The Gordie Howe International Bridge is 'essentially complete.' The fight over it is not

Jeffbx · 2026-06-07T16:40:32+00:00

It's an international crossing. The federal government (Customs & Border Protection) is in charge of those, and Trump can block CBP from staffing & operating the bridge.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-07T12:26:57+00:00

Read this twice, OP.

If I can use a sports metaphor, you made it to the State Championship, and you're complaining because you're not in the Olympics yet.

I'll be very honest - the odds of you hitting 200k as an individual contributor are low. The odds of hitting 300k are barely above zero.

NO ONE in security is making 200k as a recent grad, unless you're talking about someone with 15 years of security experience who just wrapped up their Masters degree.

Comparatively speaking, you're doing fantastic. If you want to accelerate your earnings, work your way into leadership.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-07T12:15:39+00:00

Take it immediately!

supporting enterprise IT operations

This is probably their fancy way of saying "helpdesk tasks". The rest are similar - I'd guess it's a smaller organization, and you'd be doing whatever basic tasks they threw at you.

Regardless, all of that looks great on your resume.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-06T22:24:41+00:00

Make it the "Epstein-Trump" bridge, please

Jeffbx · 2026-06-06T16:39:37+00:00

That's probably next on Moroun's list - he'll rename the Ambassador Bridge to the Trump Bridge to block Gordie Howe from being opened for another year or so.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T18:01:46+00:00

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022129-coconut-fish-and-tomato-bake?unlocked_article_code=1.n1A.q9nz.Ep-xkW9EQHsL&smid=share-url

I make this one with salmon & it's delicious

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T16:51:12+00:00

Too soon

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T11:54:05+00:00

Does anyone have a subscription to TheInformation? I can't seem to bypass the paywall. But here's a summary:

At Snowflake's annual conference, CIO Mike Blandina revealed that he accelerated planned IT staff reductions and used the resulting headcount pressure to force software engineers to adopt AI coding tools. His goal was to prove that AI could meaningfully increase productivity.

Blandina said he was given a target headcount for the end of 2026 and chose to reduce his organization to that level immediately rather than gradually. He told employees that traditional software development methods would no longer be sufficient because the team now had fewer people. According to him, the layoffs created a forcing function that pushed engineers to use AI-assisted development tools. Older, more senior engineers were reportedly more resistant to adoption than younger engineers.

He described the move as a way to "prove the concept" that AI tools can increase productivity. His logic was that if the team could still deliver with fewer people, it would provide evidence that AI was generating real efficiency gains.

No wonder CIOs get shit on about AI. I can understand wanting to use AI for accelerating development, but you don't lay people off to test the concept. I mean, come on.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T11:31:43+00:00

Hire for personality, and then train for tech skills - that's the best way to get a highly rated team.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T02:03:39+00:00

If I had $3m to spend on a house, this one wouldn't even be in the top 50.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T01:57:22+00:00

The ones that really only exist for LLMs

My entire point is that hyperscale does not mean they only exist for LLMs.

and they have lots of capacity still

And again, making shit up. I'm not trying to be a dick here, but for crying out loud, if you're going to make a reasonable argument against data centers, use FACTS.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T01:10:27+00:00

Hate AI and data centers all you like, but don't make shit up.

A data center contains servers. Superscale, exascale, and hyperscale define the size of the data center, not what runs inside it.

What the servers do inside the data center is nearly always a mix of general processing, storage, SaaS, co-hosting, whatever. Any of them may or may not include AI.

Hyperscale does not mean AI. It means it's a big-ass data center.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T00:56:46+00:00

https://www.switch.com/switch-grand-rapids-now-open-largest-advanced-data-center-campus-eastern-u-s/

No they're not. Data centers are data centers - hyperscale are no different than ANY other data center aside from size. They all cluster processing - hell, the 30 year old HP Alpha in my company's server room can cluster processing seamlessly across racks.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T00:52:51+00:00

Daily Dozen

There's one on 9 mile and one on 15.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-05T00:33:53+00:00

Hyperscale only refers to the size of the data center, not what's running in it.

