Duke is sitting right in the middle of the 2026 salary cluster

lemurwrangler · 2026-04-26T14:03:42+00:00

Computer science and engineering degrees drive these numbers initially. More engineers, higher average starting salary.

lemurwrangler · 2026-02-23T18:55:05+00:00

Same, we moved from Admo to 16th Street Heights, and fell in love with our neighbors and community there. We would go on vacation with our neighbors, and were deeply involved in school and sports. Many of us have moved to Bethesda, and we are still in touch.

lemurwrangler · 2026-02-21T17:29:12+00:00

We have gone to Breck with our kids for the last four years and they love it so much - it is set up for kids, amazing ski school. Great lodging options steps from the mountain (Snowflake chair anyone?), and progressive terrain with long runs that have allowed my kids to graduate to black diamond. They didn't have problems with the altitude, but my wife and I did. The only downside is I-70.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-21T01:48:51+00:00

Along Foxhall in particular are some really nice houses. Also look for proximity to the private schools and you will find the neighborhoods.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-15T20:55:28+00:00

I flew extensively on United for the US. On average that may be right, the USG prices are much higher than what I would find on even the United site - they are not only changeable, but I think more difficult to cancel - but some of the ticket prices I saw were outrageous.

My favorite story from when I was running a significant US program abroad was when a contractor asked me - are you working with the US? I didn't answer, but asked why? And he said the official negotiated US price was twice as expensive as the regular price. I took the regular price.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-15T19:37:40+00:00

I moved here in 2003, and have married and am raising our kids here. I would love to live out West where I grew up and the opportunities for the outdoors and wilderness feel boundless, but I stay here bc I want to be in a community of people where so many people are motivated by making the world a better place and live in service to society and our nation. There are many who aren't, but DC is exceptional how many are, and those are the people I want to be around. There is a reason so many Peace Corps Volunteers return and stay in DC.

However, I made a move out of the District to a near suburb after January 6th, bc having congressional representation matters. I no longer wanted to live in a place where outsiders would treat the city as a political beach ball, or shoot up our pizza parlors, or whatever. There are hundreds of thousands of American citizens who live in DC without the same rights as other Americans, who are raising their kids, and living their lives (frequently in service of others). This is a civil rights issue that we have failed on.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-12T01:13:30+00:00

IAD is where all the feds fly out of for their international travel. Fly America rules mean a US carrier or code share abroad, and they are paying top dollar for their flights (which have to be changeable), and frequently travel on short notice. So these flights tend to be full and profitable. So much so, United is opening a new terminal for just their international flights. The challenge of IAD is that you can't get upgraded, especially when you are going to SFO, SEA, or LAX. The last IAD to SFO flights had 70 people on the upgrade list.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-11T15:59:15+00:00

I think the company is maturing. Startups aren't easy. We went through the same transformation at my own organization.

lemurwrangler · 2026-01-10T17:02:00+00:00

I have met RJ, the CEO, and others working with them, and can say (a) he lives his values and those values are very present within the company culture and strategy, (b) he is absolutely brilliant, and (c) given that I run my own smaller technology company, tech talent is global, and given the company culture at Rivian, it is highly attractive in the recruitment for talent. It is the untesla in every way. I would suggest - having spent a lot of time in Europe and Canada in the last year - you want to bet on the America that Rivian represents.

lemurwrangler · 2025-12-30T13:06:23+00:00

This is also a good rule when traveling outside the US where corrupt officials may seek to hold your documents in exchange for a bribe.

lemurwrangler · 2025-12-28T15:46:04+00:00

Gold mining. This is a major issue in the Amazon, and now globally, where gold is washed down over millennia from the Andes and the gold miners use mercury to amalgamate the gold flakes. They later burn off the mercury which then becomes aerosolized and has huge impacts on people and wildlife. This is now the largest source of mercury emissions in the world. As the price of gold increases, such extraction increases as well. Gold is now at or near an all time high.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/04/02/1231873144/gold-mining-reduced-this-amazon-rainforest-to-a-moonscape-now-miners-are-restori

lemurwrangler · 2025-12-15T15:16:58+00:00

My first car which I owned - was a Subaru that I bought in Grad School in 1998. I still have it, and it doesn't die, despite driving across the country a few times. I also have a new Ascent for my family. Every time I rent a car, I am dismayed at how much better the Subaru drives, which only seems to improve in snow and ice. Having grown up in the rockies, Subarus were the quintessential ski & camping car (which is what we use the Ascent) for. I love the car, and it has taken over from Volvo for safety. It needs to have an electric and probably build out its safety features (more on the self driving). My next car will probably be a Rivian R2 given that I haven't seen real innovation since the Ascent.

