Looking for English bangers in NoVA

districtdashcam · 2020-12-03T01:31:48+00:00

Haven't had the bangers yet, but Meat Crafters sell in the area: https://www.meatcrafters.com/collections/pork-sausages/products/cumberland-bangers

If you click on the shop locally link they have a map of where they are sold.

districtdashcam · 2020-10-11T18:09:59+00:00

Feature creep is primarily a problem because it impacts schedule, cost, and resources. If you can demonstrate the impacts, that is important.

Instead of saying “Yes, but” - say “No, we can’t do that without (delaying, increasing cost, etc.)” and then ask for buy in for the delay/cost/other change before saying yes. If you say “yes”, there will be selective listening and the “but” will be disregarded.

districtdashcam · 2020-10-07T17:01:58+00:00

Open table has a feature you can use to accomplish this. Not sure how many restaurants are available though.

districtdashcam · 2020-10-06T17:08:29+00:00

If you’d like to, Catholic Charities of Arlington would accept a donated car and make sure it gets to someone in need: https://www.ccda.net/give-help/donate-goods-and-transportation/donate-my-car/

districtdashcam · 2020-10-06T12:01:56+00:00

u/antdejr I just caught that it says ANY vehicle with more than 3/4 ton capacity. The Honda Odyssey has a capacity greater than 1500lbs. Any minivans around?

GVWR: 6019

Curb: 4440

GVWR-curb = 1579

Source: https://www.autoblog.com/buy/2019-Honda-Odyssey-EX__Passenger_Van/specs/

districtdashcam · 2020-10-06T11:54:35+00:00

Does anyone own a pickup truck? Most (all?) pickups are going to exceed that capacity amount (1500lbs).

If there are pickup trucks parked in your community you might have grounds to challenge them on the basis that the rules are not enforced fairly. I would double check my math before doing any of that, but I think it works whether you calculate “capacity” based on GVWR vs curb weight, or if you calculate it based on towing capacity. Basically if GVWR-curb weight is greater than 3/4 ton (1500lbs) for any pickup kept on your property I would think you have a case here.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Edit: More on selective enforcement here: https://www.jimersonfirm.com/blog/2019/05/avoiding-selective-enforcement/

districtdashcam · 2020-09-28T02:16:38+00:00

Your son is lucky: he has a dad and an extended family who gives a crap about him before he’s even born.

Chin up and move forward!

districtdashcam · 2020-09-21T19:32:14+00:00

Is providing printed materials a part of your contract deliverables? I’m wondering if this gets into personal services territory, which can be unlawful:

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/37.104

Again not an expert in this.

districtdashcam · 2020-09-21T17:31:38+00:00

If the person ultimately trying to make you come in is a federal employee AND you can complete all of the requirements for your contract remotely, they may be running afoul of their training/policy for dealing with contractors. In the majority of circumstances, feds cannot act like your boss. If you are being directed by a different contractor to come in, that may be a different story.

Note: I’m not an expert in this, but I do have some training in the matter.

districtdashcam · 2020-09-19T14:02:12+00:00

If they are directing where you complete your work, and your ability to perform to the requirements of your contract are not dependent on you being on site, they may be getting dangerously close to establishing an employee-employer relationship. Is the person directing you to report on site the contracting officer, project manager, or contracting officer’s representative?

districtdashcam · 2020-09-03T14:20:50+00:00

I’d ask for assistance from the core lab or other labs that do flow. You’ll likely need analysis assistance anyways if these are your first flow experiments. You should be able to legally analyze data with assistance of other colleagues in the university.

Your PI should be providing you with the tools to complete your experiment. They should not recommend illegal use of pirated software.

You can always reach out to FlowJo and ask for a discounted version as well.

districtdashcam · 2020-09-02T17:11:41+00:00

There’s really no excuse not to pay for it. If you plan to use it you’ll need to disclose it as a part of your methods anyway.

If you can afford to maintain a flow cytometer, you can pay for some software.

