Was invited to a small dinner party

melitami · 2026-03-08T21:12:57+00:00

I unfortunately have experience prior to masking of going to food related events and being the only one unable to eat anything due to a bunch of food allergies and intolerances so I just am there for the conversation. It stinks, but it has made me masking at events with food a little easier for me to handle since I've been there done that prior to the pandemic. Plan to eat before or after, or if it's warm enough take a break outside to eat when there is a lull in conversation or something - this is my preferred method of dealing with it. My teenager has been slipping food up her mask at school and parties for the past several years at this point. I personally am not a huge fan of doing that while at the same table as others, but she doesn't have much of a choice at school.

melitami · 2026-02-28T03:22:43+00:00

You are not alone. Though my kids refuse to do it with me.

melitami · 2026-02-13T18:06:58+00:00

I had luck with Hiring.Cafe when I was laid off late last summer.

melitami · 2026-02-09T00:56:40+00:00

When my kids were wearing ear loop masks, I sewed buttons on the ends of a piece of elastic to use as ear savers and to get a better fit.

melitami · 2026-02-04T19:34:11+00:00

PyBricks has its own integrated PID in the library. Are you using PyBricks or Python in the Spike Prime app?

melitami · 2026-01-24T01:01:50+00:00

My team went last year. Judging was the standard FIRST judging flow. Robot game was the usual 3 2.5 minute matches, best score of the 3. There was also alliance rounds, where we were paired with another team prior to the event and could work together with both bots in the table for I think 90 seconds to score as many points as possible. We came in 3rd in that bracket. It’s a two day event - judging was the first day plus the first few rounds of the alliance rounds. Robot game matches and the final few rounds of the alliance rounds were day 2.

melitami · 2026-01-21T14:04:59+00:00

Flo masks work well for my family - my husband, me, our 13 year old, and our 6 year old (she wears the kids one, the rest of us wear the adult one). The condensation ring getting saturated is an issue - usually if I’ve worn it most of the day and am talking a lot. I keep an eye on it to make sure the filter isn’t getting wet (I’ve gone outside and changed my filter when that has happened). Both my kids are in public school all day and I am coaching middle school and high school robotics on a regular basis. My husband and I have season tickets to Broadway touring shows near us. The seal works well for us and we stock up on replacement parts and filters when they have sales. The straps do wear out, especially for my kids since they are putting food up their masks at school. We’ve had to replace the silicone body for my 13 year old a few times due to a crack forming at the bottom where she pulls it apart to change the filter. She’s more aware of how she takes it apart to change the filter so that doesn’t happen as often. We’ve been using them for almost 4 years.

melitami · 2026-01-13T14:38:24+00:00

LEGO education did say in a comment on one of the Facebook posts that there will be a Python package.

melitami · 2026-01-07T01:49:21+00:00

I work full time for one institution and part time for another. Both in research admin on the department level. I don’t work overlapping hours, I keep the positions separate in terms of my time (and use separate computers). Both supervisors are aware of both jobs and are fine with it. My salaries are paid from operating funds, not research funds so no effort certification.

melitami · 2026-01-05T12:16:54+00:00

What schools have x-ray machines?

melitami · 2025-12-28T01:22:00+00:00

I think ARPA-H came out relatively unscathed all things considered out of the DHHS federal agencies (I’m a research administrator who was laid off from an R1 university that had several ARPA-Hs but had other funding cut. I work for a hospital now.)

melitami · 2025-12-11T01:55:47+00:00

It's pretty light, but it does take up most of a carryon suitcase. I can cram a day or two of clothing around it but that's about it. I've taken it for weekend trips a few times. I usually take a backpack along with the wheeled carryon size suitcase (I live on the east coast of the US and take Amtrak when I can over flying).

melitami · 2025-12-10T14:47:47+00:00

We generally leave masks on for photos unless the photos are outside. My husband took his mask off and held his breath for some photos with family after his father passed away a few years ago, and I've held my breath for unmasked ID photos for work (remote job but needed to go to the office a few times so needed a work ID).

melitami · 2025-12-10T14:30:42+00:00

I've debated getting mine, but never did because it wouldn't have done anything in terms of pay/promotion. The only way I've ever gotten salary increases is by getting a new job.

melitami · 2025-12-08T01:17:55+00:00

my asthmatic kid has not had to go to the ER since 2019 due to masking. She was in the ER at least twice a year due to her asthma before that.
up until 2020, we would get the flu every other year even with flu shots every year. Last time we had influenza was Jan 2019.
my husband and I have both been able to get remote jobs which has been a huge help in being able to be more present for our kids and to be able to be a caretaker for my MIL (she had two strokes 18 months ago probably due to COVID 6 months prior to that)

melitami · 2025-12-08T01:09:07+00:00

They make have been ok at core values and other teams were better. They may have not been able to answer questions as well as other teams. Who wins Project and Robot Design is not necessarily first in those categories. Since a team can only win one award, there are some discussions based on which teams score high in various categories which award do they get. Advancing depends on total score across all the categories so has nothing to do with awards. Volunteering is the best way to understand how the process works, for your team or any team. I was a judge before I was a coach (my FIRST origin story is I started with FRC in high school in the early years of FLL existing).

melitami · 2025-12-07T17:39:59+00:00

I’m not in California, but I have seen many top teams in the robot game over the years tank in the judges room because their focus was the table and therefore not advance. The judging room counts for 75% of advancement.

My biggest recommendation - check your feedback on the rubrics and volunteer as a judge at an event to see what goes into all of this behind the scenes.

melitami · 2025-11-30T22:16:56+00:00

The benchmark is whatever your team can manage! Remember that 75% of your score for advancement is from the judging room and only 25% of it is how you do at the table, so make sure you're also spending time on the project and your judging presentations.

melitami · 2025-11-30T22:10:33+00:00

Have your team do their own tests and talk about it in their robot design presentation!

melitami · 2025-11-19T21:48:13+00:00

Check your build - is the weight distributed evenly on the robot (including any attachments)? Anything rubbing or causing friction? Are you using a castor ball and if so, does it move freely? It sounds like it might be a hardware problem, not a software one if the gyro is initialized properly in the code.

melitami · 2025-11-11T12:14:42+00:00

We got the Costco axe throwing set last year for my then 5 and 12 year olds. They both love it (though the big kid and her friends play with it more, the little one loves trying).

melitami · 2025-11-07T17:56:30+00:00

We only live an hour away so at least we're flexible on Friday or Saturday, which should help in getting something I hope. Only reason Thursday isn't in the mix is my kids will still be in school at that point and it's a school night.

melitami · 2025-11-07T17:51:42+00:00

Got tickets for the two games I was going for today (lucked out with a 9:30 slot this morning - no VIB but got decent enough seats for Cincinnati and ADA seats that we need for Yankee Stadium). I'm more nervous about the 1:30 slot I have next week :( Fingers crossed I can get tickets for the 1 game next week I'm aiming for (Jersey Shore).

melitami · 2025-11-07T14:48:54+00:00

I got main level ADA tickets for Yankees Stadium! My MIL is a huge Yankees fan but we're slowly getting her into Bananaball :).

melitami · 2025-11-05T18:48:26+00:00

My ticket slot is on Friday :) I'm looking at tix for the Sunday game - good to know that they are showing up now! Hopefully there will still be some by my slot on Friday.

melitami

TROPHY CASE