How my genius roommate changed my perspective • Hacker News Board

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#121

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:42 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #88

greybox wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny it's been re-posted as new though, I wonder if the author is the original one ....

I bet the whole post is an ad for the wim hof nonsense.

(Author here) However wish I was true, that would've been nice to make an affiliate link :) jking.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#122

Post by andrewzah » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:43 PM UTC

phist_mcgee wrote: post #26

sandreas wrote: post #6

Nice article. Unfortunately there is a limitation to this way of thinking in my daily business - the WAF ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor Luckily the articles' principle doesn't only apply to building furniture. Edit - Clarification: This comment describes only my personal situation and should in no way harm anyone. It is a satiric way of stating out that if you are not alone in your apartment…

I complained to my GF yesterday that the apple TV remote always gets lost in the sofa cushions, and opined that a bright fluoro yellow remote would be much better. She said it was a terrible idea and would be a complete eyesore (which was exactly my point!)

It doesn't have to be an eyesore, we use one of these [0]. Now we never lose that darn remote.

[0]: https://smile.amazon.com/Remote-Generation-Silicone-Controll...

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#123

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:43 PM UTC

programmer_dude wrote: post #12

Did you not make a Youtube video about this like a decade ago? edit: Don't get me wrong I am happy you re-posted this. I just want to know if I have seen this before.

(Author here) I wanted to start writing again and decided to make this my first post on my site. Much more to follow on math, philosophy, etc. Thank you for the kind words.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#124

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:44 PM UTC

RaiausderDose wrote: post #22

froh wrote: post #2

tl;dr a creative roommate refits a bed frame as a multi purpose table and workbench and opens the eyes and the heart of the author to "hack the physical world" to fit his needs.

after the bed part I wanted to quit reading, it was so simple and the bed looked modern not like "we were poor as dirt!" workbench was cool though

(Author here) Although we were not rich, the group wasn't that poor either. We were fortunate as a group to have fun with what we had...

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#125

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

tibbydudeza wrote: post #13

Wow - that guy would make an awesome engineer.

(Author here) As a composer, he was able to put together music beautifully. It extended to all aspects of his life.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#126

Post by alex_smart » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

In India, we have a word for this type of "engineering" - jugaad. A great tool to use at an individual level. A terrible mindset to have as a society.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#127

Post by pxc » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:46 PM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #72

brobdingnagians wrote: post #41

Reminds me of the story of Zhuangzi, the Chinese philosopher, on how one thing can be used in very different ways: There was once a man from Song who was skilled at making ointment for chapped hands. For generations, his family had made their living by washing raw silk. A traveler happened to hear of it and offered to purchase the formula for a hundred catties of gold. The man called his family into conference and sa…

One used it for personal gain, the other used it in service of his country.

one used it to relieve his neighbors, the other used it to relieve professional killers

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#128

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:46 PM UTC

artisinalbread wrote: post #24

I feel like author was never before in a frugal situation. These kind of things were common in student dorms (may be not to the scale of putting in hard work on making a table have wheels to move). I love the situations that surrounds with limitations to test your creativity in fulfilling your needs.

(Author here) While I can understand your perspective, the way and approach he took in solving these problems was very different. It wasn't because we didn't have the means, it was just his way of expressing himself in solving the problem at hand.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#129

Post by chasd00 » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

reminds me of my old roommate in college, we had to fit 5 guys in a two bedroom apartment. He found/stole/bought (not sure which) some old scaffolding. He painted it and then got some 2x6's and made two queen sized bunk bed frames. So we had two decent sized beds in each room. Then, the last guy was on the couch (he was only there for the summer then back to the dorm).

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#130

Post by FarhadG » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

m0ck wrote: post #57

This painfully reminded me of my dad, who passed away earlier this year. We grew up as a family of 5, in small, 3 rooms flat in the block-of-flats from communist era. The way he made use of every single centimeter including the walls and ceiling still amazes me to this day. He was working with computers his whole life, but I haven't met anyone as handy as him. He built custom closets, cupboards, bunk beds, shelves, t…

(Author here) Thank you for sharing a deep part about yourself and your family. If you ever decide to share more about what your father built and how he did it, I'd love to also learn from his wisdom and approach.

This is why Hacker News is my homepage. Thank you for sharing.