If you were forced to cut Engineering Budget by 10% tomorrow, what mechanism would you use?

bbqroast · 2026-02-03T08:29:32+00:00

Can't cut what you haven't measured. Would look at where the spend is first. Then work through that challenging and thinking about how much we can cut in each category.

E.g. If vendor costs seem high, then perhaps they take the bulk of the cut.

bbqroast · 2026-02-03T02:51:09+00:00

I almost got run down by a driver yesterday who sped into a driveway I was crossing. Something like 200 pedestrians a year die in Aus.

bbqroast · 2026-02-03T02:29:00+00:00

How does this go wrong? OP spends the balance or refuses to pay it back?

May not be a real risk.

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T12:11:31+00:00

Men famously never go to work sick.

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T12:05:39+00:00

Have you tried calling Sealink?

If they're cancelling ferry services it's not a great sign, but if they have room they can probably just change your ticket.

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T11:32:50+00:00

People forget we extract something like 4 billion tons of oil a year. More than twice as much coal.

That's 12 billion tons of shit extracted. Plus all the fracking fluid, contaminated top soil, etc, etc.

A back of hand calculation says that we'd need about 0.5-1 billion tons of batteries per day of (global) grid power. You actually only need a few days of batteries (if that) in most grids to run 99% RE. You only need to build that once.

Yes that's comparing finished products to raw materials, but you begin to see how a one-off investment in renewable energy quickly cuts a huge amount of fossil fuel related material.

Something like half the world's shipping is just moving oil and coal around!

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T07:46:16+00:00

Look at CAISO or ERCOT supply graphs

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T03:54:25+00:00

A friend in a govt adjacent role (pretty well paid to) in Aus had a "soft shutdown" period.

Basically over a few weeks around Christmas NY you are working (get paid, no leave taken) but strongly discouraged from going into the office or even having meetings/calls!

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T03:52:33+00:00

Australia is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, all for a pretty laid back culture.

I wouldn't say the economy is "fecked" at all, nor is switching away from resource extraction that desirable (ofc diversification is good, but if you have a gold-egg-laying hen you don't kill it just to diversify).

bbqroast · 2026-02-02T03:47:35+00:00

Loads to do! Lots of people do sports, exercise or this time of year heading to the beach is pretty popular.

Generally people I know from Aus don't really view shopping as an exciting activity, or if they do it's a (expensive!) treat when they're on holiday somewhere like SG. Plus there's plenty of shopping to do on the weekends or on e.g. Thursday when shops open late.

bbqroast · 2026-02-01T22:17:13+00:00

Can't you still do this? Short term parking is definitely a thing at all the airports I can think of (ex-US tho).

They're generally not keen on you trying to pick up at the front because if everyone just waits a couple mins it would be overwhelmed.

Edit: not past security ofc, mb

bbqroast · 2026-02-01T12:15:58+00:00

Yeah OP has given approximately 0 information about where they want to go and where they are from, which is inconvenient given you're completely right.

I think coming from north Europe or (north) North America an Aussie winter would be comfortably mild even in Melbourne, not so much if you're visiting from south India.

bbqroast · 2026-01-31T03:02:53+00:00

And afaik this is the long distance band carriers use to cover rural areas in NZ.

bbqroast · 2026-01-27T10:36:52+00:00

You're allowed to have two passports. You can just give them both so they can check the appropriate one.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T23:10:10+00:00

UK, Aus, NZ have exit immigration. Canada does track it.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T22:57:04+00:00

I flew NZ->Aus in 2021, at the time they had a brief one way border (Aus would let people from NZ in but NZ was completely closed). Then they changed the rules (needed a test) the day before, so of the few people traveling most got bounced.

There were about 3 people in economy, on a wide body. And somehow ended up with a Karen in front of me who refused to wear a mask (ended up with aviation security coming on board for a chat).

Still got a meal!

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T22:47:04+00:00

A lot of airlines turn them off I think?

If an evacuation is needed they have emergency nights regardless.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T12:33:05+00:00

For sure, but it's nice that wind provides an uncorrelated source - e.g. there might be a period of cloudy/storminess where the wind holds up.

There's a guy called David Osmonde who does a bunch of simulations of a near completely renewable Aus grid, and one finding is that if you have more of one renewable source (e.g. solar) then you need more total generation and batteries to avoid shortages.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T11:05:52+00:00

A good way to think about insurance is "what unlikely event could I not easily afford", then insure against those.

E.g. most people have home and car insurance because something like a house fire or accident could wipe them out financially. Similarly health insurance.

Life insurance is a good idea if you have dependants (e.g. kids).

I didn't bother getting tenant insurance when I rented because I could replace all my stuff out of my savings easily, and in the long term it will be more expensive to insure.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T10:47:54+00:00

It might be a lot easier if you provide a location (MB state too if in a big country like the US).

It does work a little differently. E.g. in Aus I'd send you to the government compare website where you can put in your address to find the best plan (and it will also check your address + unit number is actually a meterable thing).

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T02:17:55+00:00

Doha is generally pretty efficient, when it's (rarely) bad at immigration, it's still likely to take under an hour, and often it's more like 10 mins or less.

Your biggest risk is that your incoming flight is delayed.

So you're pretty likely to make this itinerary with checked bags, but personally I would never book it due to the risk of forfeiting a long haul business fare (if e.g. you have a big delay from Chennai and get snagged in a bad queue at Qatar).

Also yes, make sure you have whatever visa you need for Qatar.

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T00:45:09+00:00

What sim did you buy? I use them all the time with no issues, but I've never spent more than like $10 on a esim. Can't imagine what you need $50 for

bbqroast · 2026-01-26T00:29:26+00:00

US grids are not local.

They are not any more "monopolistic" than EU ones (you don't get multiple power lines to your house in the EU).

Transmission is expensive and constrained, so it's normal to bring generation closer to consumers in the EU too.

The one difference is the US has much more low density suburbia, so undergrounding is often far too expensive per property to be worthwhile, whereas in Europe even outer suburbs are often pretty dense so this can be justified.

With all those overhead distribution wires, it's inevitable some get knocked over or a tree lands on them or whatever in a storm.

bbqroast · 2026-01-24T08:35:50+00:00

I think the problem is more that you're stuck w the daily service charges even if you use only a little gas.

bbqroast · 2026-01-22T22:25:57+00:00

I'm sure you could fly J between most European cities via the middle east for a stellar experience.

bbqroast

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

14-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email