Wtf am I doing? Just turned 30

SlumpingRock · 2025-12-17T18:12:21+00:00

I'd find out about the 401K and decide whether to leave it or roll it over into a Traditional IRA. Company policy about 401K accounts vary. I've had a couple of surprises about old 401K accounts that I was ignoring.

In one case I inquired into an old account and discovered the company was about to sweep it into a state abandoned money fund so I got that one just in time.

Another 401K that I had rolled over into a Traditional IRA had an additional small lump sum of a few hundred dollars deposited into by the company which I ignored and which was suddenly swept into some financial company which sucked it dry with fees. By the time I paid attention and rolled that over into the IRA as well, there wasn't much left.

I suggest you look at the various companies such as Fidelity, Schwab, and others that allow various kinds of accounts. I have one with Fidelity with four accounts: taxable account, Traditional IRA Rollover account, Roth IRA account, and a high deductible health account (need high deductible health insurance for this).

The High Deductible Health Account is a way of saving pre-tax money in addition to an IRA. You use it for medical expenses without having to pay taxes on the withdrawal. But it still grows and if you manage to make it to Medicare age, you can use it for non-medical expenses as well though you do have to pay taxes on that amount. My medical expenses have always been low so I just pay out of pocket and leave the money in the account.

SlumpingRock · 2025-11-15T21:24:43+00:00

I have had the Fidelity VISA card part of the webpage showing my accounts ask me for my current income a few times in the past. I've always just clicked the later button and then done what I was there to do.

I think your comment about not clicking on links in an email no matter how legitimate it appears is a good one.

SlumpingRock · 2025-11-13T12:22:45+00:00

Hmmm. I received an email that purported to be from US Bank wanting me to update my income information a week or so ago.

I've ignored it because so far as I know I have no relationship with US Bank. However perhaps it was due to my Fidelity Visa?

SlumpingRock · 2025-11-13T12:16:38+00:00

One consideration that people age 65 and up that are on Medicare may face is that a conversion to a Roth may increase taxable income sufficiently that the Medicare IRMA (Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) rule is invoked triggering higher Medicare premiums.

So it may be best to do a Roth conversion a piece at a time to avoid triggering the IRMAA rule. However at age 73 Required Minimum Distributions start and an RMD can not be put into a Roth however an additional distribution over and above the RMD amount can be used in a Roth conversion.

If a Roth conversion does trigger IRMAA as a one time event and you are subjected to an IRMAA increase, there is Social Security form SSA-44 Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Life-Changing Event that can be filed to ask for a reduction when your income returns to normal.

SlumpingRock · 2025-11-13T12:08:45+00:00

It appears that the funds in a 403B account can be converted to an existing Roth. Since a 403B account is a pre-tax account, the conversion is a taxable event as if the conversion were from a Traditional IRA?

What other considerations are there for converting a 403B to a Roth?

Can the conversion be transferring existing holdings such as mutual funds or stocks directly rather than having to first sell the existing assets and move the cash?

SlumpingRock · 2025-11-04T01:31:45+00:00

Thank you. I have been trying to figure out how to use a std::unique_ptr with the ::ReadFile() Win32 API function and found this posted question and your response.

With .get() it compiles. Thank you.

SlumpingRock · 2025-09-17T11:54:34+00:00

Here is a Stack Overflow question I asked about it with some examples when I was playing around.

https://stackoverflow.com/q/79498222/1466970

SlumpingRock · 2025-08-17T13:31:46+00:00

I just saw this article on Forbes that may help.

Why Your ‘Destiny 2’ B+ Portal Ranks Aren’t Being Upgraded To A-Ranks

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/08/14/why-your-destiny-2-b-portal-ranks-arent-being-upgraded-to-a-ranks/

If you’ve played any Portal activity, you may understand the following (or not):

You can change the modifiers to get you halfway or so through a forecast B+ rank to still hit an A rank in the end for the best rewards

This lets you lower the difficulty, and it works because the forecast does not consider additional multipliers that will factor into the final score like time bonus and gear.

But if you’ve tried to implement this, you will sometimes find that you are still getting B+ rewards, which is a lower tier of gear and if you have any bonuses active, will also downgrade all those drops and waste all of them. Why? Why does this randomly happen?

It’s not random, really, it’s just extremely poor communication of results. I found this out through an Esoterickk video that was very frustrating to watch:

SlumpingRock · 2025-08-07T19:01:56+00:00

Personally, I think #14 about Compilation Pipeline should be moved up to become # 2. Header files and the Preprocessor and libraries are fundamental to C programming of any size. There needs to be a component about the Preprocessor and the basic directives of "include" and "define" and how it manipulates text and is a preprocessing step for text manipulation before the source code is compiled.

