I think it was almost 7 years ago but I was flown from VA->SF and interviewed for a company that I ultimately didn't end up getting an offer for, but it was a good experience
Curious as to why people gravitate towards unis, are they more fun to ride? Is it just more of a challenge and therefore more rewarding? Better workout I'm assuming?
There does seem to be an unusual number of nerdy/engineer types that also unicycle!
I've done two organized long distance unicycling trips before: Vietnam, with ~20 riders, and Kenya to Tanzania with ~10 unicyclists (and a few bikers filling in the slots). There were a lot of programmers, and also a few people that collected other "body as puzzle" skills--juggling, circus arts, etc.
I think the commonality is more that the kind of brain that can push past the challenge of learning to unicycle is the kind of brain that can learn a lot of technical computer skills by applying the same tenacity.
My own history with unicycling is pretty happenstance. When I was 14 I said I wanted one for a birthday present, because I liked the challenge of riding a bike around with no hands.
And I got one! So I learned to ride it on the street, but skill-wise I basically got a free mount and stopped.
Much later, in my 20s, a friend pasted a unicycling video and said he wanted to try it (think "skate video", but unicycling). I said I actually had one in a closet, so we pulled it out and just kept at it after that. After a few weeks we were out trying a flat trail.
I'm 43 now, and my riding comes and goes as I remind myself it's an enjoyable way to get some exercise. I'm also a B- tier rider, if that.
This is my favorite general unicycling video with one of the pioneers, Kris Holm. This really gets into the "but why?" part of it too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPc2phfMLU
Unis are small, slow and safe.
As a teenager I would go out for a ride, put it on my shoulder for hikes and then ride it back by bus.
So when you take the novelty off (and as a rider, it vanishes quickly) it's just a very fun and convenient bike
It's hard to use a unicycle brake as a true panic brake. It's essentially an ejection seat if you abruptly press a brake too hard.
But they are useful as drag brakes! I run a disc brake on my mountain unicycle, and really it's to make super-steep downhill segments feasible (at least without requiring a tremendous amount of back pedal pressure). I choose a brake used for trials biking with a long throw range.
I have a rim brake on my 36" unicycle. In that case it is helpful to reduce stopping distance, in part because the crank-to-wheel ratio is bonkers, but it's still primarily used as a drag brake on long downhills.
But yeah, on a mountain/street unicycle, your feet aren't that far off the ground, and you can't really go faster than sprinting speed. The big risk is getting tangled up in a weird way on the mountain.
36" distance unicycles can go faster than sprinting speed. Bailing unexpectedly on a fast 36" results in a few galloping steps and hopefully not a trip and slide...
Fun little unicycling factoid: "UPD" stands for Unplanned Dismount, and really is what tends to happen more than actual crashes. You realize your balance envelope is blown and there's no hope of making the line you're trying to hit, so might as well just dismount gracefully while you still can.
I know nothing about riding unicycles but I do ride EUC (Electric Unicycle). This thing is the most incredible sport related fun I've ever encountered. As for workout - when off road then yes, it is good core training and raises my HR sometimes to the max. Riding regular roads (except initial learning stage) is - meh. HR fluctuates between 60-70 (50 is my RHR).
> useful for doing the stuff where I'm weaker as a "full stack" developer
I'm really excited about this part; I've been using it to help with DevOps stuff and it's been giving me so much more confidence in what I'm doing as well as helping me complete the task much quicker.
It's almost always awful. Unlimited PTO to me has meant no PTO. Companies that offer this most the time will make you feel like shit if you actually ask off. There never seems to be a 'break' that PTO would fit nice into, there's always a "But this needs to be delivered on Tuesday. You can take those days off as long as you deliver." type of deal.
Of course it's not always the case; my current gig has unlimited PTO and doesn't seem like assholes if you take it. It can be nice, but it has been co-opted by shitty startups to save money and drain their employees.
It might just be that I haven't really been pirating the last 5+ years, but it seems harder to find things now. TPB isn't a great source anymore. I'd join a private one and seed my fair share (I have a seedbox), but I don't really know what the good ones with good collections are. I'd go back to piracy for certain things like Portlandia, which I pay $7 a month for with AMC+. There's no other programming I care about with AMC+, but I can't find a good source for all the seasons of Portlandia.
I am also a regular user of mushrooms these days. My usage of them is definitely different from when I was younger - when I got ahold of them I would always trip pretty heavily and had a blast with them. As you get older, heavy trips just don't seem to be as enjoyable. Too much shit going on in adults lives I think, too many things to think about and it's harder to let go and enjoy the trip. Nowadays, I strictly microdose with them. To make this more streamlined, I will take a whole batch of mushrooms and pulse them into a powder with a coffee grinder, then fill up large capsules with them. This has the benefit of making each pill about as uniformly dosed as possible as long as you fill the capsules with the same amount. With these, you can really dose it the way you want. 1-2 capsules is usually great for a nice microdose. It will even give me energy similar to several cups of coffee, doesn't affect my cognitive ability at work at all, and the afterglow as you said is great.
