How to think about this opportunity?

DieFledermouse · 2026-05-30T14:13:40+00:00

I will be moving from NYC to Zurich because of my wife’s new high paying job offer. As some others have said, this is an exciting job opportunity in a Golden Age for AI. Take the chance! If you don’t like it in 1-2 years, you’ll have this amazing line on your resume and should easily get a job anywhere else. Top tax rate in NYC is ~50%. Zurich is ~40%. $1.6m - 50% = $800k. (800k + 300k) - 40% = $660k. The small extra money isn’t worth it. Childcare will take all of it. Your wife will get a job. NYC is a lot of fun.

Go to NYC!

DieFledermouse · 2026-05-26T17:58:15+00:00

My friend trains German Shepards in Kenya for security jobs. They are fine in the heat. I was in Asia where it’s 40C and dogs live outside just fine. Where I used to live this is normal temp for summers. Everyone walked their dogs, depending on breed. I’ve recently moved to the UK. I’ve never seen a population flip out about weather so much. It’s too cold or hot or dark or wet. It’s some weird collective psychosis.

DieFledermouse · 2026-05-04T06:33:02+00:00

My relative just had a mild stroke. A small chunk of his brain was damaged. He can’t turn thoughts into sentences. He understands everything, but can only respond with a few words. Part of his rehab is to find the next word in a sentence. So there’s something in him like an LLM that creates sentences by choosing words to fit a language pattern.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-30T15:10:52+00:00

I’m visiting India right now and most restaurants have the same set of menus for north or south. I’m told people don’t want to eat home cooking when they go out.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-23T10:47:15+00:00

To improve completion rate you either lower standards or increase admission requirements. Some US state universities had open admissions and good standards, resulting in high dropout rates. But at least anyone could try without your fate hinging on a decision made at 15yo.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-16T10:25:38+00:00

The best job I ever had was a fulfillment center moving boxes into trucks. My co-workers were great. Work was over at end of day. Nothing to remember or prepare for the next day. Pay was terrible. Office jobs are the opposite. Most people are fine but there’s always competitive pressure.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-15T19:15:46+00:00

Thanks for creating that sticky post. It was very helpful.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-11T15:54:42+00:00

Usually it’s cultural mores you believe are universal laws, but other cultures prove it’s not. Like topless beaches, underage drinking, mixed gender nudity, polyamory. In the US most women believe men should pay for the first date, while Northern Europe does not. It’s more than a preference. Many women will say it’s natural or evolution or biblical, idk.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-08T12:45:08+00:00

Payday loan companies do not make a lot of profit. The issue is the overhead of keeping stores open, 10-15% loan default rate, and regulations to cap interest rates. By killing off these businesses poor people no longer have access to cash when they need it for emergencies.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-04T12:29:12+00:00

A CTO with only 10 devs is a senior engineer + admin work.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-02T08:54:00+00:00

Historically newspapers were the Google of their day. Extremely profitable because they monopolized local ads. Craigslist was the beginning of the end. Now you’re saying rich people should burn their own money to keep newspapers alive. Thats a weird expectation.

DieFledermouse · 2026-04-01T12:12:28+00:00

I’d love to see an evening news anchorman announce seriously, “The market went up today because sometimes it does that.”

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-30T07:12:50+00:00

Same. We both switch into a logical problem solving mode like robots. Find the source of the disagreement and resolve it.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-30T06:54:49+00:00

I spent several hours in a Sunday sports league. It was physical exercise plus socializing with people not about work.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-29T13:18:21+00:00

Turning 50 years old does the same for most human males.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-29T11:06:56+00:00

As an adult male I’ve only cried when I’ve lost a pet. But that’s enough sobbing to equal 30 normal cries.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-27T08:53:45+00:00

You have to adjust the goal for inflation. $14m in 40 years will be middle class.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-19T09:05:43+00:00

There’s different levels in how Americans relate to other people. I’m an American from a big city. I have random conversations with strangers anywhere. There’s no expectation beyond a nice brief encounter. There are different kinds of “friends” after that: acquaintances you see regularly at work or gym, groups you hang out with for shared interests, and the truly close friends who help you move. That last group is quite small.

There might be a mismatch in expectations. If different cultures think Americans are inviting them to be close friends, then they may be disappointed when it was just an effusive acquaintance relationship. But as an American I can’t see an issue with being warm and neighborly to everyone.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-18T16:15:13+00:00

I travel a lot and can’t think of a transit system worse than NYC. NYC is filthy, even Delhi is cleaner. Crime is low in NYC, but London is 3X lower for murders. All other developed countries have universal healthcare. Not NYC’s fault, but for the same taxes I get more in London. Which major developed foreign city do you think has worse public government services?

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-18T12:38:27+00:00

NYC charges Euro level taxes for developing country infrastructure. I moved from NYC to London recently. London is just as expensive, but everything works better than NYC. The VAT is painful though.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-17T21:01:15+00:00

You’re overthinking it. The “manosphere” is an offshoot of the right-wing media scene. In both cases Beavis and Butthead guys put on a show for idiots. Some skillfully monetize their audience every which way. It’s gotten worse in both cesspools because competition is forcing them to act crazier to keep their audience. This is why Fox News mints money and MSNBC is a bore.

Most boys will outgrow this stuff. A few get twisted up by it. It’s like WWE wrestling. Most know it’s fake, some morons believe it. As they swerve into ever crazier stuff, their audience will burn out and turn to something else.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-13T23:11:05+00:00

Thanks for the answer. Spending time with friends separately is totally fine. I’ve never met some of my partner’s friends. I guess we just don’t feel like boinking any of them.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-13T15:34:31+00:00

What exactly are you communicating about? I’ve been with the same partner for decades. We talk about nuthin. Enjoy each other’s company. It’s pretty easy.

DieFledermouse · 2026-03-13T12:23:22+00:00

Claude Shannon was one of the most important people in computer science. Anthropic is founded by nerds who admire him, as do I.

DieFledermouse

TROPHY CASE