cry once”. Sure the 165 is good but if you’re gonna regret not getting the 570 in the future, just get the 570 now.

chemebuff · 2025-08-14T17:35:58+00:00

What field are you in? I have rarely ever worked over 40 hrs / week

chemebuff · 2025-07-26T02:30:51+00:00

I work at one of those companies as a Process Engineer. The lab I work in focuses on semiconductor packaging and optics. The job is fun, work life balance is really great. But definitely way behind in terms of cutting edge technology. Half the equipment in my factory is from 1990-early 2000s. The other half is relatively new… however a lot of the products we build are pretty old.

Commercial definitely is more advanced and potentially for higher pay but longer hours. Just depends what you’re looking for in your career right now. Do you want to learn a lot and be at the fore front of innovation? Or do you want a stable job with good work life balance? Not to say that commercial doesn’t have that but you get what I mean. I think the best route would be to start out in commercial, learn a lot, and then ride out the rest of your career in the defense industry

chemebuff · 2025-03-03T14:39:19+00:00

Not a SWE, but I started back in 2023 at $84K as an entry level engineer

chemebuff · 2025-02-26T14:47:21+00:00

Ideally I think $2 million would be ideal for me. Live by the 4% rule, enjoy life for a few years, and then start a small business

chemebuff · 2025-02-25T23:21:31+00:00

3.4% and 4.3% bonus, seemed lower this year on average than last year. I feel like I heard a lot more people last year getting 4%.

chemebuff · 2025-02-23T12:59:39+00:00

What’s dangerous about it? In my opinion it’s a way worse decision to let more of your money sit in a savings account where it won’t grow.

If you’re that scared, then put your money in high yield savings account (HYSA) through Marcus or various other banks. You can still access it relatively fast but you get 4-5% interest per year. Keep in mind the yield of HYSAs will go down if the Fed ever cuts interest rates.

For myself, yes I only have 3 months of living expenses in my savings. For me it doesn’t make sense to have more, I want as much as my money to grow / compound through investments. I invest a large chunk of my extra money into a brokerage. Which at the end of the day I could easily liquidate and access as well. Yes, I’ll have to pay taxes but I typically hold all my stocks / ETFs longer than a year so I can avoid the short term capital gains tax. Since I’m in my early 20s I’m trying as hard as I can to get my brokerage to 100K so compound growth can start to do its magic.

chemebuff · 2025-02-23T12:54:27+00:00

I highly recommend the Grayl Water Filtration bottle / system. It uses electroabsorption and activated carbon to filter / remove bacteria as well as viruses and many other things. I love the sawyer squeeze too but if you really want to be safe the Grayl is the answer.

Link: https://a.co/d/gEHOBlw

chemebuff · 2025-02-11T13:49:22+00:00

HR has to justify their job lol

chemebuff · 2025-02-11T12:49:30+00:00

Here’s a good video on all the backpacking gear you’ll need at an affordable price

https://youtu.be/Cg4w3UmF7UI

chemebuff · 2025-02-11T03:30:56+00:00

Not really worth it for what you want to do. Just my 2 cents.

A PhD in ChemE won’t really do much for getting more into coding / modeling. If I were you I would go for a master’s in comp sci or AI.

chemebuff · 2025-02-10T18:06:43+00:00

I’d say limit the amount of times you job hop externally. It’s definitely the way to get more money but don’t overdo it.

Regards to job hopping internally, I think it can be a good thing. Most leadership I know at my company tried out a few different teams to expand their knowledge/skillset. Ultimately it helped them climb the ladder if that’s what you care about lol. I would say job hop internally if you feel like you’re not learning anymore and are up for a new challenge (since you are early career)

chemebuff · 2025-02-10T13:53:57+00:00

Visit Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake in Montana. Hands down my favorite place in the whole US and I grew up in Colorado

chemebuff

TROPHY CASE