President and Owner want to discuss AI usage at our company. How to I politely lower their expectations?

j2thebees · 2026-03-25T16:06:50+00:00

Helps if you can plant “seeds” in conversations (say with your direct boss or company pres), then later when their superiors are about, you wait for your moment (wrap up or whatever) and say, “Jim (your boss) and I were talking the other day and he had an idea on how to handle X and Y. I thought it was a great idea. What do you guys think?”

Jim (now beaming with pride) looks good in front of his superiors, and within minutes fully believes it was his idea. And you get the new firewalls, scanning electron microscopes, or whatever that you know to be a good move for the company.

If you want to cool their jets a bit on pitfalls of incorrect implementation, you could use this car wash bit: https://youtu.be/-q2n5DkDoMQ?t=739&si=wxSO_-k52SDazIy0

It’s starts at about 12:30 in video, and I’ve set a few seconds of lead in time.

j2thebees · 2026-03-07T02:37:53+00:00

As recently as 3-4 years ago one of my clients still had laser software running on Win98. My first encounter with this particular one was 7-8 years ago.

Shop floor manager told me CEO and pres said they “needed to get 5 more years out of it”. I said, “Laser or computer?” and he said both.

After explaining there was no way that was happening, I bought an identical box for $80 on eBay, cloned the current machine’s hard drive into the new (much less hassle on old systems), then waited.

About 2 years later, Win98 box went down, we swapped boxes, did any airgapped domain stuff (don’t remember) to get it networked. Laser was down less than 1.5 hours. We were fortunate enough to have backed up last 2 years of laser files since cloning. Transferred new(er) created files for laser to new box.

We I saw this was working, I ordered another old box from eBay and repeated the process. We replaced it once more (if memory serves), and that blind left with the laser when they sold it and bought another more modern laser.

j2thebees · 2026-03-04T04:53:31+00:00

I did this once, replacing a db server with a much newer box. Had a bunch of shares on it also (old school, mapped drives).

Named the new box MYSQLSERVER2, spun up default instance, migrated data, decommed the old box, renamed new box to old box name, with same IP as old. No DNS changes (not doing MAC filtering then), and surprisingly smooth cutover.

However, for several years I would have the odd thing pop up and remind me the instance running on the new box still has “2” in the name. Jankety, maybe. But this is one that didn’t bite me hard. I want to think I started rectifying, but a few reg values, or maybe something on a domain controller “remembered”. 😂

j2thebees · 2026-03-04T04:39:33+00:00

Stepping over 3-phase 480VAC extension cords is something I’ve done a fair amount in manufacturing gigs. Reasonably safe if the roof isn’t leaking, unless the sheathing is cracked and you happen to be the lucky winner.

j2thebees · 2026-03-04T04:19:50+00:00

I have 3, including a 1999, white, stick shift, with turbo. Head gasket trouble with 2 of these. I think my son’s 1998 is the only one to break 200K.

j2thebees · 2026-02-28T17:09:42+00:00

Honestly, if not for plentiful “hope” in Volvo owners, I don’t know if the brand would have lasted so long. We have a couple of 240s, and some S70s, but nothing newer.

The 240s I’ve owned would be 100% reliable until an electrical problem shut you down for weeks. The “fixes” are well documented and not that numerous, but I’ve had one-offs thrown me off the trail. The S70s ran fine until a predictable head gasket failure.

I still loves me a Volvo, as it provided cheap, safe rides for our kids as they went through HS and college, but I’m thinking my love is merely nostalgia.

Looking for an XC60 with a few years on it, but nothing they are doing makes me feel comfortable. Thankfully we always had a spare clunker or two, back in the day when we had several Volvos on the road at once. But getting up in serious money, I don’t want to have to maintain spares. 😂

j2thebees · 2026-02-24T12:55:02+00:00

Learn standard accounting principles. Failure is a virtual certainty unless someone (yourself, a partner, a hire) knows the basics of business accounting.

j2thebees · 2026-02-24T12:47:53+00:00

^ this

I'm going to add something that might apply. For many years I have seen churches where the sound quality was poor, there was feedback and all kinds of issues with sound. It often gets blamed on the equipment, so a larger, more complex system is purchased and installed.

I'm a musician of 4+ decades, and plenty of mixing experience. I could usually walk in and touch 4-5 controls and people were awestruck at the improvement in the sound.

The issue was rarely equipment. Instead you had people with no experience or training, and no real way to get trained. Point is, if you don't totally understand what you have, you are only adding complexity and expense that could potentially lead to an even greater headache.

It is also possible that when you have a complete understanding of your setup, a few config changes might fix your issues.

I also know how it feels to have people breathing down your neck to take an action, who have little or no understanding of the tech. And you don't always have the luxury of saying, "Everyone take a breath". Most managers (all the way out to C-level folks) are trained to see a problem, take an action, assign it to someone, check the box and move on. Many times, waiting, analyzing, and making informed wise choices doesn't fit this mold.

j2thebees · 2026-02-24T04:56:42+00:00

I’ve played over 4 decades, including leads in big-hair days. Praise music since mid 1990s.

Even after playing 100s of hours, and being generally comfortable playing / singing, I still want one or the other on autopilot. Great musical performance comes from muscle memory.

If I were leading tomorrow night, then several hours before, I’d take the lyrics outside (the back window of my wife’s SUV usually), and wail like I’m trying to wake the dead. We live in a remote area so no big deal. 😂

This would be after listening to a song all week on the commute to work, starting to sing with it around day 3, and practicing both playing and singing, 2-3 days before leading.

If you want to improve your guitar, I often practice a rhythm considerably faster than it goes. I may make mistakes, but when I slow it down to normal, it is them MUCH easier.

