u/RillienCot

I'm currently 28, and I'm thinking about maybe going back to school for Materials Science/Engineering in order to pursue research into battery technology. And long story short probably won't even start until I'm 30.

I remember reading somewhere a quote about science being a "young man's game." As in, you needed the mental flexibility and openness that youth provided you. So given my age, am I setting myself up for failure by pursuing this?

By this, I mean how sustainable is it for an individual to get involved in materials research if they're only passionate about designing/creating a specific thing (or maybe multiple things) versus if they just have a straight up passion for figuring out how materials behave? Do people without the curiosity usually burnout faster? How common in materials science research is one vs the other?

I'm interested in pursuing a career doing R&D in materials science, particularly as it relates to designing and developing (portable/light) batteries that don't rely on harmful mining practices or cause damage to the environment somehow.

But I remember from my time in physics undergrad that basically every professor and grad student was rather quite uninterested in the practical applications of their research. Any practical applications were usually only mentioned in the intro/conclusion of papers and were basically side notes. The real focus was just trying to figure "why thing do stuff." It was extremely rare to meet anyone beyond the second year of undergrad who was there for any other reason.

And while I'm not saying I won't develop a curiosity for materials science as I study it, my main reason for pursuing it is definitely because I want to make a certain thing.

As your adding different builds to your world, do the styles from build to build maintain a steady theme throughout or do they change depending on what you want.

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Like could everything in your world fall under the term "medieval fantasy," or "futuristic city?" I once made all my builds in the theme of a scientific outpost.

Currently working my way through ME2 using the wiki guide, and honestly pausing the game after every room to read through the guide about the next room is really ruining the fun. Especially because it tells you what's about to happen.

But I also don't want to miss anything or miss out on special events and choices because I chose the wrong dialogue option or didn't see that safe or did this mission before that one.

Is there a guide out there that just kinda says "alright do the missions in this order, make sure to find these loot boxes, and pick these dialogue options" without telling me about the 5 baddies around the corner?

8th generation cajun here. Born and raised in Louisiana, as were my past 7 generations of ancestors, all the way back to when my 6x-great grandfather moved down here after being exiled from Acadia in 1755.

Growing up in Louisiana, we take a class on Louisiana History, but if I'm being honest, I don't remember learning too much about the Acadians or their expulsion - just that Louisiana was originally a French colony.

Do you guys learn about it at all? Are you aware that it happened? Do you even know what I'm talking about?

Got the call yesterday that after my first hitch with a company, I was being let go for "safety reasons" because apparently the other guys weren't getting enough sleep (which I think might be a fabricated reason), and I'm wondering if I should push back on this.

This was my first hitch on a tugboat, ever. However, I've got a little more than 200 sea days under my belt now, and no job or captain has ever not given me glowing reviews. Even outside of maritime jobs, every serious job I've had has always commended me for being a hard worker and great at their job (not counting my restaurant server days as I was not well suited for that job).

There were definitely some growing pains. It took me a second to learn the knots/hitches for barge tie ups, and figuring out how to climb between docks/barges was perhaps a little rough. For the first 10-12 days I definitely needed supervision/help when I went out on deck, and even once I was capable of doing the work by myself I still needed the pilot to give me (probably more specific than usual) directions.

But only twice did anyone ever have to get up on their off watch to help me. Once was during heavy fog when everyone got woken up cause it was not a 2 person job, and the second was whenever I got a hitch wrong tying up a barge to a dock. But I did multiple watches with just me and the mate without ever disturbing anyone else. I even helped the other deckhand (who was completely new) figure stuff out. When I asked the engineer how I was doing, he always said I was doing good and appreciated that I was hustling and asking the right questions. The mate seemed to like me perfectly well, but the Captain seemed to have personal issues with me.

The captain was definitely conservative, and I'm far from it. He made fun of gays and liberals, I didn't laugh. I never said anything about it, I just didn't laugh and kept moving. Early on, it was like walking on eggshells around him. He wouldn't acknowledge that I was even in the room and wouldn't respond to my questions, but he would joke and talk and hang out with the other deckhand.

The other deckhand, who was far greener than I was, who constantly left stuff uncleaned, who needed help and direction way more than I did, is still working there.

So I can't help but feel this was some fabricated reason to get rid of me because the captain had personal problems with me.

And I guess I'm wondering if this is worth fighting back over?

I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't sure I wanted this job. I've worked towards it for a year now, and I was really excited to start. But it was hard work and my body was *aching.* But I at least wanted to do one more hitch before I made any decisions. And tbh, on my days off I've been kinda starting to miss it. And not to mention it was a great opportunity for a number of personal reasons and it came with great pay.

The company has a few other boats that I could possibly be moved to, but I'm worried that if I push back over this and they give me another shot, everyone (especially the other captains) are just going to see me as "that guy" and basically avoid me at all costs and probably try to make me fail out of solidarity with the other captain. So do I even want to still work with this company?

I know inland tugs are a small community, so I'm also a little worried that if I don't push back now, I'll get a reputation as being bad at my job/unsafe.

And even if I don't want to continue with this specific company, should I message HR with my concerns about the reason?

Thanks for reading and for any input.