iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Carl C

@raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy

51 followers 0 following 1.5K posts

50-something potter, knitter, maker, programmer, tabletop gamer, video gamer, dad. Jack-of-all-trades. South New Jersey, US he/him [bridged from fedi.raventhemaker.com/@raven on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy ]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 2h

Picking a gutter cleaner by seeing someone cleaning the neighbor's gutters putting his ladder into his truck and asking him if he can clean my gutters. Picked my lawn guy the same way.

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 4h

It occurs to me that my new Indian boss may have never had non-Indian reports before. And I'm not sure he's ever managed manages before either. That may be why he keeps doing it wrong.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 11h

I can't believe my Polish employees have to have mandatory periodic physicals, otherwise they get put on unpaid medical leave as "unfit for work" until they have the physical done. _Office workers_. It's so weird.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 16h

I love the naivete of employees, thinking that signing US$12B in contracts is going to translate to larger raises. My brother in tech, hell no... it means hiring more people, keeping our operating margin under 30%, and putting more bonuses in executive pockets. These contracts just means more […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 18h

Me to new director: I don't like it when my boss reschedules our 1:1s all the time to make room for other meetings. I find it disrespectful and it sends the signal that I am not that important. New director: I understand that. First event in the series of newly scheduled 1:1s: director […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

I find it weirdly... discriminatory? that HR knows my start date based on when I started working for Linode, before Akamai acquired us. But all ex-Linode employees start date displayed to others in the directory is the acquisition date. So to others I look like I started in 2022, when I started […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Ugh. Someone talking about how long they've been at the company, and I realized I've spent 20% of my life working here. Now I'm thinking about how much of our lives are spent working and it's just depressing.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Lovely, new firefox has put round borders the active tab, taking up even more tab realestate, so I get a _single letter_ showing me the name of the active tab now. (Yes, I have too many tabs open at all times, despite using tab groups.) I do like how it's more visible. But I just wish apps […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

meetup.com was really awesome until they went all corporate. Now they're owned by... "Bending Spoons S.p.A. is an Italian technology conglomerate founded in 2013. Based in Milan, the company acquires products (such as Airtable, AOL, Eventbrite, and Vimeo) with existing product‑market fit and […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

I kept complaining about the $30 copay for every session of my wife's physical therapy after knee surgeries. I didn't think we were supposed to have a copay. Got a refund check for $720 today.

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

I should finish Baldur's Gate 3, but how many other games am I going to have to uninstall to make room?

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Did Jenny and that singer hook up, or did she change her number? #DeepThoughtsASongOrLimerick #HashTagGames

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Star Trek. Why do they have to tell the computer what the stardate is when they record a log? Doesn't the computer know? Why do they always give precise navigation headings, off the top of their heads apparently, instead of desired destination? They had to have gotten the heading from the […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Lyft has updated their New Jersey policy about suing them in the event that a Lyft driver was uninsured. They keep putting "accident" in quotes, like they don't want to acknowledge that an accident might even be real.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Oh, and the good thing I learned. A CT scan of my teeth costs $285. I have a $2000 limit for endodontic work, which I maxed out halfway through my treatment. BUT... I pay just one $285 fee, no matter how many scans they take during the three visits. Makes me feel better about the doc taking […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

[dentist] Third root canal appt this morning. Scheduled for 1.5 hours, went a full 2, but got it all done. Finally.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Congestion on highway meant GMaps took me through a crowded downtown during school crossing time. Long line of cars waiting for a crossing. Van passes me in the parking lane and parks. Nobody gets in, nobody gets out. Line starts moving, van forces its way into the line 3 cars ahead of where it […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Wish me luck. I have just proposed to our new Director that what our VP has been having us do (train 17 inexperienced engineers on how to write automation scripts at once) is just dumb, and what I need is one or two dedicated engineers who don't answer alerts and just write automation. I can […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

I see a lot of people asking "why are handpans so expensive!?" Like, the most expensive, premium instruments are under US$4000. You can get a "concert" quality instrument for about $1500. And I'm thinking... "you people have never looked at what instruments cost." You can easily buy a […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

"If you are requesting human attention, demonstrate human effort." tombedor.dev/human-attention-and-hu…

If You are Asking for Human Attention, Demonstrate Human Effort | Tom Bedor's Blog

An ever-increasing volume of debug investigations, document writing, and code is written by robots. This has created a new etiquette question when working with a team - when is it OK to forward the output of an AI to another human to read?

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Well, I ordered a handpan. Gonna sell the harp and stick with a more percussive instrument that doesn't give me technique stress. I have a history with hand drums, so I know I like percussion, and the more melodic handpan should fill that gap I felt with solo drumming […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

[mh-] I have been a big ball of undefined anxiety today. Or maybe not so much undefined, but a whole ball of little things. I have a new boss, who I have only met once, and I was not put at ease. Tomorrow night's roleplaying game. My jaw kind of hurts and I have another visit to the […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

The "Discord is unreliable for urgent family communication" problem has gotten so bad, we've ordered an intercom system for the house. 6 units means I can even put one out in the garage.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

I would like to have relationships with medical professionals where they don't send me things like "we're having a sale on botox treatments!" I'm seeing a dermatologist for the health of my skin. I'm seeing an ophthalmologist for the health of my eyes. I'm seeing my dentist for the health of my […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Okay, my 9 games. This was tough, because there are games that stand in for a whole genre or period of my life. There's like 20 years where I feel like games were just a hobby and didn't have a big impact on me, then tech advances, storytelling […] [Original post on fedi.raventhemaker.com]

A grid of the 9 games that most shaped my life:
Atari Adventure, Zork, Wizardry, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, 7 Days to Die, Warframe, and Horizon Zero Dawn.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Bit of whiplash going from Taylor Swift's first album to _1989_. 🤯 But tell me... "Welcome to New York". Does Taytay really think there are no NYC natives?