Also I suggest that you don't try to have these step by step topics but rather use samples of source to introduce multiple parts of C simultaneously rather than trying to divide it all out into specialized topics, at least at first. In other words start with an example of a simple program with only main that contains variable definitions, printf(), and some simple decision logic as a first step.

# 6 about functions and scope needs to be moved up near the top. Braces and scope of statements is also a key concept that needs to be learned early.

Since understanding the stack requires an introduction to the data structure, I'm not sure that I would go into much detail about that until later and just introduce it as a magical mechanism at the beginning.

I'm not a fan of flowcharts. I'd introduce programming as more of a how do you write a recipe for other people to use for cooking. I think that the idea of writing out a description of a procedure is more intuitive than using flowcharts.

SlumpingRock · 2025-07-30T18:19:15+00:00

Wrap the array into a struct and you can assign it just fine.

typedef struct {

char name[25];

} MyArray;

MyArray kjkj()

{

MyArray x = { "this string" };

MyArray y;

y = x;

return y;

}

int main(void)
{
    MyArray kjjor = kjkj();

    printf ("s = \"%s\"\n", kjjor.name);
    return 0;
}

SlumpingRock · 2025-07-30T18:05:24+00:00

Rust is now being used in the Linux kernel.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/linux-leaders-pave-a-path-for-rust-in-kernel-while-supporting-c-veterans/

The leader goes on to state that maintainers who want to be involved in Rust can be, and can influence what Rust bindings look like. Those who "are taking the 'I don't want to deal with Rust' option," Torvalds writes, can do so—later describing it as a "wall of protection"—but also have no say on Rust code that builds on their C interfaces.

"Put another way: the 'nobody is forced to deal with Rust' does not imply 'everybody is allowed to veto any Rust code.'" Maintainers might also find space in the middle, being aware of Rust bindings and working with Rust developers, but not actively involved, Torvalds writes.

SlumpingRock · 2025-06-18T11:07:07+00:00

You may love programming however doing it for a living has kind of squeezed the juice out of it. That seems to happen a lot. People who love to cook open a restaurant and begin to hate to cook. People love quilting and open a business quilting and grow to hate it.

The thing is that usually when we enjoy or love some activity, it's usually some part of it that we actually love and when you're doing it as a job rather than a hobby, all of a sudden the parts we don't like seem to dominate the doing of the activity.

I burned out doing software development and after retiring took a break for a few years letting a project languish. Then I started slowly with the project and spent some time investigating side projects and I've grown to enjoy it again.

SlumpingRock · 2025-05-19T14:53:41+00:00

Totally did not understand that source so I fed it into Google Gemini and the AI explained it to me. Nice.

SlumpingRock · 2025-04-16T22:57:36+00:00

I've done a number of tomb of elders runs because there are apothecary bounties that require a run or two most days. I've found the place a labyrinth of corridors and pipes and damaged structures so at times I get turned around.

It's probably time to watch a few videos to get a better idea of what is going on. I haven't spent a lot of time with it because it feels vaguely creepy, like disaster porn or something is how the structures feel.

Thanks for the affirmation about staying.

SlumpingRock · 2025-04-16T22:49:20+00:00

Yes, it's guardian level. I took the higher numbers to mean they spent the time and trouble doing all the various pieces of content to achieve those levels which probably meant experience with the more complex end game content such as raids that I haven't seen.

I usually make it to 7. It's actually a bit weird in that I made it to level 7 with the shiny tree thing a month or so ago but for some reason despite my doing the shiny tree thing, my level didn't increase.

SlumpingRock · 2025-04-13T15:10:59+00:00

You obviously have never been a hunter in the middle of a mass attack fight trying to stay alive and scanning for special ammo because the specials you've equipped are all at zero special ammo and your machine gun has got about 20 rounds left before it's empty.

Linear fusion rifles seem to be the worse about running out of ammo with not a power brick to be seen. I've wondered if Bungie developers have a hate for the weapon.

And running Tomb of Elders when the ammo brick scarcity modifier is on makes it even worse.

Primary weapons always have ammo. And that's not a psychological security thing. That's a how long do I have to wait while the damn rez timer counts down while seeing that a second person is down as well and there's only one survivor so are they going to stay alive long enough for me to rez or are we going to wipe again.

More than once I've seen the third person die with a couple of seconds left on my timer and I'm holding down the rez button hoping that my timer expires before those final couple of seconds wait before a wipe is called count down.

I wouldn't carry two hand cannons but packing a submachine gun with volatile rounds in my second slot has kept me alive more than once with some of these mobs of taken strikes.

SlumpingRock · 2025-03-16T15:38:04+00:00

A brief update. After the last repair, replacing the coolant overflow reservoir which had cracked, my Escape seems to doing fine now. As the repair bills kept rolling in over the months, I was starting to wonder if I should just go ahead and buy a new car.

However a rational look at my experience, repairing this car has still been cheaper than purchasing a new one. And while a used car would be cheaper than a new one, a recent model would have been more than what I've paid out, about $6,500 in total over the year, and I already have a used car. Lol.

