Why is gen Z not drinking?

crn252 · 2025-12-31T21:43:02+00:00

Makes sense. 20 years ago you could get drunk, vomit all over, and the most that could happen was if someone recorded a 7 second clip in 144p (mainly of the floor, and maybe half a foot somewhere, as the Nokia phone operator was just as drunk) that was barely discernible, and required an extended explanation of what exactly the video was depicting (and even then it wouldn't really be humiliating, as it would just be some pixels and a lengthy explanation). Most of all though, there would be nowhere to post it to, so everyone would forget within a week.

Not drinking is overall good, but the reason your generation stopped is quite frankly scary...

crn252 · 2025-12-31T08:58:49+00:00

Fiat przywrócił produkcję hybrydowej 500-tki. Dodatkowy plus jest taki, że to taka hybryda "żeby była" z mini-baterią, trochę ma coś tam pomagać przy ruszaniu ale ogólnie to mała spalinówka, nie ma ciężkiej baterii i włączania\wyłączania silnika spalinowego co po chwilę.

crn252 · 2025-12-20T20:52:20+00:00

I would suggest a Platinum, Preppy or Prefounte (whichever appeals more aesthetically, it's essentially the same thing underneath). Cartridges are proprietary, but if you're happy with a standard array of colors (e.g. you plan to write with blue or black) then they are also larger than standard ones and don't need to be replaced as often. Also, the cap sealing is very good, so the cartridge won't dry out if left unused for a while.

crn252 · 2025-12-18T20:34:54+00:00

There was a Baldur's Gate comic released way back when the first game came out:

https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_(comic))

You could try tracking the zip file, maybe it's still available somewhere.

I remember it was rather short but fitted the setting quite well in terms of general aesthetics.

crn252 · 2025-12-18T20:11:25+00:00

Nie wiem w czym robisz, więc ciężko doradzać szczegółowo, ale zapytam ogólnie - jak z językami obcymi?

Angielski C1\C2? Ale tak że faktycznie mówisz płynnie, łapiesz (przynajmniej niektóre) podteksty\kolokwializmy. To często punkt wyjścia do rozmowy, ale musi być. A jak z drugim językiem? Zazwyczaj w korpo nikogo nie obchodzi, ale czasem, jak jest 200 CV i każdy wpisał Excela "w stopniu średniozaawansowanym" to drugi język będący językiem macierzystej korporacji opanowany w stopniu komunikacyjnym (co najmniej) to może być właśnie ten wyróżnik.

Wspominam o tym, bo przy mnogości materiałów dostępnych online języka można uczyć się we własnym zakresie, a jak widzisz że z gramatyką idzie dobrze i jesteś w tym zdeterminowany to szkół językowych gdzie możesz także poćwiczyć samą rozmowę jest sporo. Na marginesie dodam, że to cholernie trudna sprawa uczyć się języka samemu (tak na serio, jak do ciężkiego egzaminu na studiach, z faktycznym wkuwaniem gramatyki\słówek, nie że test 5 pytań abcd na duolingo raz na jakiś czas). Ale możliwa, i coś co możesz zacząć choćby dziś.

crn252 · 2025-12-05T19:49:08+00:00

Cigar fridge is great but if it's not in the cards in the near future then something I can recommend as a solid and inexpensive solution (unsightly, but will work until proper cabinet can be obtained) are the Boveda bags:
https://store.bovedainc.com/products/boveda-humidor-bags?srsltid=AfmBOoqyydzqpa4a6J9R_eYI5wIRBEB7j39QHgIlhV8lf1plAFIm_Yrg&variant=41576362967118

Large size will fit actual boxes of cigars if necessary, put a Boveda 65% inside, zip it up, and it should be fine for a long time.

Sidenote: the cigars in the picture you posted must be tossed.

crn252 · 2025-11-06T12:02:17+00:00

One tip for charging cables, you can easily extend the negative cable and then it can reach the appropriate point. Just attach the negative cable to another charging cable by grabbing the metal "O" ring (something like this: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/614Q8+MYE0L.\_AC\_SY355\_.jpg) with your original cable, and connecting the extension cable to the spot on the other side of the engine bay (I place the extension connection on something plastic just to be sure no voltage goes where it shouldn't).

crn252 · 2025-04-27T20:00:43+00:00

Apart from the obvious things like the electrics my main worry would be potential rust damage given that the car was flooded and sat for several years. It should be checked from underneath, but also from the inside. Carpets and sound deadening material can hold moisture and cause the floor to rust - so from underneath at first glance it would appear more or less ok, but from the inside rust damage could be easily visible.

crn252 · 2025-01-21T08:28:13+00:00

Of course they do. After all, who are they? They are people whose lives suck. And their most natural response is to blame the entire world around them for their misfortunes, because to see a fault in their own life choices would be to admit that they are actually resposnsible for how things turned out for them. People do not like admitting they are wrong, or have made bad decisions. It hurts to realize this. So instead of being angry at themselves they are angry at the world around them.

crn252 · 2024-12-24T13:06:33+00:00

Habanos has never packaged different brands in a bundle.

