There were three distinct arcs to it, so that might contribute to it feeling short.

My go-to is the biggest pack of AA or AAA batteries you can fit in your budget. They’re always handy.

Ah, a fellow misophonia ‘enjoyer’!

Yep! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinz

And people who use the term are yinzers

Ah, the Winchester Mystery House approach

Have you tried seltzer at all? Throw some fresh citrus in and it’s really good. Might even scratch the same soda itch.

I feel that. Quitting alcohol is big suck territory

Hey, stay strong. Shit gets easier, I promise. Six years sober, two years without nicotine here. I did it, and you can too.

I signed up for it last night for exactly that reason.

I’m definitely a 1, and generally I don’t. I do, however, really like interactive fiction in both work safe and non work safe contexts. I think I really enjoy being able to visualize it in my mind more than I do watching it.

I’m not sure if it factors into your pet theory, but I’m asexual so the appeal of physical forms is also very lost on me. That’s a different can of worms that I’m happy to open if interested, but I’ll leave it be if not.

Oh rad! Keep your eyes peeled for conventions!

Speaking of, Anthrocon actually just wrapped up this year. You should go next year! It’s always a blast!

A big swing, but I’m genuinely rooting for you.

I bought my parents a laser printer after years of them being incredibly frustrated by inkjets. I got them the same model as me, as well as a spare toner cartridge.

I’m still on my original toner cartridge, and I’ve had it for probably six years or so.

My parents are in their late 40’s and early 50’s. I think I might have accidentally gotten them a lifetime supply of printing.

I uh… Don’t really have a lot to help you with your direct situation, but I do know that nair is designed to (mildly) chemically burn you. That’s how it destroys the hair. Make sure you have it all off of you so it doesn’t continue to work (it sounds like you did but it bears repeating). From there it should just be time until it stops feeling uncomfortable.

In the interim, you could take something OTC to manage the pain, if appropriate. Motrin/ibuprofen/paracetamol, whatever you’ve got on hand to deal with aches and pains. That should help you deal while it’s actively hurting, and hopefully by the time the medicine wears off, it’ll be back to feeling normal.

Edit: I’m not sure what Destin is - double check to make sure it doesn’t interact with whatever pain medicine you take.

In this industry, change is the only constant and your ability to learn, grow, and adapt is going to be more important than any singular technology you can learn.

I can promise you’re not as stupid as you may feel you are. You’ve made it a year, and that means something.

I’ve been pushing myself hard to get some certifications to really deepen my skill set. You may find that’s valuable to you, or you may not. I’ve found that it’s improved my ability to take a step back and understand the systems I’m building from an architectural perspective. It’s been helpful for me.

I’ve helped coach interns and new hires at my company before. I actually like when they ask me questions even if it’s something I’ve answered before, because it shows me that they want to learn. And even better is when they ask “why do it that way?”, because it forces me to check my own understanding of the problem set. It also means that I can really dig into the explanation and hopefully they walk away with at least one more tool in their toolbox.

You’re right, but I was thinking of the buckets that are basically terrible quality slop that’s borderline inedible.

I might still call it a grift because they’re asking for payment as “donations” to skirt paying taxes on them. That, and like you said, it’s not a great value for what you get. Maybe not pure snake oil, but there’s definitely still enough dishonesty involved imo that I’d be comfortable calling it a grift.

Anti-5g dongles? That’s new for me, but I consume a lot of these grifts secondhand through a few podcasts I listen to. I might be behind.

Sounds like the bones of a good scam are there though, assuming the anti-5G conspiracy still gets traction and clicks.

Edit: Do you know if someone like bigclive got one? He takes those sorts of devices apart a lot to explain them and I’d love to see what’s inside. I just don’t want to pay the money for one to fund the grift.

I have a couple from the hip actually, because America has grifting baked into it’s soul. In no particular order:

• MMS (Drinkin’ bleach)
• Crystal healing (most sellers)
• WitchTok kits (TikTok influencers selling expensive spices)
• Brain pills
• Any product peddled by a megachurch (see the Baker bucket for a great example)

As more of these come to me, I’ll try to expand the list.

Worth noting is that the feeling of being or doing something “wrong” without much evidence to support it suggests a little bit of imposter syndrome. It’s a very, very, very common feeling and is almost expected in any sort of a technical field. I have dealt with it personally and it sucks. The thing that helps me is the knowledge that if I was doing something that wasn’t up to the standard or wrong, someone would intervene. Even if it was to just sit me down and tell me “Hey, this sucks and you need to do better”.