One of the things that I loved about Paris when I was there a couple of years ago was that everyone on the subway had books out (whether Kindles or paper) -- very few phones in sight.

General Incompetence is at it again. If you've served, you've seen what happens when something contagious like pinkeye or the flu or whatever sweeps through the barracks. It happens fast and it brings whole units grinding to a halt. This is terrible for readiness and shows that Pete Hague-seth is so far out of his depth that it'd be hilarious if it weren't so concerning.

For me, it was accepting that I will never be the smartest guy in the room and never know the most about a topic. I decided to play to the strengths that come from ADHD, and have cultivated broad knowledge, with only a few points of depth. I work with AI/ML, and I transitioned into it from web dev. I make a point to learn what I need when I need it, rather than trying to stuff my head full of stuff that may or may not be relevant. Changed my focus to "be good in the current situation" rather than "be good at everything." Over time, that fosters learning that sticks.

Projects become more stable with time? Since when?

Now those old-timey photo places in every mall in the U.S.? Definitely a money-laundering front.

Oh thank god. I was planning on a 200km, 300km, and 400km this year, all as mental preparation, and then having to blitz next year by traveling to warmer locales. I I'm doing my 200km at the end of April, and my 300km in early July, followed by a 400km gravel in early August. Going to be a grind.

Good luck tomorrow!

Nice! Old me and my old bike are sticking to 200kms this year. :)

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.

https://danbailey.net -- personal blog https://danbailey.dev -- projects site (just started this, so it's pretty sparse)

Yeah, similar experience when I was in Berlin on vacation in 2023. Had a rail transfer to Amsterdam set for 16:30. Canceled without explanation or warning, and the replacement was: Berlin -> Duisberg, with a 13-minute layover Duisberg -> Viersen, with a 6-minute layover Viersen -> Venlo, with a 7-minute layover Venlo -> Eindhoven, with a 38-minute layover Eindhoven -> Amsterdam

As you can probably guess, this is not at all what happened. Shit started to disintegrate around Viersen, we did some shuffling and waiting for later trains, and wound up in Aachen around midnight. The hotel across from the train station was closed for the night, we weren't going to stay in the nearby hostel after seeing one too many horror movies, and so we walked over a mile to a nearby hotel. Staff was lovely. We got in to a room by 01:00, showered, plugged in all our devices, and passed out around 02:00. Up at 05:00 and back to the train station to catch a ride to Rotterdam (very full train), and then on to Amsterdam. We hit our hotel about 12 hours behind schedule, changed clothes and got on with it.

Germany and France had the worst trains. Italy was insanely efficient/on-time.

Anecdata != data.

That MicroCenter continues to exist tells me that there's at least enough people shopping for parts in meatspace that there's net revenue to be had.

Microcenter has a total of 29 stores across the US. Yankee Candle has almost 10x as many locations (240).

Yes, Microcenter "exists", but primarily through selective cultivation of their locations. From a pure market footprint perspective, they are outclassed by a candle company, and many other niche businesses.

I guess I really wasn't clear enough.

At no point was I entirely denying that some people go to physical stores to buy components. I was just countering the idea that a majority of people do so, as opposed to ordering online.