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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • Our local police are really good, we call them a couple times a year for accidents in our front yard (we live in a fairly busy road where a 35 mph speed limit means read your phone while doing 50…). They are always really professional and helpful to both the drivers and us. It helps that our borough has I think 8 officers total.

    I have also called when a driver got mad at me for turning towards our old apartment while he tried to pass us which caused him to spin in the middle of an intersection somehow. He then followed us to our building, and started beating on my window and cussing me out while I was on the phone with 911. Drove off before the cop showed up but I got a blurry picture of his plate as he drove away. Showed the cop who read it no problem, found out it was the guys wife’s car. Asked if we wanted to press assault charges (we didn’t, just asked him to go talk with the guys wife, figure that would be punishment enough when he got home from the bar he was at). Cop called me later that evening to check on us and let us know the guys wife was livid when the cop stopped by to chat with her.

    Overall, our local police in the various boroughs around Pittsburgh have been pretty great, can’t say the same for the ones downtown though.


  • I’ll second most of the recommendations here:

    Socket set in SAE and Metric Wrenches in the same A set of screw drivers (Phillips and Flathead, you want at least a standard length, long, and stubby in probably three tip sizes) An Allen key set

    Honestly, Home Depot has a 120pc husky mechanics set on sale for $100 for the holidays I recommend if you have nothing. It covers all of the basics, the quality is decent enough, and it’s cheaper than putting it together piecemeal even at harbor freight.

    You’ll want a jack and stands as well, and if you plan to do oil changes probably ramps too (plus an oil drain pain and a storage container to store the used oil to take it back to the store for recycling).

    For cars that will get you 95% of the way through most jobs. From there I recommend filling out additional tools as jobs require them.

    For home improvement, add a hammer, some pliers (I’d get one of the triple sets that go on sale various places all the time).

    For power tools I suggest you pick an ecosystem and stay in it. Milwaukee, Rigid, and Ryobi are all made by TTS and perform pretty similar for home users. I invested in Milwaukee but would easily recommend rigid as a solid middle brand with decent price to performance. Dewalt has a great reputation as well, with a large selection and sometimes the price to match. I also know plenty of folks that are happy with the Hercules battery tools from HF. I would stay away from craftsman/black & decker, and other budget brands from big box stores, if that’s your price range then just go with the similar priced HF tool. I suggest a drill and driver to start, then fill out tools as you need them for projects. I use my oscillating multi tools a tons as a good fit most great at none tool for cutting. A lot will depend on what work you need to do around your house (which you won’t really know until you buy a house).

    I subscribe to Adam Savages methodology of buying cheap hand tools and replacing them with quality ones when they break (since that’s the sign you need a good version of it). I’ve found I still have a ton of cheap tools that work just fine.

    Lastly, shop around. Don’t assume the Harbor Freight will be the best deal (they have the reputation of cheap stuff, but as their quality has started going up so have their prices). Look for sales and deals, and for sure shop the clearance aisles at the orange and blue stores. I also shop estate sales and moving sales where folks are looking to offload an entire garage worth of tools quick.

    Edit to add: safety equipment is the one area I never compromise. Good eye and hearing protection is invaluable (you only have one set of eyes and ears, and both are fragile). I keep safety glasses in the basement and garage near all my power tools and mechanics toolbox so they are always close by. I also keep n95 masks for working in dusty areas like the attic. I hate gloves but keep a couple pairs for mechanic and outdoor work mostly. Glasses and ear plugs/muffs/active buds (isotunes, AirPods Pro, etc.) should be the first two things you get.



  • Like most here I work in IT. Unlike most here I have a BS in earth sciences (meteorology). While in school I did some summer volunteer work for the NWS near my home outside of DC that I found through an Alum that worked there. After I finished school that turned into a full time federal contractor position doing instrumentation testing and design. The facility was smaller and so I split my time with my friend (the alum that helped me in the first place) doing IT work. A few years down the road and I got a masters in information security (because sometimes a piece of paper matters). I turned that into a full time IT position at the same facility (still as a contractor).

    For personal reasons I later moved out of state which was pretty difficult to find a job, most places assume you want relocation assistance or otherwise aren’t interested in out of state applicants. I used an employment agency to help, and got a good job as a jack of all trades IT admin at a small engineering company (about 200 employees total). I stayed there for a few years before moving to a large enterprise. I wanted to go somewhere with growth potential. I liked that job and made a lot of great friends and professional contacts. I ended up leaving for a verity of reasons (bad management, poor company outlook, and seeking more stability).

    I eventually found my current job through someone I was working with who moved to my current company. I work for a national laboratory doing IT security work making good money in a super stable career (I’m a contractor so protected from a lot of the politics but the lab does work for the DOD so funding is never really in question).

    My general tips would be:

    1. Get to know alum at your school (if you choose to go to school)
    2. Don’t be afraid to work outside your major
    3. Start broad then generalize. I work with tons of folks that specialized in their field from the start, and while they are super smart at the one thing, they are locked into it and often can’t see the forest through the trees. Having a broad base makes it way easier to ask questions that help move projects forward.
    4. Ask dumb questions. Chances are if you don’t understand it, others don’t either. Don’t be afraid to look ignorant, every good manager I’ve ever worked for has rewarded curiosity and questioning as long as it’s productive generally.
    5. Know when to cut your losses and look elsewhere. This may be the millennial in me, but you don’t owe your company anything. Know when you’re unhappy and talk with management to see if there’s a solution. If not (or if management is the problem) look to move somewhere else.
    6. Goes with the above but the best time to find a job (and usually a promotion with it) is when you have a job.