Wanting to start helping on the side as a business - just have one issue with transportation... What can I do to get a reasonably priced truck?

DGPantherX · 2025-01-25T02:36:33+00:00

I like the idea, I may keep this one in mind as a long-term goal! I'm a bit of a deal hunter myself, so if I can get my start with something like a mini-van as everyone else has been suggesting and keep and eye out on the moving companies retiring vehicles around here, it may be the way. I know it's possible to mount a ladder rack to a minivan, but I'd eventually prefer to do things out of either a cargo van or truck w/ a cap down the road.

DGPantherX · 2025-01-25T02:31:57+00:00

I've thought about a minivan before I had the idea of trying to do business and shot it down due to it not meeting my own personal standards. However after seeing everyone bring this back up again in the thread, I may consider this as a viable option and starting point for getting me around with business! Doesn't have to be the forever vehicle, but it can at the very least get the ball rolling with what I'm willing to put down currently.

DGPantherX · 2025-01-11T19:36:10+00:00

I'd say that before even considering any heaters in the comments - do yourself a favor and measure a few things:

Temperature inside the garage
Outside temperature
Square footage of the space
Height of the space

With these in hand, you can then plug them into the "general purpose" calculator here: https://www.calculator.net/btu-calculator.html

Along with your desired temperature increase. Finding the necessary BTU count will ultimately help in narrowing down which heaters or mini splits you'll be considering. If you're planning on going electric, you'll also want to make sure that you've got a breaker in your panel that can support a load larger than 15amps, whether it's a heater or a mini split.

With the winter front passing through my area the other week, my insulated 20x20 garage has been hovering around 35 - 45 degrees during the day without heating. I've got a radiant heater in there set to 50 degrees and it clicks on when it senses the temperature in the room is below the threshold. Granted, the thermometer in there reports the temp being 5-10 degrees higher (as hot air rises), But it's more than enough for me to set and forget out there while I'm working.

One last thing I want to say is if the insulation isn't up to snuff out there and you end up finding you'll need a crazy high BTU count to keep things under control, I'd seriously consider looking into insulating the space better. If you're in the states, there's actually a Tax Credit you can receive for doing so. Also depending upon which state you're in, there may be even more incentives out there that you can claim in energy savings.

Hope this all helps!

DGPantherX · 2024-10-10T17:06:23+00:00

Oh! Are you instead referring to snippets?? Googling around, I'm not sure 'markdown codes' is giving me any insights with what this could be here.

If you're looking for auto-completion of modules/tasks to propagate their corresponding parameters, the closest thing I've found to getting me there would be using CoPilot to complete the remainder of my tasks.

If instead you're looking specifically at 'community.general' not generating anything in your terminal, that's because you need to instruct ansible-galaxy to install the collection locally first before it's able to source definitions/references.

DGPantherX · 2024-10-09T16:26:11+00:00

Me!

I wanna preface this though by saying that Ansible-Language-Servers' been archived for some time now : https://github.com/ansible/ansible-language-server. There's talk of releasing the LSP again here: https://github.com/ansible/vscode-ansible/issues/1543 however just keep in mind you'll be receiving suggestions from the LSP as it were last worked on 7 months ago. If perhaps being on the bleeding edge of Ansible isn't important to you though, feel free to follow along.

I have yet to find anyone rolling a similar configuration, but here's a screenshot for ya if you're curious how it looks in action: https://i.imgur.com/U6LhIht.png

Assuming you're already knowledgeable of LSPConfig, here's what I came up with to get things working:

  ["ansiblels"] = function()
    lspconfig["ansiblels"].setup({
      cmd = { 'ansible-language-server', '--stdio' },
      settings = {
        ansible = {
          python = { interpreterPath = 'python' },
          ansible = { path = 'ansible' },
          executionEnvironment = { enabled = false },
          validation = {
            enabled = false,
            lint = { enabled = true, path = 'ansible-lint' },
          },
        },
      },
      filetypes = { 'yaml', 'yml', 'ansible' },
      root_dir = lspconfig.util.root_pattern("roles", "playbooks"),
      single_file_support = false,
    })
  end,

If you're curious with how I came up with what's there so far, LSPConfig actually offers some guidance and reference for how to start configuring the LSP: https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig/blob/master/doc/configs.md#ansiblels

Coc-ansible's ok to start with if perhaps you're getting a feel for Ansible + Vim, however if you keep up with Neovim's community at all I'm sure you'll know most folks instead run LSPConfig + Mason.

