frowns's recent activity
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Comment on I have now donated five full gallons of blood products! in ~health
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Comment on What in your opinion is the greatest guitar solo? in ~music
frowns LinkFor me, it’s Marquee Moon by Television (starting around the 4:50 mark (but the whole song is worth it!)). Definitely not a face-melting solo, but such an interesting cadence and melody that you...For me, it’s Marquee Moon by Television (starting around the 4:50 mark (but the whole song is worth it!)).
Definitely not a face-melting solo, but such an interesting cadence and melody that you don’t hear often. The solo swells from an arrhythmic pitter-patter to sweeping runs and the song swells to match it. It’s a long solo too at around 4.5 minutes, but doesn’t feel like it overstays its welcome.
It’s always the very first song that jumps to mind when I think of a guitar solo. Such a great record overall.
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Comment on Firefox/Tweaks - Arch Linux Wiki in ~comp
frowns Link ParentI don’t know about Kagi, but for DDG users you can use !aw at the beginning of your search to search to automatically search the Arch Wiki. Same idea as “[package name] arch” but saves you a click...I don’t know about Kagi, but for DDG users you can use
!awat the beginning of your search to search to automatically search the Arch Wiki. Same idea as “[package name] arch” but saves you a click in the search results if you’re specific enough in your search term. For example, searching “!aw wifi” in DDG navigates straight here, with no DDG or Arch Wiki result page in between. -
Comment on EV owners - what advice do you have from experience for a new user? in ~transport
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Comment on EV owners - what advice do you have from experience for a new user? in ~transport
frowns Link ParentCaveat: I am much less frustrated when people run an errand while plugged in and it goes past 80%. The thing that kills me is when people are sitting in their car charging past 80%, just poking at...Caveat: I am much less frustrated when people run an errand while plugged in and it goes past 80%. The thing that kills me is when people are sitting in their car charging past 80%, just poking at insta and wasting everyone’s time.
When you plug in the Bolt, it gives you an estimated time to 80%, which is usually pretty accurate. It’s easy to plan a charge-time outing to match that time and not take up a slot.
The fact that you’ve considered it already tells me you’re not the type of person I was describing 🤣
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Comment on EV owners - what advice do you have from experience for a new user? in ~transport
frowns Link ParentFor sure, you should be totally fine. We don’t commute daily but there are lots of times we don’t even plug it in for a few days. Definitely give it a few months without the L2 charger to see if...For sure, you should be totally fine. We don’t commute daily but there are lots of times we don’t even plug it in for a few days. Definitely give it a few months without the L2 charger to see if you really need it before spending money on it. We also have the peace of mind of an L3 charger literally two blocks from our house, so if we ever make a series of terrible decisions that leave us in a battery level pickle, we only need to limp a few hundred feet to get a big charge.
One novel concept with EVs is public charger etiquette. It takes almost as long to charge from 10% to 80% as it does to charge from 80% to 100%. Nothing in the world of EVs frustrates me more than people taking up a plug at a busy public charger when you really need the charge, and they’re at 94% just trickle charging to full. That’s a difference of less than 20 miles, where a person on low battery might charge 100+ miles in the same time, even at the Bolt’s slower L3 rate. Don’t be that person :)
Also, hang around for a minute or so after plugging in at a public charger. We’ve had them error out on us right after we left for a 30 minute walk, and returned to almost no charge added to the car. There’s probably a way to detect this for a person who is more open to downloading one of the 900 apps there are for each provider, but I prefer to just tap a credit card and charge without apps. We only have had someone unplug our car from a public charger once, it was annoying and a minor inconvenience, but not so bad overall.
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Comment on EV owners - what advice do you have from experience for a new user? in ~transport
frowns LinkWelcome to the Bolt club! Ours is named Steve Bolt. We are absolutely smitten with it. So far it has been dead reliable and we’ve never found ourselves in a charge predicament. The only outage was...Welcome to the Bolt club! Ours is named Steve Bolt. We are absolutely smitten with it. So far it has been dead reliable and we’ve never found ourselves in a charge predicament. The only outage was an issue with the HV battery connector, which put us out for a week or so but was under warranty.
