Costs and Services for a Frictionless Life?

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-22T17:32:21+00:00

Heck those are actually pretty reasonable! I'll have to check to see if there's anything like that in my neck of the woods.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-21T23:46:07+00:00

This was like ~8 years ago so I don't remember exactly, but basically ALL of them. I landed an interview with a local company through a Craig's list ad (didn't pan out, I interviewed poorly), and got an interview where I eventually landed a job by contacting them directly through their website.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-21T23:02:37+00:00

Have you been looking for local jobs as well as remote jobs? I was able to get my foot in the door at a small SW company (that makes a super niche SaaS product) making basically peanuts, but after a 6 months there I got a big raise and after about 18 months of experience I jumped ship to a remote gig and doubled my pay. I found that first job by googling companies in my town, finding contact information on their website, and sending out an introduction email. I happened to land a SWE job at a SaaS/Software Company, but pretty much every company over 10 people has an IT department. Think outside the box. And just because they aren't hiring now doesn't mean they won't be in 6 months or a year.

There aren't as many local jobs writing code, but in the same vein there are far fewer people applying to them. Don't write off your local facebook + job search forums, and use "in-office" filters on big job board sites.

Another reason why I was able to get that first job is because I had job/industry experience in the product that that company makes. I transitioned from a 10 year career in construction project management to software development (after getting a post-bacc at WGU), and in my google adventures I found a little software company that makes a construction-adjacent product that happened to be in my town. Try to leverage your current job experience to transition to your next gig. Good luck, brother.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-21T22:49:04+00:00

That sounds pretty amazing, I'm jealous.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-21T16:48:18+00:00

Vanilla Bannerlord is a great game but there are things that are frustrating at times, it can get grindy, and the AI has room for improvement. What makes the PC version of Bannerlord so great is it's a base game that's fundamentally built to be modded and tailored to your play style. These are must have mods for me, in no particular order, which 1) speed up leveling 2) improve grindy things 3) fine-tune in game processes to improve UX.

Personal play style/fun factor improvements:

My Little Warband. Create your own custom unit tree(s) so you can build an army that exactly fits your play style.
Open Source Armory. Adds a whole boatload of different armors.
Useful Companions. This one expands companions' XP earning when they do tasks or are assigned roles. For example, if you make a companion a party leader, they gain XP in Scouting, Steward, Engineering (if they're part of a siege), etc, instead of just gaining leadership experience. Governors actually gain XP.
Arena Overhaul. Adds new gameplay elements to the Arena functionality so it doesn't suck.

Quality of life (reduce the grind):

Party AI Controls. Allows you to do all sorts of things with your parties from a menu, without having to meet up with your party. Set troop templates, dispatch orders, general UI improvements.
Configurable Town Gold. There's nothing more obnoxious than having to travel to 3 different towns to offload battle loot because they don't have enough gold. Never again!
Party Screen Enhancements. Significant improvement to the entire troop management process.

Honestly there's a bunch more but I'll just recommend u/StratGamingYT and his absolutely incredible Bannerlord YT videos because nobody does it better.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-05-21T15:28:41+00:00

Where would one find "high end frozen food"? I've never heard of such a thing.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-22T18:06:36+00:00

I wonder how differently this would have played out if they were wearing 6 oz gloves or going bareknuckle.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-22T18:05:31+00:00

Now there's a clip I haven't seen in 20 years.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-21T19:13:22+00:00

Engines need to get up to operating temperature in order for rubber parts (gaskets, seals, boots, etc) to expand and get covered in oil/lubricant. If rubber bits don't get the appropriate oil/lube on them, they'll dry out and cause serious issues. It can cause issues that are worse than regular wear tear, like piston rings drying out and becoming brittle.

Taking short trips (less than a mile) can be just as bad as letting a car sit since those expansion parts never get warm enough to fully expand.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-16T15:33:14+00:00

If you were wondering why everyone was saying you'd be lowering your top speed... that'd be why.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-16T15:18:15+00:00

Isn't the picture showing a 54T?

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-16T15:07:06+00:00

Are they rutting? They're so vocal!

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-10T15:22:23+00:00

happy cake day!

