# Down to single digits, how's everyone doing?



## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 19, 2014)

Like the topic says, we're down to single digits. How's everyone's prep coming along?

What did you to do prep? What are your plans for the next 4 days?


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## NJmike PE (Oct 19, 2014)

I said f it and didn't study today


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 19, 2014)

Tried that a few days ago and my wife passed by and said, "What, no studying today?" Immediately felt guilty and went straight back to studying...


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## Ship Wreck PE (Oct 19, 2014)

I am with him^^^^

So I painted the porch rails.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 20, 2014)

It's getting to that point where housework is looking like an attractive alternative to studying...good thing we're down to the last 4 days.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 20, 2014)

I remember that feeling too. Say focused guys. Your almost there.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 20, 2014)




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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 20, 2014)

Keep em coming, cuz the morale will not improve. I'm going to fail! Again!

I feel brain dead.

Seriously, more prepared this attempt than I was last time. Just hope it's enough. Speed is my killer on these exams.


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## Judowolf PE (Oct 20, 2014)

^You've likely crammed as much into your head as you can at this point...some lite studying just to stay fresh and a couple of relaxing nights w maybe a little exercise to stay loose...Best of Luck!


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## matt267 PE (Oct 20, 2014)

StillNotA PE said:


> Keep em coming, cuz the morale will not improve. I'm going to fail! Again!
> 
> I feel brain dead.
> 
> Seriously, more prepared this attempt than I was last time. Just hope it's enough. Speed is my killer on these exams.


What you need is some jello-shots.

Good luck on the exam. I'm rooting for you!!


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 20, 2014)




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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 20, 2014)

Think the jello shots may have to wait until at least the lunch break...


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## matt267 PE (Oct 20, 2014)

Why wait for the lunch break? After you set your reference material out on the table, you should line up a few shots too. Turn it into a drinking game. Every time someone leaves the room during the exam, you take a shot. Every time someone enters the room during the exam, you take a shot. If someone runs out of the room in tears, you take two shoots... You get the idea.


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## vesterholt (Oct 20, 2014)

Just took the first half of the practice exam and got 35/40 so feeling pretty good. Going to try the depth half tonight and see how that goes.


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## Golden Eagle PE (Oct 20, 2014)

When I took the afternoon portion of the exam, I went in knowing that it would suck, and it did. It is definitely a step up in difficulty (at least for me it was). Just work the problems as best as you can. If you see one that will take a long time or you have no idea how to do it, skip it. When you hit a problem that you know how to do, knock it out right there! Eventually you will come back around to the harder ones. Leave the hard or nasty ones for last. The key for me was to keep moving. The slow animals get eaten in the afternoon portion! Try and at least make an educated guess if cannot figure it out in time.

Stay confident and knock it out of the park!


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## Ship Wreck PE (Oct 20, 2014)

^^^++10


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## NJmike PE (Oct 20, 2014)

GE is right. The afternoon is a bear but the key is rhythm. I found myself each of the three time that I took it either on a roll, answering multiple questions in a row or marking ones to come back to. The key is definitely to GET the ones know in the afternoon. The afternoon is also gruelling from the standpoint of the overall day. There's a good chance that your mentally going to hit a wall by about 1530 and it may effect your body. You may begin to get uncomfortable. My suggestion is to plan for than. Bring a seat cushion to help keep you comfortable. Maybe something to snack on if permitted.

Good luck. Come back on Monday and tells all how well you think you did.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 20, 2014)

I'll tell you what NJ, if I think I did good I'll come let you know, and if I do bad I'll pretend I did good and still come tell you how good I think I did.

It's a win win.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 21, 2014)

Sounds like a well-reasoned plan to me ^^


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 21, 2014)

Can tell that insomnia is going to be a major issue...let's hope that I can catch some sleep Thurs.


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## Road Guy (Oct 21, 2014)

Back in the day I spent Thursday watching some movies an doing much of nothing.... Helped keep my brain from doing to much.....


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## NJmike PE (Oct 21, 2014)

StillNotA PE said:


> I'll tell you what NJ, if I think I did good I'll come let you know, and if I do bad I'll pretend I did good and still come tell you how good I think I did.
> 
> It's a win win.


Matt's right. You owe us Jell-O shots. Time to pay the piper.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 21, 2014)

For after the exam:


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## matt267 PE (Oct 21, 2014)

ooh, it's so purty...


