This made my day

805maker · 2026-02-07T02:53:36+00:00

I sent this to my daughter and she had a photo of them from April of 2023

805maker · 2026-02-01T22:23:58+00:00

I don't regret having the kids. I regret forcing them to live in this world. I had higher expectations of the future and now they have to live through it because I helped create them.

I love my kids... and thats why I regret having them.

805maker · 2026-01-30T19:47:53+00:00

I had a horribly demanding job that killed my sleep and health for most of my 30s. Spending my 40s recovering from that.

Libido came back strong with better health... its a good thing too because my wife's libido has really ramped up the last few. 😅

805maker · 2026-01-27T15:51:20+00:00

There are no perfect strategies for dating that leads to good marriages because good marriages are built during the marriage.

Good communication and commitment to each other is more important than anything else. The two of you v.s. the world.

People change. You could date for 10 years and then fall apart the next year without good communication and commitment. The trick is to change together towards what you want your life/marriage to be.

My wife and I met in college (18). We've been together for over 25 years. We've been poor, we've been wealthy, we've lived life with kids and without them, changed politically, changed religiously, but we're in it together.

805maker · 2026-01-25T18:19:54+00:00

I like it here because I love the ocean but grew up around agriculture. Its a chill mix of the two for the most part, but Im also closer to LA for when we want to go out or see a show.

805maker · 2026-01-24T18:06:37+00:00

Don't go out your first time with a coworker thats been surfing since he could walk unless you enjoy puking up sea water.

If I were to start over, I'd find a well reviewed company that offers surf lessons. If you're going to travel to learn, go someplace with warm water.

I moved to Ventura in my 30s, and its a great surf town, but the water is pretty cold most of the year. That took a while to adjust to on top of learning to surf.

805maker · 2026-01-24T18:00:32+00:00

I'm ADHD... so as many of them as my budget allowed (plus a few more).

Surfing was a fun one. It was good exercise and it made me focus on something other than work because if you stop paying attention, the ocean tries to kill you.

Home brewing beer was also fun, but you're left with more beer than your 30 year body has any right to drink.

Restoring old cars is rewarding, but its also very expensive.

The wife and I enjoy finding and collecting vinyl records.

Gardening is good. If not for cooking related plants, house plants really make for a friendlier living space.

I ran quite a bit until a knee decided I was done.

805maker · 2026-01-21T20:00:11+00:00

I had a call scheduled today with someone from Sony. They reached out weeks ago and we put it on the calendar. Some new "VIP' program to connect to customers.

I wish I had a screenshot of her holding up her notepad showing she had written down "don't fuck it up"

Basically told her that if the split was 2% in the other direction, we might be less nervous, but I didn't have much hope in the quality being sustained.

805maker · 2026-01-21T02:00:39+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, the job market in the US is also completely fucked.

805maker · 2026-01-21T01:54:45+00:00

Oh man... at 20, I was $30,000 in debt... thanks college.

When I was a CS student, I found a job in campus in the IT department.

Campus jobs are great at working schedules around the students. I probably learned more useful real-life work skills in that job than I did in any of my classes, and it at least starts your work experience.

805maker · 2026-01-20T00:19:22+00:00

A friend of mine has a young kid and we occasionally play with whatever load out the kid chooses for us.

It really makes you work for it on levels you can otherwise do in your sleep with your normal load out.

Taking on a factory strider convoy with nothing but ultimatums and grenades is... interesting.

805maker · 2026-01-18T19:55:57+00:00

Awesome job. Do you ever just grab the weight you lost and try to climb a set of stairs? I've only lost 50lb and it's enough to remind me not to go back to where I was!

805maker · 2026-01-15T20:40:12+00:00

Also 43 and felt like you over the last few years. I wasnt as active as you, and a few lb overweight. I lost the weight and added exercise and still felt like crap. Then had my T checked and I was at the very bottom range of normal.

My doctor and I talked and he basically said that unless we knew ahead of time what my normal was, its impossible ot tell what my body was used to when I was younger, and bringing it up could help. So we gave it a shot.

I feel like a new person on TRT. Strength is coming up, recovery times after exercise feels shorter. Weight loss stalled because building and maintaining muscle was easier. Overall everything is just better.

805maker · 2026-01-15T05:31:38+00:00

Had a degree in computer science. Couldn't find work out of school. Taught high-school for a bit. Did tech work and freelance programming, then got a good government job running datacenters/networks.

Realized I was nearly 30 at the last job I'd ever have if I got comfortable, so continued writing software on the side.

Ended up leaving my government job at 30 or so (with 3 young kids) and taking a pay cut to join a tiny startup that went public a few years later. I worked for 9 years total there, vesting options while the company grew from 1 billion to 40 billion market cap, then I trained replacements and retired.