We live in the PNW where chargers are bountiful, so on longer trips we can plan it such that we can take a long lunch break in a cute port city and do some window shopping and it’s actually a pro. It’s nice being forced to take breaks on longer trips. I’m a person who wouldn’t typically do that voluntarily and would rather white knuckle it hundreds of miles in one sitting, but I’ve definitely noticed longer trips are more pleasant now.
I wouldn’t stress about getting a 220v charger installed just yet. If your expected average usage is 10 miles a day, you’ll be fine with a standard outlet. We were fretting that as well and had budgeted for the extra expense when we bought our Bolt over a year ago, and we just never ended up needing it.
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I don’t even notice regen braking. If there wasn’t a little icon on the dash showing it was active, I would question if it was even on most of the time. It doesn’t feel any less safe in any condition. Maybe this is different for different EVs, but with the Bolt it just feels like hitting the brakes in a normal car. I personally can’t stand one pedal braking (if you mean the toggle-able feature with automatic braking when you let off the accelerator) but regen braking also works with two pedal driving so it’s no big deal.
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No advice here yet, we haven’t reached that point yet. I will say that the Bolt is a more modest EV — it’s got plenty of giddyup compared to other cars I’ve owned, but unless I activate the “sport mode” (which I never do), it’s pretty difficult to spin the tires, even in bad weather. Not to say that it’s an exception to the general woes of EVs on tires, but it’s not like a Tesla where people are positively leaping off the line at a red light.
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Honestly, I haven’t been impacted by this at all. The max range shifts with the weather, but there’s very little impact on my real life. In the dead of the PNW winter (so on average hovering right around freezing temps), the max will drop to 180ish miles, but if I’m driving normally, that’s still ~160 more miles than I’d need in a day. If I’m driving long distance in cold weather, I might have to shift where or when I stop to charge, but 180 miles is still a long way :)
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Again probably too early for me to say yet. The most we’ve had to spend on maintenance is $8 for a jug of wiper fluid so far. As Wafik mentioned, some say the best practice is to not charge over 80% if you don’t need it for a longer trip. You can set charge limits on the Bolt, so this is trivial to accomplish.
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Comment on Slate Auto to offer modular EV pickup for $20k with EV Tax Credit in ~transport
frowns LinkMan if we hadn’t just purchased a Bolt last year I would be all in on this. Hell, I’d probably even be interested if it was ICE/hybrid — nobody makes small trucks anymore and it’s all I’ve ever...Man if we hadn’t just purchased a Bolt last year I would be all in on this. Hell, I’d probably even be interested if it was ICE/hybrid — nobody makes small trucks anymore and it’s all I’ve ever wanted.
Also really love that they don’t put their own display in and just have mounts for BYO device. It’s just as effective if we’re being honest with ourselves. I’m honestly worried to see what the future brings for my Bolt’s infotainment system, especially when there are inevitably “advances” or “new features” in e.g. CarPlay that tank system performance on anything not made within the last 3-5 years.
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Comment on Are there any good online CS degrees? Is it advisable to enroll into an online CS degree? in ~comp
frowns LinkI did an undergrad at WGU that helped me pivot from a $19 USD/hr job (HCoL area, so that was a dollar or two over minimum wage at the time) with zero upward mobility to a job that started at $35...I did an undergrad at WGU that helped me pivot from a $19 USD/hr job (HCoL area, so that was a dollar or two over minimum wage at the time) with zero upward mobility to a job that started at $35 USD/hr and has promoted me 4 times in three years.
To me, that degree (and the certs that I earned along the way, which are built into the degree plan as the ‘exam’ for many classes) was the single thing that got me a callback for that job. I had the knowledge and capacity to do that job all along, but I couldn’t prove it without that piece of paper.
One of my benefits in this job is tuition assistance, so I decided to go back to WGU for a masters degree too. That is truly just a meaningless piece of paper to me, so I can also agree to a certain extent with those above saying that self study might be more worth it. Really depends why you want the degree — is it just a challenge, or are you hoping to change careers and really need a diploma to get a foot in the door?
