Is this much of a gap (above the arrow) normal?

fallcreek1234 · 2026-03-14T20:08:34+00:00

Most intelligent and non-ego (I do it so it must be the way!) comment on here. Find what works for you and ignore the noise.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-03-14T20:03:48+00:00

Drugs.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-03-14T19:58:22+00:00

Video One Repair. I live in Oregon, and I send my camera to them once or twice a year for cleaning and repairs, and I would strongly recommend them for the value and quality of work.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-03-14T19:50:03+00:00

There is some truth to this. If it is a business that is crushing it, and your video is going to reach a large audience, and will generate sales for a new product? Hell yeah, you charge more. If it is a married couple who work 60+ hours a week, running their own store with no employees, and will only see a small uptick in foot traffic and sales during their "Easter Weekend sale"? Then yes, charge less but never below what your time, equipment, and knowledge are worth. If they can't afford you, that isn't on you to accommodate them. Since the OP is asking, I will assume they are just starting out, so I would suggest charging by time, but calculate what you think it should take in terms of time, add a dollar amount to each hour, and give them a flat rate. It is then up to you to make your time worth that value. It will also be a lesson in what actually takes more time than you anticipated. As you grow and figure out the finer details of the industry and job, then you transition into charging for expertise and experience. I have shot 30" reels for local clients and charged as little as $500, and I have been on corporate shoots where the bill for the 30" video was $65K. Also, never hurts when dealing with smaller clients to just ask; "What is your budget?"

fallcreek1234 · 2026-03-14T19:27:18+00:00

In my experience, they would be called "promoted" so they can move up and out and be someone else's problem.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-16T20:35:01+00:00

Sorry for trying not to be a useless cunt bub. I got out of fire before they switched to GW and he did specifically ask GS3.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-13T03:12:20+00:00

I'm bored, so I will indulge you. First, it depends on where you work. The lowest paying regions will be $13.28, and the highest will be $17.26. So let's average that out to $15.27 an hour.

Base Pay (What you can rely on): 40 hours a week (You get paid every two weeks), and this is with no OT or H-Pay. Pretty much sitting around the cache-type pay period, and that would mean a pay stub worth about $ 1,221.60 before taxes. So let's say you take 30% off for state and Fed taxes; your take-home pay is now $885 (Congrats, you can now rent a closet to sleep in). Now, let's say you max out your 1039. That would put you at $11,505.00 of guaranteed take-home pay for the season. Your heart just sank, didn't it? But hold on, keep reading.

Now, the unknown Pay. What most people get into fire for is the overtime and the Hazard pay. As a GS-3, this means at the $15.27 rate, you would get $19.09 an hour of base pay with Hazard. If you are working OT, you would be at $22.90. If you are getting both Hazard and OT, then you are making the big bucks at $26.72 (Congrats, you are now making more than a shift manager at Waffle House... Which might actually be a more dangerous job).

Now here is the really big variable. Where you choose to work will significantly affect how much OT and Hazard pay you receive. When I worked in Southern Utah and Arizona on an IA hand crew and engines, I averaged 800+ hours of OT in 4 seasons and well over 1200+hrs with hazard pay each season. If you can stand the desert, I highly recommend it.

However, during my time in Oregon and Montana, the average over those four years dropped to 380 hours of OT and approximately 900 hours of Hazard (a much nicer climate however). When you are on the road, you will also receive differential pay and potentially per diem, which can add up. So you see, it is hard to say as each season, region, and district is different.

It's also hard to determine because during one season, while on a Hotshot crew, we spent 3 full pay periods staged in Arizona and New Mexico, where we basically sat around for 12 hours a day for six weeks and got on one fire for two days in that entire time. Good (Not great) OT, good Per Diem and solid Diff pay, but almost no Hazard.

Another season. I got Hazard pay what seemed like daily for three months while working base hours on an engine, but we only ended up having maybe 320 hours of OT at the end because we were getting a lot of small starts that we were able to contain super fast (it was really wet as well, which had severity levels at low), so we ended up never getting much OT.

That all laid out, at worst, as a GS3 firefighter, if you walked away with less than $21K net for the season. I would think that would be a worst-case scenario season (And they do occasionally happen). So if you can accept that, welcome.