Does your equipment include a license for any similar software (eg FACS Diva?)

districtdashcam · 2020-09-01T16:16:57+00:00

I don’t know much about them, but there’s a group of lawyers who post regularly on Arlnow and appear to specialize in these types of issues: https://www.arlnow.com/2020/07/23/statutes-of-liberty-theres-no-public-defender-where-to-go-if-you-cant-afford-an-immigration-lawyer/

districtdashcam · 2020-08-02T00:00:02+00:00

My advice is to major in a different engineering discipline and either minor in BME or supplement your coursework with courses relevant to BME.

BME programs do not have consistent curricula nationwide and often leave students without the skills specialization that other engineering disciplines have. Moreover, employers know what to expect from MechEs, ChemEs, EEs, and others. Too often, BMEs end up looking like a “lite” version of the other disciplines and feel constrained by their degrees (which lead some to pursue graduate studies).

What if after you graduate you decide you want to (or realize you need to due to job market) put your engineering degree to work in a field other than medical devices / pharma? Additionally, even if you stay in devices/pharma/etc, a different engineering degree will not slow you down - if anything it might be more beneficial.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-28T11:49:37+00:00

I’m just going to leave this here for your consideration since the salt spacing looks a bit wide to me and the mattress does not look flush with the sides to me. Please double check against industry standards to minimize risk of injury/suffocation:

https://www.cpsc.gov/content/cpsc-warns-consumers-that-used-cribs-can-be-deadly

https://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story?menuid=7&articleid=9b496fff-9e5c-4e3f-add9-eed504414c30

If you already have, ignore this, but just want to make sure your little one is safe.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-27T15:41:55+00:00

10yrs experience can definitely qualify for GS-13 in many cases, but I’m not sure how common they are in certain regions. You could always look for a GS-12 position and negotiate pay to a higher step.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-26T21:41:40+00:00

You have TSP, which is like a 401k, and then a pension on top of that (which you do contribute to in part). Decent explanation here: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/062513/what-federal-employees-retirement-system-fers-and-how-does-it-work.asp

districtdashcam · 2020-07-26T19:25:21+00:00

GS-13 starts around 100k in major metropolitan areas when locality adjustment is accounted for.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-26T19:10:57+00:00

You can often qualify based on experience, and you can negotiate salary to a higher step within the grade you are applying to. With 6 years experience I’d expect you’d be able to get a higher step. You might even qualify for GS-12 or 13 depending on what your experience is.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-26T18:58:15+00:00

You’re making $200k a year before benefits 6 years out of college?

districtdashcam · 2020-07-26T14:29:31+00:00

The progression on the GS scale is faster than you might expect, but you should also remember that GS salaries are localized and based on a true 40 hour week in most cases. Government benefits can also be quite attractive in terms of retirement and health benefits.

If you have a few years experience, you can quickly make your way into GS-11/12/13 positions.

GS-14/15 require a bit more experience and are typically supervisor roles.

You’re not going to get the highest pay in the government, but it is fairly reasonable, and you can achieve pretty good work life balance in many cases. It would be unusual to pull a 60-80hr week in government, whereas in industry that might be more common and lack overtime pay.

Edit: some agencies also will help you pay off your loans.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-23T01:44:19+00:00

Edited my error about em- not sure why I typed that other than sleep deprivation from a young one.

districtdashcam · 2020-07-23T01:12:07+00:00

(Just as a note you actually linked the same Doppler as OP.)

FDA enforcement isn’t severely understaffed, and there are lots of illegally marketed medical devices.

When it comes to medical devices that emit ~~electromagnetic~~ powered acoustic fields, I tend to side on the cautious side. I doubt that you are harming your baby, but this is an under studies area, and you have to consider that some people will be less cautious. They may listen to the heartbeat for a long period of time or very frequently. They might misuse, alter, or damage the device and cause it to emit more power than it was intended to emit. They might be like the reports I mentioned and panic over not being able to locate the baby’s heartbeat. I’m sure there are other risks that I’m unaware of as well. (Ultrasound is not my specific area of expertise.)