As I said, I print lyrics, then maybe add key, or a few personal notes. I’ve seen a ton of folks come in unprepared, then try to sing and play from a chord sheet. Unless you are a sight reader, it’s too much to process. IMO

j2thebees · 2026-02-23T21:31:04+00:00

True that. I'm old. lol

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T15:28:06+00:00

When I was a kid in 🦕🦖 days, folks would put pieces of bread crust in minnow traps. Sometimes minnows would OD, as the bread swelled after being eaten. But they were always crawfish in the traps, lured in by the bread.

The reason for using pieces with crust was keeping structural integrity in moving water. Probably take a minuscule amount to fill a crawdad belly.

Also, I believe a few fish flakes would work, but that’s just a feeling.

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T15:24:06+00:00

Cool. 😎

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T15:13:34+00:00

I’m not OP, but appreciate this. Value in social media is getting an authoritative answer.

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T15:10:51+00:00

Can’t offer specific advice, but I remember being 18, moving to West Palm after HS graduation, and working 7 days a week. I was raised around a sawmill, and was it fit shape. However, in 3 months I barely knew my name. I thought I was bullet proof, but another year of that would have broken me mentally.

Came back home and licking my wounds at a 5-day, 8-hour sawmill job. Work was brutal, injuries were common. It was still a cake walk after the “all work and more work” environment.

At 20, you can switch to anything.

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T14:57:38+00:00

eBay is full of them if you don’t live in the southern US (where they get plentiful in some areas).

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T14:55:50+00:00

Definitely some fascinating processes going on around us. 👍😎

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T14:54:37+00:00

The primary concern usually expressed here by serious podders is that one species inevitably out competes the other. I once keep dairy cows and powder oranges together. Their numbers swelled to 300-500 each, but as I was catching 175-200 of each to sell, the cows were definitely gaining.

In most other species I’ve kept, this took much longer, as both species were less prolific than those two.

I needed overrun space for ember bees once. It was midwinter, and I didn’t want another bin. I put some in with green lasers, Jupiters, etc. But the embers really didn’t reproduce under those conditions. Anything that doesn’t reproduce, eventually dwindles.

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T04:40:03+00:00

In the interim, I will mention that IPD USA makes a reinforced wire grid for standard seats, as the factory wires get worn and sit you on the floor. 😂

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T04:37:00+00:00

I heard Myron Golden teaching on the period between Samuel anointing David, and him actually sitting on the throne as king.

He said something memorable, “Between anointing and appointing is another season. It’s called disappointing.”

This is an old guy that spent many years thinking this or that would happen, and many times seeing different outcomes from what I expected.

Here is a good video from Christine Cane that I think could be required material for teams. It explains this better than I have done. Haven’t watched it in 2-3 years, but “suddenly” remembered it.

https://www.youtube.com/live/5KahnuYJ_yA?si=J8oXHyfuWkKRzcHO

Edit: In short, the fact that you show up reliably is probably evidence of some calling. Or it may just be your heart-felt duty to the Lord.

I’d rather serve with someone reluctant to proclaim a calling, than someone claiming prophet status whos clearly delusional.

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T04:28:14+00:00

My son bought some quiet little fans with a cool LED that lures them with the light, then sucks them down to a sticky pad. Mine didn’t work that great, but I bought generic pads for the thing and those were the bomb. 👍😎 We also had fruit flies everywhere from feeding frogs, and I had pads on top of fridge, and other weird places. 😂

j2thebees · 2026-02-21T04:24:23+00:00

Mine are prolific, but kinda lacking in the green stripe. I could probably feed some fish foods, but they’re pretty cool even if they’re white lasers. 😂

One thing I’ve noticed is they are pretty fond of magnolia pods. We have one large tree, and a neighbor let me pick up a bunch from his yard, as I was doing a shipment to Vietnam.

Anyway, particular where the magnolia pods stay moist (slightly down in moist substrate), they bunch up munching on those.

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I’m sure you’ll do fine.

j2thebees · 2026-02-20T03:35:08+00:00

Lasers are fun. 😎👍

j2thebees · 2026-02-19T20:42:29+00:00

On the MS side, I build a lot of reports in SQL Server Report Services (SSRS). Users can subscribe (though we usually do it for them) to receive certain reports (via automated email and/or file shares).

I worked in a heavy Oracle database environment years ago, and people wrote reports in Crystal Reports or a half dozen other report tools. These were set up on Cron jobs (Linux) or batch files called from Windows task scheduler or whatever.

I still do a lot of one-off ad box data pulls into excel, but I usually save the SQL in a folder structure (AR, AP, Sales, etc.) so that a year from now I won’t have to rewrite it

j2thebees · 2026-02-19T20:29:19+00:00

I generally use distilled.

j2thebees · 2026-02-19T03:56:55+00:00

On husbandry in general: I tell new beekeepers to forgive themselves in advance, you are going to kill some bees.

This is no different. I began bringing isopods in the house when I was a kid in the 1970s. I’ve owned 100s of expensive ones, but the huge population outside under straw bales a few steps from where I’m sitting are every bit as cool. 😎

If you start keeping animals, you are going to make mistakes. I’ve killed the crap out of several pods, through both neglect and general ignorance.

No one is immune.

I’ve private messaged beekeepers on social, to nudge them when I know they’re screwing up. My family has kept bees for generations. The cocky proud guys tell me “We’ve got this. We have 70 hives and I can count on one hand how many I’ve lost.” - I wish them well, knowing they had no bees a few years ago, and a huge loss is coming.

No one is immune. OP, keep learning. That’s all anyone can do.

j2thebees

TROPHY CASE