I was very hesitant to get on board with AI tools for software development for a long time, but my company just got us all Claude Code a couple of months ago and are encouraging us to use it. I know there is a pretty big stigma around AI in general, and I think the vast majority of AI integrations are a waste of resources at best. That being said, I’ve been using it in my workflow for a while now and have found it to be surprisingly useful. In my opinion, in its current state, it is still just a tool, and it has a number of shortcomings (even using the most current and "powerful/capable” models). I’ve found myself mostly using it for testing, documentation, and boiler plate stuff, and it genuinely has made me a lot more productive.

I still write a lot of code myself, because I believe I’m still far smarter and more capable than it is when it comes to designing and implementing new software. If it disappeared tomorrow, I’d be just fine. I would miss the convenience it provides, but it currently it’s not anywhere near the point of being able to replace me.

Brave is not what you might think it is. There’s a lot of shady stuff under the hood.

Not to downplay your issue but I kinda wish I had something like this right now. I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety recently, to the point where my brain feels like it’s short circuiting. I wish I had places I could go in my mind to escape.

I want to give an honest answer here. I am in a relationship of 10 years and there are a couple points worth making upfront. Sex doesn’t make a relationship - not everyone feels this way but you can have a loving relationship without it. Children are not something I’ve ever personally wanted so I can’t attest to that. That being said, being in a relationship is overall good for me. It has made me do things and go places that my introverted self would have never done or gone to in the first place.

More importantly than any of that, don’t give up hope that you’ll find someone. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be this year, but if you keep believing that you’ll be alone indefinitely then you might just manifest it. I can’t exactly give tips on how to meet people - being an introvert and out of the dating pool for so long means any direct experience is not very relevant, but I can say try to meet new people and see who you jive with. I think relationships are probably easiest to foster through shared experiences and meaningful connections, so if you can find a group of people that share a common hobby/passion, that might be a good place to start.

I make a big batch of fermented hot sauce every year around the holidays and give them out as gifts; it seems to always be a hit.

I pretty much follow the same recipe and process that you mentioned, but I never have gone above 3% salt. I wouldn’t have expected up to 6% (let alone 10%) to allow the acid producing bacteria to survive, but I guess they’re pretty tolerant.

I honestly expected after the API changes rolled out that the backlash on Reddit would stop but I’m glad to see the shenanigans continue.