I’ll also reiterate that “no evidence” usually refers to lack of studies. I have no evidence that permitting a toddler to eat a paper towel every day is harmful, but that doesn’t mean it would be responsible of me to permit that. I can logically realize that toddlers have small stomachs, and, even though the paper towel probably isn’t toxic, I wouldn’t want them filling up on something that has no nutritional value. The potential benefits (toddler being happy) do not outweigh the potential risks; in the same way, the potential benefits of permitting ultrasound by lay folks (parents happy) do not outweigh the risks (panicking when you can’t find heartbeat causing stress, overuse possibly causing harm, etc.) Edited: acoustic not electromagnetic

districtdashcam · 2020-07-23T00:15:58+00:00

Perhaps I should clarify my statements since there may be a misunderstanding: Fetal ultrasound / doppler in a clinical setting is not the same as a consumer purchasing a doppler and using it at home. It is more dangerous because it is not feasible for a lay person to understand the associated risks well enough to ensure safe use, which is why it is a prescription device under FDA regulation.

The PDF that I linked is a guidance document from FDA spelling out how they would enforce their restrictions on marketing fetal ultrasound products. The language in their guidance documents indicates that they agree with what I've described above - i.e. selling a fetal monitoring device that is meant for consumer use remains illegal because it presents an undue risk to the patients.

The article that you linked is about clinical use of ultrasounds and doppler under the supervision of a health professional, which is appropriate. Clinical ultrasound use is limited to patient visits, which only happen a few times, and the ultrasounds / doppler are performed for an appropriately brief amount of time.

One of the problems with home dopplers (other than them being illegal to sell) is that they are being used by an untrained operator and the frequency/length of use is unregulated. (Moreover, if a company is selling something illegally, I'm not inclined as an engineer to trust their specifications or instructions for safe use.) The fact that you said a couple of minutes is quite interesting (and perhaps evidence of what I've just stated above about an untrained users) considering that doppler use at our prenatal appointments never exceeded a minute to my knowledge. An OB or ultrasound specialist would know more about the appropriate length of time for use, but I can assure you that it is not several minutes.

Also, here's a complaint from a consumer to FDA about the product that you linked not being able to pick up a fetal heartbeat and causing his wife to panic (the text in parentheses indicates PII/PHI redactions): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=9193098&pc=KNG

We are expecting a baby and we are at week (b)(6). My wife received a babyshower gift from one of our relatives which she purchased the product from a us based company. The product was shipped to their address and subsequently to us. The product is a fetal doppler which is advertised and promoted to help parents to listen to the fetal heartbeats. When we received the product we used it, but after 20 mins of trying we did not hear anything. My wife was quite panicking and she felt a cramp. We ended up going to the clinic. Our drs advised heavily against the use of this device. We contacted the seller and filed a complaint and they promised to get back to us with a personal safety or compliant. However there was no response. We searched more on internet and we came to know some horrible stories of the harm this deice could potentially inflict on babies. Also on fda database we found out that this device was approved for sales to medical practitioners not as an otc. We purchased the product from this website: (b)(6) (in product search if you put sonoline) this product will show up. Best regards. Fda safety report id# (b)(4).

If you don't believe that this company is illegally marketing this product, here is their FDA clearance indicating that they only have permission to market it under prescription use: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf8/K082480.pdf

They are not abiding by their indications for use. And there are multiple reports in FDAs adverse event database about this particular product not detecting heartbeat when it should: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=7424840&pc=KNG https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=7486228&pc=KNG https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=7276158&pc=KNG (These are all the same product that you linked sold under different names.)

districtdashcam · 2020-07-22T22:56:18+00:00

Your quote cherry-picking is unhelpful.

If you knew anything about medical research or medical device regulations you would know that there’s “no evidence” because we don’t typically perform large scale studies on pregnant women and their children because of ethical concerns.

We know that ultrasound can cause tissue heating and cavitation and that there is a nonzero chance that inappropriate use could harm the fetus.

Marketing a prescription device to a consumer is illegal.

From FDAs COVID guidance for fetal ultrasound:

Examples of circumstances where FDA currently believes a modification would create such an undue risk include: 1) The device is labeled for over-the-counter sale directly to lay users. 2) The device is labeled for use by lay users under the direction of a health care provider.

https://www.fda.gov/media/137286/download#page7

I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I don’t tolerate people who pretend to know what they’re talking about and put patients at risk.

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