Also, it can be harder than you’d think to self-regulate studying. I love the challenge of it so that spurred me on most of the time, but there were some classes that were a total slog to get through.
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Comment on What's your favorite music album to get high to? in ~music
frowns LinkI’m a little surprised that Dopesmoker by Sleep hasn’t shown up here yet. To me that was the quintessential doobin’ music back in college. A 63-minute long dirge about a hashish-fueled pilgrimage...I’m a little surprised that Dopesmoker by Sleep hasn’t shown up here yet. To me that was the quintessential doobin’ music back in college. A 63-minute long dirge about a hashish-fueled pilgrimage by the Weedians to the holy land may not toot everyone’s horn, but it sure does work for me.
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Comment on What's your favorite music album to get high to? in ~music
frowns Link ParentI would have never thought to partake with The Mollusk (or any Ween for that matter) but that sounds like a hoot. WHOOOOOACEAN MANI would have never thought to partake with The Mollusk (or any Ween for that matter) but that sounds like a hoot.
WHOOOOOACEAN MAN
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Comment on The Tiny Soapbox: a platform for small, low-stakes rants in ~talk
frowns Link ParentIt’s so awful. I’m so glad I was able to pivot ever so slightly from frontline support to a non-customer-facing support role. The exact situations you’ve described were a daily occurrence and it...It’s so awful. I’m so glad I was able to pivot ever so slightly from frontline support to a non-customer-facing support role. The exact situations you’ve described were a daily occurrence and it was honestly killing me. Can’t tell you how many times I fully typed out “so you’re saying in writing with your manager CC’d that you think it would be a good idea for me, a random TS engineer that you’ve never met, to be able to arbitrarily set your password for you? *ctrl+a delete* *paste polite template*”
I’m so sorry you’re stuck with it for now.
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Comment on Dropout TV price change announced - FAQ linked in ~tv
frowns Link ParentVIP was my gateway for sure. LOVE Vic Michaelis — they’re a frequent guest on the improv podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! and they’ve never once done a character that flopped. I’d also recommend the VIP...VIP was my gateway for sure. LOVE Vic Michaelis — they’re a frequent guest on the improv podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! and they’ve never once done a character that flopped. I’d also recommend the VIP episode with Lisa Gilroy playing Vic’s ex step grandmother. I could barely breathe.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (April 2025) in ~health.mental
frowns LinkI feel dumb even saying it in the context of some of the other threads here, but I’m an emotional wreck this week for a very simple reason: my work schedule this week involves me leading an...I feel dumb even saying it in the context of some of the other threads here, but I’m an emotional wreck this week for a very simple reason: my work schedule this week involves me leading an overseas training from 4-8am my time. The mental and physical exhaustion that comes with needing to wake up at 3:15 and then be “on” at 4am has got me really crossed up. I’m so fussy and cranky about everything, and have to resist the overwhelming urge to nap because I don’t want to further screw up my already-screwed-up sleep schedule for this week. I’ve literally caught myself acting out like a fussy kid. I’m eating like shit and drinking way too much coffee so my tum’s a mess too. Ugh.
I’m really sorry to see what’s happening to others here, and for what little it may be worth, my heart goes out to all of you that are having a tough time. If there’s anything a random internet stranger can do to help, please let me know. ❤️
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Comment on What keeps you up at night? in ~talk
frowns Link ParentAgreed 100%. I’ll say this: the one thing I hated hearing most when I was 21 and feeling very much the same way as Fal was “you’re still young, don’t worry about it so much yet”. In hindsight, I...Agreed 100%.
I’ll say this: the one thing I hated hearing most when I was 21 and feeling very much the same way as Fal was “you’re still young, don’t worry about it so much yet”. In hindsight, I wish I would have listened to those voices more.
I’m 36 now. I’m still young. Everything changed in my life in a way that I could have never predicted in my 20s. I met a wonderful partner who scaffolded our life while I made a potentially risky career pivot that ended up being a really positive change. We’ve been married for close to a decade now and continue to thrive together.
