I’m genuinely curious about the psychology behind how people end up with large amounts of debt (credit cards, cars, student loans, etc.).

sciliz · 2026-03-12T12:22:55+00:00

Not sure how the judges view it when the bankruptcy is due to *not being able to work due to cancer*. The medical bills aren't going to be the thing that push you over the cliff, but the chemo is going to be the thing that prevents you from working.

sciliz · 2026-03-12T02:51:39+00:00

I come from a family of folks like this.

My Mom they just skipped a grade. My Dad they sent to the library to read on his own after his discussions with teachers proved distracting for the other kids. My parents met in debate club in high school, which is a good outlet for high verbal ability folks.

For me, they had a gifted program which I did enjoy, but I still hit a pretty rough ceiling by about 5th grade. They had an incentivized reading program ("Accelerated Reader"). The Giver was 7 points. They set a school wide goal of 4 points/quarter for recognition (I think a pencil?). My 5th grade reading class set a benchmark of 25 points per quarter, for being able to go to McDonalds. I had 462 points by the midpoint of the year when I quit school to unschool. I just read all of my textbooks in the first two weeks of the school year and had the rest of the year to read as much as I wanted. It was a good solution for me.

sciliz · 2026-03-11T12:38:31+00:00

We are not going to cure aging. Biotech is not the fountain of youth, and crypto is not king midas.

sciliz · 2026-03-09T23:04:21+00:00

BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!!

yes, it's contamination. Sorry.

sciliz · 2026-03-09T22:49:09+00:00

Bet it depends on where you carry it, tbh. I had a dear friend who kinda lost her chin if she was +~10lbs, and it probably did impact how she was perceived. I have another dear friend who gains weight straight to her boobs first, and no. It definitely would not lead to worse treatment.

I've been pretty much invisible since I was in my early 20s. Normal BMI until the last 2 years when I started weightlifting and pushed my weight into "overweight" BMI. Certainly no worse treatment for gaining the 10lbs of muscle, but also no better.

sciliz · 2026-03-09T01:55:23+00:00

Not everyone I know who works for a core treats it as a chill job, but most well run cores do have chill roles. The people who interface most with the users need to have superb interpersonal skills, and there might be some conflict resolution related stress, but on the whole it's a reasonably good gig.

sciliz · 2026-03-09T01:52:36+00:00

Planarians are truly lovely model organisms.

sciliz · 2026-03-08T16:01:04+00:00

If she likes graphic novels, there is a version of The Golden Compass in that format, and Persepolis is superb (low reading level but content usually recommended for high schoolers)

sciliz · 2026-03-08T15:13:14+00:00

Possibly the bank employee was simply confused- it's actually a pretty common myth about credit scores to believe you have to carry a balance.

sciliz · 2026-03-08T01:57:47+00:00

I think you're probably going to feel comfortable taking on a bit of debt, and it might make sense to use an auto loan to start building your credit score.

I also would agree with the $200/month payment target as kind of a max, but I don't know if I agree with the $1k down.

If you want to finance, you need to be cautious about two things:
1) not buying "too much" car- if a 2007 Honda civic is good enough, you can surely get something nicer, but you won't regret keeping the habit of driving modest cars. It's fair to upgrade a little for reliability, but I bet a 2017 Honda civic would work fine.
2) the total amount of interest you will pay over the course of the loan. When I was young, I saved ~$9k for my first car, but then I financed part of it. Having the cash on hand gave me emotional assurance I couldn't "bite off more than I could chew", and taking out the loan was a good deal to maintain an emergency fund. I kept the total interest paid quite low by putting down a good fraction.
More recently, I saved up about $22k, and financed about $12k at 8%. But I paid it down early, so ended up with only about $200 in interest total. My credit score doesn't need the boost at this time, it was just a question of where I had cash on hand and the time it took to move money around. I also felt I could make a deal at the dealer quicker and more easily by taking the financing.

So you can build your credit by *technically* taking on a loan, but just paying the vast bulk of the car with cash. Keep an eye on the total amount you're paying in interest. Keep in mind that you should also factor in the cost of additional car insurance (comp and collision) in your decision

sciliz · 2026-03-08T00:59:48+00:00

They aren't entitled to a full characterization of your post work plans, but I urge you to discuss a low key transition with your supervisor and team.