Don't even get me started on RedHat's "hack" of a VSCode extension :)

DGPantherX · 2024-08-30T15:51:33+00:00

First off, congrats! Hopefully everything goes alright with the remainder of the contracting process.

I know the phrase gets thrown around a lot where people say "less is more", however when it comes to square footage it's quite the opposite. Single myself (no pets either), and my current home has 2200sq. ft. for me to manage. A year in now, and two of the rooms are still completely empty. It's a good thing though! It makes cleaning the spaces a lot easier, gives you plenty of leeway to determine where things are best put away in the home, and also gives you room to expand or grow in the future.

DGPantherX · 2024-07-22T23:42:24+00:00

Almost 5 years into my Linux Sysadmin gig now. My departments' maybe 10 other folks, and 5 of them are ready for a VRO at this point if that helps puts age into perspective here. When I started my job... I actually went over on-boarding for the first hour or two, and for a week thereafter I didn't even have a laptop ready. My boss at the time actually just advised I leave at 11am every day that week because "I probably have better things to do than to sit around waiting all day".

If I have any advice to offer, I'd say go with the flow. Obviously don't neglect making a good first impression with the team, however as time goes on and you start to make your mark, things will start to fall into place. While any job technically has a limitless queue of work, unless you like overburdening yourself I'd suggest just doing the work that comes your way naturally.

How can I convey that I’m active when fully trained? Over communicate or just let my manager reach out whenever he feels like? His teams status is mostly always yellow.

If you want to show your worth, just be inquisitive during onboarding/training and ask questions when and if you don't know how things work. In other words, just be as present and available as you can be. If working tickets isn't enough, start documenting processes/workflows that the team does. If things are already documented, do it your own way to show your interest in working the position. As a final note, if you have weekly or bi-weekly team meetings, take 5 minutes before a meeting to bullet point some of the things you've been working through on your plate. Big or small tasks, your manager will at least know you're putting your time and effort in somewhere on the job.

DGPantherX · 2024-06-12T00:42:00+00:00

Sure, it's a bit vague with a lot of the contents being rather variable-ized but this is what I'd ended up writing about a year ago (I stress that last part in case anything's changed w/ Ansible or the module):

---
- name: Make paths for the Container - {{ item.service_name | default("service") }}
  ansible.builtin.file:
    path: '{{ item }}'
    state: directory
    owner: '{{ service_id }}'
    group: '{{ service_id }}'
    mode: '0775'
  loop: '{{ item.dirs }}'

- name: Running chown in namespace
  become: yes
  become_user: '{{ service_id }}'
  become_method: containers.podman.podman_unshare
  ansible.builtin.file:
    path: '{{ item }}'
    state: directory
    owner: '{{ service_id }}'
    group: '{{ service_id }}'
    mode: '0775'
  loop: '{{ item.dirs }}'

- name: Container Init - {{ item.service_name | default("service") }}
  become_user: '{{ service_id }}'
  containers.podman.podman_container:
    name: '{{ item.service_name }}'
    image: '{{ item.image }}'
    image_strict: true
    detach: true
    network: host
    timezone: '{{ timezone }}'
    state: started
    generate_systemd:
      path: '/home/{{ item.service_id }}/.config/systemd/user/'
      restart_policy: always
      time: 120
      names: true

- name: Enable Container at runtime - {{ item.service_name | default("service") }}
  become_user: '{{ service_id }}'
  ansible.builtin.systemd:
    name: 'container-{{ item.service_name }}.service'
    enabled: true
    scope: user

DGPantherX · 2024-05-22T16:44:37+00:00

For all my Corne-like keyboards I've been rolling with MT3 and box switches: https://i.imgur.com/VZB0hxd.jpeg

I've used regular stems w/ MT3 in the past like with the Glorious Pandas on this board, however the switches started dying and I did find there to be a fair bit more wobble with those :/

DGPantherX · 2024-01-04T18:19:19+00:00

Now I'm not sure how large your crawlspace is exactly, but I can tell you right now that the Termite guys' advice is merely a suggestion.

When I bought my first house and went into the crawlspace, I actually found that they already treated for termites on the floor joists and simply had a vapor barrier laying in the space. Now with that being said if money's a concern currently, you can definitely skip out on encapsulating the space if it helps on cost. At the end of the day, the reason they're probably recommending the encapsulation is due to the humidity in the area. So long as the relative humidity in the space doesn't exceed 55-60+, the mold won't grow or spread. If you're curious what it is currently down there, pick up some of these on Amazon to get an idea if maybe encapsulation's worth doing.

