I’m going to build a cafe inside a faraday cage someday.

Just to see what happens.

Maybe I’ll not serve alcohol and call it Zero Bars.

Probably you've been out of the getting hired game but I had a glimpse of it last year: absolutely terrible.

When I started you'd send a mail to the company directly about a position, you'd go to the office, have a short interview, meet the team and they'll let you know. That's it.

Now it's 2 rounds of HR bs, 3 layers of tech interviews, then meet the CEO/CTO/etc. And then references and then a final "chat". And you still can get ghosted at literally any step, even at the final cozy chat, just because of "vibes".

And throw in companies sending you leetcode even before talking to you and you can see why one would want to get through the bs.

I still stand about my favourite approach for tech jobs: intro and tech chat (1-2h) about your resume, what you'll be doing and anything you might have questions about (no challenges or stupid riddles). Then, if everything goes smoothly, you get a 2 weeks contract and you are in probation. If everything goes well, you get another contract for 3-6 months (up to you to accept or not) and then you get converted to permanent if everything went well for both parties.

Home inspectors (at least in Australia) are next to useless and expensive. The one I bought a report from never looked under the house or in the attic.

There's a whole subculture among car people of "barn finds", well represented on YouTube but also long predating that.

I bet someone would have been absolutely delighted to have that old Peugeot!

Off-topic, but since you mention it, I've always been confused about what Americans always seem to be doing at the DMV. It seems to be a staple of pop culture that people are always there and the queue is always very long, but I've never known what anyone is actually trying to achieve.

The DVLA in the UK doesn't have a high-street presence. I took my driving test once, then received my driving licence in the post. When it needs renewing, I can do it online. I tax my car online. MOTs (annual vehicle safety tests) happen at any local garage. I've never needed a new numberplate, but I think you can buy those online too.

So what is it you all have to go to the DMV for? Because it sounds horrible.

I hate woodpeckers. We had a solid year or two where there was one putting holes in our house and it just would not leave us alone. Eventually we were able to figure out a way to prevent it from perching, but until then I was on the verge of wanting to sell the house just to get away from the thing. I used to joke that the people who made the migratory birds treaty which protects woodpeckers only did so because they never had to deal with one before.

> I interviewed someone for an internship who was getting directions from someone whispering to them. I managed to hear it when they forgot to mute the mic a couple times.

What do you do when something like this happens in an interview? Do you ignore it, call out the interviewee, make a joke about it?

Oh! Would you mind sharing which third-party brands worked well for you? Thanks!

My printer has worked really well and for whichever reason I haven’t been hit by any of those HP shenanigans. Maybe it’s because I haven't installed any HP drivers or software? Not needed on Linux or ios which is what I have. Works great, network-enabled and supports AirPrint so we can print from our phones (95% of our printing needs). Toner is expensive and I’ve only ever used HP toner; third-party toner requires cannibalizing the chip from original cartridges which I’m too lazy to do. Color Laserjet pro m255dw. I still probably wouldn’t buy another HP given all the user hostility :)