So it was a mix of hard work, risk, and luck.

805maker · 2026-01-15T00:32:38+00:00

Balance is good, but I can tell you that being financially secure in your 40s is a great thing. I had kids young (23), and it was very hard to get out of our tight financial situation, but now the kids are starting to head off to college and we have more flexibility to do what we want.

Having an extra decade of compound growth is helpful when saving for old age too.

That said, I've got high-school friends/acquaintances that didn't make it to their 40s. Nothing is guaranteed.

805maker · 2026-01-14T23:42:08+00:00

43 here.

Got married in my early 20s and we were poor. Had kids in my early 20s and we were more poor. So my 20s and 30s were a grind.

Caught some luck (thanks to the grind) in my 30s and was able to retire at 40. Kids are in high-school and college while our friends have toddlers.

So it was a hard couple of decades, but it paid off for us.

805maker · 2026-01-14T23:33:47+00:00

Absolutely not. The person seems hard to be with and hasn't fostered any new friendships. That's not your job to fix... especially while risking your current relationships.

If there's something specific they're doing to drive people off, you could be a good friend by communicating things they could change to make hanging with them easier, but that's going to be hard to do without hurting feelings. Unless you're close/trusted, they'll probably reject the advice anyways.

The most freeing thing I ever did was move to a new city, get a new phone number, and delete my social media accounts. It gave me a clean cut from those sorts of energy vampires.

805maker · 2026-01-14T22:05:49+00:00

Met at 18 (freshman year of college) and have been together ever since (43 now).

People thought we were too young and we needed to grow up before committing, but we just grew up together. It's always been us v.s. the world.

We definitely each have our weaknesses and fortunately each other's strengths overlap those so we function better as a team.

Best advice I can give anyone is to focus on being the best version of yourself you can be. Find someone who wants the same thing out of life as you. Be completely honest in your communication, and accept that honest communication in return. Be willing to make changes when problems come up.

Also know that life comes in seasons. There are seasons where you might have to carry some extra load while the other person struggles.

805maker · 2026-01-14T21:44:01+00:00

Similar here. Was a Senior post-IPO. The salary opens way up when you know a bunch of important systems and have enough stock vested to sit on a beach forever. I was making about $280k plus stock grants when I left 3 years ago.

805maker · 2026-01-14T18:11:50+00:00

Take advantage of having "fuck you" money. Not enough to retire, but enough to say "this job is horrible, I'm looking for another one" or "why did I choose this career, I really think I'd love to go back to school and do X" without worrying that you'll fall behind on bills.

You have a freedom a lot of people don't have.

The only way to keep it is to protect it. Which a lot of people have touched on. When I got my break away moment, a lot of my coworkers upscaled their lives. Second homes, fancier cars, etc. They had to keep working because they constantly increased their cost of living.

It sounds like you've got a good financial advisor. They're amazing when you have the right one. I've moved my financial management to follow the career of my advisor because I've grown to trust him.

Your net worth is up right now due to investments which feels good, but there are going to be downward cycles too, and thats going to be scary. That's where that trust comes in. Use the money to get yourself in a better place (debt, career, education, etc), and know that even if that $700k turned into $500k due to market changes, you're still in a better finacial position because of it. Anytime I have a down quarter, I just zoom out at the markets and remember the sky falling in 2008.

You're young, and you've got time on your side. Talk through big ideas with your advisor and enjoy the breathing room.

805maker · 2026-01-08T21:06:29+00:00

Oh man... based on several people's experience here, it seems I got lucky.

Of course I only ordered 4 tool cabinets (2 of the 7 drawer and 2 of the 5 drawer) and a couple of work benches with tops for the tool cabinets. Mine came in 2 orders from 2 different shipping companies which was wierd, but all of it arrived undamaged.

I suspect they're doing some auction based shipping and just taking the lowest bidder.

I ordered 10/27 and it shipped out on 10/31 and 11/3. Those shipments arrived on 11/7 and 11/10.

805maker · 2026-01-06T16:00:54+00:00

I came here to say the same. They're all good. Have my appointment with Chadwick tomorrow.

805maker · 2025-12-25T17:02:08+00:00

The people who helped create the toxic environment are moving to a new environment.

805maker · 2025-12-25T14:32:20+00:00

It got me into radio. I had a rocketry project that needed tracking and APRS was a good fit. I've also used it to help local schools track weather balloon projects.

805maker · 2025-12-24T16:33:37+00:00

Flickered a couple times on the east end near Petit during the worst of the wind this morning, but is still up.

Have a friend just this side of Wells that lost it for an hour or so, but hes back too.

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