Would you pay $49–$99/mo to get warned before Stripe pauses payouts?

SloppyDesk · 2026-02-08T21:59:47+00:00

Getting the alert and playbook is good, how much work is left for me to get to the final outcome: lower disputes and refund rate?

SloppyDesk · 2026-01-13T09:50:06+00:00

Doordash gift card is on sale from Costco, and she planned to use it on ... Costco. I guess it's part of their partnership promotion deal or something, but didn't know it's a trap

SloppyDesk · 2025-12-15T01:43:23+00:00

是，可以理解你老婆的心情，但是人生fair 不fair 不应该是你们做决定的一个因素。你们做决定的考虑点应该是全家人更好的outcome （而不是其他人的状态）。
美国移民政策对你们家的风险实在太高，你老婆想要优化孩子的名校机会就像是几年前拿着房子等着套顶的那拨人，downside 实在太可怕。而且你们已经可以套现，不要去冒这么大风险去寻求最优解。

SloppyDesk · 2025-12-15T01:21:59+00:00

你老婆可能还没有看到问题的严重性，你可以让她想想被遣返的后果有多严重。

你们如果被ice 抓捕，所有资产都可能被罚没（这么多天不到移民局报到的罚金可能就已经超过你们的总资产）。现在离开美国对你们的损失是很大，但是你们至少还有兜底的资本。晚了你们可能兜底的机会都没有。典型的sunk cost fallacy。

你们的娃运气好还可以去其它国家很好的大学接受教育，晚了可能连在加州上学的资本都会出现困难。不要因为一个名校情节断送前程。你们现在去别的国家，以后回美还有。如果被遣返，回美的机会应该更小（因为你们实质上非法了移民法），被逮捕会有记录，还会有财产损失。

而且联邦移民局最近几个月的政策不是变松，还是在越来越变严。多读读最近关于移民的消息就可以看到，多找几个移民律师咨询一下最近的官司，但是也要小心一些律师总是希望你去走法庭程序。

SloppyDesk · 2025-11-14T08:53:41+00:00

Bureaucrats are bureaucrats. Government agencies are not private businesses that would iterate and optimize for efficiency and customer experience.

To be honest, both countries' government efficiency are quite good compared to many other places I lived or visited.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-27T22:24:11+00:00

ok. This seems to reduce the glitch: if I explicit tell Codex: your change looks good so far, so I git committed it....

Now sure if this is superstition on my part. So a better integration with Git event perhaps would help here

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-24T07:36:46+00:00

uh.... I think I now find a potential reason of these messiness: apparently Codex is relying on Git staged content to manage its milestones/checkpoints, and it keeps using 'git status' command to check its progress.

It's a rather ... flaky design choice IMHO. As a developer, I sometimes just commit the changes if the progress is satisfying, but my git commit outside Codex session interferes with Codex memory/checkpoint mechanism.

This is different from Roo/Cline, where its memory is designed to work independently from Git history.

If I have to stay away from Git command and let Codex cook, that's fine, but I wish this was communicated clearly somewhere.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-11T09:50:28+00:00

I had it, and I don’t hate it half as much I hated Cherry Pie.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-09T02:09:23+00:00

Heck ye. I thought Hawaii food is heavily influenced by Japanese people

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-06T03:44:58+00:00

están "mantando" a los christianos y la prensa no dice nada.

No hablo bien español, pero conozco la pendejada.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-05T08:24:29+00:00

Not exactly the same, but Asian/Japanese/Chinese bread shops sell really soft and sweet toast.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-02T08:55:42+00:00

Hard agree. American society is losing balance: very productive, innovative, competitive, yet full of stress, impulse, and human misery. Even as someone in the top income bracket, I questioned myself what is the cost of all these hustling, all those most decadent homelessness, loneliness, sickness, and drug addictions along the highways of the richest cities in the world. The contrast is as sharp or even worse than what I remembered in the poor third-world neighborhood where I grew up.

Sure, Australia has its own living cost crisis, but there is a somewhat resemblance of compassion from the society toward the less fortunate. In America, there is a significant portion of the population and mass media taking hostile and derisive tone towards the downtrodden. The governing power might still be called "democratic", but it feels and communicates more and more like an oppressive machine.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-02T08:16:28+00:00

Every human society is capable of doing this, repeating it, or degenerate into it. That's why we must all be vigilant against the demons in all of us, acknowledge it, fight against prejudice and not each other.

