Icarus's recent activity

  1. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    Icarus
    Link Parent
    If your gym has a personal training option, maybe take a session with them and they can give you a quick demo of machines and different workouts. You can do a lot though with dumbbells. My typical...

    If your gym has a personal training option, maybe take a session with them and they can give you a quick demo of machines and different workouts. You can do a lot though with dumbbells.

    My typical upper body strength training involves a mix of:

    And then whatever machines are available at the gym. For personal resources, I watched these two courses on Wondrium and they contained a lot of good info getting started with health and fitness:

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Pay cut: Google employees who work from home could lose money in ~finance

    Icarus
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I understand the argument and the sentiment as someone who moved from rural to the Bay area. However, my point remains that the time that people spend doing work for a company, solving their...

    I understand the argument and the sentiment as someone who moved from rural to the Bay area. However, my point remains that the time that people spend doing work for a company, solving their problems, generating shareholder value, should end up being compensated the same irrespective of the lifestyle choices they make outside of work. As @userexec says, its a negotiation and you can bring whatever you want to the bargaining table as reasoning for higher pay. I could bring the fact that I have an exorbitant student loan debt or that I have 3 kids to support or that I have an obsessive drive to purchase rare Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Some arguments will resonate more than others with a hiring manager but regardless, you are only being compensated for the time that you dedicate to working on their problems. If I decided to move out of my expensive apartment to a shit apartment with 3 roommates to save money, the company isn't going to cut my salary after the fact. I have derive to my own Quality-of-Life from the compensation that I receive for the time that I have given.

    To add, housing is only one aspect of COL. If you live in a rural area, many things end up being more expensive that cancel out the housing cost gains (as an example). I can attest for myself that groceries and transportation in rural life are more expensive. And things that are fixed costs that won't really change too much between urban and rural, like vacations, are still the same price between the two.

    Again, these are all lifestyle choices that are choices to be made outside of the job that I was hired to do. I think it is a fair assessment to say that an hour of time that I spend doing a task is worth the same to the company if it is done in a cubicle or an office, in urban or rural.

    And finally, I really believe that people who still choose to live in the city should celebrate and advocate their newly remote coworkers be compensated the same. Not only is it a stand for solidarity but also because it will ultimately help drive their housing costs down if a whole bunch of people who don't want to live in their neighborhood suddenly don't have to.

    7 votes

  4. Comment on Pay cut: Google employees who work from home could lose money in ~finance

    Icarus
    Link Parent
    Oh, I understand the sentiment. I was offered a job in rural America at $14 an hour which I turned down to do the same job that I do now starting at $65,000 a year. I knew my value/worth was a lot...

    Oh, I understand the sentiment. I was offered a job in rural America at $14 an hour which I turned down to do the same job that I do now starting at $65,000 a year. I knew my value/worth was a lot more and moved to the SF Bay area to make that money. I still believe to this day that the job that I am doing now, working 1 mile from my Corporate HQ yet not going to the office, is worth the same value as if I had been doing it this whole time from the area that offered me $14 an hour.

    But I will say I probably have a more radical take on HR compared to my peers, especially when looking at compensation practices. It often feels like to me the whole system is rigged against the regular workers with the lack of information/transparency they have into what determined their pay or how the discussions surrounding their performance cycle factored into their yearly raise.

    8 votes

  5. Comment on Pay cut: Google employees who work from home could lose money in ~finance

    Icarus
    Link
    Speaking as someone who works within HR and has a graduate degree in HR, but doesn't work in Compensation, I think this is awful. In my mind, an hour of labor done in Alabama or Mississippi that...

    Speaking as someone who works within HR and has a graduate degree in HR, but doesn't work in Compensation, I think this is awful. In my mind, an hour of labor done in Alabama or Mississippi that produces the same quantifiable value as someone working in San Francisco (or other metro area) that is fulfilling the same business need, should be paid the same. This just seems to me a more elaborate way of saying "We are going to discriminate based on zip code for salary." Which coincidentally is a good way to cause disparate impact. It's fine if you want to pay people a bonus to come into the office, but all remote workers should receive the same pay from the same salary range based on traditional factors that determine pay in-office (experience, education, demand, etc.). To me, this seems like saying people who live in low COL places are inherently worth less than people in high COL places. And to think of the socioeconomic consequences of these policies is that the less money going to these lower COL people means lower standard of living for all the people who live within that local economy. The more money we pump into poorer communities that are impoverished, the more they can receive revenue to build their schools and infrastructure.

