TAHOE 22/23 -THE YEAR OF THE (t)RAM

[Velomayniac]

I go to UNR full time and I talked to my next semester teacher about a required class's timing. They said M,T,W,&Thursday mornings. Great. No weekday skiing for me and now this parking shit show.

I see nothing on the website about showing up in the afternoon (say after 1), will they have free spaces or still need reservations?

I'm so sick of being broke

[LongShortLong]

Adjusting to your priorities is always required in life. And in life it's never easy to carve out days for skiing. Something must always give way. If your studies are super important, you won't ski much. If skiing is super important, you won't study much. Sounds like you need a Mount Rose pass, then you won't drive so much, leaving more time for studies and skiing.

Or pray a pandemic rages again, so you can take your classes over Zoom and chase Iconic powder days across the nation. Oh but you're broke. Borrow from future you with student loans?

Thinking... Every day you drive past Rose to RFKAS - is that an extra hour of driving, two in a storm? If you ski 50 days at Rose instead of RFKAS, can you use those extra hours to work somewhere? 50 hours @$15 just about pays for a Rose pass. Although if you work those hours you can't also ski or study. Hmm. Priorities. There's no easy answer and never will be. Having choices comes with the downside of making choices. So choose and be happy you could.

[Velomayniac]

Adjusting to your priorities is always required in life. And in life it's never easy to carve out days for skiing. Something must always give way. If your studies are super important, you won't ski much. If skiing is super important, you won't study much. Sounds like you need a Mount Rose pass, then you won't drive so much, leaving more time for studies and skiing.

Or pray a pandemic rages again, so you can take your classes over Zoom and chase Iconic powder days across the nation. Oh but you're broke. Borrow from future you with student loans?

Thinking... Every day you drive past Rose to RFKAS - is that an extra hour of driving, two in a storm? If you ski 50 days at Rose instead of RFKAS, can you use those extra hours to work somewhere? 50 hours @$15 just about pays for a Rose pass. Although if you work those hours you can't also ski or study. Hmm. Priorities. There's no easy answer and never will be. Having choices comes with the downside of making choices. So choose and be happy you could.

I live on the lake, about 15 minutes from Alpine. I commute to UNR. I was still thinking about a Rose Pass though, just because it would allow for an hour here and there of skiing either before class or during long breaks between classes. The drive from Rose to UNR is shorter than Palisades to UNR by easily 15-20 minutes without traffic. With traffic, fughgetaboutit.

Agree with the first part of your post, and it's hard for me to adapt being so immature. I'm overtime this semester, but my schedule is basically free Tuesdays and Thursdays until 4:30PM. Was really hoping next semester would be like that, allowing for two weekdays of skiing. I'm a little behind on that class I was talking about(Solid Mechanics, sophomore MechE requirement), and I need to check what future class it's a prerequisite for, but I might just skip it another semester if I can in order to ski two weekdays. I might not be able to ski much though like you say, and it'll be hard to adapt, but I will have to. I didn't ski much last year, but I moved back from Miami and had major boot issues.

The worst part though is this new parking at Palisades. At least I have a bus stop right near my house, gonna start bringing a small pack with my shoes.

[LongShortLong]

Agree with the first part of your post, and it's hard for me to adapt being so immature.

Theoretically I'm mature, and it gets no easier. It was a big ordeal to move from Sacramento to San Jose as I'd be so much further from the mountains and give up my 9 days/two weeks work schedule, losing a ski day every two weeks.

If you're that close to Palisades, it seems like you should ski. Can you miss your Solid Mechanics class on the regular? Many engineering classes don't have an attendance requirement. And if you like storm skiing, a storm is the perfect excuse to stay near home (Palisades) instead of "risking" the drive to Reno. Of course, you might be sick on some sleeper powder days as well.

As for the Palisades parking shit show, who knows what they'll do in practice. I find it difficult to believe they'll run this system on weekdays so maybe your problem goes away. Maybe you find a condo owner who lets you use their parking on weekdays? You might try a part-time job at Palisades, then use employee parking. You might sell them on one day a weekend. Tell them you're a local, fanatical skier, busy engineering student at UNR limits your work hours, solid employee, and want some money and a parking pass. Ask Dookie about resort employment and what's possible.

