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Right when FiveThirtyEight launched, they did a brilliant piece of content strategy in that one of their very first pieces was a quest to find the best burrito

Right when FiveThirtyEight launched, they did a brilliant piece of content strategy in that one of their very first pieces was a quest to find the best burrito in America [1]. Anna Maria Barry-Jester self reportedly "traveled more than 20,000 miles around the United States and eaten 84 burritos in two rounds (to say nothing of the dozens of extracurricular burritos I polished off)." I was glued to the series as it plodded on week by week and it still sticks in my mind today as simultaneously the best and worst job in the world I could imagine. Part of what made it so enthralling to read was this grand act of human perversity that a single woman would endure such a gruelling quest for such a trivial question and she made you feel that perversity along every step of the journey. [1] https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americas-best-burrito/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americas-best-burrito/

Modified3019 2y ago
That’s amazing. I bet she was feeling like this toward the end even if only in spirit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCwfil6r1cg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCwfil6r1cg
tomjakubowski 2y ago
Barry-Jester kept her cool on her burrito quest, where Jim Haggerty drove his RV into the depths of madness searching for our greatest barbecue, in Porkin' Across America.
BariumBlue 2y ago
> Part of what made it so enthralling to read was this grand act of human perversity that a single woman would endure This is part of why I enjoy watching a couple of RuneScape YouTubers. The sheer time commitments they put in for seemingly minor gains is like gore but for amputating off their own time effort & energy and throwing it into a bottomless maw.
- quirino 2y ago
  Can you suggest a couple of channels? I've never played RuneScape but those videos sound right up my alley.
  - a5huynh 2y ago
    Not op but one my favorites is: https://www.youtube.com/@Settledrs https://www.youtube.com/@Settledrs Very entertaining to watch and explains things so even non players can understand the sheer absurdity of some of the attempts.
  - hoten 2y ago
    Start with Settled's swampletics. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWiMc19-qaA3u1ZawZQIKAh0BknPvoK8a&si=R9pVaBRa1XEWXfgj https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWiMc19-qaA3u1ZawZQIKAh0B... The other good one from the same channel is Tileman, where he is limited to only using tiles that have been "unlocked" His current feature is Lowlife, where if he takes a single point of damage his account gets deleted.
  - jaggederest 2y ago
    Not Runescape but a similar grindfest - playing the largest Factorio mod, Space Exploration. 300 hours plus in ~5 hours of video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRJ-CcwvrI&list=PLtyo3aqsNv_MWCN0PHLPctrNCvfrBuRl6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRJ-CcwvrI&list=PLtyo3aqsNv...
    - rcxdude 2y ago
      There are definitely factorio mod(pack)s which are more of a timesink: seablock and pyanodon's spring to mind.
  - swarnie 2y ago
    Two "extreme one chunk" style accounts in which the creators are or should be heavily medicated. Verf - https://www.youtube.com/@VerfRS https://www.youtube.com/@VerfRS Limpwurt - https://www.youtube.com/@Limpwurt https://www.youtube.com/@Limpwurt
- andoando 2y ago
  Man runescape was my life for a long while. Its still the only MMO I know which actually has unique and rewarding quests, activities, and mini games. There's something like 150 quests, most with completely new NPCs, new map environments/interactions, item, skill and map unlocks. For example to gain access to the best sword in the game (at the time) you had to do a quest where you were travelled to a monkey island where you had to sneak around, be creative, defeat a bunch of apes and the boss. And it was actually fairly difficult, you had to prepare for the quest and dying meant losing almost all your items. Nothing like go here kill 20 foxes, come back. https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Madness https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Madness
- egberts1 2y ago
  I hit my limit at 83 mining in Runescape. The grind sure is relentless!
dyauspitr 2y ago
I can’t imagine how it could in any way be the worst job.
mythrwy 2y ago
Not sure I agree that this is a trivial question. Very few things in life are as important as burritos in my view.
- ggm 2y ago
  Monads. Monads are as important as Burritos.
EGreg 2y ago
I used to joke that if you go to the movies or restaurants etc. you could open pass-through tax LLCs (which are “disregarded entities” at the IRS) and write those off as a business expense, as long as you had a website as a food or movie critic / reviewer, and even had a way to subscribe for some paid memberships (eg Patreon) and also advertising with affiliate sales (eg Amazon) for recipes, movie rentals etc. You know, running a business kind of like that guy who writes about inside Apple news very rarely but effectively (what’s his name, Gruber? Daring Fireball?) The business doesn’t actually have to make money in the first few years, as long as you are making bona-fide attempts to grow it. No one requires you to watch every movie or eat every burrito. But who is the government to say you’re not trying to run a business as a food or movie critic? Much of your personal lifestyle could then be deducted as a business expense on your schedule C, being “necessary and ordinary” for your various LLCs. Perhaps even your travel expenses if you are a travel blogger staying at hotels etc. But maybe it’s not a joke. Any lawyers or accountants on HN see any problems with this? Again, I’m talking about doing the minimum to make this an actual business — it may become profitable through the monetization but even if it isn’t, that’s 30% additional you’re saving on what would otherwise be your personal entertainment expenses! The main issue I see is that if your LLC has debts that it defaults on, a court might see you as “commingling” personal funds with the business, even if you keep the accounts separate, and pierce the corporate veil. But, this is a separate issue of limiting liability for debts, which your LLC doesn’t have to even take on. Even if that were the case, from a tax point of view the question is only whether the expenses are necessary for the business, and ordinary, both of which they are.
- paxys 2y ago
  > Much of your personal lifestyle could then be deducted as a business expense on your schedule C, being “necessary and ordinary” for your various LLCs That's not how it works. You can maybe deduct the price of your movie ticket and mileage to drive to the theater. Anything beyond that and the IRS will be up your ass in an instant.
  - EGreg 2y ago
    Well that’s what I’m talking about. The price of all your movie tickets and mileage to drive to the theater, perhaps even your netflix subscription etc. Or if you’re a travel blogger, the plane rides and hotel stays become a business expense if you’re doing it for profit as part of an LLC. You have to have an actual business plan with memberships, advertisements, etc. You could be making money with it. But even if you aren’t yet, as long as you’re trying, the business expenses made by an LLC that you are investing into, are deductible on your personal Schedule C! Are they not?
fooker 2y ago
Wow I’d be so happy to do this as a full time job!
greggsy 2y ago
“… evaluated 67,391 burrito-selling establishments…” How does this even work? If a local or federal government attempted to do this type of survey, they would end up having to pay McKinsey seven figures just to plan the whole operation..
- jononor 2y ago
  Hmm. If one spends just 60 seconds on each, it would be a 6 month full time gig. Barely enough time to look at info/photos on Google maps and make a few quick judgement calls. Of course one could maybe reduce this of them by setting a threshold on their rating, maybe also number of reviews added last 12 months, etc. But yeah - lots of labor to actually evaluate thousands of anything. Months possibly.
jjmarr 2y ago
You'd love the brilliant parody from The Onion "Porkin' Across America" on his journey to taste pork across the country and destroy his life on camera. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NL9i-Fu15jdlr2KQf_lyhXl5f0PFnzF&si=pAyhpscC30hP-uFv https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NL9i-Fu15jdlr2KQf_lyhXl...
jazzyjackson 2y ago
> Part of what made it so enthralling to read was this grand act of human perversity I felt the same way about Eddy Burback's "I ate at every Rainforest Cafe in the Country" [and Canada] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-bjpKvIw8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-bjpKvIw8

