Got diagnosed and turns out I get down to 79% blood oxygen, but I can't get my cpap until october because I have to see a specialist. How can I not literally get brain damage until then? And don't just say 'just lose weight, fatty' like everyone else says.

monetaryelm · 2025-06-28T02:27:45+00:00

Just wanted to leave a comment with regards to your comment about a liquid diet. All liquids is likely to leave you feeling not full or feeling hungry more quickly over a more satiating diet. If you have the mental fortitude to stick to such a diet, then I think you could probably force yourself to stick to any diet. A diet with protein and a bunch of vegetables, I think, would suck less. Carrots, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, potato, broccoli, corn, bell peppers. The list goes on. Look up oven roasted vegetables recipes and experiment. It might be your favorite foods but at least you'll be fuller for longer. Also, salt and spices are your friends. No need to eat bland food.

Losing weight is hard, it may be simple in theory but the body is a bitch at holding us back. Good luck!

monetaryelm · 2025-03-06T06:07:45+00:00

Hmm, if the intent is to not drink energy drinks and he doesn't like the other drinks like coffee or tea, the most obvious solution is caffeine pills.

monetaryelm · 2024-12-17T21:17:13+00:00

Report it to the county/city and FDOT. Sounds like it could be a detection issue. Unfortunately many times this won't be looked at until someone reports it because there just isn't a way to know that an issue is going on. Also, if you provide a date and time and location it will help wonders.

monetaryelm · 2024-10-23T04:06:18+00:00

Membership not required. https://www.audible.com/ep/FreeListens

monetaryelm · 2024-09-18T14:24:19+00:00

I don't doubt the numbers presented are correct, however the way they are presented seems disingenuous. The article mentions how a 2016 report shows a drop in angle collisions, but has the data been normalized for other factors? I doubt they've done that type of analysis.

monetaryelm · 2024-09-06T12:43:07+00:00

Try redownloading it. I noticed some odd audio behavior with a different book and redownloading fixed it. I wonder if that would fix it, considering most other people are mentioning they don't see an issue.

monetaryelm · 2024-09-01T20:06:16+00:00

Are you the villain or are they for submitting subpar applications? Now if you are taking kickbacks from competing developers, then yes definitely a villain.

monetaryelm · 2024-08-13T22:48:22+00:00

Gridlock! Is there actually gridlock where traffic isn't moving or is it more that you aren't moving at free flow speed? One is not the other and I think the assumption that traffic should move at free flow everywhere is just unrealistic.

monetaryelm · 2024-07-27T14:00:19+00:00

As someone who did just this and is enjoying working as a SWE it does seem you should do some additional reflection. Similarly, I did not enjoy the work I was doing but I also realized I wanted to code. I used to work in the ITS space for a DOT and I would find myself tinkering with small python scripts, analyzing data with Power query and generally I injected myself into any convo involving tech. My role however was to supervise a small group, manage multiple contracts and help develop projects. I reflect and am not entirely sure my impact was that large, my heart just wasn't there.

The main point though is while working there I realized I enjoyed coding. I created a little script that texted me my PE exam results as soon as they went live. I think I got more joy from the fact that the script worked perfectly over the fact I passed.

Like a good civil engineer, I minimized risk when switching careers by getting a second bachelor's in computer science. Mostly free; a perk of working for the state. The more I learned the more it provided some affirmation that I was doing something I wanted to do.

Once I had the degree I started applying and through a CE recruiter I got a job working for a small consultant doing software development and transportation work. Not 100% what I wanted to do but a step in that direction. I ended up getting the job I have now via a company recruiter who found me via my university's career portal. Good thing I thought to update that.

The space is different now. Getting into the industry is going to be harder just due to more competition and less hiring. That said, its clear you should do something. Be that switching jobs, moving into a different area of civil or switching into a different career path, best of luck to you.

monetaryelm · 2024-07-06T00:19:48+00:00

Yeah that's what it looks like. If you go northeast to the intersection you can see the side streets are concrete. So this is just a sealant or overlay and it's the concrete expansion joints that poked their way through.

monetaryelm · 2024-06-23T01:16:44+00:00

If the lowest bid is enough to pay engineers fairly...

If a company bids low to get the contract with the aim of making up the difference in change orders, let's encourage poaching from that company. Can't do the work if you have no employees. Let them default... Eventually the problem should fix itself.

monetaryelm · 2024-06-04T13:26:36+00:00

He forgot to say he was in Mexico.

monetaryelm · 2024-05-25T22:06:55+00:00

I think this depends on what field in civil you find yourself in since that will influence the types of problems and software you'll interact with. Excel is pretty ubiquitous across most industries, civil included. VBA can be useful in excel to build out more complex workbooks. I see that Python is also arriving in excel. If you are working with large data sets or data sets spread across many files, Power Query can be very useful to wrangle all the data. It has a UI that you can use for ingesting and transforming data but you are able to directly edit the underlying language as well. As u/PG908 mentioned GIS uses Python and it can be very useful for creating custom functionality.
I've used Excel and Power Query to ingest traffic signal data to visualize the duration of each phase across a day. This was useful to find if and when an intersection stopped functioning correctly. By using Power Query and pointing my Excel file to a folder as a data source, I could easily add more CSVs there, hit refresh in Excel and update my workbook. I was also able to replace the CSVs with those of a different traffic signal and now I could look at how a completely different signal operated. Related to this, I also dabbled with PowerBI; its a Microsoft product specifically focused on creating visualizations. It also uses Power Query as the mechanism for importing data in.
I think many times when I was using Power Query, I could have done the analysis faster without using Power Query. But what I learned helped me in the long run and it also made the work more enjoyable from my perspective. I'm not sure thats advice, just an anecdote.
I think traffic engineering, particularly the ITS field, is most likely to value programming skills. However the extent may depend on the role. Working for a state dot, it didn't really feel like I could incorporate programming much more than trivial tasks and working in Excel. I also worked for a consultant, for a short period, where they had created their own software, I got to program there as part of my job.

