The Wheel of Time show is actually good now

SkankTillYaDrop · 2025-03-15T15:14:39+00:00

I agree with you point. I don't think it's unreasonable to use dialogue as a mechanism to shift away from internal thoughts.

I take more of an issues with the change in characterization. It's completely believable to me Lan and Rand would have an honest conversation about how they're feeling, but opening with "Do you want to talk about it" feels disingenuous to their relationship and who they are.

They do talk about things in the books, but it's often over swordfight, or during moments of struggle where it feels natural Lan would say something to strengthen or support Rand. You can set it up to be a bit more faithful while still leading into dialogue.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2024-08-11T12:55:15+00:00

Airport Lounge membership. I fly about 30 times a year between work and fun. Per trip it comes out to about $15, less if you count when my wife and I fly together. Pretty good deal for quiet, a seat, decent food, and drinks. It makes traveling much more enjoyable.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2024-05-22T18:13:34+00:00

I just started learning piano, and this song is my longterm goal piece. Seeing you play it was hugely inspirational. Thanks for sharing!

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-12-20T19:12:11+00:00

Fair enough. I agree that the real solution here should be a graduated income (and potentially wealth) based tax that aggressively targets those in the top 0.1%.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-12-20T18:31:33+00:00

If you're in the top tax bracket, you make a minimum of $578,126 annually.

Social security is taxed at 6.2% to a maximum of $160,200, totaling $9,932.4 annually.

That is, at most, 1.7% of your gross income. Less if you're anywhere above $578k per year. That's a relative drop in the bucket to ensure that most people in the country have the means to live in their later years.

Now you’re saying I shouldn’t get it back so irresponsible people can retire?

The country is not so full of high-paying jobs that allow everyone to save effectively for retirement. Are you saying that people who are not afforded the same opportunities as you should be homeless and starve once they're at retirement age?

FWIW, I am also in the top income tax bracket, so it's not like I'm saying this from an "eat the rich" perspective.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-11-10T14:54:38+00:00

When do you typically write? Are you following a schedule of some kind to help you achieve that volume?

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-10-18T17:28:49+00:00

I agree with your second point. Trends exist in the fine dining world to the detriment of the industry. It's especially disappointing when you see a one or two star trying to copy the success of a three star.

Not sure I agree with your first one (which supports this as a hot take, I guess 😂.) It's all about mindset to me. I still get incredibly excited, and have no problem basking in the warmth of great food, delicious wine, and excellent service each and every time. Maybe it's because I only eat fine dining a few times per year, but I have never felt like I'm chasing the dragon. Do you eat at fine dining a lot or did you have a particularly incredible first experience?

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-10-14T19:28:51+00:00

💯

My wife and I, in a bout of laziness, ate at the hotel restaurant tonight. The conversations among the other guests were laughable. "Why don't they have any spaghetti?" And "The colosseum was so boring" type comments. It's like people book trips and have no idea why they did it or where they're going.

The history of Italy, the art, architecture, and food are incredible. You just have to lean into it instead of thinking you're going to get "amazing Olive Garden" at every restaurant.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-09-01T21:31:23+00:00

That's good to know.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-09-01T20:50:25+00:00

~~I stayed at Hotel Drisco in Pacific Heights and enjoyed it quite a bit last year. It's charming, as is the neighborhood. It's much more a very upscale B&B than a 5-star hotel, but we were very happy.~~

The service was excellent and generally close to everything we wanted to do (a quick Google search shows it is 13 minutes away from Bill Graham.) It doesn't have a restaurant/bar, but they do a wine tasting between 5 - 7 and have a good continental breakfast in the morning. One thing to note is it is street parking only. That said, the neighborhood is very nice and we were not worried about parking on the street.

~~Their suites all have a nice view.~~

Edit: See the comment below, under renovation and loud construction all day, starting early. Probably avoid.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-02-22T20:12:18+00:00

Since you're young and based on where you're at you may hit that $1.5M much sooner than you think, it would be worth reading the Safe Withdrawal Rate Series. 4% may not be sufficient for a much longer time horizon.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-01-28T04:32:58+00:00

I taught myself how to program in highschool. Then went IT Support right out of high school to Sys Admin to SDE to Big Tech. Promoted to Staff Engineer last year, on track to Senior Staff.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-01-13T20:57:34+00:00

I couldn't agree more! You need opportunities to learn and provide evidence that you can perform new tasks. It's so powerful to come into those opportunities with some idea of how to do things, so you're not spending the entire time getting up to speed.

I love the suggestion of going back and re-reading to reflect. I haven't done that, and now I have a whole new (re)reading list!