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## Jonhnny123 (Oct 21, 2014)

NJmike PE said:


> GE is right. The afternoon is a bear but the key is rhythm. I found myself each of the three time that I took it either on a roll, answering multiple questions in a row or marking ones to come back to. The key is definitely to GET the ones know in the afternoon. The afternoon is also gruelling from the standpoint of the overall day. There's a good chance that your mentally going to hit a wall by about 1530 and it may effect your body. You may begin to get uncomfortable. My suggestion is to plan for than. Bring a seat cushion to help keep you comfortable. Maybe something to snack on if permitted.
> 
> Good luck. Come back on Monday and tells all how well you think you did.


Very true. In addition to being far more difficult, the afternoon session is immediately after a 4 hour session on a day that you're probably fairly stressed about to begin with! During the lunch break I took some advil and went for a walk for a few blocks (luckily it was a very nice day out). It helped get rid of my headache and prepare me for the beating.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 21, 2014)

From reading above, sounds like the goal is to score the vast majority of the points in the AM and hope for just over 50% on the PM which should get the ~ 56 needed?


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## matt267 PE (Oct 21, 2014)

NJmike PE said:


> GE is right. The afternoon is a bear but the key is rhythm. I found myself each of the three time that I took it either on a roll, answering multiple questions in a row or marking ones to come back to. The key is definitely to GET the ones know in the afternoon. The afternoon is also gruelling from the standpoint of the overall day. There's a good chance that your mentally going to hit a wall by about 1530 and it may effect your body. You may begin to get uncomfortable. My suggestion is to plan for than. Bring a seat cushion to help keep you comfortable. Maybe something to snack on if permitted.
> 
> Good luck. Come back on Monday and tells all how well you think you did.


Mike, what set of practice problems (other than the NCEES practice exam) most closely resembles the level of difficulty of the afternoon.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 21, 2014)

matt267 said:


> NJmike PE said:
> 
> 
> > GE is right. The afternoon is a bear but the key is rhythm. I found myself each of the three time that I took it either on a roll, answering multiple questions in a row or marking ones to come back to. The key is definitely to GET the ones know in the afternoon. The afternoon is also gruelling from the standpoint of the overall day. There's a good chance that your mentally going to hit a wall by about 1530 and it may effect your body. You may begin to get uncomfortable. My suggestion is to plan for than. Bring a seat cushion to help keep you comfortable. Maybe something to snack on if permitted.
> ...


probably the SMS

EDIT: I should clarify this statement. I responded on the fly and didn't have enough time to properly answer it. I only used NCEES problems, old and newer, and Goswami all in one. I pretty much solve all of them. IMO those were best none-NCEES problems, but others on this board have disagreed with that. For those who disagree with that, I suggest the SMS.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 21, 2014)

That's encouraging if true. I've worked the Thermal / Fluid SMS quite a few times successfully. Will be working that again Wednesday. There are some pretty difficult questions in there though...


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## vesterholt (Oct 21, 2014)

Did the afternoon half (HVAC) of the practice exam yesterday. Definitely much harder than the morning but still got 31/40 on it for a total of 66/80 so I'm feeling pretty good. Still cracking away though.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 22, 2014)

Worked the NCEES 2001 morning session yesterday and had no major probs - 39/40 - lost 1 on a stupid error. I intended to do the afternoon session also but I started falling asleep halfway through my coffee and figured it was a lost cause. Will work the afternoon and hopefully the SMS today. The plan is to not really do much tomorrow. I'll take a hike out to the testing site and see if I can locate the room specified in the Authorization letter.


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## Mike M PE (Oct 22, 2014)

I remember right before the exam I was alternating between feeling like I knew my stuff and then the next day I felt like a total idiot. Me thinks that's normal and actually a good sign that you know the information.

Two more days...

Take it easy tomorrow and study light or not at all. What you know is what you know.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 22, 2014)

^^^ That's pretty much exactly how I feel at the moment. Here's to hoping you're right about knowing the material.

Just want to add good luck to all my fellow test takers. Hopefully we'll all be getting good news in 10 weeks or so after Friday.


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## Golden Eagle PE (Oct 22, 2014)

Hopefully it does not take 10 weeks for everyone.

This past exam in April, it only took TX 5 1/2 weeks to get the results out. Depends on the state.


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## kjdgus (Oct 22, 2014)

Been a lurker on these boards, but just want to chime in and wish everyone the best on the exam. Friday evening can't come soon enough!


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 22, 2014)

Aaaahhhhhhh I'm going to fail! again!

Yep that's really how I'm feeling right about now.

Good luck all!