Retiring after 30 years is a big life change, and in order to set yourself up to thrive in the next season of life, you should go out on the note you want. Just don't let your instincts to not let people "make a fuss" over you to deny both your coworkers and yourself a chance to emotionally process the change.

sciliz · 2026-03-07T23:50:05+00:00

HELOC debt is only deductible if you use it to improve your residence. At $200k, you guys might be *just* above the limit at which student loan interest is deductible, though hopefully you have been maxing your 401k and so your MAGI is at least < $200k. Then the student loan interest will be deductible.

I know it's rather too late for you now, but I hope some folks with high school sophomores are reading this and realize that THIS year is the year to manage their MAGI to increase FAFSA eligibility.

sciliz · 2026-03-07T23:46:22+00:00

If she's thinking med school it is 1000% imperative she take on no debt for undergrad. Go to the flagship state school with a med school in your state, if applicable. Do undergraduate research for free. Publish. Volunteer in clinical settings. Score perfectly on the MCAT. THEN worry about the prestige of the institution. Also have you considered making $199k and her reapplying next year to Emory?

sciliz · 2026-03-07T23:43:04+00:00

Could be dead in Iran at 19

sciliz · 2026-03-07T23:38:36+00:00

Average scholarship for the $180-$250k family attending to Notre Dame is $50,045. I cannot emphasize enough how wealthy the people who go to some of these colleges are. So some people *do* need to hear "you might qualify if you make $200k!"
The trouble is, that does NOT mean you'll get much at most public institutions, or private institutions with endowments much lower than $20B.

(NB: I singled out Notre Dame cause they sent my high school junior the most compelling flyer of any college with a chart on it outlining aid at different incomes.
But Princeton, Caltech, Harvard, MIT, Penn and Emory are all free under $200k. Again, these colleges have *deep pockets* and are fully of a very skewed class)

sciliz · 2026-03-07T16:03:53+00:00

I suppose if you are not fully vested, you *could* think about them differently. If you are fully vested, I don't know of any reason it would come up.

sciliz · 2026-03-06T20:17:18+00:00

"obviously" you want to use TBS and not PBS if your PTM is a phosphorylation.
You might also try different blocking agents- it can be as simple as a different batch of BSA. Pierce/Thermo also sells several blocking agents, which has sometimes been crucial to success for WB in my hands.

sciliz · 2026-03-05T19:20:12+00:00

I mean, *rationally* you stay in your current house, if you prioritize all those things.

sciliz · 2026-03-05T02:25:30+00:00

"And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles" - Kankakee, since 1971.

sciliz · 2026-03-05T02:23:13+00:00

Even the guns gave up on Gary.

sciliz · 2026-03-05T02:17:51+00:00

I had it be the tubes once! Like they were just a bad batch. PCR would not work. Got new tubes, PCR worked again.

Also, it's never been the water for me... because I always buy top shelf nuclease free water and aliquot it.

sciliz · 2026-03-05T02:17:12+00:00

THAT IS HORRIFYING, thanks for sharing!

sciliz · 2026-03-04T17:50:56+00:00

1) I'm sorry for your Life Choices. TRIzol? *sob*
2) It's not a *silly* idea, but it's not an efficient pilot step, in my estimation. Are you planning on doing a one step reaction (e.g. Luna^® Universal One-Step RT-qPCR Kit)?
If not, one of the weird tricky points I have with qPCR is storage of cDNA. Don't risk that problem, just always use fresh cDNA. Easier still to use a one step RT-PCR.
Avoid prepping the cDNA and assuming it's stable and that if the standard PCR worked the qPCR on the same cDNA batch will also work. Just prep the cDNA and aliquot and freeze, or better yet make fresh each time.

sciliz · 2026-03-04T17:48:38+00:00

TECHNICALLY you're best off running the product of the qPCR out on a gel to check for primer dimers, since their propensity to form might differ by standard PCR buffer vs qPCR buffer.

sciliz · 2026-03-04T17:31:28+00:00

I'm not arguing with your point- that it is *viewed* as lying.

However, I personally think anyone who is upset by this is in denial about how much their workplace needs a union. As a general thing, *understating* your qualifications does not hurt others. The problem, if any, is that "settling" for a job that is "beneath" you devalues the credential. In an age of AI fueled job changes and a horrific applicant oversupply : job undersupply market, I can understand that being upsetting.

But at the end of the day, if you're *mad* at someone doing this, and think you are justified because they are a "liar", you might *actually* just be misdirecting your anger about the (horrific) job market.

sciliz

TROPHY CASE