IMALlama

joined 2 years ago
[–] IMALlama 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This was a good read. Anyone who'se purchased any of his anthologies will be familiar with some of the content, but the appeal to live a fulfilling life and how hard that can be as you get older was refreshing.

[–] IMALlama 14 points 3 months ago

Hair color changes with age. My mother in law and wife were both blond when they were kids, but their hair slowly turned browner with age. They both highlight their hair to split the difference.

We have two fairly young kids. Their hair is pretty light blond on the top layers, but their bottom layers are quite a bit darker. I suspect the biggest contributing factor beyond genetics is sunlight. Both of them spend a pretty good amount of time outdoors when the weather permits.

[–] IMALlama 2 points 3 months ago

I try to keep my writing somewhere in the middle. Easy examples include intent, which is sometimes more important than the explanation itself, as well as outlining alternative ideas/approaches and why they weren't used.

I greatly appreciate insight into the thought process of others and try to pay it forward.

[–] IMALlama 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

How do you achieve those bends? I suspect steaming in a jig so the wood holds its shape once dry?

[–] IMALlama 1 points 3 months ago (3 children)

It’s still in need of some voicing and shaping

How do you voice it without the guitar assembled? I imagine there must be some technique there, but I have no idea what it is.

[–] IMALlama 2 points 3 months ago

little kids

If the kids are truly little this would be an OK move from the US. However, schools in Puerto Rico teach in Spanish which would be a struggle for kids who are not fluent.

[–] IMALlama 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If there’s a sudden boom in prison construction in the next few years I’ll reconsider of course

You work in what now 🤨

Sarcasm aside, I am genuinely curious why you would leave this here. Is your work related to something with prisons?

[–] IMALlama 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Find people who care about what they're working on and they'll go well beyond the extra mile. As an extra motivator, make it clear the company won't be around if they don't succeed. I'm sure these employees have shares, but tha only really matters if the company succeeds (extra motivation!). Unfortunately, there have been a ton of green/green-adjacent automotive "startups" that have struggled to gain a foothold. See also:

(I'm sure many others)

[–] IMALlama 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (6 children)

I hope you get a decent answer. When we last visited 10 years ago a similar idea passed our minds.

I did some poking around at the time out of curiosity. From what I recall, a decent amount of manufacturing moved there in the 70s to claim made in America, take advantage of cheaper labor, and take advantage of some tax incentives. The incentives were phased out and manufacturing started leaving. Wikipedia .

I am not sure what their economy is like these days, but as with all moves a chunk of it is going to come down to the work you can/want to do and the jobs available, but with remote work living somewhere like Puerto Rico does seem appealing.

I suspect you're going to have the usual island pain points (hurricanes, expensive imports, limited economy, a large swath of the economy tied to tourism) and benefits (consistent weather year round, natural beauty which PR has a ton of, beaches, interesting culture).

Again, I really hope someone with first hand experience chimes in - even if the moved in the other direction from the island to the mainland.

[–] IMALlama 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Keeping a woodworking hobby from devolving into tool collecting can be a trick.

This can be true of most hobbies, lol. Amusingly, three others of yours fall into that pattern.

Electronics? If only I had a bigger power supply, higher speed/more channel scope, hot air station, logic analyzer, etc. Guitars? I have friends and coworkers who play. No one only owns one guitar, pedal, amp combo. Gardening? I have quite the setup in my basement to get seeds going, but I live in zone 6 and need to compensate some for the short growing season. Cooking can also be it's own equipment rabbit hole.

Beyond that: Cameras? Choosing which brand of body to use, sensor size, lens collection, tripods/flash/accessories. If you play a tabletop game do you really play a tabletop game or are you looking for an excuse to make and paint minis? 3D printers can be just as much about messing with the printer as actually printing things.

I think it's important to recognize the pattern so you can consciously decide if you want to fall into it or avoid it. For some people, the collecting around the hobby is even better than doing the hobby.

[–] IMALlama 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Nice framing! I would have maybe walked a touch closer and/or cropped to avoid the highlight on the right, but I really like the infinite mirror effect.

[–] IMALlama 2 points 3 months ago

Ha, this is true as does amortizing things like the coffee maker that needs replacing every 5 years, white vinegar for monthly descaling, the Stanley thermos I bought 4 years ago to bring coffee to work, etc.

Let's say that it takes 15 minutes to brew the pot of coffee at 1,500 watts. That's 0.375 watt hours. At $0.20/kwh that's $0.075/pot. Yay for dumping it into a thermos once it's brewed.

All in, even if you added an extra $0.50/day brewing at home is still way cheaper.

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