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## NJmike PE (Oct 22, 2014)

Oh, come on former SMott. Make us proud. Knock it out of the park. Same to all of you test takers. Best of luck. Keep calm, find a good rhythm.


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## matt267 PE (Oct 22, 2014)

Smott, you got this!


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## Mike M PE (Oct 22, 2014)

SMott,

You'll be fine. Relax and go knock it out the park!


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 23, 2014)

Oh, I'm going to knock it out of the park. It may be a home run and it may be a foul ball. We shall see which side of the line I end up on.

I feel like I'm going to be just like the guy I sat next to the first time I took the exam. He was so nervous that it made him shake so bad, I wondered if the poor guy was having a seizure.

Thanks everyone!


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 23, 2014)

Location visited so I know what time to leave and how to get there. 2001 and 2008 practice exams done and out of the way. Bag (practice exams, SMS, FE Manual, personal folder, steam tables, conversion book, and MERM) packed. Nothing more I can do now.

Here's wishing everyone the best of luck. Hope we have a bunch of new PE's (and new EB donors) in a few weeks.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 23, 2014)

Best of luck to you too! And same for all!

By this time tomorrow night, I will be home, likely on my ret pally, trying to get my legendary cloak before WoD launches. If you didn't follow that, don't worry, I didn't expect you to.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 25, 2014)

Hope it went well for everyone! Can't wait to hear.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 25, 2014)

Hope it was good for you. Didn't feel as confident as I would have preferred but should have done enough to get a pass I think.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 25, 2014)

I did much better in pm than am. I still didn't finish either session, and had to guess, just not as many in pm. Felt like what problems I had time to work, I did well on, unless I made stupid mistakes.

Time will tell.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 25, 2014)

I finished with about an hour to spare each session. I think I did much better in the AM. I counted the 'definitely wrong/no freaking clue' ones and had about 3 of those. I figure another 3 or so for stupid errors. The PM was a bit of a mix. There were quite a few where I banged them out right out of the gate. There were enough "no freaking clue" questions to leave me worried though. Mathematically I think I scored enough for a pass but my usual pessimism tells me I screwed up enough to get the dreaded "thick packet."


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## msuth22_PE (Oct 25, 2014)

I also thought I did pretty well on the morning. Had to guess on a few but overall felt condifent. HVAC PM was tougher than I anticipated and I know I didn't do as well on it as the morning. I do think I got enough right to pass, however I'm sure that feeling will change after a little time...


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 25, 2014)

The exam content was a bit heavier in certain areas which threw me for a loop. It didn't seem to be very close to the standard breakdown on the NCEES site. That's just my feeling on the Mechanical AM and T/F PM though. Someone else may get on here and say that it was a breeze...


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 25, 2014)

Ramnares, my experience was exactly the opposite. I don't think I did well in the am, which has me worried I may not pass. But I feel I did ok in the pm, I guess I studied enough for pm that I ended up neglecting the am a little.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 25, 2014)

I counted about 6 probs in the PM which were up in the air for me. 3 out of those 6 were guesses. The other three were solved but took a lot of looking and wasn't positive about my method used. I figure another 3-4 for silly mistakes and I'm at a 30 for the afternoon.

Again, without getting myself into trouble (I hope), I thought the sections (HVAC, mechanics etc.) were a bit misrepresented in the overall composition.

On a funnier note, I know they said no food/water allowed in NY but at Pratt they were taking EVERYTHING away. They had a table where everyone had to put their water, food etc. I took a pack of gum out and the proctor said it wasn't allowed. I asked if I could just chew a couple sticks and put the pack away and she said no, that's food and not allowed :/


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 26, 2014)

By the way, it was a green pencil this time around...they wouldn't give you an extra pencil either. I left early so I don't know if they tried to reclaim the pencils but when I handed my test in my pencil was under the MERM cover somewhere so they didn't see/ask for it.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 26, 2014)

Yes, green was the color. They told us to keep them. I have three now.

Also told us to raise our hand if we needed another one.


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## Road Guy (Oct 26, 2014)

So your saying you didn't get me one?


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 26, 2014)

If you really want one, I can find and send you the two I got before this exam.

Seriously, if I pass this time, I've thought about framing all three along with my liscense.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 26, 2014)

Honestly, The only one that matters anything to me is the one that I passed with. I do have the first one from October 2012 and I never kept the one from April 2013 because I was so discouraged by how I felt afterwards. I will frame the one from October 2013.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 26, 2014)

I asked the proctor (who nixed my gum) and her response was, "We don't have extra pencils. What you have on your desk is all you get." Which was stupid because once the instructions were being read they said if you needed an extra pencil raise your hand...at that point I was annoyed enough that I said screw it and just proceeded to do the exam.