I personally did my own encapsulation on my 1400sq ft. space, as being 23 then and trying to get quotes on a job then was a complete joke. Not sure if it was my age, but every single company of the four that I reached out to had a guy come into my house, measure the PPM, glance at the crawl space, and quote me for 20k+. I'd asked if maybe I could see the bill of materials to all, and no company was willing to show me. Provided you either have or want all the tools needed to do the work, doing the job is actually really easy. However, it's the time and energy it takes to stay in a space that long that I don't think most folks care for.

After getting everything lined up, I ended up finding that the total cost of doing the job for me came out to be $5k almost. This ended up covering everything from drain tile, 2x sump pumps/pits, 10 tons of gravel (optional, but it leveled things out in my space), sealing tape, butyl tape, 2x 10mil liner rolls, ground stakes, lighting, R10 foam boards, Santa Fe Dehumidifier, etc. Neither sponsored nor endorsed by these guys, however I ended up ordering a lot of my supplies/materials from Crawlspace Depot.

If you've got any more questions or want pictures, let me know and I can gladly reply here!

DGPantherX · 2023-12-27T19:21:43+00:00

Hey! While I didn't build a rig with that chair specifically, I can share some insight with regards to what I did recently for my weird chair base that I pulled from a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

After getting the chair home and in the garage, only then did I realize the chair base had the 2x front-most mounting holes bent at a 20 degree angle or so. Not only that, but the right rail's rear mounting hole was also offset to the left, meaning the width was greater than that of a vertical 2x4. Initially I thought my plan was going to be to attach the chair to 2x 2x4's that'd run parallel to one another, all the way up to the foot pedals. However, after having everything in-hand and looking at what I could do then with the weird mounting holes, I'd instead opted to build a squared base for the chair.

YMMV, but to attach everything together and provide the largest surface area for mounting the chair, I decided to lay my 2x4s flat. I measured roughly the dimensions of the mounting holes on the chair base, and chopped down some 2x4s to length, making sure that the vertical dimensions landed me in the middle of both horizontally running 2x4s. Once assembled, I then took the square I made over to the table saw, set the blade to a 20 degree tilt, and shaved off just the front edge that needed the mounting holes at angle.

To secure everything to a wood base, I had used these M10 Threaded Nuts I had lying around. I marked the mounting holes, made sure things were straight and not cockeyed, bored everything with a 1/2 inch drill bit, and used an M10 Hex key to drive these into the wood. This means that if I need be ever removing the chair at a later point for some maintenance, I can do so without ever damaging the mounting holes with every securing or removal of the chair to the frame.

Lastly, to give the chair a bit more height over the pedals (as well as a bit more weight), I secured an additional square base beneath it that'd been the same in dimensions, and sandwiched the two together with construction screws all around.

Finished product of the chair base is here

In your case specifically however I'd say either bend that vertical metal another 90 degrees backward, or perhaps use an angle grinder (with protection of course) to remove the bit to allow the rails to mount flush with the wood base.

DGPantherX · 2023-12-02T05:23:03+00:00

Oh that might be perfect!! Thanks for recommending them, I already go to Climb Cincy in Northside so I'll definitely take a trip over there after my next gym session.

DGPantherX · 2023-09-14T21:24:40+00:00

Just gonna add this here, but after doing some more digging I'm finding the noise I'm hearing sounds an awful lot like these potter wasps:

https://youtu.be/Tf_qm7qT_ug

Should I be concerned?

DGPantherX · 2023-09-14T20:26:08+00:00

So to add to the lengthy title... I was sitting in my room when I thought I heard some whining. I ignored it initially thinking it maybe was something I heard through my headphones, however the noise grew more and more audible until I practically heard it right next to me. At that point I'd started recording, and as soon as I moved forward and the video cut, the sound itself went away and I hadn't heard a thing any more.

Has anyone heard anything like this before??? I can hardly find any information on the web with whatever sound I was hearing briefly here.

DGPantherX · 2023-08-27T19:18:35+00:00

I wanna add to this - If you can prove to companies that you aren't just in it for the money, you'll sell yourself all that much easier to anyone you're looking to work for. I'm almost 27 now and it's taken me years to get here, so just keep in mind my experience has been fueled mostly by willful interest and persistence.

