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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 1st, 2023

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  • I was previously convinced that taking cold showers was my only saving grace during hot summers, but this year I got the advice to try to take a warm shower a short while before bed, and I’m surprised to say that it has helped. This is for high 20s though so YMMV for sure.

    Other things that help:

    • Open windows when outdoor temperature is lower than indoor temperature, and try to get a cross breeze going if possible
    • Keep light out of the house by closing blinds during the day
    • Wear linen clothing and use linen bedding, this material works better for warm conditions
    • Fans help reduce perceived temperature by several degrees




  • Product launches are the vehicle for attaining promotions at Google, allegedly. Maintenance does not get similarly rewarded, nor does launching projects and having them live on to actually be successful.

    When the launcher got promoted and moved on, they have to figure out whether to keep the thing around, and the answer is generally going to be no since few things can really compete with the infinite money glitch that is search ads.






  • Those things sound super great… but they’re of course all meant to keep you working around the clock, meeting deadlines.

    This is not going to be universally true at all big tech-companies. There are places with perfectly reasonable WLB on top of huge salaries and fantastic perks.

    These places are usually big enough that you’re going to see extremes on both ends within the same company - some departments with huge deadline pressure cultures, and some with highly relaxed work settings. It can be a bit of a gamble.









  • I didn’t graduate from university.

    In order to get some more money, I decided to take a TA-position at the school.

    For context, I live in Sweden - university costs nothing to attend here, and you get access to a mix of governmental assistance and near-zero interest loans (at about 1/3 assistance 2/3 loans) to finance your living costs while attending university. To get this money you are required to get passing grades in a certain percentage of the courses you take, around 75% is required). If you do not meet these requirements, you lose your benefits, and quickly risk not being able to afford food and rent.

    This TA-position however took up more time than I thought it would, and as such, I didn’t manage to pass the courses I was taking. Since I no longer met the passing grades requirement, I could no longer get student loans and assistance, meaning that I had to keep working TA gigs to stay afloat. This finally became untenable, and I decided to drop out and move to another city and look for work.

    So far, it’s worked out extremely well. I’ve been ridiculously lucky.