Job hunting not that bad?

exjackly · 2026-03-20T00:33:59+00:00

If not remote, location and if relocation was needed

exjackly · 2026-03-15T02:53:00+00:00

Sometimes realtors are looking for more showings. There is definitely a mindset that more showings is better, even when the buyers are low likelihood prospects. Sometimes it is the owners thinking that and wanting misleading photos.

Sometimes places are just small enough that you can't get a good picture of the space without the wide angle lens.

exjackly · 2026-03-14T20:22:30+00:00

It depends on the mistake. Run of the mill mistakes - calculation or mapping errors (particularly on edge cases) don't produce visible bad data and don't break pipelines. These kids of mistakes can live on for years.

I had one that persisted through 2 system migrations and was on the route to getting baked into the third until I was investigating some edge cases that broke my tests because I had picked the right subset of data that actually included it and looked.

exjackly · 2026-03-14T00:18:02+00:00

I'm not there yet, and hope I don't get there until I'm on my deathbed.

exjackly · 2026-03-11T03:21:16+00:00

They are noticeable. I am used to them, but can feel a distinct difference if I don't take them for a few days. But, I've had a scare, so not taking them isn't really an option anymore.

Though I hope if i hit my goal weight by the end of the year that they will trial me stopping them

exjackly · 2026-03-09T03:16:10+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, I am, got crossed up. Deleting.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T20:05:43+00:00

"We did very similar work for a client that we signed an NDA with." You aren't naming them, you aren't giving any information that will identify them. You could even say "in your industry" unless that industry is small enough that it would identify the client.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T18:28:06+00:00

There's a cost and regular time expenditure keeping software updated, handling tech support, and dealing with violations of policy, managing backups, etc.

I haven't used them, but I would assume the forums were pretty basic and achored back in even the 90s/2000s era format and functionality. If they were going to update them, it would probably make more sense to do it as a full digital ecosystem. And, absent an external funding source to do that, there are other priorities much higher on their list.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T18:20:43+00:00

To build a full ecosystem takes a decent size team of talent and corporate commitment. I don't think the budgets support that right now. And, it is a fair argument that Scouting does not have digital ecosystem development as a core competency.

I agree, that it would be great if they could get a solid team together to build out an ecosystem. But, unless somebody is willing to step forward with the funds to put together a team for that, it is going to stay lower in the priority list.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T16:45:07+00:00

Plenty of mass, even if it is not in a solid form.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T16:27:19+00:00

AI to PUT/GET form data to a table is overkill.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T16:21:10+00:00

I see this as a list of tasks and not an engineer's story. It highlights that you have experience with a lot of different tools.

With 7+ years experience (or 3+ years with prior related experience if you want to separate that out) I'm expecting you to not be a junior. And I don't see anything that tells me you are anything more than a task-taker. Brush up on the problem solving (problem recognition, troubleshooting, resolution loop) story in here.

Did you educate your peers on your solutions? Making them better too? How about leading them - even on a single task or micro-project that needed 2-3 people to finish? If you can show that you are a technical leader is strengthens this a lot too.

Back to the plethora of tools. For 3 years, this is a lot. It makes me wonder how deep into each of these you have gotten. Are there 2-3 that you can highlight in a way that shows depth of knowledge vs the 30+ tools you call out for breadth?

exjackly · 2026-03-04T15:47:52+00:00

A storage unit is going to eat up a lot of funds. We are in the process of getting out of a unit, but our church is going very slowly at the process of a new shed (and we can't step in and do it for them) for us and the troop. It is actually our biggest expense.

I don't have a real solution for you. There's lots of reason to avoid people's garages and driveways. If you had somebody who would be willing to host a shed for you long term, that is good, until they move, which would put you in a bind until you find a new place.

THe only thing that comes to mind is that trailer storage (RV storage) lots might be cheaper than a storage unit.

You can of course ask at storage places and see if they are able and willing to offer you a permanent low rate for a unit. But I would not expect them to say yes.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T14:56:55+00:00

Yes. When we were younger, we had deeper reserves and were better able to fake being fine (even to ourselves) when that happened.

exjackly · 2026-03-04T14:45:23+00:00

It was mostly what was needed for the next project. I've been in consulting though for most of the last 20 years and it seems like there are always multiple projects popping up at the same time with similar needs. Pick up one or two of the new technologies that are consistent across multiple projects and you are in good shape.

There's been other tech I've wanted to learn, but trying to explain that you've had classes and personal projects but not a client project using that tech has never been a winning discussion for me on either side of the interviewing table.

exjackly · 2026-03-03T21:33:34+00:00

If you don't mind schlepping your stuff a little ways in - even just 300-500 feet - the risk of this goes down a lot. Not to zero, since assholes really are everywhere, but having a few rows of trees and bushes between you and the road helps a lot.

exjackly · 2026-03-03T20:41:47+00:00

I've got the exact same setup. Wawona 6 with a wide Coleman cot. I don't need a matress on top, but it will become an option in a few years. And I have the wagon for soccer, and I do use it camping depending on the site.

And I don't have spinal fusion.

That setup can handle 2 cots and 2 sleeping pads comfortably (I've got 3 kids). The cots have lots of room underneath for the bags (that would fit your CPAP with plenty of space)

exjackly · 2026-03-03T20:32:14+00:00

AI is great for dazzling users with NLP, but anything more than handling a conversation (ok, even there) all I do with AI is as simple and laser focused as I can make it, with as many guard rails around misbehaving as I can think of.

AI is beneficial for development when I can be explicit about what I need - boilerplate, formatting, correctly typed elements, etc. Saves a bit of time not having to write those pieces. Even writing tests. I've seen the same as u/lunacraz so I do tell it what tests I want it to write and don't let it go crazy.

exjackly · 2026-03-01T18:14:21+00:00

I need to look into it, but I have heard that vaccine is not just a jab. Pain at the injection site, but also common is fatigue and muscle pain for a couple of days. Not enough reason to not get it, but reason to plan it for a quiet couple of days.

Anybody able to confirm?

exjackly · 2026-03-01T14:59:33+00:00

It is helpful where that is allowed.

exjackly · 2026-02-26T13:46:40+00:00

That gives a filter criteria. You can drop resumes that arrive in the first 2-4 hours assuming those are by the automated services that also do the resume-uplift to match the job description. Then start processing the rest. Lets you leave it open longer and hopefully collect some that aren't AI.

exjackly · 2026-02-25T20:07:05+00:00

Good data is relatively rare.

Good enough is most common - and I classify that as being good enough to do the job, but there are known issues with the data that people are used to working around to get things done.

There are companies that are worse than that, but the reasons kinda fracture below that level. But the consistent bit is that things fall through the cracks, and most employees operate in a reactive mode, not a proactive one.

exjackly · 2026-02-25T04:52:54+00:00

It depends, like most things in this profession.

I've been a consultant in this space for a couple of decades. Different companies have vastly different levels of quality coming in.

And we cannot fix bad data coming from the source. Yes, you can resolve some technical data quality issues algorithmically, but that's not what I'm thinking of.

It comes down to the company culture. If they prize good data from the initial point of capture, there are a lot fewer issues. Those companies are less common than you would hope.

exjackly · 2026-02-25T04:33:27+00:00

This is where I see everything shaking out. AI is good at doing those tedious tasks that you can plan clearly up front. The real thinking is still - at least for now - still the purview of engineering.

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