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zebra2  ·  204 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: September 6, 2023

Nothing like starting the day off with some identity theft. Got some emails about my new bank account this morning. Still waking up, I'm thinking "did someone put their email in wrong?" But then I saw that they seemed to have my correct name and info, HERE WE GO. About an hour later I think I've done all the stuff I should... reported it to the bank, fraud alert, opened a FTC case etc. etc.

But anyways I don't recall if I mentioned it here before, but one of the additional hobbies I've picked up this year is film photography. Here's one from the latest roll that's kinda cool, near Palmdale.

zebra2  ·  266 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 5, 2023

Released some music.

Ran a bunch. I did ~11 miles the other morning and definitely hurt my foot. Tendons or something like that, but it hurt to stand up this morning. I should probably be a bit more mindful about running now that I'm doing some decent mileage. By the end of my two most recent runs you could tell my legs were done with it.

I had also gotten some shoes from Roadrunner which, after waiting in line forever and being passed through three different sales people and some foot scanning machine just to try on some shoes, walked away with a pair that just don't work for my feet, so there's that.

zebra2  ·  1324 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: TSA checkpoint travel numbers for 2020 and 2019

In case anyone was wondering what that looks like in graph form:

zebra2  ·  1415 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: May 13, 2020

Is everyone going through a heightened anxiety period? I was the same way a day ago, and yesterday my fiancée had the same thing.

I hope it gets better for you. The last year or so has been plagued with anxiety for me, but things were actually pretty rosy during the shutdown until a few days ago.

zebra2  ·  1457 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 1, 2020

Plants!

In the checkout line at the store they had squash seeds, so I thought why not? They haven't sprouted yet, but there's succulents.

More bread

Came out well for a partially whole wheat loaf. This time I did traditional kneading and let it rise overnight, since the yeast turned out to be duds. Made a couple loaves from that.

cat

zebra2  ·  1513 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski, February 5, 2020

The last month has been a whirlwind at work. Things are finally starting to settle down, and for once I feel like I'm going to survive this and not crash and burn.

I've been using 90% of my idle time on Breath of The Wild still. It's still amazing. But also Dwarf Fortress released a new version, so I'll have to find some time for that too, and music, and maybe some of the many hobbies I've pushed aside since forever.

zebra2  ·  1535 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Gamers of Hubski, what have you been playing lately?

I’ve been playing Breath of the Wild. I got us a Switch for Christmas. Fiancé got me BotW. She’s really into watching people play, so we’ve been going through it together where mostly I play and she watches and directs. It’s been a blast and the game is amazing. The last Zelda game I played was OOT on N64.

zebra2  ·  1547 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 1, 2020

Yesterday I was recovering too much to post in pubski. Happy new year hubski.

zebra2  ·  1585 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How to recognize AI snake oil

The Legibility link is very cool.

zebra2  ·  1627 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Uncovering the Seeds of a Post-Lawn Future

I always thought it'd be awesome to have a yard with native Manzanita and stuff.

The wild southern CA shrubbery is really nice, but it's mostly eradicated from the urban areas.

zebra2  ·  1666 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: September 4, 2019

So I was in the studio all three days of the long weekend. The “studio” is actually a house but it’s got walls of amps, a decently treated main room, and a well-equipped mixing room. Leading up to now it’s been a couple of weeks of building scratch tracks and tempo maps for drums to record to, testing them, fixing them, practicing to them, rinse and repeat. Day 1 was just drums for 4 songs. Day 2 we started guitar tracking and day 3 I actually did a little bit of bass for one track that was basically done. Now considering that I was there all three days that’s a lot of sitting around and reading / making comments on tracks every few minutes. We’ve still got quite a ways to go.

zebra2  ·  1694 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Where's Your "Third Place", Hubski?

    I would also argue that Starbucks hates black people.

Years ago, wandering through Perris, CA, I came up with the hypothesis that if you're having a hard time finding a Starbucks, you're also having a hard time finding white people.

zebra2  ·  1697 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski, what are you working on?

Music stuff:

I've been working on an album for some time now. It's really pretty close to ready. But I think it needs a couple more songs on it.

flac and I have also been shuttling songs back and forth and I think there's some really cool stuff coming out of it

Work stuff:

I'm taking over a lab and I am in the process of getting everything ship-shape. The lab was supposedly functional not long before I had arrived, but had a documentation procedure which can be described as document nothing, and a data infrastructure that consisted of literal piles of unlabelled loose hard drives, among other fun systems. I got some things in good enough order last week that I could process some samples for grad students and earn the lab its first $280--no $32--no $96? I'm not really sure yet because the pricing schedule I'm stuck with for the next month is absurd and probably mislabeled. The service probably should cost $32, but the strictest interpretation of the schedule is upwards of $280 because the previous guy gouged the fuck out of basic services.