Modified3019 2y ago

That’s amazing. I bet she was feeling like this toward the end even if only in spirit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCwfil6r1cg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCwfil6r1cg

tomjakubowski 2y ago

Barry-Jester kept her cool on her burrito quest, where Jim Haggerty drove his RV into the depths of madness searching for our greatest barbecue, in Porkin' Across America.

BariumBlue 2y ago

> Part of what made it so enthralling to read was this grand act of human perversity that a single woman would endure This is part of why I enjoy watching a couple of RuneScape YouTubers. The sheer time commitments they put in for seemingly minor gains is like gore but for amputating off their own time effort & energy and throwing it into a bottomless maw.

quirino 2y ago
Can you suggest a couple of channels? I've never played RuneScape but those videos sound right up my alley.
- a5huynh 2y ago
  Not op but one my favorites is: https://www.youtube.com/@Settledrs https://www.youtube.com/@Settledrs Very entertaining to watch and explains things so even non players can understand the sheer absurdity of some of the attempts.
- hoten 2y ago
  Start with Settled's swampletics. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWiMc19-qaA3u1ZawZQIKAh0BknPvoK8a&si=R9pVaBRa1XEWXfgj https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWiMc19-qaA3u1ZawZQIKAh0B... The other good one from the same channel is Tileman, where he is limited to only using tiles that have been "unlocked" His current feature is Lowlife, where if he takes a single point of damage his account gets deleted.
- jaggederest 2y ago
  Not Runescape but a similar grindfest - playing the largest Factorio mod, Space Exploration. 300 hours plus in ~5 hours of video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRJ-CcwvrI&list=PLtyo3aqsNv_MWCN0PHLPctrNCvfrBuRl6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRJ-CcwvrI&list=PLtyo3aqsNv...
  - rcxdude 2y ago
    There are definitely factorio mod(pack)s which are more of a timesink: seablock and pyanodon's spring to mind.
- swarnie 2y ago
  Two "extreme one chunk" style accounts in which the creators are or should be heavily medicated. Verf - https://www.youtube.com/@VerfRS https://www.youtube.com/@VerfRS Limpwurt - https://www.youtube.com/@Limpwurt https://www.youtube.com/@Limpwurt
andoando 2y ago
Man runescape was my life for a long while. Its still the only MMO I know which actually has unique and rewarding quests, activities, and mini games. There's something like 150 quests, most with completely new NPCs, new map environments/interactions, item, skill and map unlocks. For example to gain access to the best sword in the game (at the time) you had to do a quest where you were travelled to a monkey island where you had to sneak around, be creative, defeat a bunch of apes and the boss. And it was actually fairly difficult, you had to prepare for the quest and dying meant losing almost all your items. Nothing like go here kill 20 foxes, come back. https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Madness https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Madness
egberts1 2y ago
I hit my limit at 83 mining in Runescape. The grind sure is relentless!

