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Grimas

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Posts posted by Grimas

  1. 12 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

    I’m already trying to plan a trip after our next trip. I want to do Spain & Portugal if possible. I’ve been to Barcelona, but my wife wants to see Spain, and I want to visit Portugal. 
     

    Anyone done a Madrid to Seville to Lisbon?

    There is an overnight train that leaves Madrid at midnight and arrives in Lisbon at 7am. I’ve been planning to take it on one of my Madrid trips (for work) but haven’t done it yet so can’t vouch for the experience…

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  2. 18 hours ago, BeardIP said:

    I have 2 days to putz around before work meetings in/around Madrid next month.

    Questions:

    • Can you see a bull fight anywhere in February? I'd be willing to travel a few hours to do so. Cursory glances it seems to be out of season?
    • Should I stay in Toledo? Is there enough to putz around with there versus Madrid proper?
    • I'm reading Don Quixote, since La Mancha is known to be that area of Spain. Any tours or stations of the cross type outings anyone done like that?

     

     

    Take the high speed train from Madrid to Toledo and make a day trip of it. I got on one of those hop-on/pop-off tour busses from the Toledo train station and after the tour, got off and walked around town for a few hours before taking the escalators down and catching the train back to Madrid.  It’s a pretty small town to see in a day.

  3. 2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


    I wonder if heat tape wrapped around the pipe inside (not the kind on a thermostat, but the kind that is on when you plug it in) would warm the pipe enough via conduction to keep it open?

    I bought some of those 10-hour chemical hand warmers and am gonna put one packet inside each insulated "sock" that I have on every outside faucet.  Not sure if will make any difference but I figured, what the heck...

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  4. 1 hour ago, Damor said:

    Duh, would have helped to have mentioned that we're north of Austin.  While I'd like someone we could meet face-to-face at least a few times, I'm not completely against remote stuff, especially for followup.  

    Right now he thinks he wants to do medical school, which is something I should know about but I've completely lost the thread on how that drama works these days.  Mostly I'd like him to get some goals set for the remainder of HS and start thinking about schools he might want to target.  He's pretty good about getting after it once he has direction.

     DM sent

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  5. 1 hour ago, royiv said:

    Got it. Thanks. Didn't know you had to provide financial info to get merit these days. It wasn't that way when I went to school. I feel for you guys who have to go through the college admissions process these days. It seems like a massive pain in the ass not to mention having to manage your kid's expectations. 

    I understand it's easier with the "OneApp" (or whatever it's called) where you fill out just one application online - with some schools having different requirements on questions and essays - for all the schools you are applying to (as opposed to separate applications to each and every school...). No need to fill in the same basic info for each and every application... 

    And the FAFSA process is different this year with a new system that matches your 1040 and other tax reporting to what you submit on the FAFSA (which delayed the application start process until Jan1 this year) as all the numbers have to match or it kicks you out of the system until they match...  While you might have already been accepted to schools, you won't know what additional aid might be offered for another month (assuming you applied the past 2 weeks).  Luckily, you don't have to accept any offers until sometime in March.

  6. 6 minutes ago, royiv said:

    Wasn't questioning the value of the service. I definitely see the value proposition there. Was questioning the need to full out a FAFSA. I was making the assumption that if you can afford the service, you're not qualifying for need based aid. Again, I'm an idiot on college admissions since I don't have kids and was fortunate enough to have academic scholarships and help from my parents to pay for school so I never had to go through that process.

    You basically need to submit a FAFSA to get any merit or non-academic funds. Want to apply for that 500 grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution because your wife is a member, you must include the FAFSA application. (Some private schools require the CSS instead of the FAFSA when applying - same basic info but different ways of calculating financial need/ability to pay)

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  7. 37 minutes ago, royiv said:

    Serious question because I don't know the ins/outs of college admissions these days. If you've got $5k in discretionary funds to hire an admissions consultant, why would you need to fill out a FAFSA? I would've thought you're not qualifying for federal aid if you can afford that sort of service.

    FAFSA/CSS is just one part of it.  The main part was matching kid with schools based on grades, ranking and desired degree as well as where they have the best chance for academic scholarships and then you can focus on where to apply. They also review all essays and applications before you submit them - no way my kid would have listened to my thoughts/comments on what was originally written so having an outside reviewer made a big difference in what was originally written by my kid vs what eventually got submitted...

