4 ms·

When I started as a CS graduate, I was thrilled to be on a complex project as a lowly maintainer. I dove into that code and learned how stuff worked. People avo

When I started as a CS graduate, I was thrilled to be on a complex project as a lowly maintainer. I dove into that code and learned how stuff worked. People avoided those areas because it was too dirty, scary or hard sounding. That's the story of my career. Pick a popular project and be a fish in big pond or pick something others stayed away from and own it. Our future is going to be a shitstorm of breakage. Covid should have taught us a lesson but we're going to go on while infrastructure (physical and virtual) starts to break and no Top 10 grad is going to want to touch it. You're not going to have a choice about plumbing or roof leaks - nobody is coming for a week and you are on your own. On your knees - I look at my classmates now and consider HS sports to be child abuse. My coworkers talk about their kids surgeries. Those 4 or 5 people boarding your plane in wheelchairs now? It's going to be 3X that in a decade. But that'll be fine, because you'll have to wait a couple hours for the rare pilot to show up.

DiggyJohnson 4y ago
> I look at my classmates now and consider HS sports to be child abuse. It's a serious risk, but the risk-reward is still positive when it comes to the value of youth sports. Do you disagree strongly with this?
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I disagree with the risk reward of contact sports, especially if your kid is smaller than average. Anything where the brain collides with the skull is an obvious no (American football, soccer headers, etc).
nebula8804 4y ago
>Our future is going to be a shitstorm of breakage. Covid should have taught us a lesson but we're going to go on while infrastructure (physical and virtual) starts to break and no Top 10 grad is going to want to touch it. You're not going to have a choice about plumbing or roof leaks - nobody is coming for a week and you are on your own. Its already happening. It feels like a slow collapse. I am trying to maintain my 16 year old car because it is low milage and I just don't want to pay the absurd prices for a new car until maybe next year (especially a Mazda which I like but not at that price). My trusty mechanic has had so many labor issues that while he provides me good service even he is slipping. I've been teaching myself car repair so I can do more and more myself because I know it will be done right and with extreme care. I see the same happening to local hospitals and doctors offices. I've had to bring parents there or go there myself a few times this year and I can clearly see the degradation in service. I can't do anything about this compared to the car other than take really good care of myself and hope for the best. Same applies to all of retail. The quality of all mass market stuff just seems worse and worse as time goes on. I was observing this while having a bagel and coffee from Dunkin. Everyone is just flat out "over it".
- abdabab 4y ago
  > I've been teaching myself car repair so I can do more and more myself because I know it will be done right and with extreme care. Is there a book you’d recommend? I want to learn car repair as well.
  - dghlsakjg 4y ago
    YouTube is actually pretty good. Whoever made your car published a huge book for mechanics to use on that specific model. That can also be a great resource depending on the manufacturer
  - nebula8804 4y ago
    I HIGHLY recommend the Chrisfix Youtube channel. This guy just goes above and beyond in providing an entertaining format to do many of the easy fixes and maintenance item on your car. He deserves every subscription he gets. The videos are so entertaining, I just watch them even if I don't have anything broken on my car. Here is a video on how to change every fluid in a typical car, he makes it look so easy and it turns out, its not that hard. This alone can extend the reliable life of most modern cars yet many people skip out on many of these fluids because it seems too hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JCh7PHoDc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JCh7PHoDc Another great video is the five fundamental things a car needs to work. He eloquently explains how he managed to repair a free car he got just by following a diagnosis procedure that ensures these five items are operational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNhuDCVIydw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNhuDCVIydw Some models of cars are much more user friendly than others and every car seems to have a unique set of design quirks that make some parts tricky to work on. Thats where more experienced mechanics must unfortunately do the work. In my case I have learned many common jobs and just leave the more complex stuff to the mechanic(still if you maintain a car well these become less common). If I had a full garage, you bet I'd buy a cheap car and just take the whole thing apart and put it back together to learn how to fix everything. Chrisfix actually has videos on doing more complex stuff like replacing a transmission or repairing rust on your car but its the lack of tools that prevents me from attempting the more complex stuff. One piece of advice my mechanic gave me was that you want to get a car that is popular with younger people as that results in multiple people uploading Youtube videos on fixing everything on that car. My main car is a first Gen Mazda 3 and it seems like every nook and cranny of this car is documented on Youtube. My late father drove a 2005 Chevy Equinox and I have had a lot harder time fixing things on this car because it is just not as well documented. After watching a lot of the ChrisFix videos and getting the confidence to work on a car ( If I mess up the car I still have other one right?) I bought the Haynes manual for each car. This manual has a lot of essential info and repair procedures for each model. If you can, I'd recommend getting the specific manual for your car. Finally there was also a campaign years back to create a comprehensive course detailing everything about how a car works. I had pre-ordered the course and it was delivered in 2020. IU haven't started it yet because I just haven't had the urge to(too busy fixing my car with Chrisfix videos and then dealing with other maintenance items around the house). If you are interested in more detailed structured content, check it out: https://www.howacarworks.com/ https://www.howacarworks.com/
tomcam 4y ago
> Those 4 or 5 people boarding your plane in wheelchairs now? It's going to be 3X that in a decade. Well... have you seen what happens to the 4 or 5 wheelchairs on the other end of the flight? They often remain empty. Looks to me like people are gaming the system to get preferential treatment on plains.
- tomcam 4y ago
  * planes