I’m happier and more satisfied now than I was in my 20s by a long shot, in ways and for reasons I could have never begun to imagine.
Hang in there, @Fal. I’m sure we’ll all be better off for your contributions to the world when the time is right!
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
frowns Link ParentWe got a smoker last summer and have been doing a lot of smoked whole chickens. I do this with the remainders every time, and I gotta say the broth from smoked chicken is extraordinary. Another...We got a smoker last summer and have been doing a lot of smoked whole chickens. I do this with the remainders every time, and I gotta say the broth from smoked chicken is extraordinary.
Another fun variant for people who like Mexican flavors: follow same steps up to the “add noodles” part, but instead add some ground cumin, oregano, and chipotles in adobo (or just the adobo) to taste. Throw in some hominy, and then let it simmer for a while to let the hominy absorb the chicken flavor and the broth absorb some of the hominy flavor. Bam, you’ve got some not-so-authentic-but-still-delicious chicken posole. Serve with a big pile of fresh shredded cabbage, salsa, onions, radishes, cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and dash of oregano on top. It’s so good on a cold, rainy day.
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Comment on Solo outings in ~life.men
frowns LinkI was in a similar boat for a while — I don’t really have anyone in my circles with similar musical taste, and the shows I want to go to are not typically pleasant for people that I could drag...I was in a similar boat for a while — I don’t really have anyone in my circles with similar musical taste, and the shows I want to go to are not typically pleasant for people that I could drag along (my partner is a great sport, but going to a loud metal concert on a weeknight?). I felt uncomfortable going to shows and would beg my partner to join me just for emotional support. I just gave up and started going alone instead, and I’ve found that I actually really don’t mind going to shows alone. It’s fun to have a friend join me if someone is interested, but it’s also nice to not have to be concerned with someone else’s comfort/enjoyment/engagement levels. You can stay as long as you want, you can make a flash decision to rush the pit without feeling like you’re leaving someone alone, you can navigate the crowds much easier as an individual, etc..
As others have mentioned, there is a kind of awkward bit at the beginning when people are chatting pre-show, but once the music starts it’s all good. Just show up a few minutes later than usual and it’s no biggie.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
frowns LinkHaving a bit of a gap in new music so I’m coming back to my classics. A mix of metal (stoner metal? noise rock? Idk how to describe this sub-genre) and thrash/powerviolence. Druids, Sandrider,...Having a bit of a gap in new music so I’m coming back to my classics.
A mix of metal (stoner metal? noise rock? Idk how to describe this sub-genre) and thrash/powerviolence. Druids, Sandrider, Helms Alee, Red Fang, and Baptists for column A, and Power Trip, Demolition Hammer, ACxDC, and Municipal Waste for column B.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
frowns Link ParentOoooooo forgot about Bolt Thrower! Thanks for the reminder :)Ooooooo forgot about Bolt Thrower! Thanks for the reminder :)
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Comment on Growing a beard. Tips and tricks, please! in ~life.style
frowns LinkNot much new to add to the conversation other than beard oil is very customizable. Bulk almond or jojoba oil + essential oils = your own custom scent. I’m currently rockin’ a blend of mostly...Not much new to add to the conversation other than beard oil is very customizable. Bulk almond or jojoba oil + essential oils = your own custom scent. I’m currently rockin’ a blend of mostly sandalwood and vanilla, plus a drop or two each of vetiver, frankincense, and cedar oils. Smells just as good at a fraction of the price, plus you can tinker with your scent which I think is super fun.
I’m at a gallon and a half! I’m A- so I can’t do anything other than whole blood or super reds, otherwise I’d be there every weekend. I don’t know if I like it, but I certainly don’t strongly dislike it either, and it’s such a minor inconvenience compared to what might be happening at the other end of the blood bag’s journey.
My donation center asks if you want to schedule your next donation while you’re in the chair, which I think is so smart and convenient. It makes it feel more like a routine hygiene thing than anything else.
Also my donation center always has cranberry cocktail as a juice option and I god damn do I love cranberry cocktail as a treat.