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## IlliniWood (Oct 26, 2014)

I took MS&amp;M in the PM, and thought the PM was a little smoother than the AM. Wasn't as prepared as I should have been (1st time taker). I don't feel very confident. Could have passed, could have failed. Preparing myself mentally for the latter. Going to take a couple of weeks off and then start reading over some things that I would like to improve my knowledge base on anyway. If I do need to retake in April, I'll just be that much further ahead. I actually felt happy to be spending a Sunday doing yard work as opposed to being locked away studying.

Hope everyone did well. I know if I didn't pass it won't be for lack of effort.


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## Mike M PE (Oct 26, 2014)

It's amazing how you guys sound like we did after the last exam.

Relax, release and let go. If you passed then Great if not think about what you would do different and then go back to it!


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## NJmike PE (Oct 26, 2014)

Mike M PE said:


> It's amazing how you guys sound like we did after the last exam.
> 
> Relax, release and let go. If you passed then Great if not think about what you would do different and then go back to it!


http://youtu.be/moSFlvxnbgk


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## Mike M PE (Oct 26, 2014)

NJmike PE said:


> Mike M PE said:
> 
> 
> > It's amazing how you guys sound like we did after the last exam.
> ...


You are wrong for that!
Lmao


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 26, 2014)

Lol! I'm letting it go, after all, either way it's the last time I'm taking that test.


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## Mike M PE (Oct 26, 2014)

StillNotA PE said:


> Lol! I'm letting it go, after all, either way it's the last time I'm taking that test.


SMott,
Out of curiosity did the review course help you? Did you feel prepared? Just curious.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 26, 2014)

Mike M PE said:


> StillNotA PE said:
> 
> 
> > Lol! I'm letting it go, after all, either way it's the last time I'm taking that test.
> ...


Yes very much. I still had trouble with speed, but the problems I had time to work I feel very good about.
If I fail again it's because I needed to work more on speed.


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## Road Guy (Oct 27, 2014)

Sounds like a lot of jerk proctors this go round? Wish there was a way you all could give feedback on their performance and attitude...


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 27, 2014)

I think it's just NY proctors being anal about rule enforcement. It just comes back to using common sense when applying rules I guess. Is gum technically food, sure. Is it really an issue unless the person chews like a cow and disturbs others, probably not. The pencil thing really irked me though. Shell out $700 or so and they can't give you an extra damn pencil...


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## IlliniWood (Oct 27, 2014)

Our proctors were very nice and professional. No complaints at all as far as the exam day process went in IL.


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## Porter_ (Oct 27, 2014)

NY needs to lighten up. i'm surprised they expect you to sit for two 4 hour stretches with no water (or expect you to exit the test to find a drinking fountain). i took the exam in WA state and i had 3 bottles of water, a 20 oz coffee (morning), and a 16 oz coffee (afternoon). i was jacked up on caffeine the entire time.


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## snickerd3 (Oct 27, 2014)

IlliniWood said:


> Our proctors were very nice and professional. No complaints at all as far as the exam day process went in IL.


where did you take it? The CTS proctors IL uses are usually one or two middle aged people in charge then either super old ladies or welfare receiptiants with fake claws for finger nails that spend the entire time on their smart phones.


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## IlliniWood (Oct 27, 2014)

I took it in Champaign. The personnel were all well dressed and very polite. I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing while the exam was going on, but they seemed to be attentive.


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## snickerd3 (Oct 27, 2014)

^when I took the FE in champaign it was all *really* old folks, for the PE(in champaign), the proctors were wearing sweatpants with words across the butt and hoodies. very unprofessional. Glad to see CTS has established some sort of decorum


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 27, 2014)

Off topic...is there a current spam thread?


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## NJmike PE (Oct 27, 2014)

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?/topic/24179-The-Number-Picture-Game#entry7229308


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Oct 27, 2014)

NJmike PE said:


> http://engineerboards.com/index.php?/topic/24179-The-Number-Picture-Game#entry7229308


So, do I have permission to spam every single thread? Might have to do that next week when I'm in the hospital. Give me something to do.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 27, 2014)

You can spam the numbered picture thread.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 27, 2014)

Within the rules.


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## NJmike PE (Oct 27, 2014)

After you bring those Jell-O shots


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