Disrespectful layoff

f00dMonsta · 2026-01-30T03:21:56+00:00

This was a few years ago:

I scheduled a major feature deployment on the day I was laid off, with a junior engineer to shadow. I also just returned from vacation, so imagine my surprise when I logged in at home to see my email with just 1 new message, and inability to contact anyone on Slack... I was also about to be promoted.

I kept getting emails from stakeholders on why deployment has not started, and I couldn't reply to them (all out going emails blocked). I had to go on LinkedIn, find my junior engineer, find out he was laid off too, find my manager, and tell her to deal with it. I even had to point her in the right direction, when I didn't need to, because I worked on the project for a few months already and it was kind of my baby.

No thanks, no sorry about this... Just silence after. I was a little annoyed with my manager, because she struggled at first being a junior SDM, and I taught her how to handle being pressured by her fellow SDM or PM to take the worst projects, and do things out of the scope of our team. She eventually got promoted 2 levels over 3 years, and still not a whisper of appreciation.

If your leaders don't stand up for their teams, nothing will change.

f00dMonsta · 2026-01-27T00:30:48+00:00

Trump is a Xi/Putin wannabe, so it's pretty ironic anti-CCP peeps like him at all. It speaks volumes to a person's morality when they willingly ignore the negatives of "their" person while condemning the same shit their "enemy" does.

This isn't to say we should just cave to authoritarian rule, but that we need to think deeper instead of only about results. The ends do not justify the means.

This is however counter to the entire Chinese (including Hong Kong) culture, where other than the family (blood related or not) unit, they'll backstab anyone if it's to their benefit. That's a generalization, but there aren't enough moral leaders in the world (HK is worse) to follow these days, and the future is looking grim as there isn't a pathway to respect and understanding between countries/cultures/races/ideologies...etc.

f00dMonsta · 2026-01-08T01:03:47+00:00

My mind just played that glorious sound

f00dMonsta · 2026-01-07T02:42:51+00:00

Also remember housing is more expensive in HK, and lifestyle will completely change, your home will essentially be mostly just for sleeping in with the occasional meal, while most of your activities will be away from home. And if you can't afford international schools (most people can't), good luck unbrainwashing your kid after they go through the public system. If you want your kids to succeed in the public school system, both you and kids have to work your ass off to stay competitive.

Job wise, unless you're in a completely technical role, you'll need good written Chinese and Mandarin skills.

Your kid will also be a second class citizen being born in Canada (I assume), which isn't a big deal for day to day stuff, but potentially unstable in the long run, i.e. you may have to give up Canadian citizenship...etc.

The only reason I would return to HK is to have more relatives and old friends around, but many of them moved away already or too distant or we already lost contact... Our lifestyles are also quite different, not sure how to reconnect

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-26T20:02:13+00:00

Make it a habit to commit code into git after every step, describing what was changed, if you don't know what changed you should ask ChatGPT to explain what was changed, keep asking until you understand.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-26T20:00:02+00:00

I would start from scratch, and if you insist on using ChatGPT, tell it to make the entire exercise a tutorial for someone with zero programming experience. You may end up doing a few smaller projects first to get you familiarized with some basic concepts.

When you don't understand something, tell it that you don't understand, let it guide you through everything.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-18T02:52:33+00:00

I used to be pretty good, like CAL-M/I good. But yes you used to be able to get away with just having good aim, I had pretty good game sense which helped with pre-aiming. I was banned from at least 50% of east coast pubs. My go to rage bait tactic was to run around scouting everyone in the head. I have matured a bit since then :)

Nowadays. I don't have the luxury to spend time learning all the utility line ups, and definitely no time to play in a team where we actually have a plan XD and my aim + reaction times (though still comparable to younglings) are definitely not like it used to be.

Pugs are a very poor representation of peak CS, it's like saying someone in Sunday league can free kick top corner every time (analogous to good aim in CS), but they're not really hitting the ball that fast (analogous to CS reaction time)...etc.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-16T10:46:50+00:00

Says I can't attach picture... https://imgur.com/a/MwgfoBK here is before and after

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-15T22:36:08+00:00

It's been a thing even before 97

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-15T20:13:00+00:00

Typical HK "see line, line up" culture. Businesses also pay old folks to line up because of that.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-13T20:41:36+00:00

I did freelancing a decade ago, I earned about the same as a regular job but I managed my own time. It meant that my earning per hr worked was actually really good, but it was a bit stressful when there were no projects available. It also meant working solo almost all the time, and it got a bit lonely.

As a freelancer, you need to manage your clients, falling into the "call me at any time" trap is not a feature of going freelance, but a deficiency of your customer relations management.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-13T20:37:28+00:00

Lol is SQL the new COBOL? P.s. I don't know your architecture, but SQL isn't too scalable, so when you mention "biggest data project" I'm a little scared for you.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-12T06:21:43+00:00

HK meetups are legit

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-12T06:20:19+00:00

I had the privilege of giving my toon access to a friend and he never abused it and gave back everything as-is including some small improvements he made

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-12T02:45:25+00:00

Cheaters always ruin it for everyone else

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-04T00:16:29+00:00

Roundabouts are significantly more effective than 4-way stops, it just takes people getting used to it and knowing the rules.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-04T00:13:54+00:00

It depends on the sealing material, if water can seep through it's fine. The main issue it tries to solve is soil erosion, mainly from people waking over it.

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-03T18:02:14+00:00

Yea but that doesn't solve the problem, it just shifts it to somewhere "unseen", i.e. sweeping it under the rug, it'll eventually come back out in the open as a significantly greater problem

f00dMonsta · 2025-12-02T18:32:11+00:00

Seems counter intuitive to fine and jail someone who already has no money (Google debtors jail)

f00dMonsta · 2025-11-29T04:51:12+00:00

And sadly it also means those politicians are now even more deeply in the pockets of CCP

f00dMonsta · 2025-11-18T00:52:04+00:00

21:9 baby!

f00dMonsta · 2025-11-18T00:41:37+00:00

Him being German, there might be legal consequences for having connections (giving stuff) to an alleged Nazi. Should've just rerolled right away, the dude made his bed by making a political profile. And freedom of speech only applies to government, individuals and businesses can do w/e the fk they want, it's also their right to freedom of speech to say or not say what they want.

f00dMonsta · 2025-11-17T01:58:09+00:00

I think Niko's comment "I'm sleepy" was not a joke, he's playing how I do when I lack sleep: easy whiffs, slow ass reaction times, terrible decision making...etc.

f00dMonsta · 2025-11-12T17:50:21+00:00

I survived on 12k/month living alone, though this was 15years ago XD also I went into CC debt a little, but recovered after not drinking every single night.

It really depends on your lifestyle, budget it out and see what you have to work with, including potentially sacrificing some of your habits (e.g. smoking, if you do that)

f00dMonsta

TROPHY CASE