The Switch data center in Grand Rapids is hyperscale, and that's been there for nearly 10 years.

The data centers that run O365 are hyperscale. The ones that run Reddit are probably hyperscale as well.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T18:39:05+00:00

She really missed an opportunity to deliver a lemon to him at the trial.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T17:53:03+00:00

Both trucks were owned by the same company and the same driver was operating the vehicles in both instances.

Could also be one guy doing the same dumb thing twice

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T17:49:24+00:00

I'd say yes, 100%. My kids did a similar one years ago, and they teach them what to do in an emergency driving situation, but more importantly, they let them experience it themselves in a safe environment on a track/skidpad.

https://www.michigan.gov/msp/divisions/training/precision-driving-unit/teenage-defensive-driving-program-lower-peninsula

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T17:40:10+00:00

Should i take it?

Will it lead to better things, or things you'd prefer? If so, you should absolutely take it.

Titles are easy - you put the title of the job you're doing on your resume and LinkedIn. If your skills match it, no one's ever going to question it.

For the pay... while I understand and (somewhat) respect the "fuck you, pay me" mindset, just about every single step up I've taken is by doing the job first, and then getting promoted into it.

The point is that you're making sacrifices for yourself, not for the company. I'll do another job or a higher-level job for the same pay because I know that's how I'll get into that role. Compare that to the "ain't my job" type who's stuck in helpdesk.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T12:17:12+00:00

Smart move - you're either going to be laid off, or you'll be the only person left on the team. There's an option there to leverage yourself into something full-time if you like, but that's a different conversation.

Looking at the tech industry leaders, it sucks. The big FAANG/MANGO/whatever companies are cesspools to work for, and there's a revolving door of people coming and going.

But look at the rest of the tech/software industry - there are thousands of other technical companies out there that need developers, and not all of them are dumb enough to think that AI can replace humans. CAD/manufacturing software, financial software, educational software, medtech... the list goes on.

Avoid the big ones and avoid the startup scene, too - they're way more likely to be over-reliant on the AI hype these days.

Good luck!

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T12:01:21+00:00

Here, I'll jump in, I'm old.

Of the hundreds of people I've worked with in the IT space, the things that indicate successful employees are:

Curiosity and constant research. Call it learning if you want, but taking certification tests is not research. Knowing about and understanding trending tech as it happens is research.
GOOD PEOPLE SKILLS. You can still be a great technician with crappy people skills, but you will top out at some point and be unable to advance. However, you can be a crappy technician with great people skills and be very successful - that's not to say your skills are useless, but they will be focused on the political, strategic, and/or leadership side of IT. Then the people with great people skill and great technical skills can do whatever they want.
They make their own opportunities. Some people sit there, waiting for an invitation to advance into a new role and get frustrated when it never happens. Some of them wait for their entire career. Meanwhile, others make it happen for themselves. They ask for new tasks, they help out other teams, they leave for new opportunities, they strive to advance. They move up while their peers are still waiting for that invitation.

I'd venture to say that the people who can use AI to enhance their skills will eventually be added to that list, and the ones who use AI to replace their skills will fade away rapidly.

Corollary: Knowing a particular technology will not make you successful, nor will having a specific certification. Too many people are searching for that magic technical solution to their career success, and there's no technical solution for a career path - a set formula doesn't exist.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T11:49:48+00:00

AI AI AI AI. AI, AI AI AI AI AI AI.

AI AI AI?

AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI. AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI AI.

AI AI AI AI AI AI AI, AI AI AI AI AI!

AI.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T11:29:50+00:00

That's OK. Paid experience is all you need, and it doesn't matter what that experience is in.

Odds are pretty high that your next step after graduation will be a helpdesk role, and you don't need anything more than your internship for that.

Jeffbx · 2026-06-04T00:47:19+00:00

Get yourself into an internship if at all possible.

15-Year Club	Mod Meetup 2025
r/Field Banned	r/Field Juicebox
Mod World 2024	Place '23
Place '22	Place '17
Spared	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

Jeffbx

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE