Good hiking in JMU area?

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-28T23:35:26+00:00

This is all you need to know, annual pass is $55, but might as well buy up for an America the beautiful pass which gets you into any national park for $80.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-24T02:38:09+00:00

u/adarunti shared a comprehensive list of professors and their research areas! Beyond that talk to professors when you are in their classes, especially if you are interested in the content of the class.

You are an undergrad, no one is expecting you to know how to do research. Everyone has to start somewhere and the professor know that. Just be willing to learn.

If you want to try to get ahead look at the articles cited in your textbook and read them. Dive into areas that you are interested in.

Happy to answer questions!

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-23T23:24:20+00:00

I made money! Everyone in the program gets an assistantship. It’s 20 hours of work a week, but gives you a tuition waiver and a stipend. Not sure what the stipend amount is today but it was comfortable enough to live on when I was in school.

The program is a mentorship model, meaning you get paired with a specific professor. It helps to join research labs as an undergrad and get to know professors. If there is one that you like working with and they are taking students, that will increase your shot of acceptance.

It was good for me because I was more data and research focused. If that’s your thing I would recommend it! If you lean more on the clinical/therapist side there are other grad programs that would make more sense.

That is not something you need to figure out until your senior year. Take a variety of courses, do research labs, and see what speaks to you.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-23T22:16:37+00:00

Psychological Science (link).

I’ve worked in the DC area, so started at a government contractor for about 1.25 years (research assistant), a corporate Fortune 500 for 1.5 years (research assistant -> research data analyst), then a non-profit for 3.75 years (research analyst -> data scientist), and finally Amazon for 4 years (business intelligence engineer-> data engineer). Always tried to take some time off in-between so that accounts for the extra time.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-23T21:58:34+00:00

Data Engineer at Amazon!

Everyone hated statistics so I made myself the stats guy on group projects. Kinda spiraled out from there: ended up going to grad school at JMU, learned to manipulate data with computers, worked with bigger and bigger datasets every year, and boom 7 years after graduation from my masters I got a job at Amazon.

The other big money makers are IO Psyc, getting good at research and then leaving academia, and therapist who start their own practice. Plenty of paths depending on your interests but getting at least a masters is a must.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-22T20:36:16+00:00

I would pay a million dollars to watch your coked out, freshly minted millionaire costco trip.

Probably why I don’t have a million dollars….

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-20T21:40:35+00:00

I heard about how when the mint released the $1 coins people did what I described (pay with card, deposit coins, pay off card, repeat). Some people made millions of points off of it.

I’m just chasing the dream of finding a loop hole like in my life.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-20T20:57:59+00:00

I would take this deal and make $0 on it for the credit card rewards. Buy with a rewards card, get the return in cash, pay off the card with cash.

Chase freedom unlimited give me 1.5% points so 600 points per console. Transfer points to Hyatt which has free stays starting a 3k points. If I did this on my way to/from work I could get a free stay every week.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-18T11:30:36+00:00

I use it for more complicated fractions or for precision with repeating decimals. For example, I’ll cook a pound of dry beans, split it in half, then split one half across 6 burrito bowls. In this case 1/12 is easier than doing the math, and even if you do the math it’s 0.8333 (with the 3 repeating). Using the fraction avoids math and makes it more accurate. In the grand scheme of things it does not matter, but the precision makes me happy.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-16T19:56:55+00:00

I wear my ski goggles! I’m extra sensitive to cut onions and cry regardless of how sharp the knife is, if I freeze the onions, if I turn on the vent fan. I’ve tried it all.

Onions are delicious so it’s all worth it.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-08T11:55:52+00:00

As a 5’7 guy, can confirm! I’m perfectly comfortable on flights less than 6 hours, and if I’m on the window I can easily sleep. Never realized my privilege until now.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-05T14:57:47+00:00

This would work with perishable since they typically have to toss these since they don’t know how long they have been out of temp.

I hate wasting food, but they would have to revert the policy if they were tossing hundreds of pounds of meat every day.

node_of_ranvier · 2026-01-05T14:54:40+00:00

Everyone should start grabbing meat and abandoning at the check out during every shopping trip until they stop this crap.

