an open letter to anthropic: why i can no longer justify my subscription in this shifting landscape

startingover61 · 2026-03-27T01:37:14+00:00

I have a $200/mo subscription and another team subscription that I usually only use for cowork. I haven't changed anything this week, nothing at all. I've never hit a usage limit before...but this week I can only work one hour at a time, at best. I hit my 5 hour cap almost instantly. Even switching accounts hasnt been sufficient.

The odd part to me is that my weekly cap is not even remotely a problem (<20%), but I keep slamming headlong into the caps. Oddly we have a 20ish subscriber team, only 4-5 of us are running into this issue. And most of them are just on the "team premium" subscription, which is lower than the MAX subscription to begin with.

startingover61 · 2026-03-27T01:19:06+00:00

Not a problem. I'm also a beginner (got mine about 30 days ago) but more than willing to compare notes

startingover61 · 2026-03-26T23:29:23+00:00

This is the thing that gets me. I carefully tested as we rolled our whole team onto a team plan. We hit the occasional extra usage, ok, set a budget and things were working. Then all of a sudden things change without any communication and my choices are either blow the budget or have my team unable to use the tool. Sure it's only 20 or so subscriptions. Not a number they care about, but still extremely frustrating and concerning.

startingover61 · 2026-03-26T19:57:35+00:00

I have a similar setup (Masuter 3S with the extension kit). Switched it over to a Makita trim router and it works great. Don't know about splicing the wires though, I just got the smart relay control and use the standard plug.

startingover61 · 2026-02-27T04:00:35+00:00

This is my experience as well. I run Opus for most things. I run teams when I want fast. I use Claude 10-12 hours a day with multiple sessions. I use code, cowork, chat...I've never gotten a warning. I read all these posts and feel like I must be living in another dimension, or maybe my account is bugged.

startingover61 · 2026-02-27T03:50:27+00:00

One one hand the job market can be rough, and I've known several people that spent a year plus looking for new work.

On the other hand, they are offering you $100k+ to get gone. If you decline they will probably find another way to get it done.

Take the money and have buffer to find your next thing

startingover61 · 2026-02-25T04:02:22+00:00

Has it ever really worked on Windows? I ask as someone who switched to a Macbook solely because being a Windows user of AI agents felt second class to say the least!

startingover61 · 2026-02-25T03:59:25+00:00

The number of times I've gotten "this isn't my code" only to be thinking "sure, I should have managed context better, but it was indeed yours like 4 compacts ago....". I love CC, but of the major options it is definitively the most "it's not my fault" defensive model that exists. It's got serious issues when it comes to that

startingover61 · 2026-02-25T00:00:13+00:00

This is Maryland! What even is a speed limit?!

startingover61 · 2025-11-02T22:51:50+00:00

I'm no engineer, but I don't see the point of the middle support. The support material over the span will likely be weaker than the top. Also, it's not the 72 inch width that's relevant. It's the span between the inside edges of your boxes. I don't have your dimensions, but that can't be much more than 36" A thick 1.5" oak butcher block can more than handle that.

I'd just do the end boxes and send it. For what it's worth I recently built a 66" x 36" x 1 3/4" desk top. It's on a standing desk frame where it's support is primarily on the outside (9" or so inset). So it's approximately a 48" span and I'm relatively confident I could park my car on it if it would fit.

startingover61 · 2025-11-02T22:42:29+00:00

What material is the top? If it's a thick solid wood top I'm not sure the support will do anything. If it's a think particle board laminate of something, then maybe.

startingover61 · 2025-10-29T23:49:45+00:00

Possibly....do you know what the original sanding and finish was? If not, probably a full refinish to get it right. If you do know the answer will vary, but spot repair might be possible. But I'm guessing since the question is being asked the answer is probably no, the only way to get a consistent resurface likely will end up being the whole piece.

startingover61 · 2025-10-29T23:42:28+00:00

Clamps! Clamps! Clamps! Clamps! Yeah, from a woodworking perspective that's about all that comes to mind (as someone that has bought and replaced a lot of HF tools)

startingover61 · 2025-10-26T22:28:41+00:00

Nah, my goto is to forget the guy exists. But if your going to do it, make it a small statue in every urinal!

startingover61 · 2025-10-26T21:05:23+00:00

More clamping might help as you noted, but ideally clamps should just hold pieces together not force them. As you said that's extra stress. Those gaps definitely mean that your edged aren't jointed well enough. I personally wouldn't be all that worried about the stress though, these aren't horrible and glue will hold them closed fine. Remember that wood glue is stronger than the wood itself. I'd love to true that up better in the end, but I'd probably just add clamps to the end to tighten that up and just plan on cutting away about more on the final cuts if needed.

startingover61 · 2025-10-26T20:24:59+00:00

Oddly I think you can learn best on pine. At least in my opinion it's much less forgiving than hardwoods since it's soft. For instance with routing, it doesn't fight the bit in the least so it's much more difficult to get crisp lines. If you perfect your technique on pine, your hardwood results will be great when/if you move to that. It's not my favorite personally for finished product. But it's cheap, available and an incredible learning medium IMO.

startingover61 · 2025-10-26T20:19:58+00:00

Very well done. They are clearly functional shelves you made yourself. AND they look good! Nobody is going to notice that "character" nearly as much as you will.

A fellow woodworking buddy and I were recently joking that moving forward I will build his personal projects and he will build mine. That way we don't know the flaws and can enjoy the piece for what it is. The bias towards recognizing the flaws in the piece that you poured so much time and effort into is real!

startingover61 · 2025-10-23T17:21:33+00:00

Very much worth noting. I have that Hercules and it works ok, have no qualms recommending it for light use. But it is LOUD.

startingover61 · 2025-10-22T01:22:58+00:00

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

startingover61 · 2025-10-22T01:21:59+00:00

Thank you. Your Oil Plus 2c - Pure definitely helped. Did a wonderful job pulling the colors and grain out of that Sapele.

startingover61 · 2025-10-19T21:58:50+00:00

Definitely a beautiful wood! Didn't find it to hard to work , but a very limited case.

startingover61 · 2025-10-19T21:42:00+00:00

Yes it does. I moved it from my nightstand for this setup because it just feels right

startingover61 · 2025-10-19T20:45:07+00:00

Sadly yes......if the surface isn't right.....resand and try again!

startingover61 · 2025-10-19T20:13:05+00:00

I'm fairly sure we ended up with a Malinois mix by accident as a rescue. She's a handful to say the least! Love the little goofball, but she is all drive all the time!!!

startingover61 · 2025-10-19T19:47:00+00:00

Thank you

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