Assuming this class is CEE 372, I took the same course at UCDavis 3 decades ago. Your course description looks unchanged from mine. Mostly book learning and exercises so I found lecture less important. If your calculus is really strong, it'll be easier. Statics is important also, to setup the free body diagrams. Today, there's the additional advantage of high quality free lectures on Youtube so you could get a jump on this class now and have it mastered long before the snow flies. Also I'm pretty sure I tutored a disadvantaged student in this class who earned an A, and went on to win a college award, so if you want free help, hit me up. I might remember something and be able to teach it.

On the youtube course topic... Engineering programs are pretty standardized by the national accrediting agencies (ABET), so a lecture/course from most universities will be 90-100% the same. Working from UNR's course description, or ideally a recent syllabus, and a textbook (free at library, probably online somewhere too) you can tell which chapters/subjects are in the class. Then watch the corresponding YT lectures from whichever lecturer clicks for you. Do some exercises on each topic to prove you know the material. Save your notes. If you get through even half of each course, you'll be set for ski season Feb/Mar, and won't need to study hard until Spring when you reach unstudied topics. Maybe aim for 75% so you're covered through April and available for surprise spring powder days, or corn harvesting if that's your thing.

[Velomayniac]

edit: Way too much

[LongShortLong]

Given that you're asking on TGR and you have access to a prime Tahoe location, I say choose a university close enough that you can drive to your parents' pad every weekend. I've found driving late Friday works pretty well for 88, 80 is probably similar, sometimes leaving Thursday to get ahead of a storm. So anywhere in Norcal can work if you're willing to drive a lot.

Big name companies do recruit more at big name universities, so there are some advantages to those degrees. I found the teaching quality was higher at CSU Sacramento than at UC Davis, though as you say, the difficulty and theory content also differs (UC's focuses more on research, so teaching suffers, and too often you'll have a green grad student instead of professor). I've also looked at some online MIT courses, that seem yet more challenging than Davis.

Any place that asks your GPA, if there's a way to focus on your recent studies, or classes in your major, do that if it looks better. Like applying for jobs - mostly no one outside academia cares that you got an F ten years ago. And even in academia, that old F is a distortion to most people. Recent you counts more. Calculate starting from when you got serious. Call it BSME GPA if you're worried about getting called on it, then explain if asked. Same if you got a bad grade in an unrelated elective.

To try a class more heavy on theory, you can look online for one if UNR doesn't offer one. Probably can even take it for credit/grade and get it added to your degree program, as an elective, or possibly replacing a required class. Maybe the prof you talked with can help you choose one, giving you the added benefit of a better relationship with that prof for future advice, letters of recommendation, etc.

If you're headed for research, theory will be more important, especially in your specialty. Otherwise, many engineering grads use little of their education. E.g. I followed the FIU bridge collapse on some of the engineering forums. In general nobody used more than the statics you already know and the solid mechanics you're about to learn. One guy set up a 3d model of all the beams and their interactions, performed an eigenvector analysis and explained what it meant. Clearly the contract engineers (PEs) did not, or their design wouldn't have the weaknesses it had. It's just too advanced a topic for the ordinary engineer. I think the hope is we'll be able to spot some obvious design deficiencies, and often know when detailed analysis is needed, but most engineers aren't doing "school" type work most of the time - it's mostly creating documents, finding/resolving problems, coordinating with your team and other stakeholders, tracking schedules, etc. Your liberal arts background may give you a leg up. Other engineering mags feel free to chime in otherwise.

[meter-man]

FYI parking reservations are only required mid-December to end of March weekends and holidays. Until noon.

No reservations required midweek or weekend afternoons.