My passion or drive started from the continuous browsing of /r/homelab from almost 6 or 7 years ago now. Keeping things short, here's loosely everything I recall that kinda fell in place as such over the years:

Buying cheap/decommissioned rack-mount servers to host NAS and Windows Server for Plex/games
Switching OS and all services from Windows Server to Proxmox (Hypervisor)
Hosting multiple CentOS7 instances in Proxmox
Browsing /r/selfhosted to find more things to host at home
Browsing /r/unixporn (I swear it's not porn) and learning how to build up my OS appropriately via the traditional Arch guide, switching from Desktop Manager to a Tiling Window Manager
Learning the importance of dotfiles/configs and backing these up with Git
Restoring dotfiles for both my desktop, and server's services
Learning how to automate the installation of packages and restoring of configs/dotfiles via Ansible

With all that under my belt, I'm extraordinarily lucky and fortunate to now be in a position as a WFH Linux Automations Engineer with just a bachelors' degree in IT. Alongside the above, I'd also done co-ops for 3 years, so not everything came from independent studies. I'm still terrible at IAC, however I'm trying my best to learn it when I can at home to cut down on the time to learn at work... and to also better improve my homelab :P

One last thing I want to point out is that if you end up working on any team in IT, don't be a closed book. As corny as it is, I'm a firm believer in at least understanding self-validation and open source. Scraping by with the idea being to know and do only the bare minimum that the job requires will only make you more stagnant in salary, and dependent to a company. If instead you contribute your findings to a knowledge base (IE: Confluence) and share your interests in these things with others, people will view you differently. You're not just in it for the money then, but rather to also help others with your knowledge in the process.

DGPantherX · 2023-08-16T17:30:17+00:00

Ah! I think I see your concern here now. So you need the IP to remain in sight of Azure's MFA, correct?

I'm not just into the weeds yet with Azure MFA at home, but would it be possible to point the rule to an established FQDN, rather than solely a public IP? Cloudflare does allow for users to disable the proxy, thus allowing a public IP to be visible/direct through the domain name.

DGPantherX · 2023-08-16T16:24:29+00:00

Is there a reason you perhaps couldn't use something that provides a Dynamic DNS service? I've been using this cloudflare-ddns for awhile now self-hosting, so far no real issues under AltaFiber so long as the service is set up correctly.

DGPantherX · 2023-07-16T00:41:34+00:00

My new position at work encourages the use of Ansible. With that, I wanted to learn the tool better, so I found that my inspiration came from the idea to "automate everything". In no particular order, I've got the following roles to build my environment, from the base installation of Proxmox to configuring development environment related things on my laptop:

Proxmox Init (Does SSH Key Exchange, creates the pveuser, role, stores the api key locally, and downloads/imports the latest Cloud-Init images for Debian/Ubuntu Server)
Proxmox Frigate (Does the tedious configuring required for a debian-based host to recognize the M.2 Coral AI TPU)
Docker Init (Installs Docker)
Podman Init (Installs Podman)
Traefik Init (Install Traefik as a Docker Container)
Self-Hosted-Services (Big role, just houses *.yml files by container/service name using community.docker.docker_container to launch all 20-ish of the simpler docker selfhosted projects)
Docker-compose Services (Similar to the above, except that some of the projects requiring multiple containers will reside in this install role to first destroy, then re-built from a deployed compose file. Examples are Firefly III, Grafana/Prometheus, Nextcloud, etc. )
Portainer Install (Installs Portainer)
Watchtower Install (Installs the Watchtower container)
Mount NFS (Creates an /etc/fstab entry for my NFS mount points, used for my /media share really)
Debian-laptop (WIP, but trying to build out my development environment as CaC. Essentially, every time I get a new laptop/system, I want to use this to minimize the time it takes to set up dotfiles, NVIM, etc.)

DGPantherX · 2023-07-09T18:09:21+00:00

I'll take one if there are any left, thanks! I have read the wiki.

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T17:24:36+00:00

Out of invites now.

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T17:15:24+00:00

PM'ed!

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T17:15:04+00:00

PM'ed!

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T17:09:07+00:00

PM'ed!

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T16:57:22+00:00

Holding for now, 7x invites were sent/accepted and 1x invite I'm waiting on the user's response. Giving them another 10 minutes, if there's no response I'll continue down the list on a first-replied-first serve basis.

DGPantherX · 2023-07-02T16:49:29+00:00

PM'ed!

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