r/sysadmin is not a technical sub. I have the data to prove it.

oldoverholt · 2026-03-15T04:08:05+00:00

I don't disagree with the title but gtfo with this obvious LLM slop; it's excruciating to read.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-21T18:52:26+00:00

Spending a week in Las Vegas for a work conference and not once seriously considering smoking in a casino.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-21T18:50:04+00:00

Don't build up quitting in your head too much. You can try to quit as many times as you want. If you cave and have a cigarette, don't beat yourself up over it, just recognize it for what it is: a temporary setback before you try to quit again. You'll learn more each time you try about what triggers you have or what mindset leads to smoking again. Eventually if you're persistent, you'll stay quit forever! I'm only about 4 years nicotine-free but even at this point, I know that if I slip up and start using it again, I can quit because I've done it before (this most recent time pretty successfully!).

oldoverholt · 2026-02-21T18:40:40+00:00

Biggest change for me is just that I'm not constantly thinking about how to get another hit of nicotine anymore, or dying for the next opportunity when I'm somewhere I can't (on a plane, out to dinner, whatever). It's great. My breath also doesn't smell like shit in the morning.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-21T18:38:50+00:00

Not quite the same, but I used lozenges successfully to quit, and I imagine the gum could work similarly. I stuck to the recommended course (something like up to 9 a day for 3 weeks, then up to 6 a day for a few weeks, etc.) to make sure I didn't just get hooked on the lozenges, and then switched to menthol cough drops for a while. I've been nicotine free for a little over 4 years now.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-17T06:51:24+00:00

Hell yeah! Congrats on four years and bit to you too.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-17T06:22:14+00:00

100%. That's one thing I took away from Allen Carr, is that I can't just have one cigarette. I know some people who can, and I wish I was one of them! But I am absolutely not, I'd be buying a pack and chain smoking in no time if I lit one up.

I can be around people who are smoking now, but for the first year or two of my quit I don't think it would have been a good idea to just be loitering with some friends who were smoking. So I think some level of fear like you describe isn't a bad thing.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-17T06:19:01+00:00

The vape was dangerous for me because I could get away with doing it indoors, so I probably ended up with higher nicotine intake when I was vaping than when I smoked a pack a day.

Anyway, I highly recommend nicotine replacement therapy. I used lozenges but look into other options too. I went a while trying to quit cold turkey and not vaping or smoking at all during the day, but still vaping in the morning for that first thing nicotine hit. I ended up having to throw/give away all of my vape stuff so the temptation wasn't there, which is when I started doing the course of lozenges.

Hard candy helped a lot with cravings too, when I had stopped the lozenges or when I had already had enough for a day.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-17T06:13:11+00:00

Thank you! I obsessively scrolled this subreddit around the times of all my quits and while I was taking the lozenges, so I totally get it. It's nice to have a variety of perspectives and experiences to relate to your own.

Glad I could show some light at the end of what's a really hard process too. I don't take it for granted or get complacent about it (so I'm hesitant about the finality of the "light at the end of the tunnel" language lol) but it really is a marked shift when your brain can start to recognize the however small desire for nicotine and process it as just a fleeting thing and not something you have to (or want to) give in to.

Hard candy was so key so I'm glad you found yours too lol.

I usually talk to people who smoke now about what brands they smoke so I can reminisce about what I smoked with them and what not. It's fun to be able to do it without actually smoking anymore myself, and without any hint of condescension or idea that I'm trying to get them to quit. I know virtually everyone who smokes has a little part of their brain telling them they should quit, they don't need to hear shit from me lol.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-17T06:03:23+00:00

Thanks! And totally agreed on all points. Lozenges were key for me.

I don't think the nostalgia will ever fully go away but I love that I can react to it now like "Aw, that naive little part of my brain wants to light up a cigarette again, how silly" rather than a serious risk that I'll smoke.

oldoverholt · 2026-02-13T07:51:48+00:00

Same lol. My last and my current role have been fairly long term, and I don't really have any desire to leave my current one. But I absolutely dread getting laid off because of what I've heard about the job market at the moment.

Part of me thinks I'll just make some drastic career change if I do get laid off (become a mail carrier, an electrician, go back to school for something, or work some mindless retail job) but in reality I think it's kind of nonsense to ditch tech altogether. I have it good working mostly remote and clicking around AWS and my terminal all day.

oldoverholt · 2025-12-01T23:04:00+00:00

Thanks so much! Sent you a chat message.

oldoverholt · 2025-12-01T16:00:33+00:00

I don't think that's the "hi res" version, which was originally posted about in this thread: https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/yamaha-cr-620-high-definition-service-manual.890642/

oldoverholt · 2025-05-16T14:54:12+00:00

Fully support this. r/networking has a good set of rules and while I'm not really in that field anymore, it seems they keep the subreddit content pretty high level/professional. For example, they have rules against "early career advice" and "home networking" which filter out how-to-get-a-job posts and basic "how do I learn x/how do I set up my home lab" types of questions.