You’re a lucky dude - I went to college in Chicago! Good luck with engineering - that will open a lot of doors for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dookeyXXX]

The Forestdale Patches are still holding, though the nearest one is broken into two sections with a gnarly, steep scree approach (skipped that one).
The “original” patch is pretty long, especially for mid-Sept, but damn if the snow ain’t wonky (it’s all rolly-polly with lottsa cups and was still rather firm at 11 a.m.).

This is actually a swatch above “Strap On Pond” and The PCT, further up the road from “The Patch.”

[Velomayniac]

Given that you're asking on TGR and you have access to a prime Tahoe location, I say choose a university close enough that you can drive to your parents' pad every weekend. I've found driving late Friday works pretty well for 88, 80 is probably similar, sometimes leaving Thursday to get ahead of a storm. So anywhere in Norcal can work if you're willing to drive a lot.

Big name companies do recruit more at big name universities, so there are some advantages to those degrees. I found the teaching quality was higher at CSU Sacramento than at UC Davis, though as you say, the difficulty and theory content also differs (UC's focuses more on research, so teaching suffers, and too often you'll have a green grad student instead of professor). I've also looked at some online MIT courses, that seem yet more challenging than Davis.

Any place that asks your GPA, if there's a way to focus on your recent studies, or classes in your major, do that if it looks better. Like applying for jobs - mostly no one outside academia cares that you got an F ten years ago. And even in academia, that old F is a distortion to most people. Recent you counts more. Calculate starting from when you got serious. Call it BSME GPA if you're worried about getting called on it, then explain if asked. Same if you got a bad grade in an unrelated elective.

To try a class more heavy on theory, you can look online for one if UNR doesn't offer one. Probably can even take it for credit/grade and get it added to your degree program, as an elective, or possibly replacing a required class. Maybe the prof you talked with can help you choose one, giving you the added benefit of a better relationship with that prof for future advice, letters of recommendation, etc.

If you're headed for research, theory will be more important, especially in your specialty. Otherwise, many engineering grads use little of their education. E.g. I followed the FIU bridge collapse on some of the engineering forums. In general nobody used more than the statics you already know and the solid mechanics you're about to learn. One guy set up a 3d model of all the beams and their interactions, performed an eigenvector analysis and explained what it meant. Clearly the contract engineers (PEs) did not, or their design wouldn't have the weaknesses it had. It's just too advanced a topic for the ordinary engineer. I think the hope is we'll be able to spot some obvious design deficiencies, and often know when detailed analysis is needed, but most engineers aren't doing "school" type work most of the time - it's mostly creating documents, finding/resolving problems, coordinating with your team and other stakeholders, tracking schedules, etc. Your liberal arts background may give you a leg up. Other engineering mags feel free to chime in otherwise.

Thanks for the reply. I edited that long post because it's probably way too much for this Tahoe thread lol. Some parts of me just want to finish quick at UNR, and teach myself some deeper theory I might need for graduate school. IF I go to grad school. Parts of me do want to just jump into the work force too, which UNR prepares students well for.. but as you said, I won't be using as much science and math. I'm always going to continue education though, at least up to like 60 years old, so I can do both. Ideally I go work for a company that will pay me and pay for my masters.

I actually took some classes at FIU last year. I was in Miami for a bit. That bridge collapse and then the condo collapse are from pure negligence or what?

I find UNR to be a much better school, except in terms of parking/accessibility. I don't think UNR is bad, just easy academically and I wish I was challenged more mentally.

FYI parking reservations are only required mid-December to end of March weekends and holidays. Until noon.

No reservations required midweek or weekend afternoons.

You’re a lucky dude - I went to college in Chicago! Good luck with engineering - that will open a lot of doors for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the positivity! I'm lucky to be living rent free in a ski town, but I don't feel lucky to be living with my parents at 32YO lol. What were you guys doing at 32? I could think about it like I'm lucky to be spending more time with them before they are too old and/or gone...
but I need my own space

Where can I find an official page telling me all the rules and regulations? The last one I looked at, I couldn't find anything about the afternoon situation and some other stuff.

[LongShortLong]

I'm hoping we get a bit of a thread pass since it's late summer, and you are trying to ski in Tahoe at the place with the tram.