As far as my personal anecdotal experience, if you can get Steel Magnolias that's the way to go. Penis Envy's are OK too.
I live in the Bay Area and I’m curious about trying mushrooms for personal reasons. I’m not addicted to anything and don’t drink alcohol or smoke or do any other drugs After reading information about mushrooms recently I’ve been interested to try them for personal growth and wellbeing.
Where do you even get them? How do you know how much to take? How do you take them? I’ve tried finding centers to go to where they assist you but can’t seem to find any that aid with it end-to-end.
Normally you would just order spores online and grow them yourself (it's trivial if you're not trying to maximize output, just takes time and some attention), but sadly that's not legal in Idaho/Georgia/California. Not sure what other options are available in CA as far as growing goes. As for the rest, I've found a lot of helpful info on /r/shrooms and shroomery.org. Sometimes people can give conflicting advice, but as with all things it's best to synthesize from multiple sources and figure out what works for you. Start small and be careful.
Unfortunately, if you don't want to try and grow them you'll have to get them from someone you know. You could also try the dark web if you really want some, I'm sure you could get some there but if you can avoid that, it would be better. Fortunately it seems like getting mushrooms mixed with fentanyl isn't a thing AFAIK.
> How do you know how much to take? / How do you take them?
Up until recently, I was just eating a small amount - kind of hoping a stem and a small cap would do the trick. Most the times, this would work, but every once in awhile you'll get a small guy that is way more powerful than you think. I've found the best way for me now is to grind them into a powder and fill large fillable capsules with them. You can get several different sizes; I would start with smaller ones at first. The trick is to grind up as much of that batch of mushrooms as possible, as well as you can (I just use a simple coffee bean grinder). This does a good job of making sure each capsule you fill with the resulting powder is as evenly spread as it can be without special equipment. The benefit of this is you will now have 10-30 mushroom capsules with the same efficacy and you can then start with a single one and see how you feel. For your first time, I would not push past a single one. It can also sometimes take up to 3 hours before it really sinks in depending on what you're eating and such, so the first time just do not take another one.
From my experience it doesnt take much, a cap or two and maybe a stem is enough to feel it. Dont do what I did, which is wait half an hour before getting impatient and finishing off the baggy. It can take up to an hour to kick in.
Wish I could tell you where to get them, for me it was 'work in a restaurant'.
You can join the church of Zide Door in Oakland. It is a weird trip just going over there. Golden teacher is a very well known strain.
They won’t necessarily guide you through the set and setting.
The thing I recommend is to plan a date with yourself. Imagine the time and place you’d like to be in when you get a glimpse of the infinite.
You may wish to go with someone experienced for your first time, or even start with non-hallucinogenic dose and work your way up. (1/4 a hallucinogenic dose causes a barely noticeable pleasant feeling)
I've given up on being that 10x developer that has a laundry list of accomplishments in tech everyone would be proud of about 5 years ago. Unlike most people, I did know what it would take as my dad had done it (and his dad before him as a nuclear physicist). I've seen the insane amount of hours and dedication it takes to run a successful company, I've seen the tradeoffs in life you have to make, and I've seen it really run my dad down.
I became a lot happier in life when I decided I was not going to follow in their footsteps. Neither of them have been great at being happy, and that's something I'm more focused on now.
I recently went sober from alcohol and afterwards realized how much alcohol advertising there is, it's actually pretty insane. For certain programs (like football) it's almost %50 of the ads.
I've heard some people use propranolol to help with their anxiety for things like this as well. I used to drink before interviews as well, I've also tried xanax, and shit sometimes even a combination. It helped me get through them at the time but I don't know how overall helpful it was.
I recently went through the interview process as a sober guy and found that while I did get anxiety, it was a more healthy anxiety and not a crippling one. I'm on a low dose of an anti-anxiety medication (Buspirone) which I think helped; though I attribute it mostly to a better overall healthy state I've been in due to consistent exercise, healthy eating, and sleep. Not a super sexy answer outside of maybe the medication part.
> And also, for some reason, I tend to interpret a written message in a much worse way than I do a message that is communicated verbally.
This is something that I struggle with as well. My first remote job was probably 6 years ago and the first couple weeks I was getting really down on myself because my manager would always reply to my questions with "Um" first. To me this was basically "Um.... are you really asking this stupid of a fucking question? God I am re-thinking this hire big time already". Turns out she was actually saying "Um" because she was thinking about the best answer for the question or didn't know it herself yet.
I recently started a new position where my boss ends everything with a hard period and it just kind of reads a little off to me. For instance - "No. That is not correct, we do not want to do that." To me it reads a bit harsh in my head, but I'm pretty sure he just likes correct grammar.
