TXSG8R

El Paso County, Colorado?

Unless things have changed, I don’t even think you can start a CISSP without a number of years within the field, plus you have to have a sponsor letter showing your job encompasses CyberSec. Sec+ is the crawl phase, CISSP is more of the run phase. There’s a pretty broad range of positions within CyberSec. Ground floor is probably application of controls/STIGs or scanning/testing/auditing. Most of those jobs fall within IT admin for network, hosts, etc. Sec+ won’t really get you any increase in salary as much as qualify you for those positions. On the gov’t side that usually includes a 4 year degree, and some positions will require an IT specific degree, but that’s usually flexible with other experience. Gov’t will also prefer candidates with security clearances, if an org is desperate they will fork over the money to get you one. If you’re jumping into this dry without any IT background you’ll likely have to start in an analyst position and work your way up. That starts in the 40s, but is location specific (I would guess the floor in Austin is in the 50s). Management jobs are painful. Lots of policy and review work that will make you want to rip your eyes out. It’s also a daunting amount of work if you’re jumping into an org that is starting from scratch. It’s also super fun to have to argue with leadership constantly that they are doing things wrong. They really enjoy that.

There’s plenty of cyber security work outside of software development, especially on the government side. Risk Management Framework is a substantial amount of work for most organizations, and there’s plenty to do at multiple levels. Policy, network, physical security, lifecycle management, hosts, management, stig application, scans and testing, POA&Ms, etc. I did ISSM work for a small government program and it took us 18 months to jump through all the hurdles to get our ATO. That’s DoD, which is super rigid, so things should be better at the state or private sector because you get more wiggle room to tailor controls and mitigate. Trying to jump straight into a CISSP would be painful. I would suggest doing a net+ or security+ first. They are easier certs to get and it’s the minimum requirement to work on most gov’t networks or hosts. That should give you an entry path into CyberSec work.

so doesn’t anyone know what all is involved with the $2k number generac says is the typical installation cost? How much could a handy owner cut out of that with a little work? Things I think it would include would be a concrete pad, fuel lines/hookup (tank and installation not included I wouldn’t think), electrical lines/hookup, transfer switch hookup (switch not included in that $2k). Doesn’t seem like that’s $2k worth of work, but maybe there’s something I’m not thinking about.

Probably more appropriate for the damage thread, but this one seems to be getting more traffic. Roads in Killeen look like hamburger meat.

I posted the Dewalt USB battery adapter earlier in the thread. It’s slow, but you can get multiple phones and iPads out of one 5aH battery.

So what do you call your partner in an LLC sub S? Our operating agreement set us up as a multi-member LLC, we added the sub S our first year after talking to a CPA. Just member? We use the term managing partner on business cards and correspondence. Our CPA told us to use anything besides owner, so what should be used?

No, he has never said anything about them. I used regular PVC slip unions. Like these

You have to leave those screws open so the water can expand.

This is why I put unions on both of the PVC pipes going into my Backflow. When I shut down my sprinklers for the winter I just pop the entire thing off and put it in the workshop. I stuff a clean towel into the open ends coming out of the ground to keep critters and bugs out of the lines and give it room to expand if things really got cold. I figured unions with caps could freeze and crack. According to the Backflow inspector I use you’re supposed to replace like with like, no mixing and matching parts between manufacturers. Seems like it’s bullshit, but he didn’t hustle me for money or anything and still signed the paperwork after I replaced both ball valves on mine a few years ago with stuff from HD.

Sorry, I was speaking generally, we are an LLC, sub S Corp. the partnership piece is what complicates the profit sharing. It was pretty straight forward with us working equally. Now things will be unequal WRT workload, so we have to figure out a better method once payroll comes around to share things without him incurring a larger tax burden than he earned.

That’s another wrinkle. My business is a partnership, 51/49 with my brother. We had to do that to qualify as a veteran owned business. He still has a day job, so he’s not jumping in full time like I am yet. We pay some guys as contractors to help on occasion, but we plan on hiring an employee or two at least part time this year, the work we do is rarely a one person job, I’ll be able to hold off on payroll through the end of the year due to loans to the company to get things off the ground and riding unemployment.

Welp, neighbors up the street (uphill) just reported that they no longer have water. We still have water, but the pressure is even lower than it was this morning. My guess is we will be dry before too long.

Thanks. I know I have the ability to save pre-tax money through my business, but I wasn't sure I could roll my existing 401k into that. I haven't done my offboarding with HR yet, so I don't know if I have the ability to let my existing 401k to stay there, or if that would even make sense to do. I also started a Roth IRA through my company with the money above my company match for 401k, but I just started that last year so there isn't any serious money there. I also need to find out what happens with that. I assume that could stay as is since there no company ties? If I rolled a 401k over to a Roth, would it take the tax hit on the transfer? Are there fees for all this stuff? Are there any particular IRAs that have less/waived fees, better/worse performance, etc?

I'm losing my 9-5 job and transitioning to my side business full time in a couple of weeks. I got the official notice today, but we have known it was coming for a few weeks now. I've always rolled my 401ks over to my new employer in the past, but obviously that's not an option for my small business, so I assume I have to roll it over to a 401k. I started looking, but there's a shit ton of options so I'm looking for some recs on good IRAs.