The bridge and condo... We're humans. We make mistakes. We usually catch them before anything bad happens. In an engineering project, usually cost is a constraint that puts a limit on how much overdesigning (barely enough to meet code or pass inspection) and reviewing (same) we can do. If a project costs more, probably a different firm gets the contract. It's a society feature more than it's an engineering or construction failure. That's fundamentally what happens. We demand changes and governments update codes (then we complain about costs and regulation).

Specifically in both cases there were unrecognized underdesigned (overloaded) joints, active inspection, and signs of pending failure that were seen but didn't raise enough alarm because they looked normal enough. For the condo in particular, the design problem was present for 40+ years, and the failure signs present for many years as well, indicating how difficult it can be to raise an alarm. Note that in the condo case, there were a bunch of social changes afterwards, primarily new inspection laws. And many of the condo's design flaws have been addressed by prior code updates (e.g. stronger joints required by code). The bridge failure and others like it may inspire similar code changes. As a society, we could choose to allocate more resources (spend more) for engineers, and maybe have fewer failures. Society's engineering demand is expressed via laws, codes, certification bodies, licensing requirements, etc.

Supposedly it's better now, though there's always people who want save a buck or to go back to the past. Note that a building collapses in the US after 40 years, and there's a huge expensive investigation to figure out why it happened and what can we change so it happens less often. In some other less well regulated countries, a building collapses and it's just another Tuesday. Maybe the other countries are onto something, and we should have more "engineering" failures here. But that's a political question, along the lines of how and how much to regulate parking

[LongShortLong]

Life decisions
At 32, I was finishing my masters and burning savings from my first real job. Couple years later I had my second real job, a coworker's invitation to his house near Tahoe and my first season pass (well, second, I had an employee pass once). I didn't do the family thing.

How many ski days do you want, and when, and where? If you want 100 days/year, every year till you die, and in a nice lakeside Tahoe chalet with a backup place in Jackson Hole, that's going to be a really tough standard to meet. Grow a business, hire a bunch of people, get lucky, make fabulous profits. $1 million per year might get you in the ballpark. I'm too lazy for that.

Try your profs for deeper theory. Maybe they can point you to a class, extra exercises, or set you up in a "special projects class." There's also those chapters of the text not covered in class. Also keep asking around to find which careers have more science and math. As a student I thought I'd be using math and theory constantly. Now I'm of the impression that some careers require more background knowledge, and some use math and science occasionally, but the math and science is necessary to acquire the background knowledge. Best may be a week of theory work and calculations with 51 weeks of other work to develop the product of those calculations. Idk.

I see UNR has PhD programs. Golden opportunity to talk to research folks and ask how their day/week/year goes, especially those whose field interests you. Maybe land a job/internship in one of the labs. Pay attention to how much time the PI spends on different activities. Also, maybe one of those labs leads to the spinoff business that makes your millions.

A few years from now when you're out working hard to advance your career, and studying for that masters, you may ski less. However, that may later find you well established career-wise, owning a house and a ski condo (or organizing a ski lease), and able to ski dozens of days per year, maybe more as you approach retirement. Maybe you find yourself working in Tahoe or working remote and can get more days, and hit more powder days. I like a few powder runs in the morning, then fire up the laptop for a late remote workday like nothing happened.

Maybe you'll discover things more important than skiing

[Velomayniac]

Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it. I'm starting to get it into my thick skull, about how real world engineering in EVERY field is more about doing things cheaper yet still effectively, and not just overbuilding everything to make it better/safer. I always understood when a machine or something needed to be lightweight for efficiency or performance, or a part could be made light weight and cheap because it wasn't critical to anything (especially saving lives!). However for applications in civil engineering I had no clue it was like this until the past year or two. I could never be a civil engineer, but I respect them more than I respect most doctors. CEs have peoples lives in their hands, and also have to juggle these monetary restrictions.

Starting a company and getting a place in Jackson Hole seems so nice, albeit hard work. Tyrell Corporation.

