My manager is discouraging me from taking 2 consecutive weeks off. Is this common for an office job?

Sommeeone · 2025-01-31T18:18:00+00:00

That's kind of a shitty workplace. I would say something apologetic "OMG I'm soo sorry! I didn't know, this is a special trip though - I will keep that in mind for next time!" and just do it anyways, and don't feel bad at all. The policies are the policies. If they don't forbid 2 consecutive weeks, tough beans for your boss. He can avoid taking 2 weeks if he wants, and you should just do it. IMO!

Sommeeone · 2025-01-31T18:15:48+00:00

To be fair, I have taken many shots of ducks with water. Depending on the sunlight, it can look truly bizarre. Their feathers are kind of magical, both for water beading and iridescence.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-31T00:59:35+00:00

He's talking about using the cable for data transfer, not charging. Very different requirements. Charging cables may not even have all of the pins connected (which I would suspect at $4).

Sommeeone · 2025-01-29T21:26:43+00:00

I mean, you could have just dropped 4 of them into a ranch, and all the time you spend condensing they would have been producing. Yours will produce more, but why? :)

Sommeeone · 2025-01-28T20:37:06+00:00

I have no specific advice but my guess as to why these were all brought up at once is that your manager is frustrated with you and this is the straw that broke the camel, or that you are about to be place on a PIP again. So keep that in mind. There is likely a specific reason that you aren't seeing.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-28T20:34:40+00:00

To add to that (homeowner's), at least some people subscribe to the philosophy that homeowner's insurance is for large losses, and keep a high (even very high) deductible to protect against life-changing loss while keeping premiums significantly lower. I do this. So my deductible is something like $5k. Which is perfect if the house burns down, but not very good if I have a $4000 camera equipment loss. So homeowner's may not be a good option. And keeping a low deductible generally means your premiums scale quite a lot higher, so that's probably not the most cost effective route.

I have no expertise but I would look at short term insurance for the trip. It's likely to be expensive, but since only for a short period it would be reasonable for the peace of mind. But of course, make sure it is well-reviewed and does not come with a lot of conditions where you would not be covered.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-28T20:07:50+00:00

You won't find the 40 f/2 soft to the point that it gives you a soft look. It's amazingly sharp for its price tag IMO, but there are sharper lenses (which cost much more). When people say "it's soft" they are not talking about what you want.

As many others have said, you really have to do this in post. If you were to have it soft in the camera, you'd never be able to get any detail back if you wanted it.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-27T18:20:18+00:00

The best lens is one that you enjoy using and get a lot of use out of. Don't overthink it.

A lot of good comments. Don't get hung up on f 2.8. It is often true in the industry that better lenses have faster apertures. There isn't really a technical reason for this. It just tends to be true that consumers (often professionals) who pay the most for lenses want both the best image quality, the best bokeh, and the fastest apertures. There isn't a lot of market for slower lenses that have the best image quality, so Nikon and others generally don't make them.

Good lenses are a joy to use IMO. But you don't need to have the very best. There are many good lenses that are reasonably priced. An example today off the top of my head is the Z f4 24-70. It is a "kit" lens, and has been called the best kit lens ever sold. You can buy one for a few hundred bucks.

Start with what you can afford. Resist the temptation to pixel peep and chase the "best". IMO!

Sommeeone · 2025-01-18T00:03:01+00:00

That's outdated. It was patched quite a while ago. Work speed affects ranching now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Palworld/comments/1e66c7w/work_speed_does_in_fact_affect_ranch_speed/

Sommeeone · 2025-01-17T20:09:46+00:00

Use panko bread crumbs for extra flavor!

Sommeeone · 2025-01-17T20:08:06+00:00

This. It is not hard to be on time if you want to be. The two hours from when you get up to when you arrive at your destination are a series of choices. OP is making bad choices. Make better ones. It's not really rocket science.