    Also, if you fill in the FAFSA incorrect and you have to wait a full year to make corrections.  There are a lot of grants and other scholarships available - $500 here, $1000 there - that all require a FAFSA when you apply for them to even be considered. 

    They also help you "negotiate" with schools who are offering you scholarships - school X may initially offer some amount while school Y makes a different offer. You can play one offer off the other to get even more money if they really want your kid especially if both schools compete with each other for the same pool of students. Our advisor has a good database from previous clients so they have a good feel of how much the schools are willing to pay/increase their initial offer.  

    Sure, you can do it all this yourself but I hire consultants all the time in my line of work and understand that sometimes it's worth hiring someone who does this process all the time vs. trying to figure out how do it all by yourself...

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  8. 16 hours ago, Damor said:

    It sounds like a few people on this thread have hired independent college advisors -- would anyone be willing to share either someone you worked with who you liked, a good company, or where/how you looked to find someone?

    Our current sophomore will likely be on the border of getting into Texas, but probably has some interest in out of state programs.  I'd like to get him connected with someone who can help him explore his options, and frankly, the guidance experience he has access to in public school has been unimpressive.

    Location?  Mine is in Houston and I think they like to have some face-to-face meetings with you and the kid during the process... Cost was in the $5k range that covers you until they graduate university (they help with filing the FAFSA every year even once the kid is in school).

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  9. 17 hours ago, The Royal We said:

    Has it been a while since you priced these out? A 200 amp transfer switch alone is ~$500, and you haven't paid anyone to come hook it up or bought the generator yet.

    I agree that everyone who can afford it should look at it, but the whole thing costs much more than a TV. Depending on how big your home is and how much stuff you want to run when the shit goes down you're probably looking at $5,000+ all-in.

    See my old post #394 from a few years ago- my whole setup was $2000 to power a 4000sqft house: 

     

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    • Like 1
  10. 16 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

    Question: I have an 8th grader. I guess at some point in next few years we need to do campus tours? What do you do on a tour? Is the summer a bad time to go since there are no srudenrs around? I did UT with minimal backup plans. I'm clueless. 

    Good to visit campuses ahead of applying just to get a “feel” of the place and to decide if you even apply to that school and then another round of visits once you get acceptance letters. We have a college “consultant” that gave us a list of schools our twins could get into - based on grades and potential scholarships - but after initial visits, eliminated some of those after the visit.  Now doing the next round of visits once they got accepted to decide which is the best fit.  (Sure, kid #2 could get into UNT or UTD with a free ride if they applied but after a visit, no way in hell did they want to go there based on what they saw on the initial visit…)

    Now that they have a few acceptances and $ offers, will revisit in the coming months to decide where to go… Will be having some tough discussions shortly - yea, I know you liked school x but I will have to pay out-of-state tuition for you to go there while school z is in-state and is offering you some $ as well…. Guess where you are going…

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  11. 21 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Although engineering is perhaps a peculiar way of thinking, compared to some of the rest of academia, or society generally, it seems the problem-solving and analytical approach to things lends itself to a lot of disciplines.

    I find that engineers tend to make pretty decent lawyers, IP and otherwise, even though the academic end of things is quite different in that engineers tend to simplify, assume, and ignore the "noise," while in law, the "noise" is often what it is all about, at least in school.

    Buddy of mine had lunch last year with a retiring Geology prof from the Jackson School and he said that a large % of the geology undergrads -I recall he said 75% - never do anything geology related with their BS degree but still we highly sought out by other fields for the same reason you mention about engineers regarding problem solving and analytical approach to things.

  12. FAFSA delay has put a pause on accepting… yea, my twins got accepted to all the schools they applied to (still waiting on SMU for one) but now it’s a waiting game to see who offers how much… sorry kid- you got accepted to school x that was your top choice but school #2 is offering you a full ride…

  13. 1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

    A good welding shop that can get qualified with the right customers, can do $10mil a year 

    Maybe gross but not netting that amount unless it’s a speciality O&G pipeline shop… My Ag BIL has a fabrication and welding shop where we’re he does stuff on most of the major construction projects in his area and he isn’t clearing that much… I think his welders get in the 22-27$/hour

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