[LongShortLong]

It's not engineering, its everything. In a technologically advancing society*, if you're not working on something cheaper or better, you'll be looking for a new job after awhile. Could be a short while or long while depending how long it takes a competitor to do cheaper or better. Everybody is generally looking for a better product. Your boss wants a cheaper or better employee. Your customer wants a cheaper or better product/service. Different people value different things, so it isn't always about the Benjamins, but that cliche often describes the situation.

Palisades doesn't only want to improve parking. It's also a way to raise the price since there's excess demand for their product. Some of their customers will likewise improve their vacations by skiing elsewhere.

Don't be down about it. Recognize the human drive for better things, and the difficulties in defining better. If 10% more is spent on better engineering, and now the price is 10% higher, and the customer doesn't buy, it's not really better. If a condo/bridge is 10% cheaper, and "almost" never fails, the buyer can use the savings to improve other things in their life or maybe afford the nice condo/beautiful bridge. Also recognize that there's rarely an exact comparison where we saved 10% on a bridge in exchange for 0.01% chance of failure. It's usually a fuzzy balance of bid price, who is the mayor's friend, and quality of the artwork in the proposal.

* probably all societies. 1000 years ago, the Inuit who made better kayaks probably earned more furs and a nicer igloo. And the one who didn't had to go hunting and face danger in one of those kayaks. Get that degree and make the best kayaks. Or produce the best kayak stability research. Or discover you enjoy hunting.

[dookeyXXX]

Sweet September corn harvest up on Lola amidst a quartet of F16s, swarming yellow jackets, rain, thunder, and hail (the latter 3 on the exit hike)…

[SnowMachine]

Thanks for the reply. I edited that long post because it's probably way too much for this Tahoe thread lol. Some parts of me just want to finish quick at UNR, and teach myself some deeper theory I might need for graduate school. IF I go to grad school. Parts of me do want to just jump into the work force too, which UNR prepares students well for.. but as you said, I won't be using as much science and math. I'm always going to continue education though, at least up to like 60 years old, so I can do both. Ideally I go work for a company that will pay me and pay for my masters.

I actually took some classes at FIU last year. I was in Miami for a bit. That bridge collapse and then the condo collapse are from pure negligence or what?

I find UNR to be a much better school, except in terms of parking/accessibility. I don't think UNR is bad, just easy academically and I wish I was challenged more mentally.




Thanks for the positivity! I'm lucky to be living rent free in a ski town, but I don't feel lucky to be living with my parents at 32YO lol. What were you guys doing at 32? I could think about it like I'm lucky to be spending more time with them before they are too old and/or gone...
but I need my own space

Where can I find an official page telling me all the rules and regulations? The last one I looked at, I couldn't find anything about the afternoon situation and some other stuff.

32, man..... I owned my home and had a condo in Tahoe Donner. I sold my soul and didn't weekday ski for 20 years. I moved to Truckee full time at 38 after selling my business. After 5 years my small business here afforded me the opportunity to ski when I want and I got 96 days last year.

Adulting is hard. I currently have an opportunity to take over a large business here in town and buy the building. It's huge numbers and a big lifestyle change. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep last night. I have a potential business/building deal working and on the other hand I have some brand new Jedi Mind Sticks waiting to be mounted.

It's a wants/needs balance. What do I want today vs. what I want tomorrow. There's always compromise in life.

I do have friends that IPO'd their first real job. Several of them actually. That would be my advice. IPO that first job for millions and ski off into the sunset. The elusive unicorn.

[dookeyXXX]

One more from Lola yesterday, about 30 minutes before thunder, rain, and hail:

[dookeyXXX]

Skiing is still pretty decent out there…

More stoke from this Saturday past at the Forestdale Ski/Snowboard Resort:

[skier666]

Showing signs of snow later this week...

shower bands forming in northeast CA Wednesday evening and dropping south to near the I-80 corridor by early-mid Thursday morning. Depending on how far south the core of the low progresses, higher elevations could see a bit of snow. The majority of scenarios indicate the snow level dipping to 8500-9000 feet, although a few more aggressive scenarios could bring a bit of snow down to near 7000 feet.

