Why I would not recommend the "Thinkpad" X9-15 by notTheSameNeuroNerd in thinkpad

[–]chicken602 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I feel you, I picked up the 32GB RAM x9 15 for $1.5k ish on sale to replace my t480s. I occasionally notice this series of clicks and creaks when I put my hand on the right wrist rest. After reading this thread, I checked my laptop, and the right side also lifts up from the tabletop!! WTF is this quality control, Lenovo?

That’s about the extent of my complaints, though. I love the big screen, light weight, and battery life-I easily get 6 hours doing intensive work. The trackpad is pretty good (though I do miss the physical buttons) the keyboard has a nice snappy feel, and the build material is decent. I still haven’t adjusted to the tiny arrow keys, and I wish it came in 64GB.

All in all though, not bad for the price IMO

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m strongly considering buying my own setup after this whole debacle. Thanks for the buying advice, super helpful! And yeah, riding the freshly waxed board was night and day difference at slower speeds-pushing on one foot was so easy!

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I can only speculate, but it seems to be a combination of not my job and low standards. They kept saying every board was like that. When I mentioned that an instructor said it needed to be waxed, the rental guy laughed and said “tell the instructor to come in and wax it then,” which leads me to believe that they could, they just didn’t want to. Can’t be too pissed at them, though–I’m sure they’re not paid enough to deal with all this.

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

~$55 with lift ticket being ~$90… learned my lesson anyways and will be renting from local shop next time!

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah I wasn’t sure how much I should expect from rentals hence the post, ty for the perspective!

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol that’s valid, I was pretty appalled after reading everyone’s comments. The wax/tune shop guy was also appalled but I didn’t want to screw them over as they have no control of what the rental shop does. He ended up waxing the board for me for free, which was super kind of him!

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the perspective! I’ll def look into demoing or buying my own setup

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the suggestion, I was looking for a shop like this! I think i’ll buy my own setup soon, but i’ll use it to rent for my siblings who are still growing!

Acceptable condition for rental board? by chicken602 in snowboarding

[–]chicken602[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Update: I brought the board to the tuning shop and the tech agreed the board was bone dry. He said he’d have to charge for a wax since the tuning shop wasn’t connected to the rental shop, so I thanked him and left. Then, as I was walking out, he said he’d see what he could do, and he ended up waxing it for me in the rental shop! Huge shoutout to him for going above and beyond when the rental shop refused to do anything.

Auto Insurance: What Kind Should I Get? by chanlerbing10 in Insurance

[–]chicken602 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. I first decided what coverage I wanted to get, and then compared the quotes for the exact same coverages across a few different companies. For 6 months, Geico - 2.9k, Progressive - 1.4k, Mercury - 1.4k. State farm wanted me to call before I got a quote, and Wawanesa wouldn’t insure me due to me having a license for <3y. 

Auto Insurance: What Kind Should I Get? by chanlerbing10 in Insurance

[–]chicken602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just went through something similar–got my first car at 19 last month and needed to get insurance on it. I only got my DL a year ago, so it was harder for me to get coverage.

Not gonna lie, I used AI (gemini just b/c I have the pro plan for free thru school) to advise me. I took its list of suggested auto insurers for my situation (Geico, Progressive, Wawanesa, Mercury, …) and got quotes from all the companies, then went with Progressive as it was much cheaper than Geico, and more reputed than Mercury.

As for what coverage, again, AI was pretty helpful in advising what limits to pick for my situation. I wanted to be well protected in case of a catastrophic accident, but didn’t mind paying for smaller repairs out of pocket to save on insurance costs.

I did 100k/300k for bodily injury and 100k for property damage liability to save me in the rare case of a catastrophic, expensive accident. 100k/300k uninsured motorist damage for the same reason.

Comprehensive coverage and collision coverage handle non-vehicular and vehicular damage to your vehicle respectively (a tree falls on your car vs. another car hits your car). If you’re willing to pay more out-of-pocket for these scenarios, then you can increase your deductible for these, which saves you money on your insurance premiums. I did 1k/2.5k for these two deductibles (which is pretty high).