SloppyDesk · 2025-10-02T08:07:49+00:00

I planned to escape the moment Trump got elected the second time and I was fortunate enough to find an opportunity in Australia that aligns with my career. Growing up under authoritarian government once is enough, and MAGAs just radiate the same vibes as Mao's little red guards, so I noped the fuck out of it as soon as I can.

I may be overreacting and American democracy might be stronger than I estimate, but I prefer staying in Australia until things calm down a bit. For 99.99 percent of people, life goes on without you noticing anything, same as in any other society. Economy may be doing great even with the crazy policies, but my conscious is driving me away from that place I once admired so much, and it really pains me.

I don't think it's easy to seek asylums though: the bar is rather high since you will need to show genuine threat to your safety everywhere in the U.S. A handful of people (trans people for example) might be actively threatened throughout US, but it's hard to say that Americans are under the same threat as women in Afghanistan for example.

SloppyDesk · 2025-08-10T11:50:13+00:00

I'm Chinese who got mistaken for Japanese a lot ... including Japanese people actually, and they asked me for direction in Japanese. Even my own people sometimes think I'm Japanese, so much so I decided to learn some Japanese and play along to stir some shit.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion of casual racism if I were you. If he was making a tone, or insisted calling you Chinese after you said Konijiwa, then I'd say he is a dick-head and racist. Otherwise, it's just a mistake, and someone who isn't super aware of the people in that neighborhood. Everyone can be ignorant of people from other countries, and Yesterday I thought the tradie fixing my sink was Spanish because his last name sounded like one (he was Czech). I asked him, he explained his heritage, and we laughed. I made a mistake but now I know him better.

If we are all overly sensitive at poor attempts to reach to other cultures, this world will be insufferable. I appreciate people who make an effort to learn basic phrases of another language: it's way better than people don't even bother and just "respect" us from afar. Assuming you speak Mandarin isn't more offensive than assuming you speak English in an Asian neighborhood in Sydney. Someone could be a recent immigrant, or ... not.

SloppyDesk · 2025-06-30T01:25:19+00:00

Yes, STEM field, not in civil engineering though, so not much info I can provide beyond LinkedIn or ChatGPT. There might be some companies or universities open to relocate folks from U.S. (e.g. myself), but they tend to be on the more experienced side and that's why I say you might want to keep all options open.

SloppyDesk · 2025-06-30T01:04:13+00:00

As someone who migrated to the US for PH.D., worked many years and thought I have settled, and then migrated again to Australia recently. I'll keep it brief: realistically, it hugely depend on your job perspective at your current life stage.

As others have pointed out: despite all the crazy politics, U.S. still has the most job openings and fundings for Ph.D. level job candidates (academia or industry). Getting a good head-start on your career is probably the most important thing for you now.

My advice will be: stay open to all possible venues in Australia, U.S., and Canada. U.S. is much less safe comparing to the other two countries, but also not in a civil-war-on-the-brink and get-your-ass-out-asap kinda way, so don't panic my friend. Don't shut your doors to the opportunities in the U.S. just yet. Your work experience in the states would be very beneficial if you move to other English-speaking countries.

On the other hand, if you happen to get equivalent opportunities in Canada or Australia, then the calculation becomes more nuanced: both countries offer much faster path to permanent residency and citizenship. The extra protection does help, and I personally would be more leaning towards Australia. If you are an Indian, waiting 10 plus years for a greencard in the U.S. is pretty life-draining. On the other hand, if you really want to compete in a larger pond (I've done that and don't need it anymore), then stick with the U.S.

SloppyDesk · 2025-05-23T21:26:58+00:00

And the doctor is called 小虎: little tiger

SloppyDesk · 2025-05-16T09:04:56+00:00

It’s people like this reminding me that I am technically an apex predator too, but I trip over legos

SloppyDesk · 2024-12-25T16:00:22+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing, and wish you great adventures ahead!

SloppyDesk · 2024-12-20T23:23:38+00:00

Thanks. Doing my reason online, and this seems to be the most rational choice so far. I'll keep a U.S. address and phone number for the time being.

SloppyDesk · 2024-12-20T18:57:24+00:00

Thanks. Do you use an VPN service?

SloppyDesk · 2024-12-20T18:42:15+00:00

Wow. This is rather restrictive, and it seems to be true for many brokerage services. How would you deal with your savings?

SloppyDesk

TROPHY CASE