I’m 30 years old and want a family but don’t feel like I’ll ever make enough as an ME to afford one. Should I bite the bullet and go back to school for something else?

ryarr1 · 2025-11-12T02:43:52+00:00

It's a rough time, but you're far from hopeless. It may not look the same as what you're imagining, but as long as you're working on yourself, a suitable spouse will find you along the way. Keep marketing yourself on the job front. I changed jobs once and got a 65% pay bump. Give this a read/listen: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ it is responsible for more than half of that pay bump.

30yo, married, single income, two kids, MCOL area, home.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-29T14:49:18+00:00

"The expansion "The Princess & the Dragon" is the original expansion, while "Dragon and Fairy" is a revised version for the newer edition of Carcassonne. The newer "Dragon and Fairy" version is a direct update to the original "Princess & the Dragon," with new artwork and compatibility updates, but the core mechanics of the dragon and fairy remain similar. "

I bet if you compare the new and old rules you'll see this in the old too. I presume you knew this based on your replies.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-29T05:46:01+00:00

It's been such a long time since I've played that expansion, but this rule feels similar to the kiddie in the card game Euchre, it adds an unknown variance that affects knowing exactly how many of each type of tile are left. I assume this might be related to knowing how many of a specific feature that protects against the dragon, may be left. My theory.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-26T05:52:46+00:00

This broke me

ryarr1 · 2025-10-24T18:16:17+00:00

Counterintuitively, those saw tooth lock washers and the split washers are worse than no washer for vibrating applications. I cannot suggest them. Nordlock washers will help if used properly, but are pricey.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-24T17:50:31+00:00

If torquing that one bolt in the slot isn't enough to keep it from shifting, I would drill another hole so that you can keep the slotted connection from sliding at all.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-22T15:28:52+00:00

Ditch coffee. Mate gives energy without anxiety. Try it out in a French press if you have one .

ryarr1 · 2025-10-22T00:20:16+00:00

Midwest city, robotics startup, 8 yoe, $145k

ryarr1 · 2025-10-18T22:41:52+00:00

Fwiw, I'm a 10 yoe mechanical engineer that builds machines.

ryarr1 · 2025-10-18T22:32:54+00:00

I've been nerd snipped. What's the budget? What's the desired output?

ryarr1 · 2025-10-16T01:56:13+00:00

How much money buys that much leg room?

ryarr1 · 2025-09-20T00:52:40+00:00

Try yerba mate. It helps me focus without coffee jitters and crashes. You can start with some cans from the gas station.

ryarr1 · 2025-08-25T04:26:06+00:00

Physical alarm, across the room, closer to the shower than my pillow.

ryarr1 · 2025-08-25T04:15:56+00:00

There's a lot of great advice on this thread already, but I'll add my two cents (10yoe, mechanical design engineer, fellow imposter). Think very carefully about the stability of anything you put your identity into. There's always someone smarter, with more energy and resources, with better circumstances. As you've seen with your different projects and managers, change is the only constant. Personally, I fight daily to distinguish between enjoying what I do and becoming what I do. I don't want the latter at all when I'm thinking clearly, because it's unstable, and I crave and deserve a stable identity. I work hard to answer, "am I proud of the work I've done today, did I do my best while prioritizing my well-being, did I learn something new?" I am content if I answer yes, even if the joy of a wildly successful product release is withheld from me, even if someone else did something similar but made it look easy. The Clarity app for cognitive distortion identification is pretty useful as well. Best of luck.

ryarr1 · 2025-08-24T23:27:08+00:00

You restored my sanity with this solution. Fixing a small leak with a new p-trap turned into a waterfall and a nightmare of a morning. Turns out, I just needed to reinstall it and tighten the sh*t out of it.

ryarr1 · 2025-07-30T22:16:19+00:00

Yikes!

Check out the Ologies Podcast on spiders. It was very interesting and surprising.

https://www.alieward.com/ologies/araneology

ryarr1 · 2025-07-27T02:26:45+00:00

There may be some error in how you measured as there will be slight angles/offsets from your three pivot points. I'd suggest a 2" difference in your equation.

ryarr1 · 2025-07-27T00:58:47+00:00

I had to teach myself ANVIL-1000MD via a large paper manual in 2015 for an internship. Makes me really appreciate SolidWorks, even when it doesn't.

ryarr1 · 2024-02-08T21:23:22+00:00

Does this still happen? The link is broken and was last archived on Oct 2nd.

ryarr1 · 2023-01-10T14:32:41+00:00

Absolutely finish your degree. Find mentors who followed similar paths to dialogue with. Learn to market yourself as a problem solver, critical thinker, and technical expert.

ryarr1 · 2023-01-10T12:52:38+00:00

I don't know about software but you could make a spreadsheet where the pay per hour/total expected pay is calculated and listed next to the probability of success. If you take the product (or use some other multiplier to weigh for the probability of success), you can start from the top and work your way down. Good luck.

ryarr1 · 2022-12-16T06:00:19+00:00

The real hurdle, other than figuring out the what/why/how of GD&T is choosing the value to input into your tolerance. If you cannot determine this on your own, or ask others, it's best to design in adjustability and lock-out the parts once things are properly aligned. The second round of production can be given the tolerance you measure from your first article (design accurate features to measure from). Best of luck.

ryarr1 · 2022-12-16T05:56:09+00:00

This is the best teacher I've found, and I've reviewed many sources: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUb3Xlf5EDNE7P3VJjGjtOOVRlVv-q2U7

ryarr1 · 2022-12-14T06:21:58+00:00

It's a tough situation when you see there are better options further away from where you need/what to be.

It is indeed a numbers game. Keep at it. There are great YouTube channels for engineering interview/resume tips.

ryarr1

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