DiggyJohnson 4y ago

> I look at my classmates now and consider HS sports to be child abuse. It's a serious risk, but the risk-reward is still positive when it comes to the value of youth sports. Do you disagree strongly with this?

lotsofpulp 4y ago
I disagree with the risk reward of contact sports, especially if your kid is smaller than average. Anything where the brain collides with the skull is an obvious no (American football, soccer headers, etc).

nebula8804 4y ago

>Our future is going to be a shitstorm of breakage. Covid should have taught us a lesson but we're going to go on while infrastructure (physical and virtual) starts to break and no Top 10 grad is going to want to touch it. You're not going to have a choice about plumbing or roof leaks - nobody is coming for a week and you are on your own. Its already happening. It feels like a slow collapse. I am trying to maintain my 16 year old car because it is low milage and I just don't want to pay the absurd prices for a new car until maybe next year (especially a Mazda which I like but not at that price). My trusty mechanic has had so many labor issues that while he provides me good service even he is slipping. I've been teaching myself car repair so I can do more and more myself because I know it will be done right and with extreme care. I see the same happening to local hospitals and doctors offices. I've had to bring parents there or go there myself a few times this year and I can clearly see the degradation in service. I can't do anything about this compared to the car other than take really good care of myself and hope for the best. Same applies to all of retail. The quality of all mass market stuff just seems worse and worse as time goes on. I was observing this while having a bagel and coffee from Dunkin. Everyone is just flat out "over it".

abdabab 4y ago
> I've been teaching myself car repair so I can do more and more myself because I know it will be done right and with extreme care. Is there a book you’d recommend? I want to learn car repair as well.
- dghlsakjg 4y ago
  YouTube is actually pretty good. Whoever made your car published a huge book for mechanics to use on that specific model. That can also be a great resource depending on the manufacturer
- nebula8804 4y ago
  I HIGHLY recommend the Chrisfix Youtube channel. This guy just goes above and beyond in providing an entertaining format to do many of the easy fixes and maintenance item on your car. He deserves every subscription he gets. The videos are so entertaining, I just watch them even if I don't have anything broken on my car. Here is a video on how to change every fluid in a typical car, he makes it look so easy and it turns out, its not that hard. This alone can extend the reliable life of most modern cars yet many people skip out on many of these fluids because it seems too hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JCh7PHoDc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JCh7PHoDc Another great video is the five fundamental things a car needs to work. He eloquently explains how he managed to repair a free car he got just by following a diagnosis procedure that ensures these five items are operational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNhuDCVIydw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNhuDCVIydw Some models of cars are much more user friendly than others and every car seems to have a unique set of design quirks that make some parts tricky to work on. Thats where more experienced mechanics must unfortunately do the work. In my case I have learned many common jobs and just leave the more complex stuff to the mechanic(still if you maintain a car well these become less common). If I had a full garage, you bet I'd buy a cheap car and just take the whole thing apart and put it back together to learn how to fix everything. Chrisfix actually has videos on doing more complex stuff like replacing a transmission or repairing rust on your car but its the lack of tools that prevents me from attempting the more complex stuff. One piece of advice my mechanic gave me was that you want to get a car that is popular with younger people as that results in multiple people uploading Youtube videos on fixing everything on that car. My main car is a first Gen Mazda 3 and it seems like every nook and cranny of this car is documented on Youtube. My late father drove a 2005 Chevy Equinox and I have had a lot harder time fixing things on this car because it is just not as well documented. After watching a lot of the ChrisFix videos and getting the confidence to work on a car ( If I mess up the car I still have other one right?) I bought the Haynes manual for each car. This manual has a lot of essential info and repair procedures for each model. If you can, I'd recommend getting the specific manual for your car. Finally there was also a campaign years back to create a comprehensive course detailing everything about how a car works. I had pre-ordered the course and it was delivered in 2020. IU haven't started it yet because I just haven't had the urge to(too busy fixing my car with Chrisfix videos and then dealing with other maintenance items around the house). If you are interested in more detailed structured content, check it out: https://www.howacarworks.com/ https://www.howacarworks.com/

tomcam 4y ago

> Those 4 or 5 people boarding your plane in wheelchairs now? It's going to be 3X that in a decade. Well... have you seen what happens to the 4 or 5 wheelchairs on the other end of the flight? They often remain empty. Looks to me like people are gaming the system to get preferential treatment on plains.

tomcam 4y ago
* planes