Mead:

Made a gallon of orange mead (technically melomel) the other week. It's happily bubbling on the counter. I haven't made any in some time. I still have bottles of previous batches that I wasn't a big fan of. We'll see how this goes.

zebra2  ·  1730 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 3, 2019

I’m almost over a cold I caught nearly two weeks ago. I think I was only really sick for a couple of days, but the congestion has lingered since then.

It’s almost official that I am switching jobs in another week and a half. I’m more confident with that choice now that it’s pretty well settled. Either Way it goes I think I’ll be in pretty good shape regardless. Still, I can tell this moment is one that I’ll look back on years later and wonder what if...

Im sure there have been countless singular choices I’ve made over the years that have altered the path of my life significantly, but I can’t recall a single one where that weight was on my mind before. For whatever reason, it’s been on my mind this time.

Music

Hobbies and creative stuff have been on the back burner a bit even though I’ve had more free time than usual. I need to jump on that and wrap up some stuff I’ve been sitting on at this point. I guess I’ve been watching too many shows. Netflix added new seasons to a bunch of stuff just recently so that doesn’t help.

zebra2  ·  1744 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: June 19, 2019

I’m having a dilemma.

I started my current job about a month ago. Around the same time I also interviewed for a job at an academic institution. At the time that I interviewed the academic job seemed like a no-brainer to me. The pay was actually equivalent or better and was more in line with what I’ve been doing. The locations and people there seemed very welcoming and appealing. By contrast, the pharmaceutical company where I had started to work that very week seemed to have an oddly impersonal culture and didn’t seem to be particularly competitive pay-wise.

Fast forward a month or so. I’ve now received confirmation that I will be offered the position at the university (things move slow). Now the choice is not so easy for me anymore. I had a momentary surge of anxiety when reading that email.

My current job has grown on me a lot. The company environment doesn’t seem so sterile and weird now that I’ve had time to acclimate. I like the people, I like working with my supervisors, and I dare say I’ve kicked ass so far with what I’ve been working on. The place is very laid back, my commute is easy, my responsibilities are surprisingly light, but the job remains interesting enough that I could see myself here long term. My potential to earn more long term remains unclear, but likely it’s more than I’d get at the university. It’s also nice that I’m non-exempt and get paid for every minute of overtime I do, so if I’m here working late it’s just that much easier to be cool with it psychologically.

On the other hand, the university position would be much more responsibility, probably much more interesting, and probably a lot more work—including things I’m not so familiar with. It potentially could be a bigger boon to my career than where I’m at but that’s dependent on a lot of factors. It’s also unclear to me there what my potential for earning long-term could be. It’s no doubt a better opportunity for personal growth for me, but at the same time I’m pretty intimidated by the enhanced responsibilities, probably in no small part thanks to the experience at my last job. Long term, either job should be quite stable, but I am wary of a risk of failing spectacularly at the university job early on.

Either way I’ll be disappointing someone with potentially bridge-burning consequences and I’m looking for some item to make the choice easier. I was hoping I’d get placed in a higher pay bracket for the university job to make it the clearer choice, but it sounds I’m probably being placed in the lower one where I’ll probably be out-earning that after my 6 month review here. Basically I’m torn and don’t know what’s really best for me long term or short term.

zebra2  ·  1799 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 24, 2019

Some time ago, I commented on a pubski post that I found out my childhood best friend who grew up in SF with hippie parents was now very pro-trump on facebook.

Guess what he's been up to recently.

zebra2  ·  1813 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 10, 2019

We decided to do a spur-of-the-moment camping trip at Crystal Lake.

It was really nice at first, but little did we know we had picked just about the windiest day they ever had to try to camp.

We ended up having to sleep in the car. In a rush I packed about everything I could into the trunk. The tent stayed out though, which was eventually uprooted and blown across the road. In the morning it was too windy to do just about anything, so we ended up going to the cafe/camp store (which was closed the previous day) to get coffee and breakfast.

zebra2  ·  1849 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: March 6, 2019

It’s been busy. I’ve been working ridiculously hard at my new job. We’re a startup lab set to open at the end of next week, and I’m the only senior staff member that has knowledge and control over the lab operations that form the basis of the business. The number of elements in that last sentence that are new territory for me can not be overstated.

Two weeks ago I had been working 60 hours a week for the preceding month, and I’m not even a full time employee. After a month of that I decided to just cut off my work at the hours I signed up to do. It helped a lot because I was burnt out, unfocused and not efficient at that point. I’ve been offered to go full time already but I’d much rather just be working less. If I had ended up working 2x the hours I’d signed up for part time, would I still be working 2x the hours at full time? I don’t even want to find out.