    21 votes

  6. Comment on What did you do this weekend? in ~talk

    Icarus
    Link
    Had some pretty decent BBQ on Saturday night. Spent a good amount of time yesterday at Rodeo Beach in Golden Gate National Park. Then went into Sausalito for dinner and an evening stroll. Next...

    Had some pretty decent BBQ on Saturday night.

    Spent a good amount of time yesterday at Rodeo Beach in Golden Gate National Park. Then went into Sausalito for dinner and an evening stroll. Next weekend I am going to focus on hiking the trails between Muir Beach and Rodeo Beach. Such a beautiful place to spend the day!

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    Icarus
    Link
    I haven't provided an update in a while, but things have been progressing smoothly. I wasn't able to work out as planned during my vacation in early July but I still managed to keep my activity up...

    I haven't provided an update in a while, but things have been progressing smoothly. I wasn't able to work out as planned during my vacation in early July but I still managed to keep my activity up and maintain my step goal streak (currently at 110 days in a row!).

    On the running side, I am still slowly getting faster. I'm running on average sub-8:00 minute mile pacing during my long-distance runs. I haven't been doing super long runs, but I did manage to get out a 5 mile run yesterday.

    Still maintaining yoga twice a week. Going to try to up myself to the more difficult hour-long sessions but I am not looking forward to it.

    Still aiming to lift weights twice a week as well. With the delta variant, it may be harder for me to justify going into the gym.

    The highlight is that I finally reached my goal weight of 160lbs (~72.5kg) which means I can really expand my diet. Now I get minimum 2700 calories of food to eat to maintain my baseline. I'm usually still under overall by ~1500 calories but I'm not ardently tracking everything down to the gram so I am leaving myself wiggle room.

    The plan is to keep going, with the end goal being to keep up my health and fitness routine for 6 months.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on What did you do this weekend? in ~talk

    Icarus
    Link
    I bought a membership to my nearby movie theater so that I can watch movies either free or at a heavily discounted rate. I'm finding it to be a joy to walk to and from the theater and in all, I...

    I bought a membership to my nearby movie theater so that I can watch movies either free or at a heavily discounted rate. I'm finding it to be a joy to walk to and from the theater and in all, I watched 4 movies in theaters last week:

    • Weathering With You - Wasn't a terrible movie, but had a terrible ending. The only real enjoyment I got out of this was watching it in Regal's 4DX cinema. Very immersive.

    • Pig - Definitely the highlight of my week for movie watching. So many emotions and thoughts came out of watching this. Definitely a movie I would recommend others see as well.

    • The Green Knight - Went into this completely blind. I realized that I had heard the myth that the movie was based on when I went on a mythology kick for the past two months. While much of the scenes were impressive and elaborate, this movie felt like it took forever for it to get to the point.

    • Black Widow - I'm not an avid Marvel movie watcher, but I do think these movies are best enjoyed in theaters. I enjoyed this but felt that David Harbour's character was a little too similar to his role in Stranger Things. This movie was watched in Regal's ScreenX theater and I came away unimpressed with the format.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on How has the pandemic changed you? in ~talk

    Icarus
    Link
    My opinion of the general public dropped quite a bit. I firmly believe an accelerator of collapse in the US (if it happens) is going to be due in large part from the fast spread of misinformation...

    My opinion of the general public dropped quite a bit. I firmly believe an accelerator of collapse in the US (if it happens) is going to be due in large part from the fast spread of misinformation on social media. If our COVID response is in any way indicative of the response we will have to future disasters/calamities that require us to work together in unity, we are going to be screwed.

    18 votes

  12. Comment on I’ve landed my first interview! Any advice? in ~life

    Icarus
    Link
    Here is an interview guide that I have used with great success over the years. Write out all your answers to the questions then say the answers out loud a couple of times to practice saying the...

    Here is an interview guide that I have used with great success over the years. Write out all your answers to the questions then say the answers out loud a couple of times to practice saying the words.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/11VznpNw9NjLcH1K44tU8K_LVd-5TXK9w/view?usp=drivesdk

    For background, I work in an HR adjacent field and this guide was put together getting my graduate degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Thoughts on SSRIs? in ~health.mental

    Icarus
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    I think SSRIs are an extremely useful tool in mental health recovery that puts people in better positions to work on lifestyle choices and behaviors that can lead to long-term recovery and...

    I think SSRIs are an extremely useful tool in mental health recovery that puts people in better positions to work on lifestyle choices and behaviors that can lead to long-term recovery and maintenance.

