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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 2nd, 2023

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  • On day one, do one push up. Day two, two. Sounds a bit ridiculous, but it gradually builds difficulty.

    Crucially, it is not all in one sitting. On day 10, if needed, do five when you wake up, and five before bed.

    Break it up into something achievable. And if you miss a day, don’t sweat it. Again, the idea is to start to build, or rebuild strength and flexibility, the exercises themselves barely matter; you could do planks instead, for example.


  • So to correct one thing:

    Poor posture is a symptom of poor core strength, particularly, your deltoids and lower back. If your muscles are both stronger and more flexible, they will literally pull your bones into the correct alignment, without any conscious thought towards sitting straighter.

    Start by taking a short walk once a day (free). A 100 day pushup challenge (free) or starting Yoga classes (can be free on YouTube, but in-person has several benefits, including having someone correcting your form, and some social structures to help provide extra motivation) would be a great next step. Longer term, maybe light weights and rows alongside using a treadmill or stationary bike.

    If you choose to look into weight training, “Starting strength” is a decent program by Mark Rippetoe that I would recommend.







  • Even as a power user… You can’t.

    And, in the 21st century, nothing on your computer is safe and private, least of all, browser extensions.

    Even if an extension is safe today, with a tiny handful of notable exceptions, it will be”monetized”, or bought and sold to someone that will use it to install adware on your system, train their AI model, or steal your personal information.

    There is no feasible defense to this for a layperson, other than absolute transparency in FOSS, and even that is under attack via flaws in the software supply chain.

    The best a layperson can hope for is that major vendors care more about exclusivity and locking others out of their ecosystem, such that they are the only ones who have full control of your data (Apple, Google, Microsoft).








  • $20 an hour is a decent starting salary for no prior experience or education, but as you’ve said, it’s not a lot. You will need to make concessions somewhere, such as roommates, food, subscriptions, or entertainment.

    The first step is to be honest with your expenses, going through your past few months of credit card and bank statements, and put everything into a spreadsheet or app.

    Use YNAB or a similar app and catalogue each of your recurring and non-recurring expenses. You say they’re not “that” much, but they do add up. You may be surprised with what you find, but mostly, it will help you think through your priorities, what is essential, and what is a recurring expense. In the end, you will know what your “baseline” spending is relative to your current salary, and how much you have free each month to spend on going out or hobbies.

    After you’ve been tracking your current state of expenses for a while, thinking about your immediate future and changes you can make, make a 3 to 5 year career plan. Assess if you need a different/second job, or assuming a 2% increase each year, if you are on a career track that will drastically increase your quality of life (How much do I need to NOT have roommates? Drive a NEW car? Save for retirement? Increase entertainment expenses by $200/mo?).

    What do you need to do to get that promotion or next job? When you are applying for that job in a few years, what salary number do you need to ask for? You should eventually have the answers to those questions, but not until you’ve got a real budget.