Wow! That’s cool!
What did you study and what are you doing at Pitt?
Also, do you know of any powerlifting coaches in the area that could work with me?
Pretty sure Drano would clean that shit right out.
(Making jokes now that you are OK.)
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Ohhhh, that is fucking dark!
I love it. 
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@SkyzykS tried that already at a party with mixed results.
I kid. Seriously don’t die.
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Went to Pitt as well for Finance.
I’m going to relay something I only heard through hearsay several times and never experienced personally (since I went to Pitt). So take this with a grain of salt. The competitive programs at CMU (engineering, physics, computer sciences etc…) were rife with sabotage among students. Sometimes subtle and other times overt.
I’ve heard anecdotes of people missing a class with a cold and their buddies refusing to share notes or only sharing half. Or a classmate going “when’s that assignment due again?” And the respondent saying “Thursday” when they damn well knew it was “Tuesday”. They relayed other stories that sounded worse, like throwing away someone else’s notes if they got up to use the restroom in class or hiding the batteries for someone’s TI calculator right before a test.
Just watch out. They play for keeps lol.
I think my guardian angel is about to give me the “Cool Hand Luke” treatment.
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I’m doing behavioral econ, so I should be good???
On an unrelated note: This month’s property management bill came in this morning… 1450RMB (a little more than $200)- 150RMB up from last month WTF!!!
Our compound is great, but the property management people are a bunch of scamming shitfaced bitches!
They’re consistently slow to respond and outsource/charge for basic services that should be free- especially given the fee
Our apartment’s water heating is crap and we’ve complained for a year now and despite at least 10 calls and a whole lot of money to “professionals”, it still takes 3 minutes for the hot water to run and the water pressure drops at least once every month.
To put that into context, I was visiting my grandparents not too long ago. They live in a pretty poor rural area and their water heats up in 30 seconds!
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Does Pitt have a good program? I’m waaaay past college, but I wanted to study at U of Chicago. That’s where Thaler is, at least.
I’m going to CMU, which has the only undergraduate program in behavioral econ
CMU has Lowenstein, another pioneer in the field, but it’ll probably be a few years until I get to meet him
Ahh, where the fun goes to die. Three of my friends are going there. All three are WAYYY more intelligent than I am though.
Will you pursue graduate degrees?
I had a job offer in commodity training. I decided the Midwest was too cold and moved west.
yeah, and probably a PHD too sometime in the future since I love research. I actually want to get into management consulting as a career, so I guess my major is helpful
I agree, especially with Chicago’s wind
Do you own the building, or are you interacting from the leasing side? If you own the building you have all the power in that relationship. Just tell them to do better.
If you’re leasing I would recommend writing a super respectful letter and sending it direct to the owner of the property (make them sign for it delivery receipt if that’s a thing with your post office). You can find who the owner is through tax records at the courthouse.
That will get the owner’s attention. Be sure to mention how much you like living there and how long you’ve been a paying tenant in good standing. Thank them for their wonderful property.
Then and only then go into a fact-based reporting of some of the issues you’ve had with property management there. Don’t use malice or hyperbole, just the facts.
It’s likely the owner isn’t aware of these issues and hasn’t even set foot on the property this year. If I got a letter like this from a paying tenant my next move would be an onsite visit with the manager and some serious meetings. Paying, non-destructive tenants are worth their weight in gold for owners.
Good luck.
Thanks for the advice, but we own the apartment. Any tips?
Nice … when I was in undergrad (Econ and Finance) Behavioral econ was just coming into the mainstream, Nudge had just been published etc etc…interesting concepts and applications; however my perspective has shifted since then and I find it a bit creepy at the implications of Nudge-like policies and programs…
Have you read Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow”? Really Taversky and Kahneman were the progenitors of Behavioral Econ
@SkyzykS sorry to hear about that, dude. My dad smoked for nearly 20 years, had a massive heart attack, quit for 20 years, picked smoking back up for 6 months and died of a heart attack. I myself smoked for 10 years (13 to 23), so no judgement here obviously, but my point is, quitting a vice like that requires literal lifetime vigilance. Keep fighting the good fight, and I hope all is well.
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If you own the entire building just call 3 competing property managers and have them give you quotes. Ask for references from other property owners. Call those references and actually schedule a meeting with them to review how the property manager performed for them. Bribe the other owner for their time if you have to. It’s that important to get real feedback.
If you own one apartment inside an entire building (like an HOA) then talk to the property manager and the HOA/Board (whoever’s hires the PM). If you’re reasonable and focus on solving problems and not petty nonsense you can easily get on the board of your HOA if necessary. I hate HOA’s if you can’t tell. You have levers to pull, just how much time and effort do you want to dedicate.
After reading @SkyzykS post, I began to wonder for the first time what life might have been if my mother had survived her heart attack and gone on to make changes. It makes me sad to think of what it might have been like if she’d started exercising and stopped smoking. She was never in terrible shape (not overweight) but she was so, so sedentary.
I started smoking at probably 15 (to increase my lung capacity for weed - always thinking, me) and stopped at 38 because I believed that 40 would be when things started happening.
I was a closet smoker, but a real one nonetheless, and while I occasionally think “oh, wouldn’t a cigarette be nice” when I see people smoking IF I’ve been drinking, mostly I feel free. Cigarettes were shackles for me. I’ve smoked a small handful of times since quitting, but here again it’s always connected to drinking, and I’m always so happy to throw whatever clothes into the washer and smell and feel clean again. I don’t miss it. I had to do some emotional work initially as I was uncomfortable with big feelings (good and bad), but I think I’ve been pretty much thrilled with the quit since around the 6 month mark.
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I’ve gotten a few urges lately that are like the habit related to smoking. Typical stuff like starting the car, morning coffee, and myriad other little personal habits and actions where having a lighter in hand and smoke at the ready was a fluid part of the motion.
Those little moments give me a jolt, but the thoughts of mortality and not wanting to leave my son straighten things out pretty quickly. I had harbored a lot of bad feelings for a long time after the loss of each of my parents, and I don’t want to impose those same or similar feelings upon him.
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I want to get some people to try my smoking cessation program. A put-out cigarette smells and tastes stale and gross, so I figured I’d have someone light 10 cigarettes, put them out, and then put all of them in their mouth and inhale deeply over and over until they vomit. I still can’t eat the couple foods I’ve thrown up after eating, I wonder if it’ll work with cigarettes.
Reminds me of a girl I was seeing in my early 20s. We walk into her lounge room where there is an ashtray in the middle of the coffee table.
She reaches in, grabs the remains of a put out cigarette with about quarter inch left on it. Smokes it, puts it out. Picks another, smokes it, puts it out. Goes through the entire ashtray.
As a non-smoker I had some issues seeing a smoker but that put me over the edge and I was outta there lol
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