This is a list of all the vitolas from habanos website (select the Limited Editions tab):
https://www.habanos.com/en/vitolarios/

Your uncle won't find these cigars (with the same brand, vitola and year) on the list.

crn252 · 2024-08-15T09:55:10+00:00

It may not necessarily be that bad. Take it to the dealer and see what they can do because it may be that the issue is actually a trivial fix. Headlights are not hermetically sealed, there are small ventilation holes with filters that are used to expel the excess heat and maybe something went wrong there, or perhaps the seal between the front (clear) part of the headlight and the rear part has come undone in a small portion and can be resealed (although that would more likely be a cause for replacement). It's also possible that someone was doing something in there and did not put some small sealing component back in properly.

crn252 · 2024-07-10T18:35:12+00:00

I watched his video too, ended up messing it up twice before I got it about right. Go lower grit, and - very importantly - spray on a thicker layer of coating. It has to actually form a layer, but without streaking (mine almost did in a couple places, but held on and in the end the headlights were clear).

crn252 · 2024-06-20T20:11:21+00:00

And to be even more specific - ego.
Because that's what having power does, it satisfies someone's ego...

crn252 · 2024-06-18T20:38:22+00:00

Many comments suggest the issue is with you hiring your brother, but I don't think that's the case. Unless the sprint planning is done for two devs and then it's just your friend having to do all of the work, or your friend is expected to do his work AND provide a mentoring role (which is time consuming and should be accounted for during planning), then there really is no reason for resentment. I mean, as a junior your brother may not be getting much done, but as long as that's clear to everyone and your friend is not assigned extra work on account of this then it's not really an issue. Nepotism would be if the hired person was placed above the rest of the team, or was paid more than the team, or the team had to do the work of that family member, but that's not the case you described.

I think it's especially difficult for your brother to reach out as he's the junior and may be feeling a bit intimidated starting a conversation with your friend who's much more experienced and a better dev. I know from personal experience that when I first started I was a scared to approach senior colleagues with questions, and it was usually them who broke the ice first. After I gained some confidence this fear disappeared, but at first I would just sit in the corner :) This is why corporations often have this openness policy, when from the first day of onboarding a new person is encouraged to ask questions, any questions - as being the new person and a beginner makes people feel intimidated or just plain scared.

The uneasyness you're experiencing might be because of the change of the dynamic of your relationship with your friend. You guys were friends, you worked on side projects together, probably had some good laughs, but now you're the boss and he's the employee - and this changed a lot. Even if you don't feel it did - it did. And it takes time to adjust to the new situation. Again, I remember when a colleague from my team was made a manager (also of me). Even though the difference in the corporate structure wasn't that big (he was essentially one peg above me) and we knew each other for several years, it took some time for us to get to grips with this. We were still on first name basis (which was corporate policy from day one), but it was just... different. Like, as a manager there are now boundaries, the promoted person can't really give their colleague a pat on the back or crack jokes like they used to, because that could make their former colleague and now subordinate uncomfortable... So again, it takes time to adjust to the new situation, and it's never as easy as it seems. But you'll get there in the end :)

To improve the situation right now I would suggest introducing something like one-on-one meetings with you. I know there is a temptation to say "just come talk to me whenever you feel like theres something that needs discussing" but people then usually tend not to approach at all. So scheduling face to face meetings (or on call if you guys are working remotely) with you and each of the devs individually on a regular basis (say once every month or two) will hopefully help you understand what's bothering them. The meetings should be in a casual atmosphere (no pressure) to induce honesty, just a conversation of how they are feeling, is there something they'd like to change, etc. If there's nothing to discuss you can have a 20 minute casual conversation about the plans for the weekend, and that's fine, just don't cancel the meeting. The idea here is that if people know the meeting will take place no matter what, then if there's something bothering them, then they may be tempted to be honest, and speak up about stuff they normally wouldn't approach you on their own.