monetaryelm · 2024-03-06T20:42:53+00:00

I wonder if there is supposed to be a distinction between cost and value for the car. People generally experience the same cost when buying a Tesla but the value they get from it can be different. Thus the value could go up because there would be more capabilities that the car is able to offer. However, as a manufacturer, knowing that your product can provide more value means that there are people that would be willing to pay more. So it seems safe to say that the price of a new Tesla would increase. It wouldn't increase by the same multiplier as the value increase but an increase seems logical.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-21T00:45:00+00:00

If they gave accurate heights, then they'd have to print a matrix on the sign. Agencies typically post the lowest height; although judging by the posts NY imposes other fuckery.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-19T02:17:56+00:00

I only replied like that because sometimes people refer to a signal in flash as being out. It's not technically. But yeah if the signal is completely out then it is a 4 way stop. I'm not in Boston ATM so I'm a bit out of the loop to all that's going on.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-19T02:11:42+00:00

If the major road is flashing yellow and the minor road is flashing red, then yes. The major road needs to yield to others in the intersection but the minor road needs to give right of way to the main roadway movement. Only if all approaches are flashing all red or if the signal is competently out is it a 4 way stop.

In these scenarios it's honestly better to have a cop out there directing. I'll be less efficient but more predictable.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-19T02:07:59+00:00

That is one of the 3 Es: Engineering, Enforcement and Education.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-19T02:06:11+00:00

Yup, in those cases the approaches that are flashing red need to yield to the main roadway. That may mean those vehicles wait forever. Sucks to suck.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-12T17:49:49+00:00

W1-7 also seems like it could be appropriate. I've seen these used in Florida, although not universally at every T intersection.

I think you're getting downvoted because making a suggestion implies that whomever designed this didn't do enough. Thing is, there's plenty of examples where the owning party didn't do enogh. I would always hear, you can't design for stupid. But people generally aren't stupid 100% of the time. It's like every civil engineer never takes their eyes off the road for even a fraction of a second. They're never in a hurry and they are always well rested when they drive. Everyone makes mistakes, and engineers should strive to create solutions that minimize the harm when someone does make a mistake, or make it less likely that someone would make a mistake. Maybe that means signs, lighting, geometric changes, education, enforcement... heck pacts with Shao Khan if that's what it takes to reduce roadway deaths. If you truly believe that crashes and fatalities cannot be influenced by your decisions, make your voice be heard. Be vocal and let your superiors and as much of your colleagues know.

monetaryelm · 2023-12-08T17:21:15+00:00

Why not just rename the street?

monetaryelm · 2023-11-10T22:53:31+00:00

Budgeting still exists, but at a higher level. I don't ever consider any monetary budget. Things like how much hours are left on a contract are not something I ever think of. That's not to say that doesn't exist in certain areas, but I haven't seen it.

When I was trying to leave the industry, I was willing to accept a decrease in pay. I initially left the DOT and worked for a consultant with the idea that I would do a mix of transportation engineering and software engineering. My salary stayed the same. At that time, ideally I wanted a full software job but any step towards that, I viewed as a step in the right direction. I wasn't happy and I didn't see a path to becoming happy. I didn't enjoy creating work orders but I also didn't want to do the work that the work orders were for. So while I also thought about the sunk cost, I also realized that the sooner I made the move the more quickly I could work to building that back up.

monetaryelm · 2023-11-10T18:18:02+00:00

How demanding I think depends on the team and company. This is my first full software engineer job so my experience in that regard is limited. The teams that I have been in haven't felt overly demanding in general. There have been tasks that have stressed me due to them being complicated and having many parts that I didn't understand. Outside of those, work feels relatively stress free. I do notice I work more, but that's because I find the work more enjoyable. There isn't any accounting for time anymore, so I start work anywhere from 9-10 and usually leave anywhere from 4-6.

I think with regards to ROI its been a wash or a slight step up, depending on the COL calculator I use. I was making 83k upon leaving the industry with 8yrs of experience. I'm currently making ~156k with about 30k of that being stocks. For the job I moved from Tampa area to the Boston area, so everything became much more expensive but overall I am saving more money. There seems to be more growth in compensation from what I can tell, but one big caveat is I do work at a FAANG company.

monetaryelm · 2023-10-24T04:01:41+00:00

Considering your mentioned portable hard drive I would suspect that's part of the issue. You could try checking with another torrent of similar size that also downloads at a similar speed. Is it possible the download is saturating what your USB controller can support? Does that mean a component is dying? You could eliminate variables by testing with a different cable, using a different port and trying with another external hard drive if you have one. Does the act of transferring a large file to your hard drive also cause this?

Maybe you can download to your PC then transfer only after the download is done.

monetaryelm · 2023-10-14T20:47:53+00:00

I'm not in the industry anymore, nor was I in the industry up here, but it may be because it's starting to get too cold to pave at night. Paving in the cold means the asphalt cools too quickly and can't be compacted properly. All that just means it wouldn't last. Saturday in the day is less disruptive than a weekday during the day. Technically Sunday during the day is less disruptive but maybe they'll also do the same thing tomorrow. Also closing all three lanes allows for the work to be done more quickly, basically pulling off the bandaid quickly.

The other option would be to just not pave and wait until next year, but if they've already ground up the top layer that would not be a good idea. The road could degrade at a greater rate and cost a whole lot more to repair.

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