ludoo

20 days minimum by law in Italy (plus sick leave when needed), in practice though it's more like 28 days for most jobs. Excluding weekends and national holidays of course.

Actually in Italy you don't pay a dime, unless you want to. The level of care you get varies by region, but is generally pretty good, especially for regular, mass events like birth.

My experience is the same, L5-S1 and unfortunately I had surgery (bad decision, but had started developing nerve damage), which just replaced the herniated bulge with a permanent internal scar, having more or less the same effects. ;)

You learn to live with pain, and adapt to it. You learn that some activities are off limits, and will probably always be so. The trick is not to start feeling diminished, not fall into depression by comparing yourself to a mythical healed self, and learn to appreciate the life we have, which even with a bad back is still incomparably better than what the rest of humanity experienced for most of its existence on Earth.

There are ways to get better though, if you don't despair: after 10 years of trying countless practices and remedies, a combination of McKenzie exercises and acupuncture is finally working, allowing me to lead a mostly normal life (eg lots and lots of exercise and just refrain from cycling, contact sports, or bumpy activities like offroading).

My suggestion is to try that with absolute dedication (eg 100 repetitions spread over each day, weekly acupuncture sessions), and if you have no improvements in a couple of months, try something else. Improvement is possible, it just takes a lot of effort and time.

The Land Rover in question is probably a Defender, with a design substantially similar to the original model from the '50s. It really is a refrigerator on wheels.

A really nice project, I might build one for my daughter.

I used to have something similar when I studied Architecture: my drawing table was always covered with thick yellow paper kept in place with painter's tape, on which I jotted down notes and sketches. This is much more practical, as you don't have to cut a new sheet of paper when the old one is too dirty/full.

yaaaaaaaawnnnnnnnnn

Or just recognize that three consecutive numbers mean you divide by three and get the median of the three numbers. So 69/3-1, 69/3, 69/3+1, giving 22, 23, 24. No algebra involved, you just need to interpret the problem and build a tiny model in your head. Exactly like (some kinds of) programming.

Very well put. I have a similar (slightly younger) age, and often pose myself the same set of questions on speed, tooling, typing. Needless to say, my answers are very similar to yours.

As for the Design Process, it works in the exact same way you describe in other fields like Architecture, which I studied and practiced ages ago at a more than decent level.

Money (VCs'), the myth of the young billionaire, and a few other things are probably what make developing different.

"according to the German agency" I was under the impression it's a European agency...

Epub is essential when reading on a device with a sub-8" screen, if you don't want to scroll horizontally while reading, or having to decipher tiny type. Plus, many Epub ebook readers support synchronization between different devices, so you can pick up your tablet and start reading from where you left off on your phone.

Interesting concepts, but what I really would like to see is a wearable "thing" with computing power, radios, and a way to use voice fro calls and commands, pairable to different screens. So I could have a 4.5-6" screen as a phone when out, an 8-9" as a tablet at home, an 11" and 23" screen for portable and desktop work. All driven from the same computing unit.

The "thing" could be a watch, maybe with an integrated Moto Hint-like earbud for calls. Or a pager-like device to carry on your belt or pocket, etc. Each screen would have its own battery, so the "thing" would need less power.

Great advice.

I might add that another option would be to study something totally unrelated in college, to broaden your horizons. Literature, arts, architecture will teach you how to understand and enjoy culture, at a level that is difficult to acquire as an amateur. The old "study Latin and Greek to better understand life and humanity" thing is still valid.

I'm in your same boat, nicotine is part of what makes me what I am, I feel totally depressed and unable to function without it (tried, for months).

I followed your same trajectory (cigarettes -> ecigs), then found Swedish snus, much much simpler than ecigs (no batteries, liquids, etc.), 100+ yrs of history so no unknown long term side-effects, and all the nicotine you need plus some. You might want to give it a try, and stop inhaling stuff. :)