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

[dentist, root canal] Spent 1.5 hours in the endodontist's chair today... we got through one root. Have another appointment tomorrow to finish the job. :( It's fun when you've been at it so long at the anesthesia wears off and you complain about pain and he's like, "That means I've found the […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

I really don't understand all the interpretations of Alanis Moressette's "Uninvited" completely divorced from the movie _for which it was written_. Do people not even know it was written for _City of Angels_?

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

[AI nonsense at work] Gah, almost got into a fight with my VP when he said, "I don't know why your people are having trouble with automation. They don't even need to learn to code, they just need to explain the problem to the AI and the AI will write the code for them."

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

HR taunting me with emails reminding me I qualify for the new early retirement program. Retire before 60? In this economy?

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Firefox: There's a new release of Firefox, do you want to download it? Me: Sure! Firefox: Okay, I'm going to download it in the background, not install it, and just be silent about it forever until you think to look two menu levels deep to see if there's an update available.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

Looking at reviews on Voidtrain, which came out of two or three years of early access to full release last year, and how they go from "Mostly positive" to "mixed" in the current reviews... it just highlights the typical EAcycle. Reviewers praise an EA game for its _potential_, for the game they […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

One of the fun things about watching classic Twilight Zone is recognizing actors you know from later films and TV. I often wonder how many I'm missing that would recognize if they were older.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

One of the things that bothers me about creators creating their own patronage sites to get away from Patreon is that it offloads a burden onto the patron. I back 20+ creators on Patreon... I'm not going to deal with 20+ custom-rolled patronage sites, associated logins, etc. Patreon brings a big […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

Has anyone played more on-screen sheriffs than Claude Akins?

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

Well, took the day off for my root canal. (Busy and tiring weekend, I could use an extra day.) They don't have me on the schedule. At all. Not even "you have the wrong day," I have no appointment coming up. They found last week's consult. So now I'm scheduled for Thursday. Glad I'm not in pain […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Frustrated that fries have gone the route of soda at restaurants. "No, this doesn't come with fries. If you want fries, that'll be $6 extra."

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Giving bloggers the benefit of the doubt and assuming they're using AI, rather than assuming they're really bad at writing instructions. Or that they're obsessed with the subject, writing 20 related articles all posted on the same day.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Went to the Maryland Renaissance faire today... it was good, but super crowded. Nice weather, just a tad warm and a bit of a breeze. I'm trying to figure out if I've become jaded, or just too practical... I didn't come home with a single bauble. Some honey, a little pride badge, that was it […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

I really wonder who GoFundMe thinks their audience is. The default donation screen starts on _Monthly_ with the smallest button being $50/mo. Then when you switch over to "Give once," the smallest button is $200. How many people have this kind of money to give to individual strangers? I do […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

I have a Babe starter spinning wheel that I need to rehome. PVC frame, wheel chair wheel, double-treadle... it looks very DIY, but it works very well. I just get shin pain running the treadles, so a treadle wheel in general doesn't work for me. Trying to figure out where I can unload it because […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

Woo! I have a root canal scheduled for Monday! Mind blown: They said they'd just drill through my heavy gold crown and just fill that. No new crown needed.

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

My portable AC is actually a heat pump with a heating mode. If I put it on "auto" it will cool the room below the target temp by two or three degrees, then turn on the heat to warm it back up. 🤦

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

I think one of the things that draws me to the music of my youth is that the music doesn't change. It is exactly the same as it was when I was a teen. Books less so because I forget the details of books, but music I haven't heard in decades can be immediately recognizable. Everything else […]

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Mitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي) @mitch.hoagie.cloud.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

i got tired of sending out resumés, so i made a PSX demo disc instead. check it out. made the old fashioned way, with a human brain and a lot of coffee. #MotionDesign #HireMe #RetroGaming #PS1 #DesignSky #CreativeDirector #GetHired #GetFediHired

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

[AI at work gripe, funny] "You nailed the wrap-around logic flaw..." "What you discovered with those 4 unavoidable "last-days" blocks is the pigeonhole principle in pure scheduling form." "You didn't just generate a schedule; you mathematically proved the absolute structural limit of your […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

[work scheduling gripe] The worst thing about our 4-on/4-off schedule and trying to create an on-call schedule where someone is on-call for 8 hours after each shift, is someone wants a change, I explain all the constraints that cause it to work the way it does, I get: "that doesn't make any […]

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Reposted by Carl C

Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 14/09/2026

@squishythings.com BUNGO LAW

Bungo Choco Mochi box, Costco sized.

Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

One of the weird things about moving my office from downstairs, close to everything, to an upstairs room furthest from everything, is how it changes my habits. I used to see finishing my breakfast as a reason to stretch my legs and take my plate to the kitchen. Now I set it aside for a later […]

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Carl C @raven.fedi.raventhemaker.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

Medical intake form: "Do you have, or have you ever had: Contagious diseases" Who can possibly answer this as "no"? A cold is a disease. Where do you draw the line between "something everyone has had" to "something they might actually care about"?

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