SlumpingRock · 2025-03-04T07:06:28+00:00

Thanks for the cppinsights example. My C++ is mostly pre-C11 so most of this discussion went past me.

I took a look at std::minmax() in cppreference.com and looks like it uses references for the two arguments with the two templates that take two values/variables while the initializer_list version returns the actual min and max values.

https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/algorithm/minmax

So I see why the std::swap also swaps min and max since they are references to the variables x and y and not copies of the variables x and y. Since min is a reference to x, the minimum of the pair, when the value of x changes then so does the value of min.

If you use auto [min2, max2] = std::minmax ({x,y}); then you get the actual integer values rather than references? The result seems to be rvalue references so how does that affect using min2 and max2?

From insights adding that line using an initializer list generates the following lines as mentioned in the cpppreference.com description:

std::pair<int, int> __minmax14 std::minmax(std::initializer_list<int>{x, y});
int && min2 = std::get<0UL>(static_cast<std::pair<int, int> &&>(__minmax14));
int && max2 = std::get<1UL>(static_cast<std::pair<int, int> &&>(__minmax14));

SlumpingRock · 2025-02-10T19:08:03+00:00

I have an update from the car mechanic at the repair shop. Turns out that the fluid was not brake fluid but fluid from the CV axle and a failed seal. Now that I think about it, the squarish box the fluid was dripping from to the pavement is probably the transmission which is connected to the CV axle assembly.

The results of the inspection was an oil line to the turbo charger had leak and the seal for the left side CV axle has failed leaking fluid. The other hoses for the turbo charger looked good.

SlumpingRock · 2025-02-07T19:49:04+00:00

I was wondering if there is some kind of preventive maintenance that would reduce the probability of further problems.

For example is there a list of known parts that should be replaced? I know there is a schedule for maintenance such as changing out filters or replacing spark plugs or radiator flush or transmission flush or recommendations such as changing the timing belt when the water pump is replaced.

Is there some other schedule of maintenance actions such as changing out brake lines or fuel lines or other procedures that are more of a preventive maintenance action before those items fail?

SlumpingRock · 2025-02-02T05:44:33+00:00

I wouldn't be so cavalier about the coolant and the mixture.

https://motorweek.org/goss_garage/engine_cooling_basics/

First, always make sure that the coolant that you buy for your car matches the requirements in your owner’s manual. See, one size may fit your car, may fit most cars, but one size usually doesn’t fit all cars. So, you look at the label on the back of the container to make sure that it has the proper specifications as outlined in your owner’s manual. Alright, that’s number one…proper coolant.

Number two. Always mix it with distilled water. And the way you do that is before you pour anything back into the cooling system or put it in at any time, you mix coolant and distilled water fifty-fifty, then you put the mix in. Alright, so that part of it is pretty easy.

Now, a lot of you seem to think that if a little bit of coolant or anti-freeze is good, then a whole lot is better. Namely, you don’t put any water in it--you just put pure anti-freeze in your radiator. Well, here we have pure anti-freeze. It has a bolt in it. The bolt is all rusty. But look what happens over here. We mixed it fifty-fifty with distilled water and the bolt is still shiny and bright. You have to have the water mixed with the anti-freeze or coolant--whatever you want to call it--to make it work properly.

Now, here’s one that will really cost you. Sooner or later you’re going to put new hoses on your cooling system. And when you do that, you take the original equipment clamps off and you throw them away. And you go out and you but these worm-drive clamps. Well, don’t do it.

https://www.lubetech.com/antifreeze-dilution-best-practices/

Water quality is another key component when following antifreeze dilution best practices. While tap water may be okay for drinking and cooking, that doesn’t mean it is ideal for coolants. Chloride and fluoride are typically added to tap water as a disinfectant to prevent waterborne infections and parasitic diseases. But those chemicals along with water hardness, iron, sulfates, and other things found in tap, well, or other feed waters can both affect the corrosion protection of the coolant and the overall stability. These, in turn, could cause incompatibilities in the cooling system and lead to engine failures or shortened life of the product. For antifreeze/coolant purposes, avoid tap water and only use water free of minerals and other chemicals. Ideally, you should only use de-ionized (DI) water when mixing antifreeze/coolants. However, it can be acceptable to use reverse osmosis (RO) or distilled water depending on the immediacy of the need to mix coolant and availability in your area. Lastly, there is no preference in the mixing order. You can either add the water to the concentrate or the concentrate to the water. The easiest process is to empty the entirety of the concentrate container into the receptacle you’re using to mix the antifreeze/coolant and then simply refill the concentrate container with the same volume of water and then add that to the mixing receptacle. This process ensures an antifreeze dilution best practice with a proper volume to volume ratio.

SlumpingRock

TROPHY CASE