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Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

gavinray97.github.io

171–180 of 452 posts

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#171

Thank you for sharing your story! I wish you continued success and I also hope that one day someone will share with you about how YOUR story helped them do something similar, just like the article did for you. Also, Preston Thorpe (who Gavin mentions as inspiration) has an interesting story as well: https://pthorpe92.dev/intro/my-story/

Thank you for that link. I recommend reading to the very last line.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#173

> The beginning of the end: The day I bought an Adderall from a classmate. When that amphetamine feeling kicked-in, it was as if life was perfect for the first time. I was happy, confident, felt I could do anything. You know, I had a similar experience, but in my case I got an appointment with a psychiatrist afterwards, described the experience in detail, was given a computer test, diagnosed with ADHD, and then given…

Poor kid just had ADHD and his whole life got ruined tha is to backwards prohibition

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#174
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could make a similar argument for bicycles. Apparently the numbers for bicycles are a bit better, even in adjusted terms, but still. They're very unsafe in general.

In both cases the reasons often come back to the average motorcyclist and bicycle rider abjectly REFUSING to learn or respect road laws. I live in a non-California state and I'm shocked whenever I see a motorcyclist who doesn't illegally lane split, who maintains a standard following distance (ideally 3 car lengths on an interstate), etc. Plus, most of them aren't even good at choosing leather jackets (not enough sch…

> maintains a standard following distance (ideally 3 car lengths on an interstate)

3 car lengths is a ridiculously too close following distance at freeway speeds.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#175
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically saying "isn’t just smart— it’s important" (complete with em-dash!) and "No shortcuts. No filler. No excuses." sounds very AI-generated. Not saying it is, just pointing out how messed up the world we live in now is. But... was it?

"You're absolutely right for pushing back on that!"

But, allow me to complete the sandwich.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#176

Had similarly unorthodox path to tech, albeit without the drug addiction or prison. 90s early internet/BBS punk rocker/computer nerd. Hated school angry. Dropped out to work as a bike messenger for 5 years before packing a bag and moving west randomly. Couldn't sit still. Rode freight trains around the country for a few months. Washed dishes and landscaped to cover my cheap rent till that fell thru. Discovered shop l…

Looking In retrospect, if you were a policy maker today how would you try to prevent the new generation for having to go through this (today your path likely would not be viable due to fentanyl).

Did he have to? Some of that sounds like choices, especially in the start.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#177

Had similarly unorthodox path to tech, albeit without the drug addiction or prison. 90s early internet/BBS punk rocker/computer nerd. Hated school angry. Dropped out to work as a bike messenger for 5 years before packing a bag and moving west randomly. Couldn't sit still. Rode freight trains around the country for a few months. Washed dishes and landscaped to cover my cheap rent till that fell thru. Discovered shop l…

Was there any bullying at school that kept you away from it? Or boredom? Or just culture ? Grade schools seem all right in the US. Ridiculous amounts of activities/sports right there, teachers are well paid (compared to the rest of the world), the program difficulty seem pretty chill for any kid that learned to read early enough.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Why'd people downvote this? The minimum you need to be doing is pasting role descriptions and your résumé into ChatGPT and asking: should I hire this person? Because that's what every company's HR department is doing (automatically) and if the answer is no, then you may as well not bother sending the application. Or you could tweak it until it says yes.

I think earlier there were few HN users who didn't like my opinions on another thread, came here to flag and downvote my comments and leave rather mean replies all over my profile. I don't think much of it and I forgive people who do it.

Or maybe there really are people who think its okay to use AI to hire/filter candidates but not when candidates use AI to optimize to get around that screen. Using AI, I've been able to land several interviews and work 3 jobs remotely currently without much effort.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#180
post #58

Please don't get a motorcycle: A good felon buddy of mine has been out now for 4 years. He slowly built a car repair business, with steady clientele, and got his life back on track – including reasonable sobriety and a steady relationship. He and his girl would cruise around often, enjoying their newfound happiness . Last week he totaled his Harley and his body (destroyed bike, multiple broken bones). Total reset. He…

Have you ever been on a motorcycle? Closest feeling you can get to flying and a helluva lot cheaper. Bike costs are line noise, (cheap!) planes I fly are better part of $200 an hour. I get what you're saying though. Barely been on bike since latest baby and wondering if I should just sell them for now. As much as I miss riding and wife misses riding with me, if the worst were to happen, yikes.

> Closest feeling you can get to flying and a helluva lot cheaper.

Hah, that's funny for someone who got into FPV quadcopters recently and just passed his motorcycle license. I might have a problem.

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