Best audio book I’ve listened to… Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.

I agree with what you’re saying. They got the phone from Carrier A with the expectation the phone plan went with it. Once the phone is paid off, they can take the phone to Carrier B. Since they phone is basically bought on an interest free loan, the interest is recouped by the plan, and the collateral for not paying is a loss of the phone plan and use of the phone. To leave the plan, payoff the phone.

That does require that, the moment the phone is paid off, it should be automatically unlocked. There shouldn’t have to be a request or additional waiting. And the customer should be notified that it’s unlocked along with an explanation that they can now use the phone with any other provider.

Historically, this is exactly how theological disputes were handled. See Crusades on Wikipedia for more information.

If that were the case, how did you know to post about it?

I get why people are upset by the headline. It is written to provoke anger. Unfortunately, anger at the wrong issue.

I understand the argument that a large company can absorb the cost of workers they don’t currently. Though it’s unrealistic to expect them too.

I lived in the Quad Cities for a number of years. A large majority of people I know, both family and friends, worked for either Deere or Case IH - until they closed the plant in East Moline.

Layoffs are a yearly thing. Deere, Case, Caterpillar, they all hire a bunch of people in the beginning of the year and lay them off towards the end. It’s typically around August or September, and they announce it in July. Everyone in the Quad Cities knows it. It is expected. Sometime early next year, they are going to hire these jobs back. The people who take these jobs go into it knowing this is going to happen.

It can suck being let go and some people might struggle with it. Those who are used to this cycle treat it as a well-paying seasonal job. Many already have something else lined up. This is only a single, anecdotal, data point, so take it with a grain of salt… one of my uncles works for Deere and is a bus driver for one of the school districts. He knows Deere is going to let him go by fall so he has the driving job for the rest of the year. In spring, he will go back to Deere.

Perspective is also important. Deere has somewhere between 80k and 85k employees. They are laying off < 1000 based on this story. That’s the equivalent of a small, 80 person company hiring 1 person to get through the holiday season, then laying them off in January. Next year, they will do it again.

Headlines like this are nothing more than a distraction from real issues. For example, why does any company have multi-billions of dollars in profit to begin with? It just means they are charging more than they need to. The farmers who buy Deere equipment then have to charge more for their produce. Which means the stores have to charge more. Which means we pay more for our food. Deere’s profits are leading to higher food prices for everyone. To me, that is more of an issue than 1/80th of their workforce being in a hire/layoff cycle.

He’s 81, not 88.

I run a development department, and nobody who reports to me comes to the office. We have been 100% remote since 2020… much to the chagrin of HR. Others in IT come in, but no developers. I see no reason to change it either. I question why I even come in most days.

Without looking it up, I don’t know how many people I’ve interviewed over the last 4 years, but there’s been a few. I’ve only had one person who indicated he wanted to be in an office. Every other person wants fully remote. The most common comment I’ve heard from people is saying they will settle for hybrid if full-remote isn’t available.

There’s some value to having people work together in-person, but I’d rather give my teams the flexibility to choose for themselves rather than force it.

Shellac is not the same as oil based. Oil based is made from, well, oil. Shelllac is made by crushing the shells of the lac bug. It is an insect that is cultivated specifically for the purpose. Shellac is typically used as a final coat for protection. Shellac primer is basically that mixed with a white pigment. It is great for sealing. Fairly pricy though.

AC as refrigerant, not coolant. Although that might be semantics.

AC is a type of heat pump. You are moving heat from inside to outside. The physics behind a heat pump, is fairly simple. There are three principles to work with.

1. Take a gas, compress it, and it gets super hot.
2. Take a compressed gas, let it rapidly expand, and it gets super cold
3. Different temperature gases move from hot to cold

Let’s focus on AC since most folks are used to that concept. In an AC, you have a closed loop of refrigerant. Outside, there is a compressor that compresses the gas, which makes it very hot. The gas is pushed through a radiator with a fan pulling air through it. Since hot moves to cold, the heat trapped in the gas moves to the outside air, and the gas is slightly cooled. (As long as the gas is hotter than outside).

Inside, there is an expansion valve that lets the gas rapdly expand, making it super cold. It is pumped through a radiator that has inside air blowing over it with a fan. Since hot moves to cold, the heat in the inside air moves to the cold gas, cooling the inside air. (As long as the gas is cooler than the inside temperature). It is then pumped outside to start the loop again.

So, inside gets cooler while the heat is moved outside. The physics also establishes the limits of the heat exchange. You will only grab heat from inside if the expansion makes the gas colder than the air inside. Typically it expands to around 0 degrees. Likewise, it will dump the heat outside if the gas is hotter than outside air. The compressor typically makes it 130 to 140 degrees (temps vary depending on many factors).

To use a heat pump for heating rather than cooling, reverse the process. Pick up the heat from outside and dump it inside. This will work as long as outside is warmer than the expanded gas (0 degrees or so). Although you can get some that go to around -20.