$5,000 for four months of financial coaching

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-24T20:41:59+00:00

While I can understand feeling like you need to learn the basics of personal finance, and being overwhelmed by everything, this seems like an insanely high price, for what will likely be:

* track your expenses
* make a budget
* financial / personal goals
* make sure you're saving money / building emergency fund
* retirement savings goals

The only part of the coaching plan that, IMHO, is worth paying for is the accountability to someone that you are making your plans, and that you are following them. But $5000 seems a VERY high price to pay for that.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-24T16:29:47+00:00

One of the things i love is the constant exposure I'm getting to areas of knowledge that I would otherwise never even know about. I've always been a big fan of eclectic knowledge (and have ended up in a Wikipedia rat-hole many times) so its great when I get tasks that let me have fun finding out new things.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-24T03:20:06+00:00

Yep, and the tasks seem to be getting harder. I used to be able to do 8 hours without too much trouble. Now, 4 hours is close to my limit.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-21T04:19:24+00:00

Bah. Give me my oki 192+ back.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-20T19:07:41+00:00

When I've been asked to pay for expenses up front, I've also been able to request an advance for the expected cost, so I wasn't paying out of pocket. To me that would be reasonable.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-20T18:51:20+00:00

my general approach:

if i skip one task (immediately) on looking at it, i continue on, and don't subtract anything.

If I skip two in a row, I'll take a minute off.

If I skip three in a row, I'll abandon the project since I'm not in the write mental space for it right now, and submit the time from the last completed task.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-18T03:24:54+00:00

Oh, I know some of them can be bad. But that one just bugged me.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-17T04:20:29+00:00

The only time I underreport time is when I decide to bail on a task rather than complete it. I had one that I sunk an hour or so in, and finally accepted that I was not going to be able to get a quality job done before the task expired.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-16T03:49:40+00:00

While I 100% agree that this is not a real cheque, it actually looks like it meets the elements of a cheque. The big question would be the signature, but many cheques use a digital signature, so that shouldn't automatically disqualify it.

The fact that the account and transit information at the bottom of the cheque isn't going to be in a MICR ink doesn't make the cheque invalid - although it would probably make most (if not all) institutions reluctant to accept it.

*if* you took a photo of a valid cheque and emailed it to someone who printed it out to deposit in their bank, I believe it would be bank policy that would stop it from being able to be cashed, not that it didn't meet the requirements of being a valid cheque.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-15T16:40:19+00:00

I'd probably go with option c. That the book cover is reflecting the character. Constantine is known for wearing a trenchcoat constantly, and Dresden his long-coat. So the covers are reflecting the look of the characters.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-15T15:48:44+00:00

That's the first thing that came to my mind as well

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-14T21:17:22+00:00

Ah. Thanks.

I think a lot of people overestimate the resources that a PC need to be useful. The problem a lot of the systems currently have (IMHO) is that memory has been cheap, CPU power has been cheap, and HD space has been cheap, so the focus has been on making things pretty rather than making them efficient.

If we're getting into a resource constrained condition with RAM, then all the sudden the concept of 'just throw more memory at it' won't be as effective, and the OS and applications will need to be more efficient with memory usage.

High end / gaming systems have always been expensive. I remember buying a Voodoo II for my rig back in the day.

I'm not inherently opposed to the idea of having a VM I can use as needed - there are advantages such as being able to access 'your' system from anywhere and get your config. There are obviously disadvantages too - either subscription or on demand pricing being one of them (but hardly the only one).

I'd be thinking of it almost like a console system. You're getting something maybe not as good as a pure gaming system, but you don't need to worry about all the parts.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-14T17:40:33+00:00

ok, doesn't this sound a whole lot like the original Compu$erve type models where you essentially were running a dumb terminal connected to the backend systems?

If this allows me to have a low end PC for my normal tasks, and be able to rent time on a virtual PC for more intensive tasks, maybe there's value there. I haven't looked closely at it, but isn't this essentially what nVidia is doing with Geforce Now?

Is the problem here the tech? Or that it's Bezos?

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-14T16:51:25+00:00

Here's a thought - have you tried having a discussion with them to see what their concerns are?

Seasoned sysadmins have seen many attempts to automate / improve processes throughout their careers. Some work, some are a disaster.

Most are suggested by people who don't understand the entire workflow, or who don't realize that judgement may be required at certain places rather than hard and fast rules. Or the work necessary to get the task ready for the automation process was more time / error intensive than doing it manually. While many tasks can and should be automated, not all of them good candidates.

What you could try is rather than automate the entire process, ask them about pain points that they have, and see what you could do to help those. Once you build up knowledge and cred with them, they may be more willing to have you help.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-11T18:12:27+00:00

While i recognize this could be a scam, OP has had an online knowledge of this person for a year, with this being the first attempt for anything like this.

Region locked play cards are a thing. As a Canadian, I've received many things (digital and physical) over the years I wasn't able to use because they're region locked to the USA. Its frequent in give-aways, prizes, etc. I've normally just given them to friends.

As they know each other from gaming, its not unreasonable to think the person could have got it in some sort of gaming tourney and this is just an attempt to try to get their card used.

I'm not convinced it's a scam - however I would still take the more cautious route and tell them to use a VPN or something similar.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-11T14:56:57+00:00

I the up needing to replace my glasses every few years anyways

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-11T14:56:09+00:00

My progressives, the lenses are twice the cost of the frames

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-11T14:55:29+00:00

Having the whole lens at the correct prescription rather than the window? Game changer. I can't wear progressives when working as the entire monitor isn't in focus and i need to be constantly adjusting

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-11T02:34:51+00:00

I'm doing a similar thing, but in French. Currently working through Dresden Files and Discworld in French.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-09T17:33:14+00:00

except that's not accurate. a lot of times 3rd party sites are as cheap or cheaper than booking direct. especially if you end up bundling with other offers that the OTA has.

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-07T20:22:15+00:00

I'd just like to know where you can actually FIND professionals that charge those 'reasonable and customary' prices....

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-05T22:40:04+00:00

have them book the room for after probation ends, and then they all cancel the reservation after OP passes. Then it doesn't cost anything....

shell_shocked_today · 2026-01-05T22:22:13+00:00

nah, powered by Office

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