    Combining SSRIs with other proven methods of mental health recovery is a winning combination with the ultimate goal being slowly reducing the need for medication long term (if possible). SSRIs are not always useful (my partner takes an SNRI) but finding one that fits you and then finding the right dosage can be extremely helpful. I think having the patience to maintain usage and document moods daily is helpful to finding what works right for you.

    Are they really me without depression/anxiety or is it a more lurid exaggerated version of that?

    There is an idea within Buddhism that perceptions in this world are never inherently true. The way one person experiences something will not apply the same to another person. The way that we respond individually to experiences is a culmination of genetics, our past, our current mood, history, etc. I tend to use that way of thinking to sometimes distance myself from emotions/feelings so I can keep an open mind and also to understand why my reaction to something is the way it is. That distancing often helps me from letting anger or other harsh emotions dictate my actions.

    6 votes

  16. Comment on What did you do this week? in ~talk

    Icarus
    (edited )
    Link
    I've been visiting family in my ancestral home (and where I grew up as a kid). I will divulge some personal information for this post because it has been a wild week. I grew up in a place called...
    • Exemplary

    I've been visiting family in my ancestral home (and where I grew up as a kid). I will divulge some personal information for this post because it has been a wild week. I grew up in a place called Lee County, VA. After flying into tricities airport near Johnson City, TN, the sense of dread didn't hit me until I drove into Weber City, VA. This was a place that my mother used to work, a 50 minute drive away from our home. It is strange, like driving through a Stephen King novel where the weeds are overtaking abandoned buildings and the brains of whoever is left.

    I got to my home that I grew up in and would be staying for the week with my Dad. He has had a rough 10 or so years of meth/crack addiction and bouts of bipolar disorder. The state of the house immediately caused me to worry as the amount of disrepair and grime added to the general sense of oppression. My dad found a free clinic in recent months that prescribed him lithium. Now instead of a man with many projects and a sense of drive, he only has the desire to sit in his home and watch cable TV westerns.

    The first thing I did the following morning was do grocery and general shopping. I live in California and have forgotten just how lucky I am with the quality of our grocery stores. I went to a local grocery store and their produce section was a fifth of the one that I frequent at my home. All the vegetables were in plastic containers or shrink wrapped. The meat section didn't fair much better with poor cuts of meat. The largest selection was processed food. I bought what I could of fresh foods and spent pretty much the same as I do in CA for a shopping trip. Of course, you can go to the McDonalds up the road and get two hamburgers for $3. Needless to say, there is an obesity epidemic here.

    The cashier mentioned that I wasn't from around there and when I mentioned I lived in CA, all the cashiers and shoppers in the vicinity stopped what they were doing to stare at me. Stephen King novel vibes... I continued my shopping at the local Walmart where I had to buy some things for around the house. Cleaning utensils, water filters, and such. The person in front of me at the checkout line had a basket full of stuff and the cashier said at the end of the checkout,

    "Your total is $1.50"

    "What the hell did I buy for a $1.50??? Oh yeah, my donuts."

    So that's a pretty common experience here.

    There is a certain dynamic here between the Haves and the Have-Nots. It's almost like a form of indentured servitude here where there are people who will spend the $800 of theirbdisability check and then do odd jobs for the Haves where they may get $10, a meal, and some weed for 5-6 hours of work on their properties.

    There is a disturbing lack of stimulation in this area that I can see why a lot of the people here end up drugs to fill that void. It is hot, humid, no real food options, no cheap recreation, and no hope.

    My dad has a neighbor in jail for violating a protective order that he has been trying to help by sending money. He is in the Duffield, VA jail where they house near 1,000 people and feed them just enough to survive. The local sherriff apparently had ties to the prison where they have trucks filled with sandwiches that they sell to inmates at a high mark up. At least that's the rumor. The sherriff also owns a lot of Section 8 housing (50+ homes) where a lot of these people in jail originate from. Again, this is the relationship between the Haves and Have-Nots where the select few Haves have sucked whatever they can from the Have-Nots.

    So I went to the courthouse to watch the arraignment of this neighbor which was absolutely wild. The officer presiding over the court was the high school resource officer who once pulled me into his office to see if I could torrent him Lynard Skynard songs. The first person to see the judge was a woman who had, according to my dad, wore a wire on him for the police. She was there so she and her partner could get protective orders against each other, but they could only be near each other if they weren't "abusive". The next guy getting sentenced stood in front of the judge holding his 5 year old son. He was nearly charged with contempt of court because he couldn't get a ride to court and was sleeping near the river. And then we had a prosecutor who couldn't get a cop to court because he was subpoenaed on vacation. And then another guy who had to wait on sentencing because his lawyer was late. All the people up to that point got 12 months sentences but suspended with probation. All except the neighbor who was charged with a felony. It was the most bizarre and informal court I have ever seen.

