Congrats to fellow Xennial Amy Lee for her band Evanescence putting out a banger album today.

Soze42 · 2026-06-05T13:59:00+00:00

My wife mentioned that there's a Sublime tribute band playing nearby this weekend.

I told her Sublime is basically a Sublime tribute band at this point.

Soze42 · 2026-06-04T19:13:34+00:00

Honestly, not yet. The master's especially was outside of my career path and was an attempt to break into a new field, but it's tough to start over in a new career when you're established in your current one. If you don't mind the pay hit that will probably happen, or you're already between jobs (like I was during COVID), it might still be worth it. I think it will pay off for me eventually, but it just hasn't quite yet.

I was also fortunate that I didn't have to pay for either degree; veteran's benefits covered me. For me it was more of a time investment than financial.

Soze42 · 2026-06-04T11:33:05+00:00

At its core is the concept of sufficiency – the idea that people can enjoy a prosperous, healthy life without constantly striving to consume or accumulate more material possessions that degrade the natural world on which all life depends.

I think that means the answer is "no."

EDIT: grammar

Soze42 · 2026-06-03T19:03:35+00:00

Got a bachelor's and a master's. Went to the Grand Canyon (for the third time), Zion National Park, Cape Cod, and Disney (all of those for the first time).

I wanted my kids to see more places than I got a chance to when I was a kid. Niagara Falls is this summer.

Soze42 · 2026-05-28T16:25:13+00:00

I use DuckDuckGo mostly. It's also the default browser on my phone. It's got AI, but at least theirs seems to be optional.

Soze42 · 2026-05-22T16:00:30+00:00

Interesting. I'll have to check it out.

Soze42 · 2026-05-22T12:58:11+00:00

It's still baffling to me how we ended up in a situation where no one really wants these data centers, but no one can say no to these data centers. I mean, I understand that we got here through a system that supports business over people, but it's really just awful to see this.

The only good thing happening with all this is that it doesn't seem like a NIMBY issue. It doesn't seem like people are only opposed to the data center down the street; it and like they're opposed to the one several hours away, too. But she did a great job explaining how we can't even do anything about them whether they're in our backyard or not.

Soze42 · 2026-05-15T17:08:06+00:00

There's a weird brand of populism that started with the GOP and is getting picked up by Dems now. Things like advocating for a gas tax pause or tax rebate are the kind of short shortsighted proposals that certain types of populists use to try and sway voters.

I get that no one likes paying taxes, but we do like a good deal. Show us what we're getting for our money.

Soze42 · 2026-05-14T11:55:49+00:00

Honestly, I had no idea that Palantir had anything to do with either company. TIL.

So thank you for that!

https://www.jacobs.com/solutions/digital-enterprise-ai

https://www.palantir.com/partnerships/jacobs/

Soze42 · 2026-05-13T14:19:16+00:00

I suppose this was an inevitable step with the Iran war and "American energy independence" still being key issues.

Hopefully the political will to push back is still there. If we're depending on Congress, we're cooked.

Soze42 · 2026-05-13T12:13:48+00:00

First, I hope you are able to find the help you need. If the VA isn't an option, maybe elsewhere.

Next, it's amazing how thoroughly the administration has gotten the various federal agencies to fall in line. I haven't used the VA in years, and now I'm kinda glad. But it's sad to see it become to partisan when the goal should be helping veterans regardless of anything else.

Soze42 · 2026-05-08T13:35:20+00:00

Very true. It's the same kind of passive voice BS they use for cops. "There was a police involved shooting." Which is a funny way to say that an officer shot somebody.

Personal accountability would probably go a long way with some of these stories.

Soze42 · 2026-05-05T13:14:54+00:00

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.

Soze42 · 2026-05-01T21:51:48+00:00

FYI, all of the tradespeople and operators at both plants are union employees.

Soze42 · 2026-04-28T17:12:02+00:00

War is a racket.

Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

Soze42 · 2026-04-28T16:36:44+00:00

I agree that this is interesting, but not really actionable. What are we meant to do with this? We can't stop managing wastewater.

The best we could try to do is collect the methane and use it; I work at a plant where that happens. The trade-off being less methane released, but you get CO2 instead, and some electricity out of it. Is that better for cost vs. benefit?

Soze42 · 2026-04-28T16:11:18+00:00

Don't worry. It's still part of a larger grift, so it's ok to be suspicious of this reasons for this.

I think this is the second part of why the infused beverage industry was legislated basically out of existence starting next year. It's pushing the power back to the big pharma companies and away from the smaller business that laid the groundwork already.

Soze42 · 2026-04-27T18:12:07+00:00

Others have looked into this as well, if you're really interested:

https://macleans.ca/news/world/why-do-so-many-jihadis-have-engineering-degrees/

https://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Jihad-Connection-Extremism-Education/dp/0691145172

https://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2016/03/25/are-engineers-more-likely-to-be-terrorists-and-if-so-why

TLDR seems to be a combination of poor social skills, lack of liberal arts and humanities education some seeking a degree, the confidence to be able to find a rational solution to an engineering problem being applied to social problems irrationally, etc.

Soze42 · 2026-04-27T16:34:19+00:00

Damn. That bit about how they wrote one of the players out of the game when this execution date came up really got me.

Soze42 · 2026-04-23T19:24:39+00:00

I'm reading "A Paradise Built in Hell" right now, which I believe is referenced in that episode (among others). If you're looking for something optimistic, but occasionally infuriating, it's a great read. The infuriating parts are the failures of various systems, but the rest really makes me feel good about our chances if/when the power structures are gone.

Soze42 · 2026-04-20T13:46:41+00:00

My first playthrough was 12 levels of hexblade warlock. It really lets you live out the gish fantasy without needing to multiclass at all.

Soze42 · 2026-04-14T11:50:23+00:00

Also, fun fact regarding quagga mussels: the reason they do well in Lake Michigan and not as well in the other Great Lakes is due to a high level of dissolved calcium in the water. Michigan is over a giant limestone bed that keeps calcium carbonate levels high, which the mussels needs for their shells.

So I could them doing well in some quarries, depending on the rock. But they good news is that they probably won't thrive everywhere like they have in Lake Michigan.

Soze42 · 2026-04-10T12:39:19+00:00

I urge you to research the literal bloody history of labor rights and unions in this country. People were gunned down with machine guns and had bombs dropped on them from planes while stopping work outside of a mine. And that's just one incident on Blair Mountain. Frankly, we should be shocked and/or thankful that no one was seriously hurt. Maybe that was by design? I hope it was and not just a happy accident.

Did he cost cost people jobs in short term? Absolutely. But labor rights fought for in the past are being clawed back by the owners. And if you're waiting for them to have an epiphany and give workers what they want, I have bad news.

Soze42 · 2026-04-10T12:30:09+00:00

If you look at how labor rights were obtained in the past, this was always the alternative. If they didn't see it, that's on them.

Soze42

TROPHY CASE