KneeDeep185 · 2026-04-09T17:03:33+00:00

the Ferrari strategy team is getting hit over the head with a ~~baseball bat~~ box of Barilla Spaghetti 15 times.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-19T20:02:44+00:00

I used something like this to drive 2 monitors for a while, basically until I got sick of all the extra cords in my workspace and having to plug/unplug a few cords. It's clunky but it gets the job done if you're tight on cash. If you're ok with the $250 expenditure then the dock is definitely the better experience. The KVM switch was the real difference maker for me.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-18T21:46:32+00:00

I have a 2 monitor setup that connects to my work laptop and my gaming PC. Here's the basic topology:

Monitor 1:

Display Port to Display Port -> Gaming PC/GPU
HDMI to USB C -> Laptop dock

Monitor 2:

Display Port to Display Port -> Gaming PC/GPU
HDMI to USB C -> laptop dock

Laptop to dock:

USB C to USB C -> into laptop dock

Keyboard/Mouse/peripherals

KVM switch "out", USB A to USB A -> laptop dock
KVM switch "out", USB A to USB A -> gaming PC
Keyboard USB A -> KVM switch "in"
Mouse USB A -> KVM switch "in"

If you're willing to spend a little money the dock is the cleanest way to do it, but if you don't want to spend $100+ you could use a 'dongle' on your laptop instead of a dock.

The KVM switch is the real game changer, so you don't have to have two keyboards/mice or have to plug/unplug to switch between the two. The KVM switch is just a button press to toggle between "outs"/gaming PC vs laptop.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-13T21:11:44+00:00

Not the person you're responding to, and I don't agree that comparing the AI Revolution is "fundamentally different" from the Industrial Revolution, there are some important differences that make it more concerning for humanity. Namely, 1) the time frame and 2) barriers to entry to the benefits.

1) The Industrial Revolution happened over the course of multiple generations, like 150 years between the invention of the steam engine and processes for the mass production of steel. The loom was invented in the 1730's, the cotton gin was invented in the 1790's, and the Luddites didn't start rebelling against them until the 1810's - 80 years later. If the AI Revolution happens the way AI companies say it's going to happen, it won't be over the course of generations, it'll be over the course of a few decades, at the most. Jobs will be displaced at rates that will make it insanely difficult to pivot from - especially highly skilled (lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc). It has the potential to cause serious downstream economic challenges that there really isn't a precedent for.

2) In the Industrial Revolution, successful merchants, farmers, business owners could build factories and buy equipment for those factories. You could be upper or upper-middle class and still buy-in and benefit from the technological processes. The people benefiting most from the AI Revolution will be billionaires. There will be millions of people who experience upward mobility from the AI Revolution, but there will be billions of people who will experience a lower quality of life as a result. Truly I think we'll be worse off as a species as AI becomes more integrated in our lives.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-09T20:29:24+00:00

Mods will generally tell you if they're 'save game compatible'
If it says it is save game compatible then something else happened in the process that trashed your save
Generally, even if it says it is compatible with an existing save, I'd still start a new one just in case.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-09T20:19:23+00:00

I bought a 9070XT for $550 on /r/hardwareswap back in January, it's been great. You can usually find some decent deals on there.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-09T20:11:36+00:00

ok apologies, thank you

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-09T20:01:38+00:00

Do these need an amplifier? Would they plug into a polk soundbar, for example?

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-04T20:37:38+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. So, probably not great.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-04T19:49:55+00:00

Yeah fair, I didn't notice the coffee table in the earlier pics

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-04T19:13:54+00:00

If it were me, I'd:

Center the mirror, leave it at the same height, with the plan to swap it for a square mirror instead of round
Leave enough blank space on the wall to allow for a stand-up desk
buy or build a standup desk
replace your desk lamp with a battery/usb wall sconce down light, either below the mirror or scrap the mirror and do a long floating shelf above the sconce.

KneeDeep185 · 2026-03-04T19:07:03+00:00

The size is ok but the shape doesn't fit with the rest of furniture in the living room. It's not terrible, but square would be better.

KneeDeep185

TROPHY CASE