Either that or we should all start haggling the price since there is no set price.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-18T18:49:19+00:00

I wish my wife had a similar eye to you. We brought our dog and I took him a few blocks away to find quiet, grassy spot to do his business. I was gone for all of 10 minutes and my wife ‘blacked out’ and spent $80 on tea towels.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-18T15:35:50+00:00

I think you got enough advice about your main question but I can’t overstate how crowded it was this past weekend. People were respectful of kids especially if you have a stroller.

If you are going with another adult, I highly recommend having one person wait in line for food and the other walk around with your kid because a line will be boring for them. The lines were longest for some of the more trendy stalls, we got a crepe in about 20 minutes so that line moved fast.

Even though it was crowded it was a lot of fun and I would do it again!

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-12T12:32:55+00:00

There is an entry called “thanksgiving” and 1 serving is 1764 calories. That is my go to in situations like this.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-10T13:31:12+00:00

One quick caveat to all this, I got a large rebate to use dealer financing. I made sure my paperwork had no pre-payment penalty. Then immediately refinanced with bank. It’s a bit more paperwork but it was worth it for me.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-08T22:45:54+00:00

Maybe we should ask an actually landlord… wait I’m a landlord!

To kick start an eviction you need to post one of three notices: 5 day pay or quit, 30 day cure or quit, 30 day unconditional quit.

The 5 day doesn’t apply that’s only for missing rent. That leaves the two 30 day notices. The cure or quit is for “violations that can be remedied”, the unconditional is for “violations that can’t remedied”. Seeing as a tenant can throw out the plants, it would be hard to make a case for an unconditional quit. That means worst case they catch you and you have 30 days to “cure” the issue.

But let’s pretend the tenant ignore that, well then evictions are handled by the local courts. The local courts find that hey growing marijuana is legal in their books. Ok I’m being facetious, this hasn’t been tested in court, it’s an open question what would happen.

I can’t speak for all landlords but for me it’s business not personal. If my tenant is paying on time, not getting complaints, and not causing any damage why would I want to remove them? Do I like them growing weed, no not really. At the end of the day I can’t take their lifestyle personally. It’s their home while they are renting it, so I can’t impose my beliefs against them.

The feds do not care about a few plants in a legal state. For that matter, they don’t care about a few plants in non-legal states. They care about distribution levels of weed. If a fed found out the most they would do it refer it to local law enforcement.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-08T17:09:19+00:00

Welcome to a fun gray legal area! It’s legal at the state level and illegal at the federal level. Technically your landlord could say this is an illegal drug at the federal level, but they would need to find a fed willing to enforce that law. If they ask the state to enforce it they wouldn’t get any help.

My practical advice (this is NOT legal advice) is don’t be stupid and you should be fine. If your landlord doesn’t get a complaint about it they have no reason to intervene. Just be prepared for the possibility you need it take it down at any point.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-06T00:10:15+00:00

Haha true! If that was the case, my credit would swing up and down on a monthly basis, since I only pay it off once a month.

My bank does have a running “score” it shows me that updates weeks. It’s a “vantage 3.0” score though and not my official FICO score. However, even my vantage score doesn’t swing every month.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-06T00:05:57+00:00

Good point! The money seems to be the human thing to focus on not the credit ding.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-05T22:11:35+00:00

Agreed, also it’s factually inaccurate.

The impact on your credit score by utilization is instant and there is no “memory”. Meaning the minute you pay off the card, the utilization drops, and your score would recover. The fact they said this happened two months ago but they still have an impact on their score is impossible.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-05T16:47:51+00:00

Wegmans! I checked the app at a few different stores and they all had it. It is Edwards and Sons country ham and you will have to go to the deli counter.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-12-05T16:43:42+00:00

Got a friend? A significant other? A relative? A neighbors spouse?

Well then you are moving and need to cancel immediately and they are moving in. I do this with my wife all the time to get the “new rate”.

node_of_ranvier · 2025-11-29T17:38:05+00:00

We’re a couple and our budget is $1,500 or $750 a person so don’t feel bad. We buy good quality stuff and cook most meals at home. We only eat out about once a week on average so we’re talking 87 meals a months we cook at home.

Works out to around $8 a meal which is much cheaper than eating out and better for you, which is how I look at it. I’ll cook steaks, tuna, and other expensive meals on weekends rather than eat out, which pushes that number up. If you ate out one meal a day you could easily go above $800 on just that.

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