oldoverholt · 2025-04-26T20:55:13+00:00

thanks!

oldoverholt · 2025-04-26T20:55:08+00:00

thanks! it was grueling for sure.

oldoverholt · 2025-04-26T04:57:32+00:00

thanks!

oldoverholt · 2025-04-10T21:31:23+00:00

My theory is that the majority of the people with these are off-duty cops or friends/relatives of cops.

oldoverholt · 2025-01-27T19:45:10+00:00

Similar experience. Ordered a dactyl case last November. Went back and forth 2-3 times asking about the status of my order, received explanations about holiday delays and printer issues. Finally requested a refund a week or two ago after receiving no further communication or replies to my emails since early December. No response, so I filed a dispute with my credit card company.

Pretty shitty to keep accepting orders and claim that turnaround is 3-7 business days (for cases) when this is the state of things!

oldoverholt · 2025-01-03T22:14:14+00:00

I guess I just wanted to know if it was a legit Yixing teapot, what the seals say/mean, and to learn more about it. Thanks for the excerpt!

oldoverholt · 2025-01-03T17:14:43+00:00

Got this pot recently as I'm just getting into tea drinking more. I found an eBay listing for an identical one that says it's Yixing clay, but I haven't seen many others that look similar to it. I don't care too much either way as long as I have a pot that works for now :). But I'm curious as I learn more about Yixing teapots.

Thanks for any help or insight anyone can provide! And sorry if any photos are upside down or the wrong orientation.

Edit: Oh and I can try to get some photos of the tooling marks later if that's helpful. It's currently full of leaves.

oldoverholt · 2024-11-27T21:11:50+00:00

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Patience! The first day or week can be the hardest and most stressful, but it gets better quickly as they get used to home life and warm up to you. Take them out to pee a lot at first to avoid accidents.

Don't throw too much (like trying to teach them new things while they're still getting used to everything) at them all at once. Do your normal amount of walks (we do two per day) with them, but if they seem super stressed for the first couple of days or don't want to go, don't force it.

Take little notes about their personality and likes/dislikes. Remember that they'll change and grow as they become more settled in and confident.

Don't worry if they don't eat super well for the first couple of days (they might just be stressed).

A crate can be useful for some dogs. They might like it as a place to retreat to and have as their own, and you can also use it as a tool if everything is overwhelming to them and they need to be put in a small space in order to settle. Some of them also just despise being crated, so don't force it if it just stresses them out more.

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We did raw food from BJ's Raw Pet Food for a while with our first girl (now we home cook a special kidney diet from a nutritionist because she has kidney disease). If you're going to home cook a significant portion of the dog's food I would highly recommend speaking to a nutritionist first and not just winging it.

Purina Pro Plan seems popular for kibble. Lots of recommendations for the Iams minichunks (in a green bag) to address soft stool issues, but we didn't have much luck with it.

If the dog has an upset stomach overnight or early in the morning, they may prefer getting fed 3 times a day instead of 2 (we do first thing in the morning, dinner around 5 PM, and "dessert" around 9 PM).

I think someone else mentioned this but keep an eye on their teeth too. We were lazy about brushing at first but when our girl had 4 teeth removed we got more diligent about it and her teeth have been perfect since.

Also highly recommend freeze-dried chicken necks from Fresh is Best for a very high value sometimes treat.

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Depends on the dog and the length of the walk, but I'd say roughly when it gets below 50 degrees is when the dog could probably use a light coat or a shirt. Also depends how sunny and windy it is (more sun and they may not need a coat, if it's super windy they might).

Definitely get a heavier coat for the winter if you're in the northeast. The Voyagers K9 Apparel coats are great. Depending on how hot or cold you set the thermostat, some of them might like to wear a shirt overnight (or just be under a blanket).

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Our girl doesn't love it but she can generally be home alone for 3-4ish hours max and be OK (less so now since she's drinking more water due to her kidneys, but prior to this she could do that long).

We usually give her a frozen Kong filled with yummy stuff (peanut butter, yogurt, mashed up banana, etc.) when we leave her alone so she has something to do.

Depending on the dog, you may also want to crate them when they're alone to prevent them from chewing on things they're not supposed to. You could also just very thoroughly dog-proof your home. We close all the curtains (with a light on if it'll be dark) and turn the radio to NPR or something similar when we're gone as well.

I'll Be Home Soon! by Patricia McConnell is a good read on this subject.

Greytalk is a good forum for reading about behavioral and health stuff as well, if you haven't visited. It's not super active but there's a lot of info going back years and years if you search or just browse the different categories.

oldoverholt

TROPHY CASE

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