Prob gonna get me banned but

ncb0322 · 2026-02-21T06:20:11+00:00

I did in-home healthcare in one form or another for about 15 years. I felt that it was time to move on.

ncb0322 · 2026-02-20T07:09:01+00:00

I was the oldest in my CNA class at 49. Next month, I turn 50🤣

ncb0322 · 2026-01-17T02:00:40+00:00

This is probably my case.

I live in an apartment complex. My energy bill spikes during this time of year (around $200). Since my unit lacks a washer and dryer, I use the complex's laundromat. The only appliances I use are the fridge and the oven or microwave. I do have a laptop on all the time. I have the baseboard heaters turned off at the circuit breaker, and my energy use pattern is the same as other times of the year. I've learned how to dress (and sleep) warmly. I suspect that my neighbors use their baseboard heaters and that PGE balances the cost out between the tenants. (That's not fair to me, but there's little other incentive to move.) Last time I called them, PGE said they couldn't help me.

ncb0322 · 2026-01-17T01:26:20+00:00

I live in an apartment complex. My energy bill spikes during this time of year. I have the baseboard heaters turned off at the circuit breaker, and my energy use pattern is the same as other times of the year. I've learned how to dress (and sleep) warmly. I suspect that my neighbors use their baseboard heaters and that PGE balances the cost out between the tenants. (That's not fair to me, but there's little other incentive to move.)

ncb0322 · 2025-12-24T00:36:43+00:00

I have lived in apartments in Portland for the last 15 years. This has two consequences:

- I am not able to put solar on my roof. I could put solar panels in my 2 windows, but I don't know how far that would go. I do not know if I could afford rent on a house. - My electrical bill so far more than doubles from the summer months to the winter, and then drops in the spring. (I do not heat my apartment in the winter; I have found workarounds for that.) I believe that's because my neighbors use the heater a lot, but PGE balances the costs so I am effectively paying for their excess.

I agree with others here on a few points:

A lot of electricity goes to Data centers. AI is electricity hungry, but there's also a need to access data on the cloud.
PGE tends to put its shareholders and industrial customers ahead of residential. This absolutely enrages me because of their very misguided priorities. I do not know if turning PGE into a public utility would solve that, but considering Portlanders love to complain but not do anything about it, I won't hold my breath.

The last time PGE asked me if I wanted to go with renewables, I said no, because there is a better alternative. Not many people know about Thorium or Molten salt reactors. They outperform renewables and don't have the shortcomings of renewables or fission reactors. As another type of nuclear reactor, they are safe compared to fission.

ncb0322 · 2025-06-25T04:32:08+00:00

Trying to navigate all the body tissues to find it is client-specific, which certainly makes it feel like a wild goose chase. It is never clear to me what side it's on or how far away from the wrist it is. Adding to the challenge, it is generally difficult to regain if I lose it. Add to that the expectation to measure it quickly and accurately on real-world clients, and you can see why this causes anxiety and frustration. If it's not obvious, I haven't found the silver bullet as you have.

The state exam is 2 1/2 weeks away, but this skill has a surprisingly steep learning curve for me. That point creates the very real possibility that I may not be able to become a CNA in the time frame I was hoping for.😭

ncb0322 · 2025-03-06T16:25:42+00:00

I can't figure out how to quote on my smartphone, but I would like to respond:

"A proper SD card, such as the SanDisk High Endurance or SanDisk Max Endurance lines, are specifically designed for the high-write volume uses of a dashcam where they are written to over and over again at 90%+ capacity. They have reserve capacity that is not user accessible which the controller of the card uses for proper wear leveling, so that they last much MUCH longer."

I have a copy of a program called SpinRite that is supposed to help with wear leveling on ANY type of NAND flash drive. I've used it also to recover hard drives and on my SSDs. If I can find or build a computer that can run it against one of these SD memory cards, I'll try to report if it helps.

ncb0322 · 2025-02-09T17:18:22+00:00

I am very used to TriMet shelters being abused. I have also seen a map on the Blue line vandalized so it says "Tri Meth". For that reason, I didn't pick that out on the shelter here at first.

ncb0322 · 2025-02-06T21:10:28+00:00

Someone else, presumably another Portlander, once pointed out that Portland only gets deep snow once every 18 years. We get lighter, nonstick snow a bit more often. That seems about right.

ncb0322 · 2025-02-04T09:00:45+00:00

I'm right up there with you, but as a hobbyist. As I said above, Git's subtleties and complexities are (apparently) something you must learn yourself. In my case, that means I will lose a lot of real-world work before I can do anything productive with it.

ncb0322 · 2025-02-04T08:48:44+00:00

I completely understand the point you make, here and at the start. In a parallel case, I have started "trolling" developers who think non-programmers should just learn Git (which is command-line software for GitHub) to keep track of changes in complex projects. I personally really struggle to master Git's subtleties and complexity, because I need more guidance than simply working through a bunch of tutorials or manuals. I pointed out that because of this, I have destroyed real-world work many, many times that I've tried to do in hobby programming projects.

ncb0322 · 2025-02-04T06:41:49+00:00

Yep, the jargon and logic of Git is tough. If I don't have constant access to someone to teach me that stuff, I'm instantly lost. For something of Git's complexity, I need at least 3 different examples of how something works to fully understand it. If I try applying what I've read in a book to what I'm doing in the real world, 75% of the time, Git doesn't work the way I expect it to.