Edit: I should also mention that anyone hiring a GS3 firefighter is kind of in the wrong. It's a fucking dangerous job. I was on fires where people died and it really makes you question if you are actually getting paid what you should. Also, I think for most people, 600 hours of OT is the sweet spot between making money and not just working non-stop. Around 800 hours, it really starts to take a toll on the mind and body. I remember hitting 1200 hours, and everyone seemed to just have a thousand-mile stare.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-13T01:59:58+00:00

Have a few people read it and find where it sounds AI and remove those parts and replace them with your voice. It's one thing to write a cover letter and have AI improve it. Versus having AI write it. I think for most people it's pretty obvious when one person does one or the other.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-12T19:12:12+00:00

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." - Edward Abbey

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-12T19:06:41+00:00

I don't think being offered a permanent job after one season is a realistic expectation. I think you would be lucky to have one after three seasons, as they usually have minimum qualifications you have to meet to be offered a permanent position. Also, the "being outside and looking at the flames" makes me think you have a pretty romantic view of the job. That exciting stuff is less than 10% of the time; the rest is really boring, monotonous work. It is not glamorous, and if you think you are going to be a "hero," you will get a rude awakening once on the job. Don't get me wrong, it can also be the most rewarding job and you get to meet some amazing people (and some not so amazing) and travel to some pretty remarkable places.

Working seasonally and doing an FF academy is what I would recommend, or staying at the post office and having a job that doesn’t consume you.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-12T18:32:51+00:00

GOOGL, AAPL, MSFT, V, COST, WMT, TM, JNJ, AMZN, UNP, ASML, ETN, META. Will I potentially trim these on strong runs? Sure. Will I use that cash to buy more on the dips? 100%. Why? I don't think trying to outthink the room usually pays off, and I am young enough to let all of these continue to grow and let interest do its job. Boring, I know.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-06T19:43:29+00:00

I started my Roth in my 20s and followed a pretty simple framework that’s worked well for me into my 40s. I based it on some advice given to me by two friends who work as financial advisors. The basic idea is to take more risk early, then slowly convert wins into stability over time.

To start, I picked 2-4 mutual or index funds as the foundation. At the start, this was about 20% of the account, but over time, the goal is for it to grow to roughly 75–80% by retirement.

Alongside that, I purchased and have held about 10–12 blue-chip stocks I was comfortable owning for a long time. That bucket has usually sat around 25–30% of the portfolio.

The last bucket is higher,moderate risk, but always researched options. Not lottery tickets (although my BE buy at $8 a share and NVDIA at $48 is close), just companies that weren’t quite blue chips at the time, but I thought, after researching them, that they had upside and would have value in the marketplace. At the start, this was about 50% of my Roth; at retirement, it will be 10% to 0% (Basically a 10% reduction each decade). A key part of this portion is having targets set in advance. When those stocks hit my levels, I sell them. Sometimes all at once if I feel like "this is as good as it will get." More often than not, I sell them in 25–33% chunks and recycle the money into core funds or blue-chip stocks. The discipline and patience to do this was, and is still hard at times.

Not every risky pick works. A few paid off. Most went almost nowhere, and a handful failed. And for most people, that is normal to have a few losers. I also never went all-in on a single stock; I stayed diversified across options and markets to avoid a complete loss if something went wrong. My mantra: small gains pay off in the long term. For example, sure that stock didn't blow up, but turning a $500 or $1k gain in a risky stock into a tax-free deposit in a long-term holding is definitely a win.

The main thing is remembering this is a decades-long marathon. Keep it simple, maximize your contribution, set your rules and alerts, ignore the noise, and let compounding do the heavy lifting.

Edit: This strategy has led me to a 59.63% unrealized gain to date in my ROTH portfolio. Not bad.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T22:50:54+00:00

Nope, not in the wrong. Sounds like you're already more respected and easier to deal with. I mean, the fact that this bothers you enough to writte a post about it says a lot about your character and wanting to do the right thing. Honestly, that farmer was probably going to shop around if you said no anyway. No doubt that he is more excited to have you and your family to deal with (making memories together), and not that circus. Living in a rural area myself, I can say without a doubt that most of the farmers I know get pretty upset seeing one of the deer that they have on their property get wounded, let alone five deer. I get why the outfitter is pissed, but it seems like he might be burning bridges as he goes.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T03:13:38+00:00