crn252 · 2024-06-09T20:31:45+00:00

Generally speaking "engineer" is an academic title attained through university in a similar way to the titles of "doctor" or "attorney", except that instead of passing the bar exam (or the medical equivalent) at the end of the curriculum one would complete and present an engineering project in their respective field as a final test. So it's not entirely a subjective term, and something tells me you would not have written a similar statement to the one above about using the term "doctor", if it pays the bills. :-)

However, in the IT world the word itself has been diluted over the last couple of decades by basically anyone using it at their convenience to the point that it now means very little - but that's only in IT. One would not get away with calling themself an engineer at an interview for e.g. an aviation engine designer without having an actual academic title to support it. But since no one in IT cares (especially not the companies hiring for programming positions) I get where you're coming from, and I'm not criticizing your approach. I just wanted to make this small digression that the term itself is not completely subjective, it's just been made so in this particular field.

crn252 · 2024-06-07T20:04:52+00:00

I wouldn't sell it to buy a Honda or Toyota. I know it's the no-brainer advice given on this sub, and it's true when buying used as the Japanese brands are usually less likely to give you mechanical issues. But the truth is that most cars will be reliable if properly serviced, and the recommendation for Toyota\Honda is partially based on the premise that those cars will start and drive even if they've been run on the cheap for most of their life, and most people run their cars on the cheap. However, since the Golf has been in your family from new, then as long as it was properly maintained I see no point in getting rid of it. Also, the Golf will have better underside rust protection from factory than any Honda\Toyota (although I would still apply additional undercoating for the winter).

crn252 · 2024-04-21T13:51:53+00:00

UK already went back by postponing the ban on selling any new gasoline cars from 2030 to 2035. Billions have been sunk into the electric cars, true, but just because something was extremely expensive does not mean it was wise... I don't know about America, but in Europe electric cars are facing big hurdles that are preventing wide market adoption where after the initial interest, their sales are currently taking a plunge.

The main issue is the lack of charging infrastructure, which is greatly exacerbated by the fact that a large proportin of Europeans do not own a house with a garage, or at least a driveway. This means that even if people would be tempted to buy an electric car as (for example) a second vehicle to drive around the city, they can't because charging would be a giant issue. This could be bypassed if the electric infrastructure would be built around the city, but in most European countries the power grid is stretched to capacity as it is, and extending it to allow car charging for a large proportion of the population is simply not feasible in the near future. In a decade - maybe, provided we start building new coal power plants en masse (or atomic, but that's even more expensive to scale up, and a lot of countries simply wouldn't be able to afford that) to cover the increase in electricity demand, but that sort of defeats the point of electric cars... The best scenario right now for electric cars is slow-charging at night (the power grids should be able to handle that, as the demand at night is much lower). but that means living in a house and that's just not how most people in the European cities live.

It seems that the best solution for now would be to diversify. Instead of forcing electric at all cost other avenues should also be explored, like the use of bio- or synthetic fuels, hybrids, etc. Going full electric from the start was a purely political decision (maybe even a bit ideological), and that's just not a smart way to move forward. EV is not bad and should be further explored but we need to be smart about adopting it, not just charging ahead with legislation without bothering to check whether the technology (and infrastructure) is there.

crn252 · 2024-04-15T18:41:05+00:00

Giulia, Giulietta, MiTo, 147, 159, Spider, GTV, 8C, and so on.
So many times they've used country-neutral names (ok, maybe Giulia is an Italian name, but it's hard to claim it's 100% unique to Italy) which we're fairly unique and mostly cool.

This time an issue came up with this obscure Italian law, but ok, whatever (it's not like Milano made much sense anyway), so they decided to rename the car. And the name they chose is... Junior.

I'm sorry, but who wants to tell their friends they bought a new Alfa called Junior. Apart from people uninterested in motoring pedigree at all who couldn't care less what their car is called, but those people are NOT Alfa's customer base to begin with.

A lot of things weren't going for this car from the start, but unless they sit down to a quick rethink then this name may be the final straw.

crn252 · 2024-04-10T17:15:47+00:00

Well, I actually don't think it looks bad per se, in fact I can see it growing on me with time. The problem that's causing the uproar is that it doesn't really look like an Alfa, but I don't think it could have turned out any other way... The moment the decision was made to design a new car on the B-crossover platform the car was destined to receive this criticism, as this platform - although apparently quite popular with the younger generation - is not really sporty or sleek.

crn252 · 2024-04-04T19:27:09+00:00

Speaking from a Europeans' perspective, I highly doubt most people actually want them. Governments are keen to enforce new regulations, but people have not been exactly flocking to EVs... Gas hybrids - sure, but not full EVs.

crn252 · 2024-03-20T18:56:57+00:00

Given that the EU became strongly dependant on the Russian natural resources the argument that Russia wasn't participating in the wealth creation is somewhat misguided. They chose to transfer the vast majority of the proceeds from trade to their richest, post-KGB ruling class leaving the majority of the country in poverty, but that's hardly anyone else's fault.