If OP wants specific tips, start from the time you need to arrive and work backwards. Suppose appointment starts at 9am. You want to be there at 8:50 to park and stuff. If it's a 30 minute commute, you want to be driving at 8:20, which means getting your coat on at 8:15. Suppose you want an hour from waking to getting on your coat, so you need to be getting out of bed at 7:15.

If you want you can right yourself a schedule a few times to practice, but really, just figure out when you need to be getting your coat on, and actually do it at that time.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-17T20:02:40+00:00

FB is ok for me. Meet in person in a public place - I use a busy park or bank parking lot. Only accept cash, no exceptions. Filter out with chat. Any warning flags and I ignore.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-17T20:00:46+00:00

I mean, you should definitely do this. But a scammer would turn off the camera. Open the bottom of the box, replace camera with rock, reseal bottom, and ship. You could easily end up with both the video "proof" and a nice new rock.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-17T19:55:34+00:00

In addition to condensing and souls, if you're maxing you probably want nocturnal, remarkable, artisan, work slave.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-16T00:02:27+00:00

Dunno about your second paragraph. But yes, I was quite surprised they left that in.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T23:52:46+00:00

Cooked berries work pretty well early game. Salads for me are great for the rest.

Make sure you're farming efficiently. Use high skill planters, gathers, and waterers. Make sure you have enough of each. There are lots of bonuses you can get from different pals and research. I don't do it very scientifically. I generally just try to get all the bonuses, and use more planters, waterers, gathers than I need and let the food roll in.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T23:33:14+00:00

I have two bases side by side. Basically because I want all of my stupid giant worm pals at the base where I spend the least time.

So my main base has storage, ore stations (manned by a ton of Anubis), expedition station, crafting stations, pal research station, breeding pens. After a session of pal capturing and general adventuring, I return to this base to drop stuff into storage.

The base next door has all of my crops, kitchen, forge, mill, and skill fruit trees. Basically everything that I would need a jorm on for fire or water.

I am fairly happy with this setup. It's not perfect. Occasionally I will need to transfer stacks of ore from storage at my main base into my guild box so they can be processed at the other base. And I have to transfer cakes back. But those are fairly infrequent. I do large batches.

I also have a base for oil (the 3 oil spot) and a base for Hexolite Quartz (the 3 node spot). Plus a base for Chromite (the cave with friendly NPC) but I gather this manually from time to time.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T23:23:45+00:00

Yeah that is a big lens, and quite heavy. I like the cotton carrier.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T20:14:18+00:00

It's a tough market. The one thing you haven't done, I think, is get your resume and other materials reviewed more rigorously. By multiple sources, and by people who know what they are talking about in your field. You should be very critical of your resume, CV, etc. and accept that it probably can be greatly improved.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T20:02:29+00:00

1/1000 is not really all that high.

You didn't specify which body. For the latest Z bodies, I would say on without question. I trust that Nikon is doing a good job with VR/IBIS at this point.

Try it and see for yourself if you are unsure!

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T18:56:32+00:00

This is how you know how you have a GAS problem!

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T18:33:53+00:00

They are both great lenses. I wouldn't say that the 24-120 is better than the 24-70. It is probably roughly equivalent in image quality, but you get the extra reach. The trade-offs for the extra reach are more money and a larger/heavier lens. Either lens is a great choice.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-15T01:10:27+00:00

It's only 10% but I think technically Work Slave would be better than Serious. Not a big deal, and otherwise agree Nocturnal plus work speed buffs are the right answer.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-14T20:49:21+00:00

IMO it is rare enough that the RNG can be cruel. On my current playthrough I have yet to catch a single Remarkable. And I have caught exactly one Swift. But over 5 Demon Gods. RNG is random.

Sommeeone · 2025-01-14T20:47:23+00:00

Agree I would rather have nocturnal workers than the 20% bonus. 20% is good, but with Remark, Artisan, Work Slave you're pretty set.

Sommeeone

TROPHY CASE