    The rest of my trip has been pretty decent but I still find this area really depressing. I have been able to do a lot of cleaning for my dad. Caught a few fish in the family pond. Have had quite a few campfires. And I have been lucky to see nearly all of my immediate family. The best part is I have seen my friends for the first time in years. Ok ready to go home though. I'm looking forward to not feeling sticky or smelling like bug spray. And I'm really ready to get back to my workout routine and diet.

    Edit: Fixed some spelling/typos. This was written all on my phone. I have no internet at my Dad's home and very limited cell service to use a hotspot. I have to often move this hotspot to random windows to get a very slow internet connection. I guess the takeaway from my post is that this is some awful poverty. There are more stories that I could share about this place if I get my memory jogging.

    16 votes

  17. Comment on Antkeepers of Tildes, what are your thoughts on brood boosting? in ~hobbies

    Icarus
    Link Parent
    I tried starting a colony last year and my queens died out so maybe there would be two of us if fate didn't happen! I will say the ant keeping community is a pretty friendly one overall!

    I tried starting a colony last year and my queens died out so maybe there would be two of us if fate didn't happen!

    I will say the ant keeping community is a pretty friendly one overall!

    15 votes

  18. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Icarus
    Link
    I have been primarily focused on two games: Monster Train: I'm about ready to give this game up I think... I say after playing three rounds when I first started this comment and wrote "Monster...

    I have been primarily focused on two games:

    1. Monster Train: I'm about ready to give this game up I think... I say after playing three rounds when I first started this comment and wrote "Monster Train". I'm just stuck at Covenant 13 and have been for weeks now. I know I am doing this to myself because I am playing 100% randomly where I haven't been selecting my clans to start out with, but really this game can be some straight BS. For a period of time, I was Alt+F4'ing out as soon as I realized I would lose a battle so that I could re-start with a new config but I got tired of that real quick. I think the worst covenant modification that is afflicting me is the emberdrain when I place a unit below my Pyre room. I understand the game wants to ramp up the challenges but I actively avoid placing any unit on that floor unless I have to. The additional challenges are also pretty grating as I feel if I don't do them to get additional units, I will be left with no good clan-based unit at the end of the game. This is just frustrating and making me want to uninstall the game to keep it out of my mind space as a timekiller when I should be working.

    2. RimWorld: I have no idea what provoked me to pick this up again but damn if this isn't an addictive game. The stories that emerge out of gameplay are amazing and funny. My partner asked why I was in such a bad mood yesterday and the only response I could find was, "A herd of manhunting cats wiped out my colony." So Colony 1 is gone. But Colony 2 is thriving. Colony 1's days were numbered anyways since I went with a mega-wood-structure that was just a lightning strike away from total collapse. I still haven't fiddled around with building caravans and travelling to other settlements, all my focus has been on is increasing my colony productivity. I recognize though that at some point I am going to have to add more colonists because projects can be slow with my relatively unskilled workers. However, Colony 2 is bursting with food and renewable energy. As long as they all stay alive, I should be able to make it to the next stage in the game.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on Nintendo Switch (OLED Model) in ~games

    Icarus
    Link Parent
    Eh, that is provided you have the right tools and the confidence/capability to take apart the joy-cons. I tried replacing my left one last year and ended up stripping a screw holding the casing...

    Eh, that is provided you have the right tools and the confidence/capability to take apart the joy-cons.

    I tried replacing my left one last year and ended up stripping a screw holding the casing together. The screws are pretty delicate and made of a softer metal. I ended up having to drill that screw out and replacing the entire shell due to the damage. All-in, I was looking at $20+ of materials for a simple fix of a problem that should not have been placed on me to either fix/send in for a product Nintendo is selling for $35. Nintendo lost a lot of goodwill from me on that one, and I was a Wii U fanboy years ago!

    10 votes

  20. Comment on Nintendo Switch (OLED Model) in ~games

    Icarus
    Link Parent
    I can vouch for these as my go-to accessory for the switch. The regular joy-cons cause a tingling sensation in my hands due to their small size. The only bad aspect of these is they seem to drain...

    I can vouch for these as my go-to accessory for the switch. The regular joy-cons cause a tingling sensation in my hands due to their small size. The only bad aspect of these is they seem to drain my battery life faster than normal joy-cons. It could just be my launch day Switch is getting old though...

    1 vote