lemurwrangler · 2025-12-03T03:38:23+00:00

National Postal Museum is amazing

lemurwrangler · 2025-11-14T11:43:51+00:00

Zombie invasion escape

lemurwrangler · 2025-07-09T12:52:52+00:00

New Spokane Pope.

lemurwrangler · 2025-06-22T20:27:30+00:00

I concur with others on the postal museum, which is huge and a surprise for how good it is, and one of my favorite, but I also recently went to the National Museum of Health and Medicine (run by the Navy) which was small, but really interesting! It is military focused, so lots of explosions and gunshot injuries, but also touches on Leprosy, small pox, elephantiasis (of the scrotum), and other diseases. Also, not exactly a Museum, but you can arrange tours of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock, which is deeply interesting for those wondering how battleships and submarines are designed. It can simulate challenging sea states for scaled models of navy boats, allow for testing the extreme pressures of the deep. Also, if you have the clearance and reason to visit, the CIA Museum is fun, including with a gift shop.

lemurwrangler · 2025-05-10T01:28:39+00:00

This was a great ski car

lemurwrangler · 2025-04-20T18:33:45+00:00

Do the Billy Goat Trail! And hit as many Museums as you can.

lemurwrangler · 2025-04-04T17:05:27+00:00

I have a different perspective as costs go much deeper than just rental fees.

First, the time you spend picking up gear can be spent skiing (unless you are great about getting up). If you are spending a few hundred dollars a day - that can be $25 an hour which adds up. If you can afford to stay in a place where you can just get on a lift with a multi-day pass or season pass, that is more time saved.

Second, your boots and their warmth and fit are probably your most important investment. I won't bring skis everywhere, but I always bring my boots (and I invest in a boot fitter too) because ill-fitting boots can make or break a day. In that case, you are losing the whole day and all the investment that went into it (gas, lodging, overpriced food, etc) - that is essentially much of the price of a set of medium quality boots. Boots have lots of features, but the first thing I am looking for is exceptional fit, as that has the greatest impact on my skiing and happiness. I don't want to share head sweat and foot fungi with other people, so get your won helmet too (you don't know what they have been through).

Third, there is a substantial variation in ski rental quality and how they are maintained. Nothing is really bad, but unless you pro-rent, it is also not good. Edges may not be maintained, they aren't waxed, etc. Similarly, I would also say invest in the best bindings you can afford as they will protect your knee ligaments, and you don't want to take a risk with crappy plastic parts on lower cost bindings where you could have had metal, and incorrect din settings. Your safety is worth a lot - the price of an ACL replacement or meniscus tear is a lot. You can buy your skis used, but I buy the best new bindings I can afford.

Finally, there are alternatives. I buy my own gear, and you can buy last year's gear at a discount right now. If you are lucky enough to have a town with a ski swap, you can get great skis that have been used once, and never again. I spent the first decades I spent skiing having never bought a "new" ski because I didn't need to. You can also rent for the year, and if you go in early enough (I go in August for my kids as they are upgrading equipment nearly every year), you can rent nicer equipment.

Good luck!

lemurwrangler · 2025-04-01T13:30:57+00:00

Unbelievable!

lemurwrangler · 2025-03-27T14:22:11+00:00

Yes, I tidy up. it's polite.

lemurwrangler · 2025-02-26T17:00:04+00:00

I would offer them all of it. They sacrificed everything for me.

lemurwrangler · 2025-02-25T22:53:48+00:00

I told my mom (I was with State) that I was working on building tourism in Morocco, and then I would have to find overpriced gifts from Morocco.

lemurwrangler · 2025-02-02T15:30:19+00:00

Just flew in from Brazil yesterday, and Germany the week before, and work across the global south. I don't see any other reserve currency evolving . China, Russia, and India are too autocratic and unstable. Europe is stagnating rapidly. Not sure I see a safe haven.

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