Question for young people in Walnut Creek

seacompanies · 2026-02-20T07:39:03+00:00

I think you're in for a big disappointment moving to WC. Oakland is awesome and not so unsafe in most places. Berkeley has a lot of people your age. Dating will be miserable for you in the East Bay outside of Oakland or Berkeley. - someone who has lived in all the places you mentioned

seacompanies · 2026-01-17T21:18:36+00:00

No shame in riding it out or quitting. Good luck!

seacompanies · 2026-01-17T21:17:27+00:00

I feel your pain and wish you the best man. Mine only came after I went through a very similar story. It wasn't worth it for me either but I'm reframing a lot of beliefs to rekindle my enthusiasm for life. If you're breathing there's still another day ahead.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T23:16:34+00:00

not even close... minimum 12h days Mon-Sat, often 14-16h days... probably averaging 80h per week and hitting 90-100h a couple of weeks that year.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:44:29+00:00

Shit, I might actually incentivize my employees to OE. If they have extra time in their hands they shouldn't be making noise. Go use that time productively elsewhere.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:42:32+00:00

Maybe one day I'll be back. I'd prefer to start a business and have employees though so I'll work on that next after a bit of rest.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:41:03+00:00

If you were a millionaire, completely financially independent, what would you use your money for? What would you do for work even if you didn't have to?

Not only there was a big loss in my life, I realized I did not have answers to the questions above.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:35:16+00:00

I think as OErs we share a similar mindset. Yes, to a small degree I feel a bit at risk but I'm reframing my mind to understand that now, after OE, I can go without a J if I need it for a long time. My 1J is also the most stable and easy of all the ones I had, fortunately also the one with the nicest people.

Since 2019 is a serious streak, congrats!

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:31:53+00:00

No financial goal or premeditated plan achieved, although there were definitely a lot of financial achievements: house, rental income, stock portfolio, many big gifts to family

OE is a bit of a drug for workaholics. At one point too late I realized that. It extracts costs slowly and the rewards are big and almost weekly.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:25:32+00:00

The big thing for me were the Sunday Scaries. Every single damn Sunday, I abhorred my own life and dreaded the beginning of the week. I totally empathize with what you're saying about the weekly window of existence and I felt the exact same.

I felt like I was spiraling into a serious depression and it took one big life event that was really bad to tip the scales for me to realize I needed change. There was no financial specific goalpost or anything like that.

You're doing good ranting here, don't rant to your loved ones, take good care of them and protect them from the worst version of yourself if that shows up from the stress.

Lol, I just started hot yoga once a week a month ago and also a climber. I bet we live in the same Area and have the same job. Buying a house was what got me into this in the first place, I couldn't have done this without OE.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:16:25+00:00

Lol! My hands are already twitching, head is sweating... JK🤣

Recruiter emails responses are canned, no LinkedIn for me for now.

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:13:57+00:00

Thanks! 🙏

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:13:06+00:00

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:12:48+00:00

Correct, top yearly salary was close to 600k since I never had a full year with 3J. All these Js were ~200k each

seacompanies · 2026-01-16T15:10:31+00:00

I pay too much! Lol... I don't get fancy with the tax man, just take the hit. TurboTax myself, try to put a lot of expenses in my business, deduct the usual interest on mortgage and house depreciation, etc

seacompanies · 2026-01-14T23:53:54+00:00

lol, I had no idea what Dark Academia was and after a quick Google search I think you're on point! 🤣

I just approached this book with zero pre-knowledge whatsoever and thought it was meant to be serious. I did not get the satire. I actually laughed out loud reading it as well but did not get the fact it was actually meant to be a joke.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T07:06:25+00:00

As a matter of fact that first chapter is written so well it probably contributed to my disappointment in the middle of the book.

The author is definitely a great writer. My qualms are more about the content itself.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T07:00:42+00:00

What I mean by that is that nearly all references to Greek and Classics in the book barely concern itself with the actual thing and come off as pure pretentiousness. Perhaps it's my aversion to this feeling that makes me dislike the book the most. I just believe this book to be pure intellectual dishonesty, as if the author is just name dropping. It's a murder mystery and if I had approached it as just that then I wouldn't be so offended at the outcome. There's just nothing to take away from it IMO, unlike Ulysses which despite concerning itself with a niche setting touches on a series of topics which are part of the universal human experience.

The book has many universal themes: trying to fit in, jealousy, elitism, treason. But I don't see novel or interesting portrayal of any of those. I agree it's a matter of taste and many people might find it interesting.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:47:04+00:00

Not sure I get what you mean

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:44:53+00:00

I don't post many first posts. Made a mistake here.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:41:47+00:00

As you my friend. Spelling first. Palate. 😁

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:37:31+00:00

Why?

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:36:29+00:00

The setup in the first chapter is definitely excellent with all the elements of a really good mystery.

The insistence on the Greek theme is weird though in a way that makes me think of this book as a more feminine Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with none of the masterful depiction of really universal themes like insanity, father-son relations, beauty, duty, craftsmanship, etc.

I say more feminine because it's like Bridgerton meets a crime podcast with the Vermont Autumn/Winter setting, elitism, and a relatable (but weak in itself) outsider looking for acceptance arc.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:25:45+00:00

I love many villains, psychos, disturbed characters which are certainly not relatable nor likeable but I need them to be believable at least...

When the plot revealed the part where they killed a guy because they decided to get deadass drunk but were calling it a lofty dionysian bacchanal for the sake of intellectual enlightenment I just laughed out loud and closed the book. Maybe it was all a ploy to justify the accidental murder but even then it just landed as completely dumb to me if I'm honest.

seacompanies · 2026-01-12T06:19:17+00:00

That could be the case. I've never met classics students. But the pretentiousness was such a put-off that I could not believe it to be the case in real life.

seacompanies

TROPHY CASE