tennisprince

Anytime I try to organize my budget in a meaningful way through an app, spreadsheet, or dashboard, I end up departing away from it after the initial rush of enthusiasm wears off I have for using it.

This might not be the best system, but it works for me. I simply take 70% of my income and deposit it in another account with a seperate bank (it's like a vault, i never really check on this account ~maybe once a month) as soon as my paycheck clears and then just make sure to make do with the other 30%, which includes one-off discrete purchases, emergencies, etc.

I have no visibility on my purchases. I am sure I would be alarmed at my monthly expenses for specific things, but on net, I think I am on the lower end of frugality.

A major moral panic (rightly so imo) about TikTok and all the down stream negative effects become a point of discussion in the media, in households and among friends .

imo most larger organisations have had a lot of bloat to begin with and there has always been a case for a reduction in headcount for established orgs and so i don't forsee a reduction in developer jobs even though in theory their productivity should be accelerated due to AI.

Asking for a lighter which then leads to a off-hand question, has often led to a interesting conversations, more than one would expect.

Also adding the caveat about the obvious downsides of smoking before I assert this opinion but one thing that's kinda gotten lost is those micro social encounters you'd get from sharing a cigarette. Whether at work, at uni, at a concert, in a bar, or just about anywhere, those smoke breaks used to be a chance to strike up a 5-10 min convo with someone random. Even today, head to a designated smoke area and more often than not, you'll end up chatting with some stranger asking for a lighter before going back to what you were doing. I don't think society has found some other mundane shared experience to replace this.

Looking forward to the showdown between wfo, wfh, hybrid, and all the hybrid spin-offs in the next 5 years. Covid shattered the old 5/day wfo consensus and now we're in uncharted territory, and it's going to be really interesting to see what becomes the new normal.

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing a sustained diversity of models and allowing people to join companies which fits what they are looking for.

I worked at a large bank that attempted to formalise this through a software application they purchased, which allowed you to recognise people on your team. The solution was over-engineered to hell with low engagement. A culture which fostered simple acknowledgements in a stand-up meeting would have been immeasurably more personal and effective.