[parkmeister]

preseason crosstraining

[The AD]

I know this may be a loaded question, but what's it like living in South Lake Tahoe? It seems like there are some neighborhoods that are actually fairly inexpensive. I'm just sort of amazed you can get a single family home within a couple miles of Heavenly for under $1 million.

I was in the area earlier this summer but didn't get south of Emerald Bay, so don't really have any feeling for what SLT is like.

[skysos]

I know this may be a loaded question, but what's it like living in South Lake Tahoe? It seems like there are some neighborhoods that are actually fairly inexpensive. I'm just sort of amazed you can get a single family home within a couple miles of Heavenly for under $1 million.

I was in the area earlier this summer but didn't get south of Emerald Bay, so don't really have any feeling for what SLT is like.

I've been living in the Meyers area off and on for 18 years. I prefer this area because it's about 16 minutes drive to either Sierra or Heavenly. It's also a shorter drive to Kirkwood than if you are downtown. The neighborhoods around North Upper Truckee are best for me with direct access to a lot of trails that are fairly flat for XC touring with the dogs. We had just short of 6-months of snow cover for touring last year right from the neighborhood trailheads. Lots of backcountry skiing options close by if that's your thing. There are endless mtn bike options as well. Summer weather can't be beat but there are days you still need A/C.

There are plenty of annoyances living here but I'm sure you are aware of that. Traffic isn't as bad as people make it out to be but it has its moments. Try not to buy or rent close to a big VHR or local party house. There are lots of times you will have to drive to Carson City or Reno for things you can't get here. There is no 24-hour emergency vet. I hope you like shoveling snow and fixing things that broke over the winter the following summer. Getting things like furnaces or plumbing fixed, or getting your house painted can mean a long wait as there aren't enough of those types of services due to housing costs and lack of people to do those types of jobs.

Overall it's been a great 18 years but we are getting older and will likely be moving down to Reno soon.

[The AD]

I've been living in the Meyers area off and on for 18 years. I prefer this area because it's about 16 minutes drive to either Sierra or Heavenly. It's also a shorter drive to Kirkwood than if you are downtown. The neighborhoods around North Upper Truckee are best for me with direct access to a lot of trails that are fairly flat for XC touring with the dogs. We had just short of 6-months of snow cover for touring last year right from the neighborhood trailheads. Lots of backcountry skiing options close by if that's your thing. There are endless mtn bike options as well. Summer weather can't be beat but there are days you still need A/C.

There are plenty of annoyances living here but I'm sure you are aware of that. Traffic isn't as bad as people make it out to be but it has its moments. Try not to buy or rent close to a big VHR or local party house. There are lots of times you will have to drive to Carson City or Reno for things you can't get here. There is no 24-hour emergency vet. I hope you like shoveling snow and fixing things that broke over the winter the following summer. Getting things like furnaces or plumbing fixed, or getting your house painted can mean a long wait as there aren't enough of those types of services due to housing costs and lack of people to do those types of jobs.

Overall it's been a great 18 years but we are getting older and will likely be moving down to Reno soon.

Thanks for the reply. Good insights!

If we bought in the area it would probably be a second home and that seems like it could be a bit of a headache with home maintenance issues and having to deal with them remotely often, although I suppose that holds true for having a second property in general.

[davjr96]

Another consideration (across CA in general) is insurance and specifically fire insurance can sometimes be hard to get and/or very expensive.

[heckacali]

Yay FAIR plan

Fire Aggrandized Insurance Rates

[Blaster]

Yay FAIR plan

Fire Aggrandized Insurance Rates

Moonshine ink just did a pretty good article on the fire insurance issue. It’s not surprising people forget that fire insurance rates in CA have been kept too low for the risk they are covering for many years and are grumpy when they have to pay closer to what it actually costs to insure their home. https://www.moonshineink.com/tahoe-n...of-collapsing/

Some analyses think even the fair plan isn’t expensive enough to cover its exposure. Sure it sucks to pay an arm and a leg for insurance but the fair plan is essentially a state subsidy for homeowners.