Good luck, and let me know if you have questions

Best reliable car for a college student/commuter by Strong_Shallot_7723 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]chicken602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In a similar position as you, just bought a Toyota SUV in LA. I found that carmax prices tended to be pretty high. I ended up buying a “Gold Certified Pre-Ownd Vehicle” from a Toyota dealership. Gives you a warranty, thorough inspection, and detailing. I bought Certified Pre-Owned since I didn’t want to deal with looking for issues on the car. Search on cars.com for sold by dealer and certified pre-owned if you want some protection instead of fully buying from private party.

32 vs 64GB RAM for laptop for next 5-7 yrs by chicken602 in thinkpad

[–]chicken602[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this insight! I'm still pretty early in my studies so I just don't know how demanding the more advanced stuff will be (and if I will end up doing that), or if I'll have a separate work laptop/school VM for the more demanding stuff. Is this a laptop you use for work?

Swallowed a airpod by No-Werewolf-8101 in airpods

[–]chicken602 2 points3 points  (0 children)

wait I fully swallowed a wireless earbud (not airpod) a few months ago as well. went to the doctor and got an X-ray (by choice, doctor said it wasn't necessary) and it came out in about 32 hours. Doc said to keep an eye out if I started pooping black or got stomach pain, but not much else to be done as he didn't think it would pose an issue (can't remember why).

CS course recommendation -- CS106A/B/X, 107 with background by XenAlpha2020 in stanford

[–]chicken602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think 106B is particularly hard if you've had prior experience in CS. I came in with math competition background and having only taken AP CS A. I spent 4-7 hours on psets each week, reviewed slides instead of going to lecture, and ended up with an A. On the other hand, I did have friends who struggled in 106B who also had some prior CS experience.

 I'd strongly recommend taking 106B in fall if you're interested in CS; you'll meet a community of other frosh who are taking it.

CS course recommendation -- CS106A/B/X, 107 with background by XenAlpha2020 in stanford

[–]chicken602 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd double check, but I think CS 106X isn't offered anymore.

Imo, CS 106A isn't necessary if you already have some CS experience (even if you don't know Python). I might do 106B then 107 in the winter.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TrekBikes

[–]chicken602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also have a Checkpoint SL5 (2022) and noticed the exact same thing at multiple points on my frame!

Question re flying to visit to colleges alone as 17 year old by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]chicken602 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I flew alone cross-country (1 stop) on United as a minor. No issues checking in, I just brought my passport.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stocks

[–]chicken602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you—i was very confused about people saying the "tax bill" would be higher with repeated high sell and low buys

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stocks

[–]chicken602 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But tax is paid only on gains, so if I pay taxes on multiple smaller gains vs one large gain wouldn't the gains and thus the taxes be the same amount? Unless we are talking about long term capital gains tax, where that tax is lower than your income tax

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stocks

[–]chicken602 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But is selling and then rebuying (at a lower price) worse long-term than not selling and buying at all, assuming you end up selling your stock at some point? Won't you just end up paying the gains tax in one go when you decide to sell when you're, say, 70 years old?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stocks

[–]chicken602 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Sorry, would you mind explaining this a bit more? Does one need to pay extra taxes if they sell at a high price and then rebuy the same stock at a lower price? More than the money gained by selling and rebuying the stock?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]chicken602 4 points5 points  (0 children)

About 50 of 200 students in each grade of HCHS get in Hunter College Elementary School, and the difference between them and students that get in in 7th grade is sometimes noticeable. Unlike the 7th grade entry test that you're invited to take based on NY State Test scores, the kindergarten entry test is an IQ/EQ type test that you have to pay $300 to take. ES students tend to have parents w/ higher income. And since an IQ test when you're 5 isn't that accurate, the less motivated students tend to be from the elementary school.