dyauspitr 2y ago

I can’t imagine how it could in any way be the worst job.

mythrwy 2y ago

Not sure I agree that this is a trivial question. Very few things in life are as important as burritos in my view.

ggm 2y ago
Monads. Monads are as important as Burritos.

EGreg 2y ago

I used to joke that if you go to the movies or restaurants etc. you could open pass-through tax LLCs (which are “disregarded entities” at the IRS) and write those off as a business expense, as long as you had a website as a food or movie critic / reviewer, and even had a way to subscribe for some paid memberships (eg Patreon) and also advertising with affiliate sales (eg Amazon) for recipes, movie rentals etc. You know, running a business kind of like that guy who writes about inside Apple news very rarely but effectively (what’s his name, Gruber? Daring Fireball?) The business doesn’t actually have to make money in the first few years, as long as you are making bona-fide attempts to grow it. No one requires you to watch every movie or eat every burrito. But who is the government to say you’re not trying to run a business as a food or movie critic? Much of your personal lifestyle could then be deducted as a business expense on your schedule C, being “necessary and ordinary” for your various LLCs. Perhaps even your travel expenses if you are a travel blogger staying at hotels etc. But maybe it’s not a joke. Any lawyers or accountants on HN see any problems with this? Again, I’m talking about doing the minimum to make this an actual business — it may become profitable through the monetization but even if it isn’t, that’s 30% additional you’re saving on what would otherwise be your personal entertainment expenses! The main issue I see is that if your LLC has debts that it defaults on, a court might see you as “commingling” personal funds with the business, even if you keep the accounts separate, and pierce the corporate veil. But, this is a separate issue of limiting liability for debts, which your LLC doesn’t have to even take on. Even if that were the case, from a tax point of view the question is only whether the expenses are necessary for the business, and ordinary, both of which they are.

paxys 2y ago
> Much of your personal lifestyle could then be deducted as a business expense on your schedule C, being “necessary and ordinary” for your various LLCs That's not how it works. You can maybe deduct the price of your movie ticket and mileage to drive to the theater. Anything beyond that and the IRS will be up your ass in an instant.
- EGreg 2y ago
  Well that’s what I’m talking about. The price of all your movie tickets and mileage to drive to the theater, perhaps even your netflix subscription etc. Or if you’re a travel blogger, the plane rides and hotel stays become a business expense if you’re doing it for profit as part of an LLC. You have to have an actual business plan with memberships, advertisements, etc. You could be making money with it. But even if you aren’t yet, as long as you’re trying, the business expenses made by an LLC that you are investing into, are deductible on your personal Schedule C! Are they not?

fooker 2y ago

Wow I’d be so happy to do this as a full time job!

greggsy 2y ago

“… evaluated 67,391 burrito-selling establishments…” How does this even work? If a local or federal government attempted to do this type of survey, they would end up having to pay McKinsey seven figures just to plan the whole operation..

jononor 2y ago
Hmm. If one spends just 60 seconds on each, it would be a 6 month full time gig. Barely enough time to look at info/photos on Google maps and make a few quick judgement calls. Of course one could maybe reduce this of them by setting a threshold on their rating, maybe also number of reviews added last 12 months, etc. But yeah - lots of labor to actually evaluate thousands of anything. Months possibly.

jjmarr 2y ago

You'd love the brilliant parody from The Onion "Porkin' Across America" on his journey to taste pork across the country and destroy his life on camera. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NL9i-Fu15jdlr2KQf_lyhXl5f0PFnzF&si=pAyhpscC30hP-uFv https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NL9i-Fu15jdlr2KQf_lyhXl...

jazzyjackson 2y ago

> Part of what made it so enthralling to read was this grand act of human perversity I felt the same way about Eddy Burback's "I ate at every Rainforest Cafe in the Country" [and Canada] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-bjpKvIw8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA-bjpKvIw8