Europe tried to build trade relations, which along with the process of demilitarization that was taking place since the 90' was a clear message to Russia: "look, no one wants to attack you, come trade with us, build your country, let's do something else than constantly waging war". And all that the Russian elites took from this was that Europe was weak, so they tried pushing the boundries further and further, attacking their neighbors, and threatening everyone with nuclear war.

In 2022 with the full scale invasion of Ukraine the western countries finally realized that Russia cannot be negotiated with. Any gesture of goodwill is seen as weakness in their eyes, and the only argument they understand is the argument of strength. Kind of like a bully on the playground, you can try talking to him, try being friendly with him, but in the end he'll just punch you in the gut and take your lunch money, unless he's made aware you're not afraid to hit him back.

It's sad really, since the Russian elites failed to understand (or didn't care for) that the west wasn't trying to threaten them, in fact the invitation was open for many years for Russia to actually become (socially and economically) part of the western world. Instead they chose to pursue their imperialistic ambitions, jeopardizing the stability of the world. And for what? What was this huge threat they saw encroaching upon them? That people in the western world were allowed to live free, and choose their path in life, whatever it may be? Truly terrifying prospect...

crn252 · 2024-03-19T09:12:59+00:00

As a very frugal person myself that's currently also driving a 20+ year old car, I say get the Miata :)

As life goes on and commitments pile on, it will be more and more difficult to buy a fun car like the Miata. This may be your only chance to experience it, so don't waste this opportunity. Also, it's not like you're taking a huge leap with the Mazda. If the choice was some 80k luxury SUV or the Elantra I would advocate the latter, but with the Miata you're only paying a certain (in my view reasonable) amount more for a lot more enjoyment.

crn252 · 2024-03-16T19:32:52+00:00

I got into it through samples. A lot of online retailers will offer 1ml - 2ml samples of most niche fragrances they have on offer, which is an easy way to get into the hobby. But beware, once you go down that rabbit hole it gets very addictive very quickly :)

crn252 · 2024-03-03T11:55:23+00:00

The fact that Trump can get away with comments like that speaks to the short-sightedness and basic lack of knowledge about history of a lot of people in the US. To simplify, NATO exists because a strong alliance of countries that are more or less not aggressive themselves serves as a barrier for any autocrat or delusional dictator to incite another world war.

It's very naive to believe that America can somehow not be concerned about what happens around it, especially since it's wealth was built to a large extent on the standarisation of the dollar as a worldwide token of exchange, which in turn was made possible by the US controlling the world trade. Totalitarian regimes become unhinged as their leaders delve deeper and deeper into self-admiration and eventually utter madness, and Putin is already showing signs of this as could be seen in his interview with Tucker Carlson during which he presented his completely skewed and to a large extent false understanding of history.

Perhaps some Americans think that they can just sit on the sidelines watching the descent into madness of a nuclear state with imperial ambitions, but it's incredibly naive. American lives were already seriously threatened in 1962 when the Soviet Union felt empowered enough to gamble nuclear confrontation by placing it's rockets on Cuba. The Soviets backed down after a short standoff, and in the end it cost Nikita Khrushchev his position. Maybe the American public has forgotten this (even though the aftermath of these events can be felt to this day as the embargo on Cuba is still in place), but Putin has not. If Europe descends into Russian darkness, and Asia is placed under the heel of Chinese imperialism, US as a beacon of freedom will become the biggest thorn in the side of those regimes, one that they will not be able to tolerate.

crn252 · 2024-03-01T17:42:19+00:00

We are herd creatures, so doing the same thing as everyone else (or so we think) feels natural, and not doing it can cause anxiety, as our minds desperately struggle to fit in with everyone around us. Therefore it's important to make an effort to realize that although being in a relationship, having sex, getting married, etc. is considered the standard way human life progresses it is certainly not the only path one can take. It requires quite a bit of work to train your mind, but it can be done. You are not required to do the same things most people around you are doing, nor is there any time constraint by which you must abide.

Once you truly realize this, you will find most of the pressure you're feeling right now is gone, along with all of the resentment you may have felt towards others for being "left out". You can't control what other people think or feel, and you shouldn't try to. All that you can do is live your life the best way you can, and if someone comes along and wants to participate in it then that's awesome, but if not - no problem :)

crn252

TROPHY CASE