My experience is that managers don’t normally “overcompensate in the other direction” on purpose. After all, if they are friendly with someone, they will be inclined to help them.

Two exceptions:

1. Bad managers make bad decisions generally, and usually for illogical reasons, so they might do this by accident.

2. Owners of family businesses can be much harder on their kids when they first start out, because the owners mean to have the kids run the business when they retire, so want to do a “trial by fire”

So, in that case, since we can rule out him trying to get in your pants (unless he happens to be in the closet, but that seems unlikely) the key thing you need to watch out for is any appearance of favoritism. Even if the guy is a good manager and is not letting his free time with you affect his decisions, it might affect how other people on your team perceive your assignments. It could also make your boss uncomfortable if they think that you have more access to the CEO.

And everyone is human, the CEO might be older but he clearly has his own issues. Look out to make sure he is not using you as a proxy for his son. But, on the other hand, if he simply has a desire to mentor someone and you happen to share similar enough interests, there is nothing wrong with that.

Like anything else involving adults, though, communication and transparency is the key thing. When people ask you what you both talk about, be honest, without oversharing. And try not to accept any gifts or favors that make you feel uncomfortable – you are allowed to say no, even if the other side perceives it as “generous”.

Sorry, but my answer to this post will be a bit different based on your gender and orientation. There is a huge difference between advising a young professional guy who has a few beers with upper management now and then and a young professional woman who finds the CEO “enjoys my company” but there is a “power dynamic”, if you get what I mean.

A bet isnt a bet until there are multiple opposing sides matched together. If there is no bookie managing it, then it’s up to the individual participants to do it. If someone says “5 bucks on the big strong guy” it’s not an actual bet until someone comes along and puts money down opposite it.

When the supporting character comes along and says “100 bucks on the other guy whose win moves the plot along”, it’s like he’s saying " I will match all the announced bets on the big guy so far, and everyone else’s up to a total of $100".

They could take the time to show that person taking out a wad of 5’s and physically matching the bets already thrown down, but it’s more expedient to just do the shouting and then cut to the end of it.

The only thing U2 has in common with grunge is that both were popular in roughly the same time period (give or take 5 years or so).

If your goal is to roll a 7, then no, weighting one die doesn’t help, because it doesn’t matter which side comes up in the weighted die.

(Another way to look at it is that you can place 1 die on whatever side you like, then roll the 2nd die: you still have a 1/6 chance of rolling a combined 7).

However that is only the case for a 7, because you can roll a 7 with any combination of the first die (and a particular value in the 2nd). If your goal is to roll a 12, then weighting one die towards 6 will affect the odds, because you need a 6 on that first die to roll a 12; any other outcome makes it impossible.

I am one of those people who engaged in the sarcasm and mockery, particularly mocking American Exceptionalism. But you can argue that American position as an Indispensible Nation is (well, perhaps was) a real thing. But it’s important to acknowledge that status was not accorded to us because we’re special, but because we aligned our interests to many of the world’s democracies. They didn’t follow us because of any inherent birthright, they followed because we shared their values and interests.

John Kerry got skewered when he implied that American interests might be subject to a “global test”, but he was 100% correct. Other countries backed us because we backed them. If looking to America for leadership is no longer in their best interest, they will shop somewhere else for leadership.

And that’s what makes Trump so insidious. Generations of Americans (politicians, service people, etc.) put this country in a position of respect, and this guy is tossing it all out the window by being a pety asshole who doesn’t listen.

Haven’t you heard? America is Exeptional, we are the Indispensible Nation. We never need help, because we perfected Democracy. Anyone who says otherwise will be sent to CECOT…

There is a difference between customs and immigration. Customs cares about things (and import duties on those things), Immigration cares about people.

As a US citizen, you should be able to just enter as long as your paperwork is in order. (And if Immigration is interested in you beyond the formalities, it means you are probably on some sort of list, and good luck to you!)

Customs will care mainly that you are only bringing in personal goods, and not commercial goods you intend to sell. They will also care if you buy any goods abroad to take back, because you may owe import duties. So they will not care about your Fairphone unless you bought it while in your trip abroad. In normal times you will have an exemption that allows you to bring in some amount of goods duty-free but the world is all topsy turvy now so I would check what the duty-free allowance is before coming back.

They are used to people bringing phones, laptops, camera equipment, and other expensive personal effects with them on trips. They won’t care unless you have a lot of things, and they think you are not being truthful when you say none of it was purchased abroad in that trip. Having five phones for one person would be a red flag, for instance.

Your dad is correct in that every driver gets into an accident at one point or another. You have your license, which means you passed the test. And while the test is the bare minimum, you did meet it.

Every driver starts out new, and has to learn a lot. It can take years before you are truly comfortable, and that’s OK.

My recommendation would be to not give up driving cold turkey, but only drive when you are comfortable. Find an errand you need to run once or twice a week and do that route consistently. (Or, if you are working, do your work commute by a consistent route every day). Learn that route, and where all the tricky things are. You may find that after a month or two, you build enough confidence on that one drive that you are not spooked by other drives.

A lot of good advice here! One thing I would add is that large international flights typically board early. So your long-haul flight to Seoul may board 45 minutes or more in advance. And since you are in Business Class, you will board earlier than most.

My advice would be that once you arrive in Munich, check your phone (or look at the departure screens) to find out what gate your Seoul flight is leaving from, then go there right away. No rush, but don’t hit the gift shop just yet. Once you get there, the screens at the gate should tell you when the boarding time is (or you can ask the gate staff.). Once you confirm that, you can leave for the restroom, grab a quick snack, or go shopping.

You shouldn’t have to worry about a full meal because they normally feed you well in business class. (Free booze, also, if that is your thing.)

Certs and experience are more important for sysadmin type jobs anyway. Besides, if the company values a degree more than your experience, would you really want to work there?

In fairness, no self-respecting army would carry a surrender flag with them. They would just improvise if they needed one…

Furthermore, since it’s very likely that this author is not going to make really complex points, you could just go to the library, skim through it for an hour or two, and take notes on the two or three points worth quoting. (Or go all old-school and make photocopies of a few pages…). This way there is no record of your use of this book anywhere

I was hoping he ran Trump’s head up a flagpole and was disappointed

That’s a sweet ass-telescope

Why should he care? He already has his own Pope.

It’s definitely something you can learn in just a few lessons, particularly if you are just driving around town here and there. There’s a rhythm and muscle memory to it, and once you get it, it becomes super easy.

I think I traded in my last stick-shift (a Jetta) 13+ years ago, and there are still times when I am driving and my left foot instinctively moves toward an invisible clutch…

On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place…