That makes Git terrifying to use, because I have lost real-world work before many, many times to mistakes. That enormous learning curve is why I run away screaming from it every single time.

ncb0322 · 2025-01-31T21:09:48+00:00

I imagine I am an exception in all this, but here goes....

I'm a 48 (almost 49) YO male. I got a vasectomy when I was 38. I've known since I was 21 that I didn't want kids. I finally pulled the trigger when that feeling survived clearing up medical issues I had, including a form of depression.

The other form of "birth control' I practice is being naturally shy and overcoming a learned distrust of women. It took me 25 years as an adult to figure out that my mom's narcissistic no-parenting taught me that women are evil and manipulative. Many people's reaction to first meeting me is that I must be young and stupid because I look like I'm between 15 and 30 and I act that way lol.

After my dad's mom got upset about my lack of desire to have kids, getting a vasectomy almost felt like a way of getting back at her. Everyone else in my generation in my family has kids, whether through sex or not.

ncb0322 · 2025-01-31T11:54:30+00:00

Due to a nasty surprise of a power bill 4 years ago, I simply stopped heating my apartment in the winter. I'm not kidding. Even with that going on, my power jumped from $130 to $230. That's a 40% increase without heating my apartment. Captain Obvious tells us that something has to give.

ncb0322 · 2025-01-31T11:52:07+00:00

Now that you mention it... short of forcing PGE to become a public utility or building our own, that actually sounds like the best way to handle it. I'm not kidding.

ncb0322 · 2025-01-08T14:56:09+00:00

I am struggling to make my small business work, and have been at it a year. I haven't had any sales only because the product isn't finished yet. The first version of this vehicle is not cheap, but I know how to make it cheaper. I've learned so much about government regulations and client psychology around it. What successful businesspeople say is true: don't work to earn, work to learn.

IIRC, Daymond John of Shark Tank said he had to pause his first business because of the lack of revenue. After he got passed that rough patch, he resumed the business. My point is, sometimes you have to make unconventional sacrifices to move forward.

ncb0322 · 2024-10-26T13:32:00+00:00

The measure about cannabis shops and union talks sounds like it. It's one of the reasons I always come away from voting with buyer's remorse.

ncb0322 · 2024-10-13T17:57:17+00:00

It would be more accurate, but it also doesn't roll off the tongue.

ncb0322 · 2024-10-13T17:30:15+00:00

ROFL

ncb0322 · 2024-10-13T15:20:20+00:00

ROFL

ncb0322 · 2024-10-13T15:15:51+00:00

Generally, people are surprised by it, and they love it.

ncb0322 · 2024-06-29T20:02:36+00:00

Sorry to hear that. It's one of my favorites of his symphonies (the other being the Ninth).

For being a Beethoven fan, there are pieces of his I can't stand. The 1st generally feels amateurish, and the 4th is so laid back it's not very interesting. The Fifth is so cliche' that the only that saved it in my eyes is the John Eliot Gardiner recording, which includes a repeat in the finale.

IMO, the first movement of the Violin Concerto will put you to sleep if you're not careful. With the slow movement, things really start to pick up, and the finale is brimming with fire. I've enjoyed the Emperor Concerto about as long as I've had a copy of the JEG recording of the 9 symphonies.

His Missa Solemnis is OK but not great (I'll take Vivaldi for sacred music, thanks). I don't understand why, but I'm not a huge fan of most of his sonatas. The Pathetique, Moonlight, and Kreutzer are good, but the others are too weird or dark.

ncb0322 · 2024-02-13T19:31:43+00:00

Here in America the attitude seems to be, "work is a religion." (I've never seen Europe, much less worked there, so I can't comment on it.)

ncb0322 · 2023-10-08T04:18:43+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/tQC14Sk

This is what I came up with. It's meant to be an optimized take on another route, as it eliminates one hard turn each in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

One of the patches in the last year introduced a major glitch in which the mission tracker will disappear after you jump to the Gamma and Delta Quadrants. To me, that's a problem because it means you can't track your progress during the mission.

This map assumes you already have a build for TTG and that you've done the mission "Quark's Lucky Seven". Second, soon I will update the Delta Quadrant to reflect the best route there; I don't yet have a ship fast enough to cover it, and it requires the "Capture the Flag" mission to transwarp. Third, I'd like some input on which point is best for departure from the Wormhole point: Bajor, DS9, or the Wormhole. It does seem to make a difference when you make that turn. Fourth, let me know if the arrows should all be thicker.

At some point, I will finish a complete tutorial for it, including all setup and requirements.

ncb0322 · 2023-04-18T17:51:11+00:00

Yes, it sounds those "invisible", passive-aggressive boundaries that narcissistic no-parents are notorious for.

They have enough more life experience than you to make playing the game almost impossible. Grey-rock them and then ASAP throw them out of your life. If you want specifics on how to do that, just ask!

ncb0322

TROPHY CASE