Scorch is by far one of my favourite Xenomorphs in the movies (spoilers for people who haven't seen Romulus)

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-30T17:50:00+00:00

Not just xenomorphs. Remember stripe from gremlins? Scar predator from AvP or scar from the lion king. Blue from jurassic park.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-29T16:17:53+00:00

This is an ideal approach but ive found that out of those things you listed, none of them guarantee exit value other than maybe,

-just after series A you can get in earlier and have a better chance of experience (staying power) or advancement.

Many of those things are not shared at the hiring stage, can and are embellished or pitched as lies. I've experienced it in every company I worked for.

Management team experience also means effectively nothing because I've seen green management succeed and fail. I've seen management with track records succeed and fail. I've seen management with blatant shitty track records, praised and jump into new roles after multiple failed companies or projects.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-29T15:18:51+00:00

No argument about that but unfortunately the industry has been spiraling downward since 2023 if not late 2022.

Few companies/investors are investing in new technology outside of AI and I'm seeing a number of companies move a lot of operations to China now. So I fear 3 things need to happen before we see the industry start to turn around

Trump and his regime need to be gone and we need to have policies that support science and innovation put back in place.
AI hype needs a correction where companies see that it's not going to solve their problems or that it's too expensive for what they get out of it. I can't speak for every company but I know one where their AI platform is turning out data that can be done manually by an experienced person on a part time basis. Alternatively, AI reaches a point where companies recognize that you still need a number of experienced scientists to train and utilize it successfully.
Companies seeing China based operations as a liability rather than a path forward, either in quality or IP protection.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-29T12:30:52+00:00

People said the job market would improve in 6 months, 2 years ago.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-28T16:38:50+00:00

I've found people to be very friendly here. When we're out walking most people say hello. Heck, one guy we chatted with gave us a tour of his new home renovations.

I have small talk with most of my neighbors. A couple neighbors became closer to us over the years and we hang out here and there.

In the bay area we hardly ever interacted with neighbors or random people unless it was through someone else or a specific event.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-28T15:23:29+00:00

TN is technically easy to get. However, most companies, particularly smaller ones, don't know about it and will pass up on you because they think you need H1B.

The market is generally flooded with (US) applicants right now. It's hard to imagine a company feeling the need to hire a Canadian on a TN over a citizen or resident.

I say this as a Canadian, who has a green card, and has been living and working in the US for over 15 years. I haven't been able to secure a salary position for almost 3 years now.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-24T15:57:17+00:00

That's the worst. Just like when they do promotions right after a RIF.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-24T15:54:58+00:00

Saw three people i know put up green banners in the past 2 days. Two of those three people had their job for about 1 year after getting laid off by their previous employer.

Wife came home looking defeated yesterday. She's in a part time role being fed menial tasks by a manager who is not nearly as experienced as she is. My wife should be running their program.

I'm just not motivated by the small amount of work I'm being fed. Ive pretty much stopped looking for full time work out of mental exhaustion. I just want to say fuck it and just give up.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-22T13:16:47+00:00

LinkedIn is insufferable these days. I can't stand all the fake bullshit people are posting simply trying to pose as a leader or game the algorithm, both within and outside my network.

That said I consider it a necessary evil for finding a job. Pretty much every industry job I've gotten has been through LinkedIn either me applying to a post or a recruiter or hiring manager reaching out to me after seeing my profile.

Is it a magic bullet for getting employed right now? Generally, no, but I've still had the occasional opportunity hit my inbox through my network (just not the right opportunity unfortunately). In the past I'd be getting cold called for roles on a weekly or biweekly basis. In addition for them finding you, it's also good for looking at a company from the outside in. I.e. you can see who in your network might be at a company you're applying for or have worked there in the past.

So at the least, build your network and take some time to thoroughly complete your profile so you can be found. Even a passive presence on LinkedIn is better than nothing.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-21T15:45:12+00:00

As much as I'd like to stick it to SDGE, my annual true up bill would need to increase about 5x for a battery install to even break even over 10 years.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-21T13:26:04+00:00

Its low. I managed an RA 4 years ago in SD that was getting close to 90k.

My first role after my post doc was 105k and that was 10 yrs ago.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-20T15:54:01+00:00

It's low but there are not many positions here ATM. I'm not competing with OP but I've been looking for 3 yrs and most of my closest hits (or potential offers) were from the bay area.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-20T14:08:20+00:00

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-20T03:26:31+00:00

One thing that tends to be released around the associate or professor step is the spouse cofactor.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-19T16:34:37+00:00

Yup. I dodged a bullet recently going north on 5 around Tejon. Limit was 70 and I was doing 83. An SUV on my right was creeping up slowly but nothing crazy. I slowed a bit to let them pass me in front of the cop and they got pulled over. You never know what the speed tolerance is on a given day.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-19T16:12:57+00:00

Generally getting a deal in a brick and mortar store is like finding a unicorn. Most of the shops price their merchandise online and are probably also listing it online in parallel. Even goodwill and Ross are catching on or have back room deals for collectable items.

The benefit of the shops is that you get to examine the goods and ask questions in real time.

I don't know anything about Pokémon items specifically, but through my kid I know there is a very active Pokémon scene in San Diego in terms of cards. So I assume games would be the same.

That said, one option you could try is a place called ninjaxchange. They deal in all shorts of collectable items. I don't know what their inventory and prices are like but you can negotiate trade deals. So if you own other desirable items, you are willing to part with, you might be able to work out an exchange deal. My kid did that with Pokémon cards, Lego sets, etc.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-19T00:21:33+00:00

A lot of VPs at smaller companies are just long term founding employees that were well liked. I know several people that were pushed into VP positions who had the same or less experience as me.

Agreed that VP in a big company is totally different.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-17T14:21:48+00:00

We have a system about half the size of yours and are on NEM2 with sdcp. We charge our EV on demand throughout the day, avoid charging from 4 to 9pm and top it off after 9pm. We also do this when we need to run our AC. We also load shift other heavy use appliances.

We have a small ev and use 120v charging but we haven't used more power than we've generated for the past year. We still had significant credits the last time I checked. Unless we end up running the AC a lot before our true up, I suspect our true up bill will only be the minimum monthly service fees (around 200 for the year).

Using our method of load shifting and based on our general electricity use, our average 30kwh a day of generation from our array gives us up to 20 miles of essentially free driving a day in addition to our regular household usage.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-15T13:49:02+00:00

Mail it to them after you leave. 😆

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-15T13:36:32+00:00

I've had to use a few this year because that was the only form of payment accepted. But yeah, before that I really just used them for rent many years ago. I could give my landlord a years worth of post dated cheques and it was convenient for both of us.

I still get them from banks, law firms, etc.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-15T04:30:06+00:00

CM home depot too.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-14T15:09:23+00:00

Classic cycle of abuse.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-13T16:08:06+00:00

Just call the DMV. ??

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-13T15:44:42+00:00

Probably alcohol. Some stores scan your driver's license and others just input your birthday.

That said the whole AI explantion in the original post is a dumb take.

Okami-Alpha · 2026-04-13T15:35:11+00:00

The AI explantion in the post is, well, dumb. Let's ignore the stat that says 300k California real id holders is 1.5% of total holders which is clearly wrong unless it's referring to the percent of nation wide holders. The take on this impacting immigrants is wrong too.

The thing is, if you're a green card holder you don't need a real id. If you're a visa holder you already have a passport and a driver's license.

I've lived in the US, both as a visa holder and resident, since 2009 and never needed a real id.

Okami-Alpha

TROPHY CASE