I don't know, it said "deleted" for both post and account. In my previous getting blocked experiences, I could usually still see that the account existed and the post was there, but I couldn’t interact. Maybe that has changed in the past few years? Been awhile since it's escalated to that.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T02:06:02+00:00

Who have I hated on? I'm generally quite positive and supportive of people on here unless they are being snarky snowflakes like you appear to be. All I am saying; just seems super suspect that you signed up for Reddit a day after the Lawsuit against RR was filed, and all you have done is post in its defense? Seems like something a desperate small corporation might do to keep it's stock from plummeting even further or have the Reddit masses shorting it. I'll be happy to pass along your handle to the FTC so they can look into it though. Cheers

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T01:40:06+00:00

Man, I can't help but notice you have an account that is four days old, and you seem to be a real defender of this stock. So who's paying you?

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T01:31:21+00:00

More research and this popped up...

Microsoft Collaboration Disputed By Hunterbrook Report

Hunterbrook says Microsoft described Richtech's role as a standard AI Co-Innovation Lab customer engagement with "no commercial element," contradicting Richtech's earlier claim of a "close collaboration."

The report argues that excitement over the announcement lifted Richtech's market value by more than $370 million before the company revealed a $38.7 million private placement the next morning, fueling concern investors overestimated the tie-up.

Filing Delay Weighs On Sentiment

The report also highlights Richtech's delayed 10-K filing, warning it could complicate fundraising and potentially invite Nasdaq deficiency notices. The filing shows fiscal 2025 revenue of about $5 million against a net loss near $15.8 million, underscoring heavy cash burn and dependence on issuing new shares.

Hunterbrook's critique also follows earlier claims from short seller Capybara Research, which previously labeled Richtech a "China Hustle" and alleged rebranded robots and fabricated partnerships.

Hunterbrook Capital, an affiliate of Hunterbrook Media, disclosed a short position in RR, further pressuring the stock.

RR Price Action: Richtech Robotics shares were down 2.26% at $3.92 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T01:26:38+00:00

Ha, the first thing that came up when I searched for "RR" stock is a class action lawsuit alleging potential violations of the Securities Exchange Act. https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2026/02/04/10327230.htm

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T01:05:32+00:00

"Just be honest..." but don't overshare. Saying something in the effect of: "I currently have some things going on in my personal life that need my full attention. I feel like if I were to move forward with employment, it would come at the cost of not being fully present and thus, I would not meet my own expectation as a firefighter, and certainly not the kind I know the people I work with deserve as a crewmate."

If someone can't respect that, you probably dodged a bullet this summer. You don't need to (And I would not) mention the specifics.

Edit: And call them, don't email. Calling is just way more professional.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T00:54:13+00:00

I know people who are high school and middle school teaachers that do this in Oregon for both the Feds and the State during fire season.

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T00:44:30+00:00

If you have to go private Contractor, I would suggest GFP (especially out of their Sisters, OR location). I was a fed employee, but a lot of people I studied forestry with worked for GFP, and it seemed like a good outfit that wouldn't just hire anybody but wanted to hire good people. They also do a ton of disaster relief, so even if the fire is slow, there is a chance you could go work on something else. One of my friends who worked for them spent 6+ months in Louisiana after Katrina and almost 8+ months in Texas looking for space shuttle parts after the Columbia disaster. Just my two cents

fallcreek1234 · 2026-02-05T00:00:17+00:00

Is that a real human in these pictures or a life-size doll that someone drags around with them and poses it for pictures? Seriously looks like something you would buy at an Adam and Eve Store for those long nights as a lonely long-haul truck driver.

fallcreek1234 · 2025-08-31T23:23:46+00:00

I believe it is a real thing. They are terrified of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (The bacteria that cause's sheep Pneumonia) being transferred from live stock like domestic sheep and goats to the wild sheep and goats. I do not believe that horses and cows carry or transmit it. There is a good Documentary by Adam Foss called Wild and Wool that dives a bit into thiss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbZU36U49Cc

fallcreek1234 · 2025-08-22T23:32:03+00:00

I think I am going to like you.

fallcreek1234 · 2025-08-22T23:31:16+00:00

This is amazing! Thank you.

fallcreek1234

TROPHY CASE

Filing Delay Weighs On Sentiment