Recent stories

1. Change is Hard is Good

   April 6, 2024

   Today, I went for a long bike ride. I didn’t want to. Now – to be clear, I did want to, but only because I knew that I’d eventually be happy about it. I was still procrastinating heading out the door, so I didn’t really want to. Obviously, the ride would be hard. I’m still getting back into shape after a year-long fitness “pause” since moving to the Netherlands. Moving halfway across the world has a way of breaking routines, and adjusting to a new culture is a huge amount of stress. [...]
2. How I use ChatGPT to prototype

   November 29, 2023

   I have been using ChatGPT for just about a year now, especially since GPT-4 was released. It is not the best tool for everything, but it is great when you just have an idea and want to explore the possibility. AKA, prototyping. How to start: Talk to ChatGPT like it’s a senior developer with dependency issues, and you’re their tech lead. By dependency issues, I mean that they get stuck and need a lot of prodding, but when you get them pointed on exactly the right problem, they know their stuff. [...]
3. Rant: Not worried about boredom

   November 20, 2023

   You hear this phrase from people pretty often, when discussing retirement: I don’t want to retire. I’d get so bored! Besides, I like my job and it is good to have purpose. I have heard many people say that, and I totally understand the perspective. But, if you feel that way, I need to ask one thing. Are you out of your mind? The world is full of a million different things that you could be doing. [...]
4. Value and retirement

   November 18, 2023

   There are many types of financial goals – some require a couple months of planning, but others require years or decades even. Arguably the biggest financial goal for (nearly) everyone is retirement. Some of us are focused on bringing down the timeline from now to retirement from ‘decades’ to just ‘decade’. That’s still a long time to plan, but it is easier to visualize the goal of retirement when you hope to be there soon. [...]
5. What is new

   November 16, 2023

   Netherlands life First things first, yes, I am staying in the Netherlands for longer now. Fiancee and I decided that we really loved it here, so we’re commiting to staying for the near-future. No idea what comes after that. We’ll probably go back to the US again eventually, but it’s hard to imagine going back now. We went back to the US a couple of months ago to straighten our things out (since we’re staying here longer), and it felt like California was just falling apart compared to what we’re used to over here. [...]

Suggested stories

How I use ChatGPT to prototype

I have been using ChatGPT for just about a year now, especially since GPT-4 was released. It is not the best tool for everything, but it is great when you just have an idea and want to explore the possibility. AKA, prototyping. How to start: Talk to ChatGPT like it’s a senior developer with dependency issues, and you’re their tech lead. By dependency issues, I mean that they get stuck and need a lot of prodding, but when you get them pointed on exactly the right problem, they know their stuff.

Value and retirement

There are many types of financial goals – some require a couple months of planning, but others require years or decades even. Arguably the biggest financial goal for (nearly) everyone is retirement. Some of us are focused on bringing down the timeline from now to retirement from ‘decades’ to just ‘decade’. That’s still a long time to plan, but it is easier to visualize the goal of retirement when you hope to be there soon.

Life goals

This was originally going to be about “financial goals”, it was the title and everything. But I really don’t think there’s any point to having a “financial goal”. There are just things that I want to do with life, and finances are one of many tools at my disposal. Since I/we still have a long way to go until we are beyond mandatory work for money, finances are the first thing that come to mind.