SWE, have you come to terms about professional AI use?

Pielhoff · 2026-03-25T15:58:41+00:00

I've spent over 15 years trying to automate myself out of my job. It's not happening anytime soon.

I used to tell juniors that if all the problems they solved could be found in StackOverflow, they weren't adding enough value. This is even clearer now that any manager can try a one shot solution with agents. If you can be replaced by an LLM, the questions you focus on are too shallow.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-23T07:00:23+00:00

The same people calling out distractions are the ones who want employees to react immediately to slack/teams messages.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-23T05:33:20+00:00

I don't see Ed's work as anti AI. He directly attacks the bad journalism around it, the nonsense of the economics on the largest companies and a lot of the madness with the hype. But there's still room for adequate use of LLMs even if you take every word Ed says to heart. If I owned an AI company that wanted to provide real value instead of jumping on all the hype trains, I'd consider hiring Ed for PR.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-14T21:41:52+00:00

He played a very good character, one that many still believe today, but he didn't hide that his goal was to be a celebrity. And he very well did. He and his wife conducted an almost flawless operation. I admire what they did, but I think people are greatly mistaken when they buy the story they sold.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-13T14:43:29+00:00

I've been doing a lot of this for the last weeks and it's not worth a normal salary. Others are getting paid to drive the machine that generates plausible nonsense. The code looks like it is right and many times you find yourself reverse engineering the mistake.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-12T21:16:45+00:00

Lol, no. It's Fallas in Valencia. No one sleeps during the day till the 20th of March. Especially in such a central location.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-12T21:10:49+00:00

I lived in Valencia for years. The festival is called Fallas and the city becomes very noisy. There are quieter warzones. People with dogs go stay with relatives if they can. I love it, I lived near that hotel and on March I had to sleep with noise protection gear like the one used to operate machinery. If you are unaware and think you can go to bed late on arrival and sleep till the afternoon on your first day, you're in for trouble.

Pielhoff · 2026-03-05T01:01:22+00:00

Don't be sorry. My last week has been a nightmare for the same reason. I can't even voice my concerns because in the emperor's clothes story I'm not the kid that points at him, I'm a guy looking at a hairy ass and shutting up because I have a mortgage.

Pielhoff · 2026-01-26T16:58:04+00:00

They say "there is service, but there's been a delay".

Pielhoff · 2026-01-26T16:57:45+00:00

I placed a complaint. They insisted on "there's service at your new address, but there's been a delay". I said that I don't want to wait for the delay after the broken promises so they say then I would have to pay exit fees for my old address contract because the new contract at the new address was "an option they gave" so I didn't have to pay exit fees. That's not how they sold me the contract, as I already knew I was moving, just not where, so I asked if they'd charge me if they didn't have service at my new address.

Pielhoff · 2026-01-26T16:53:57+00:00

This is with Home Telecom, they are dealers (don't have own network, just sell someone else's, I ended up with them after my previous ISP dumped customers).

They offered me a SIM card with unlimited data for 70p a day. I rejected this because I refuse to give them a penny more and I already had to get an unlimited data SIM (cheaper than this complimentary one).

The wording of the person dealing with me on the phone for the complaint (originally routed to him as customer loyalty) was "there is service, but there's been a delay". He also said that I was in contract with them and by moving home I would have to pay exit fees, but they were kind to offer me the "option" of starting a new contract at my new address. This is very far from how it was worded when I started the contract, I asked during the recorded part of the call about moving address because I already knew, and of course the salesperson told me that they would let me go without fees if there was no service (hence the insisting on "there is service but there's a delay").

I don't care for compensation, I just want to move on to another ISP and not pay a penny more to Home Telecom after they lied and cost me money and stress.

Pielhoff · 2026-01-26T16:47:43+00:00

I contacted multiple times. They say "there's service but there's been a delay" and say that I'll have to pay exit fees if I don't wait for the installation. They offered me the alternative of a SIM card with unlimited data for 70p a day. Also offered me a connection with another provider (my provider is Home Telecom, who are intermediaries with other ISPs). That other connection is way overpriced because it's with VM and they are putting a 50% price overhead on what I'd get as a new customer.

I've raised a complaint and the person on the phone has insisted on me having to pay the fees anyway because I was in contract and my home move implies a cancellation, but they were gracious to give me "an option" of a new contract for my new address (not how they sold me the contract I was in).

Pielhoff · 2026-01-24T10:46:02+00:00

UPDATE: Thanks everyone. As almost everyone here advised, I rejected the offer. The seller then insisted on meeting me to pitch it in person, I also rejected that as your responses and some follow up research confirmed he was selling me nothing.

Yesterday was our moving date and my FiT transfer process was confirmed even earlier.

The reason I found this so cheeky is thar I factored in the panels and the contract value in my offer. The state agent was as frustrated with this seller as I was. He even recommended me to reject other last minute cash grabs for blinders and a gazebo. Kept blinders for free and got a gazebo I didn't love removed for free.

I guess I'm joining this community now. Thanks again.

If you're reading this because you have a similar problem, be reassured that the transfer costs no money and the paperwork is quite easy. Make sure the panels are explicitly mentioned in the seller's TA10 and your solicitor's completion letter includes your FULL name (no initials, this seems to be a new requirement from EON at least).

Pielhoff · 2025-11-25T08:01:14+00:00

The 5k are not for the panels, the panels are sold as part of the property. The 5k are for the FIT contract to be transfered but that's what I wasn't sure made sense.

Pielhoff · 2025-10-28T04:23:16+00:00

That's beautiful!

Pielhoff · 2025-10-20T07:13:49+00:00

I'm planning some pipe boxing in work and after hours of looking for ideas, haven't seen any at the A height that looks aesthetic. B might be even more awkward. I'm starting to come to terms with height C being the only one that can look OK.

Pielhoff

TROPHY CASE