WFH

Funnily enough, they are. Some tech millionnaire invested in them just after I (and 90% of the IT staff) left.

We all thought he was going to be another whale that they would bleed dry. But he actually took over and changed a lot of things.

So, for now, they still exist. I don't know how or at what cost, but they still exist. I wouldn't go back there for all the money in the world tho, I'm pretty sure the corporate culture is still toxic af.

I used to work IT at a company that leased electronic stuff to the general public. Oh boy were they shitty. Keep in mind, this is in a Western European country where employees and customers have actual rights.

There was a general policy of harassment and intimidation. Sexual harassment obviously. The female staff was constantly "ranked", outfits were loudly commented. By management.

Sometimes you manager came next to you at 6:25PM. You've already been doing free overtime by then but utterly stupid management means sudden, unpredictable and hard deadlines. He would lit up a cigarette in your face and keep you until 10PM. Sometimes the deadline was so short and "important" people had to work until 5AM. For free (well, pizzas). And show up the next morning at 10 (instead of 9, woo).

Managers kept threatening you to cancel your holidays the day before leaving if you didn't do this and that. Sometimes people had to connect from their vacations to do stuff because they were "critical" for something.

Money was a funny thing. We were constantly paid late. Sometimes more than 2 weeks late. Everyone who wasn't an employee wasn't paid at all. Not the rent, not the building staff (the toilets were FILTHY), not the contractors who remodeled the floor when we moved in, not the suppliers and especially not the IT contractors. I came in on day and found that I lost my entire team because their employers has never been paid.

One day, they lost a major investor because they lent money to purchase stuff to lease, not burning it in massive management salaries. As a collateral, the investor left with the customer database. So they were back to square one. So, as a get-new-customers-quick tactic, they created dozens of too-good-to-be-true promotions, like giving out electric scooters for new subscriptions and the like. With of course zero intention of honoring them out, since there was no money.

I could go on and on. Everyday there was new, shitty, borderline illegal stuff going on.

Especially if he's just been sold the wrong grade of copper.

Ancillary Justice is so good!

Do you like beer? Is is legal to home brew in your country? If both are yes, brew beer.

It's easy, it's delicious, it gets cheap quickly especially compared to most microbreweries, you'll always have a brew to share with friends without having to run to the store.

Always brew with friends. You can drink beer and have fun on brew days. It's much easier when there are 2-3 people around to lift stuff. You can delegate responsibilities. Share the cost of ingredients and the resulting beer. You can even "associate" and buy the hardware together. Trust me, you will never run out of volunteers.

Go all grain from the start instead of going extract. Start with something simple with as few ingredients as possible like a stout or a pale ale to get the feel for it. Then brew more complicated but tried and true recipes. Then you can start and go crazy with your own recipes.

And if anything goes off plan, RDWHAHB. Relax, don't worry, have a home brew. It's hard to make a truly exceptional beer, but if you follow most basic principles it's even harder to fuck up so badly that you brew something truly undrinkable.

Film photography can still be pretty cheap compared to digital. Any prime 50mm-ish from the last 70 years will be at least decent to great, any manual camera from the last 50 years is will be good if working. A lot of East-Asian and Eastern European bodies and lenses from the 70'-90'don't hold much value but a lot are very competent workhorses. A lot of (especially Japanese) "basic" lenses like the SMC Taks, most Canons and Nikons have gotten very expensive tho because nowadays people can easily adapt them to any MILC for that "vintage" look.

Go black and white, buy a bottle of Rodinal (or any clone) and a film tank. They will both last forever.

Good b&w film like Ilford FP4+ is getting expensive tho, but you can still burn through 50 rolls before reaching the price of a decent, entry level cropped frame DSLR or MILC. Double or triple that if you want a full frame digital camera.

Plus, a full manual setup is an amazing learning tool, and having only 36 shots per roll force you to stop and think before shooting anything.

Only potential problem is that scanning negatives can be tricky without buying a film scanner.

Oh sorry for misunderstanding 😅

I watched a lot of videos to understand the basic principles, read a lot of forums and blog posts about roasting and the gene in particular, completely fucked up my first 5 roasts, tried half a dozen "recipes" before finding something that works for me 😅

Because why not? "it's gonna be a fun hobby", "my local roaster is too expensive, it will pay for itself in 3 years", "I wanna try beans I can't find at my local roaster's"...

Thank you so much!

That sauce looks delicious, like a hummus without the peas. I often use the same veggie base for pitas, either sprinkled with lime and za'atar for a Levantine flavor or oregano and olive oil for a Greek one.

Could you please share a recipe?

Yeah I've heard you can't go wrong with either option. I think I went for the Gene because it's much easier to find in Europe.

Truth is, I went straight for the Gene. The Behmor is also a popular option in entry-level coffee roasters.

Most places seem to recommend to start with a cheap popcorn machine or a heat gun and a dog bowl as a low-cost way to get you feet wet.