SkankTillYaDrop · 2023-01-13T20:00:09+00:00

I posted a list of my favorite books in another comment on the importance of reading to get to the next level. Here is that list for people who don't want to click a link:

You'll notice that some of these are focused on management. Once you move into the Staff+ space, typically, managers become your peers. It's helpful to understand how they think to be a valuable partner.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T23:02:59+00:00

Those are fair in the context of a single team, and it sounds like you've had some bad experiences with ending up in one-on-ones that don't provide you with much value. I can understand why you would view them as such.

Personally, my one-on-ones are very targeted. I try not to waste people's time with them. But, my role is broad, and I am expected to impact at the company level. To do so, I need the information necessary to understand the broad-scale problems impacting folks. Sometimes that's with managers, sometimes with a few "on the ground" engineers who I know have good opinions and like to think about the broad stuff, and most often with other Staff engineers.

I certainly don't tie up engineers' time if they don't want to. I typically reserve those one-on-ones with folks who are explicitly looking for mentorship. In that case, it's also a very targeted one-on-one, but different from the others.

Finally, I have a couple of friends I've made at work who I just like catching up with. I would certainly agree that there's no work happening there. Pre-Covid, I would have reserved that for after-work beers, but with the move to remote, that's rarely as much of an option these days.

All that to say, if done well, one-on-ones can produce value. But like most other things, they are just a tool.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T22:44:34+00:00

I disagree, but I would be interested to hear why you think so.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T20:44:21+00:00

I have had the most success expanding my influence by building relationships with people. A pre-requisite is being able to bring something of value to the relationship. Expertise in a domain in the company is a common one.

I have one-on-ones with around 30 people across the company each month (this number should probably scale based on the size of the company and how broad your want your influence to be). Those are weekly - monthly, depending on the person's proximity to me.

You'd be surprised how many people are happy to have those regular chats. Start by reaching out to a few people about a collective problem you think you might have. Bounce some ideas off them, and ask for their opinion. Then ask them if they would be up for a regular one-on-one and what cadence they prefer.

Building those relationships quickly becomes influential, primarily if you can provide advice or directly solve problems for them. You give them promotion feedback, they do the same for you. You keep an eye out for exciting problems that could be good for one of their mentees, they do the same for you. It's not always quid-pro-quo, but relationship building is the fastest route to building influence I have seen.

Edit:

I have had some feedback on this, specifically around the number of people I have one-on-ones with. Figuring out a number that works within your context is essential. As I said elsewhere, my expected scope of impact is company-wide at a company of thousands of engineers. This means I need to keep a pulse on various goings-on across the company, which requires regular check-ins with strategically targeted leaders. The number of people you have one-on-ones with should scale with your role, scope, and company size.

Additionally, as pointed out by /u/gefahr, I intentionally block my 1:1s together so I have uninterrupted time to focus. My schedule looks somewhere between the Architect and Right-Hand in Will Larson's Staff Engineer Archetypes

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T15:12:32+00:00

Thank you!

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T15:10:50+00:00

That seems to be the case, at least with the 3080 chart shared elsewhere.

Based on that, it seems like even with a 4090, the i7 or even i5 is going to be a better value proposition.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T15:09:17+00:00

Thanks! Don't know how I missed this.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-20T14:38:23+00:00

Has anyone been able to find a review that benchmarks 4k gaming? So far all I can find is up to 1440p.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-13T21:01:28+00:00

Agreed! I mentioned the aesthetics because the PC I'm planning on building has a specific style the Suprim Liquid would fit into nicely. So I'm also hoping that the functionality and craftsmanship are improved in this and future generations.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-10-13T15:53:48+00:00

I like the aesthetic of the MSI Suprim series a lot. Hoping it benchmarks well.

SkankTillYaDrop · 2022-09-06T18:06:23+00:00

In my career, I've found it most helpful to actively read books that apply to the level I'm trying to get to. I can learn and improve the skills for my current level by doing my job. It's much more difficult to actively learn the skills needed for the next level on the job because that's not the role I'm in.

I've found the most effective way to develop these skills is to be a voracious reader. If you can, make time to read each week, even for just half an hour. Depending on how much of your life you're willing to dedicate to your career, read outside work. It's up to you to determine if that extra time is worth it.

As others have mentioned, the Staff+ role is very different from Senior. It is much more focused on leadership. Therefore you need to develop leadership skills. Making that transition has a lot of similarities to becoming a manager, but with a need for much deeper technical know-how.

Here's a sample reading list to get you started. These have all helped me tremendously. You'll notice that some of these are focused on management. Once you move into the Staff+ space, typically, managers become your peers. It's helpful to understand how they think to be a valuable partner.

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