It also does not help that this is in downtown LA and commute is terrible. The original plan was to come on part time and work like that for 6ish months, giving me time to grow into the roll and relocate to a more commutable area. Basically that’s all changed and we’re full speed ahead and I think the extra stress from a move would destroy me.

So I’m looking down the last 10ish day stretch and wondering if that’s really the end of “crunch time” or if there’s another month beyond that. Im spent. I’m about as spent as I’ve ever been. Wish me luck.

zebra2  ·  2002 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 3, 2018

Hello from Japan! I have lots of pictures to show but they’re hard to upload right now. We’re having a blast and have covered a lot of ground. I’ll show a bunch of pictures later!

zebra2  ·  2115 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: June 13, 2018

I could use some of that professional and financial optimism right now. Currently I'm having trouble not counting the reasons I have to be jaded with my career situation. I'm making about double what I was two years ago, and living nearly the same lifestyle, but after student loan payments, retirement, owning a car (which I never used to), and a bit more on rent, I'm basically not any better off than when I was living off a measly grad student stipend. I’m not ok with that.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm not that bad off, but meanwhile I have friends who never went to school and are making 2+ times what I am and own houses already. Theoretically I should be able to squeeze a lot more money out of my career compared to what I am now, but that possibility shows no signs of materializing at the moment. Right now I’m stuck in a position when I know that I’m underpaid but can’t escape just yet because I’d be burning bridges and that’s just how the academic/scientific world works.

zebra2  ·  2187 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Time to talk about why so many postgrads have poor mental health

I hope this garners a lot of discussion and visibility, not here but in the academic world in general. I keep coming back to this thread thinking of what to comment, but I guess I’ll just say I agree with the complaints. All of them.

zebra2  ·  2205 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: March 14, 2018

Here's another one I just finished.

zebra2  ·  2248 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 31, 2018

My Casio VL-1 arrived. It doesn't work. I intend to pop it open and fix it though. There's a single striped screw holding me back, so I need to drill the head off it. Casio apparently used adamantium screws in this era.

zebra2  ·  2261 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 17, 2018

Last week I won a bid on a Yamaha PC-100. It arrives tomorrow.

This week I won a Casio VL-1, the infamous half-calculator half-synthesizer. I'm starting to become an addict.

zebra2  ·  2304 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: December 6, 2017

For the moment I am entirely preoccupied with this album release on Friday.

I’ve been running around social media trying to do a bit of promotion and junk, but I can’t expect all that much for returns on it since no one knew it existed until five days ago. Predictably the results are modest. Still, it’s kinda fun trying to manufacture popularity for your work.

I also did a synth soldering kit. It’s a cheap Arduino-based unit, but it was lots of fun. I think I’ll be doing lots of soldering after the holidays.

zebra2  ·  2451 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 12, 2017

I've been busy recently and neglecting #scificlub. Recently life has been quite social and interesting. I have a new coworker and friend that does that thing where they live their days to the fullest, but actually does it. Like never letting a free afternoon go un-utilized, and exploring every nook of the interesting area we live in which i always take for granted. I'm trying to have some of that rub off on me.

I also visited the Bay Area this past weekend and hit Napa and all that. We got wasted tasting wine and other stuff on mutiple occasions. I have some cool pictures and stuff that I'll have to upload once I get a chance.

zebra2  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: May 31, 2017

Work is going well. I'm finally getting results of the quality I want from the instrument setup I've been working on for the past few months, and I'm feeling confident I can get this project to where it needs to go.

I've also been having fun with recording stuff. I acquired a pair of studio monitors from a friend that needed some quick cash, and I've been having lots of "make a 1 min composition and record it this evening. GO!" sessions.

zebra2  ·  2502 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Listening To Blade Runner

Well now I'm quite motivated to have a #scificlub on this. What say people?

zebra2  ·  2542 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 12, 2017

No updates on this story:

I've gone back a couple times to knock on the door. No answer. Sometimes I can hear someone sneaking around inside. But apparently there's no adults around.

Also my car needs some TLC after my weekend trip last week. It's neeeded ignition coils for a while and now it REALLY needs them. It's also started dripping oil from the oil cooler unit. I'm not sure what I can do to fix it. The mechanic recommended replacing the whole part.

zebra2  ·  2590 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America’s New Right

This one cuts deep. I just (like 15 minutes ago) found that one of my childhood best friends who I haven't seen in at least a decade is avidly supporting Trump on facebook. This kid grew up in the middle of San Francisco to the most Hippy parents you could have, but he is the glowing image of disenfranchisement if you look at him now, or if you had glanced at him any time in the past 10-or-so years. It's an odd experience.