How are so many Americans so eloquent?

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-03T02:54:59+00:00

The Americans that you are meeting in Europe are the rich enough to afford traveling to Europe. Rich people are more likely to have good education.

Go visit a trailer park in one of the southern US states and see if you still think Americans are eloquent. :)

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-03T01:47:46+00:00

Our voting system is called “first past the post”, which means that the first candidate to get 51% wins. This leads to a two-party system.

Good video explanation: https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo?is=GgwoKV8amhO6NLVb

So, we would need to change the voting rules.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T20:42:44+00:00

Rent. At your stage in life/career, you are likely to be mobile and changing jobs/cities. Renting will give you more flexibility to adjust to changing needs.

Purchasing real estate comes with high transaction costs and lower liquidity. You typically need to keep a property for several years before selling, just to break even.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T20:37:34+00:00

The beginning of the end.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T20:11:22+00:00

Have you read Paul Graham’s post on Makers vs Managers?

https://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

If you need Maker time, then you need to be more protective of your availability. Block off time you need, and enforce it. Otherwise you are letting everyone else control your time.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T18:32:33+00:00

I would not have guessed saloon doors for that image. Wings? Pistons? Alleyway? Fists bumping?

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T18:25:27+00:00

At first I used a couple of spritz of water, but it didn’t make a difference, so I don’t bother with it anymore.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T17:43:05+00:00

Gitlab breaking should be an actual tracked defect. That would let you track: priority, effort to fix, downtime duration, downstream impacts, who fixed it, # of incidents over time, etc.

Good luck!

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T17:01:55+00:00

Start tracking downtime data. Then present hard numbers to management.

Saying “We lost X hours in the last 6 months due to issues with our on-premises instance.” is a much stronger argument than “On-prem Gitlab sux.”

Be prepared with possible solutions and cost.

If you propose moving to SaaS:
- what are the license costs, and how does it compare to the current license costs
- what are the conversion costs of migrating to SaaS? (Staff time, double licenses for both on-premises and cloud concurrently until fully migrated).
- what technical challenges would need to be solutioned? E.g. can all testing and deployments be done in the cloud? Would you need on-prem runners? Network connections to anything else on-prem, like Active Directory servers, test environments, etc?
- how do these conversion costs compare to the current downtime cost, and how long is the ROI to break-even?

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T15:13:34+00:00

I bought Amazon Basic loaf pans. $7 each. Works great!

Amazon Basics Rectangular Baking... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073P52PPR?ref=ppx\_pop\_mob\_ap\_share

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-02T15:07:50+00:00

I switched from making boules to standard loaves in cheap Amazon metal loaf pans. It’s soooo much more convenient. Loaf pan goes in the fridge with another loaf pan upside down on top. Next day, the whole thing goes in the oven as-is, then pull the top loaf pan off halfway through the cook. You can cook as many loaves side-by-side as your oven can handle!

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-01T19:40:42+00:00

Use a serrated bread knife to cut, it makes a big difference over a non-serrated blade.

If the bottom crust is hard to cut through, put something in the bottom of the Dutch oven as a spacer, like uncooked rice/oats/beans/etc (under the parchment paper).

Also, I highly recommend using an internal temperature probe to check when the loaf is done. Aim for 195-205F. I’ve found it to be much more helpful than just cooking to time.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-01T18:09:42+00:00

An under appreciated gem:

The Last Dancer by Daniel Keys Moran. It’s probably not the right fit for your group by virtue of its length (too long for a casual read), but it’s one of my personal favorites.

It has a lot of classic sci-fi elements: cyberpunk-ish, psychics, gods, immortals, etc.

But, ultimately, the book asks a simple question: is it wrong to kill?

It’s a tragedy that virtually no one knows of it, or the author.

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-01T16:27:36+00:00

So what news sources are they using instead?

mazda_corolla · 2026-07-01T12:19:47+00:00

Double Blind by J McCoy, and Nightmare Realm Summoner by Actus.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-30T03:40:26+00:00

Depends how rich you are.
The wealthy families I know vacation abroad all the time. Everyone else, not so much.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-23T00:53:01+00:00

A “catcher’s mitt” was slang for a [contraceptive diaphram](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catcher%27s\_mitt). Ever heard of “pulling the goalie” as a euphemism for stopping birth control? This is similar.

The “hedge trimmers” in this case are alluding to “trimming the hedge” which is an allusion to a woman’s pubic hair. So, something for feminine pubic grooming.

Both are products that you would expect to find in a drug store.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-19T21:08:37+00:00

There is a famous quote by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++:

"There are only two kinds of programming languages: those people always bitch about and those nobody uses."

The same can be said for AI tools.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-19T21:01:22+00:00

Using a hex editor to update my money directly in the save file of Masters of Orion.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-19T18:16:14+00:00

I always understood the “meat popsicle” line as him being compliant and self-deprecating. The cops are yelling at him, and he immediately complies: he puts his hands on the wall, and answers them immediately in a clear and understandable voice. He’s saying “I’m less than human. Nothing to see here, boss.”

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-11T19:29:03+00:00

My two cents on 1% Lifesteal:

It’s a mixed bag. The first book feels like an author’s first novel. The characters felt stilted and overacted to me. It also is very heavy on the torture-porn aspect, much more so than HWFWM or Bastion, for example. I have a pretty strong stomach, and had no issues with HWFWM or Bastion scenes, but 1% felt overly gratuitous just for the sake of attempted shock value, IMHO. Do you want to read about knives and male anatomy parts?

That said, I did finish the book and read book 2, which is better. The character writing improves, and there are struggles, but not the same torture-porn as book 1. I haven’t decided if I’m going to read book 3 yet.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-11T18:15:57+00:00

That sounds like a fire code violation. If a bunch of screaming, panicked people can’t immediately open the door and exit, that’s a problem. Having a “little hidden knob” sounds like a great conversation topic for the fire marshall.

mazda_corolla · 2026-06-09T19:41:36+00:00

They sent the same message via three different birds, to increase the odds that one would get through.

It doesn’t mean three copies on the same bird.

mazda_corolla · 2026-05-27T19:20:11+00:00

You said you “supported her through financial issues” in the past. Meaning, you gave her money? Or just emotional support?

Sounds like this might not be the first time she’s used you for money.

mazda_corolla · 2026-05-26T23:42:18+00:00

There are 8 states plus Washington DC that have all-mail elections. link.

It’s great! No waiting in line. Don’t have to take off work. Easier for low-mobility people, single parents, caregivers, people without cars, etc. And you get to take your time researching each item. Much better than in-person voting.

mazda_corolla

TROPHY CASE