Yea, I’ve been eyeballing them since a bunch of guys I work with in Huntsville, AL had those tornados. They went weeks without power. This week settled things, I’m never going to be caught out like this again. edit: I should add, their plight is the reason I’m looking at LP generators with dedicated tanks. A few of those guys had portable generators. Those were great until they ran out of gas, and no gas was available. There’s no perfect solution, but I figure if you’re gonna spend money anyway, try to cover as many contingencies as you can.

I’m also buying some of these after walking through a couple of frozen parking lots this week. https://www.amazon.com/Yaktrax-Traction-Cleats-Walking-Jogging/dp/B0094GO7CS/ref=bmx_2?pd_rd_w=FFHf1&pf_rd_p=f71775c5-9fe6-4e06-a8bc-a95de49acaab&pf_rd_r=D4RA8RG59FVGTTBMER3S&pd_rd_r=2d80d960-2681-46d8-bcd8-145bd3816bfb&pd_rd_wg=EWwYP&pd_rd_i=B0094GO7CS&psc=1

I think you can get into the 15kW range, installed, with a dedicated 500 gallon propane tank around $10k. That would be enough for my house according to the generac planning tool. There would have to be some energy management to keep things under the limit but it’s not crazy. Don’t run the oven, microwave and try to take a shower at the same time kind of thing. Obviously older/bigger/less efficient houses will require bigger generators/more fuel to run whole home backup, but I would still think it would still come out ahead of replacing water lines, food, mold damage, etc on top of whatever trip you ran off to.

The guy I quoted was talking about the cost/benefit of installing a generator versus buying a vacation home to haul ass to before bad stuff hit.

If your architect and builder are advocating for anything less than spray foam get a new architect and builder. You can absolutely reduce your electrical usage in a bigger home with just that. You need roughly half the HVAC capacity alone due to the insulation gain.

Are you going from like to like WRT insulation, efficiency of appliances/HVAC, etc? Makes a big difference. My previous house was 1600sq ft and had a 4 ton AC unit probably 14 or 16 SEER that ran all day during the summer, two story blown insulation. My new house is 3k sq ft and has a 4 ton AC 20 SEER that usually runs in first stage, easily half the usage of my previous house. The new house is single story, sealed envelope spray foam. It can throw a lot of your numbers way off.

I guess I’m not a big enough baller. $10k for a generator setup to ensure your house stays cold/warm enough to avoid secondary disasters like busted pipes and all your food going to shit versus $200k for a vacation home and all the taxes and upkeep for something you aren’t living in?

Yea, we have a 4 ton HVAC, all electric. If I could do it all over again I would have installed gas appliances for everything with a heating element. Unfortunately we don’t have LP or NG connections to the street, it’s all tank based. I would probably need a 1k gallon tank to support an entire house worth of LP appliances.

I’m definitely getting a generator, just wrestling with a whole home unit or something portable. Either way I’ll be installing a transfer switch to plug in something to my main service panel. My biggest issue during this was the septic tank not pumping and the tankless WH not having the electrical ignition to run. My spray foam sealed envelope kept the house livable without central heat or air. The capacity to run central heat would be nice, but we could probably be fine with some space heaters to stretch the capacity of the generator for keeping the fridge cold, stuff charged, etc. Whichever I get will run on LP and I’ll be installing a dedicated tank (targeting 500 gallons). I have a tank for the house now, but it would be pointless to tie it to my existing tank and be caught out close to a refill by something and not have the gas to run it. Also thinking I can tie the two tanks together with a manual valve to feed some gas to the primary tank that runs the WH, range, etc if they ran dry during an emergency. I would hope that’s possible. We already had a pretty good base of emergency supplies because of all the camping and traveling we do. Plenty of extra batteries for charging things, lights, etc. I also got to use some stuff from my business that helped a ton. I’ll list some things that shined: Dewalt DCB090 - this little guy allowed me to use the massive amount of Dewalt batteries I have for my workshop, yard work, and side business to charge phones and stuff after all our travel batteries got smoked. It’s slow, but you can get a lot of 5AH and above batteries. Multiple phones and tablets. Dewalt DCL074 - this is a work light, but it has a huge output and run time and you can hang it from the ceiling to brighten a room. Way better for stuff like cooking than a candle or flashlight. Downside is it’s big as hell, and if you aren’t invested in a lot of Dewalt batteries already, probably not a great option. Black Diamond Moji charging station/lantern - I’ll be buying more of these in lieu of flashlights. It has two power cells, one is rechargeable and one is AA, massive run time (200 hours on low) and you charge devices off of it in a pinch. Can also be hung to provide room lighting. https://www.rei.com/product/893628/black-diamond-moji-charging-stationlantern Ravpower 26800mAh power bank - originally bought this to charge our Nintendo switch while traveling, but it’s a beast for charging phones and tablets it supports fast charging too, so devices get topped up quick.

Yea, powerwall is a battery based system, which is different than grid tie. Grid tie is cheaper because you don’t have the added expense of the batteries. I should have read the whole thread before replying, Dahobbs already covered this base. Edit: I am curious though how much capacity your neighbors have and if they were able to run much heat off of them. I know we had a couple of decent days of sun during this, but winter generation is already weaker and any heating element just eats power. If you can, ask them what their panel capacity is, and how much storage they used, and what size/type their HVAC systems are.