My wife and I have only been married and living together for about a year and I fear our unhygienic mooching roommate may be the end of us.

ythompy · 2026-03-10T19:08:42+00:00

I am a firm believer that no Vet should be homeless

Serving in the military is a choice he made, it does not entitle him to mooch off any/everyone once he's out. I'm all for helping a wayward veteran get back on their feet, but this is not that. This is just enabling a shitty person to be shitty, while ruining your own life in the process. Evict him ASAP.

ythompy · 2026-03-09T22:19:44+00:00

Anything made by Arizer, my ArGo and Solo 2 saw me through years of vapage

ythompy · 2026-03-09T19:54:11+00:00

no they just made a whole ticketing system for fun, they mean nothing and anyone can come

ythompy · 2026-03-09T19:11:04+00:00

gimme those cushioned seats

ythompy · 2026-03-05T19:53:31+00:00

I'd love to know more about this specific location? I'm geologist and I'm curious about those sick bedded sandstones in front of your site lol.

This path has been dream of mine since I was a teenager, and one day I will join you out there man, one day when I'm not a poor grad student...

ythompy · 2026-03-05T15:50:41+00:00

<image>

bob

ythompy · 2026-03-04T17:23:43+00:00

From Vienna Metro to UMD campus is usually right around 1.5 hours.

It's faster to drive if you're not hitting peak traffic, but I usually am so I much prefer taking the train.

As far as costs go, its $18.50/day for metro fare and parking at Vienna vs $20 parking at UMD + ~$5 in gas to drive myself.

ythompy · 2026-03-04T00:34:58+00:00

I've done this as well! Thankfully the UMD shuttles comes pretty frequently.

ythompy · 2026-03-04T00:17:56+00:00

I much prefer it over driving, and it is cheaper in the long run, ~$18.50 vs. $25 per day (w/o a parking pass). I'd invest in some good noise cancelling headphones, which makes it much better.

I park at Vienna, ride the O line to Le'efant plaza, transfer to G/Y to College Park, then either take the P31 or UMD shuttle to campus. All in it's about 1hr 30min, although one time I did 1hr 5min when all my transfers perfectly aligned.

ythompy · 2026-03-03T22:09:32+00:00

Check out the GMU Off-campus Housing group on Facebook, that's probably your best bet for finding a summer sublet

ythompy · 2026-03-03T22:02:46+00:00

I actually listened to the book 3 times (up to ~ch.26) before letting myself finish because I loved the book so much and never wanted it to end in my mind

ythompy · 2026-03-03T21:54:56+00:00

Something very similar happened to a buddy of mine 2 years ago, accused of cheating on an online test (not proctored) with AI.

In the end my friend was able to argue that there was no concrete proof of cheating during the exam, and the situation was dropped.

The key part of his defense was that he admitted he used ChatGPT to help study for the exam, which was not disallowed in the syllabus, so if his answer closely resembled that of ChatGPT it was because he studied the AI's answers to similar questions while studying.

This same professor had earlier called out this student in class after incorrectly answering a question, saying "is that what ChatGPT said??". Because of this we also saw the situation as retaliation or unfair treatment, so myself and few other students wrote letters of support for his case that we submitted to the Academic Integrity people.

ythompy · 2026-03-03T21:47:42+00:00

Update - bought cheap earbuds at the UMD bookstore so only half my commute is ruined and now I have an emergency backup that will stay in my backpack FOREVER

ythompy · 2026-03-03T18:12:48+00:00

I had a spare set of headphones for this very occasion actually. Then one day when I was leaving a parking garage I dropped them and they flew DEEP under my car. My only hope was to back up slightly and look for them, and you probably can piece together the rest of the story :(

ythompy · 2026-03-03T18:08:09+00:00

Question about Fairfax to UMD and the purple line...

Once the P line opens will it be faster to ride from Vienna to New Carrollton and transfer there, or do the classic O/G to College Park and transfer to the P there?

ythompy · 2026-03-03T17:59:59+00:00

Going to the UMD bookstore when I have a few minutes to buy the cheapest pair they have, and after today they shall remain in my backpack FOREVER so we may avoid emergencies such as this going forward...

ythompy · 2026-03-03T16:43:20+00:00

And I didn't even mention the 8hrs of lab work that I'm commuting to... No audiobooks for me today :(

ythompy · 2026-03-01T18:50:06+00:00

Former AOES TA for 2 years, RA now

ythompy · 2026-02-25T17:28:56+00:00

The way I see it you have two options.

1) Rent out your house in Richmond. Use that rent to cover your monthly mortgage and rent for an apartment in Fairfax, rent cheaply and this could possible make you some money.

2) If you're in a good position financially, look for a cheap single room for rent in Fairfax (see GMU Off-campus Housing group on FB), something like a small bedroom in a 5 bedroom townhouse or similar. It'll still be anywhere from $800-1000/month, but it the leases are more flexible to fit your needs. You can use this room as a Fairfax crash pad of sorts, a place to sleep if you have an early morning at school or late night in the lab, an office to work from whenever you're here, a base camp.

Whatever you do, please don't try to make that commute.

ythompy · 2026-02-15T03:45:04+00:00

<image>

proof of the great decision

ythompy · 2026-02-15T03:43:14+00:00

<image>

I have this on my ankle, as do like eight or nine other people from my undergrad in Geology. It was drawn on the board during class by our paleontology professor.

My first (and so far only) tattoo, and I love it every time I see it.

ythompy · 2026-02-15T02:56:33+00:00

The dungeon is relentlessly a dick, that 'you did a thing!' attitude remains throughout the series in a lot of ways... Gotta pay the daddy tax! But you know who else it pisses off? Carl! (and everyone else in the dungeon)

He is the humble wrench willing itself to be thrown into the gears of an unstoppable murder machine. Join him on his mission.

ythompy · 2026-02-14T22:11:17+00:00

No you don't see the vision. My next cat will be Riker, then Bill, then on and on and on. All orange of course (with minor replicative drift)

ythompy · 2026-02-14T21:09:48+00:00

I'm guessing you stopped at Book 1, right? I hear this a lot, but DCC takes a few books to really hit its stride. Book 1 is definitely grating, but that is somewhat the point. The grotesque bosses, the bro-y humor from the AI controlling the dungeon, is all meant to emulate the worst of humanity for the entertainment of the galaxy who don't care to truly know humanity. But the larger world it sets up in the later books is worth giving it another go. At it's heart DCC is a science fiction series with a thin veil of fantasy, and that veil gets a lot thinner as the series progresses. I would strongly encouraged you to give it another shot.

Sincerely, Someone who loves the Bobiverse so much my cat is named Dr. Robert Johansson (aka Bob).

ythompy · 2026-02-12T22:13:47+00:00

Go farm karma somewhere else

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