Some IT guy, IDK.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 5th, 2023

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  • So. I’ve kind of had two eye opening moments with meds.

    I first started with concerta, and it was like stepping into the light. The problems were certainly not gone, but they were at least manageable. I could break out of mental loops that were not productive, and focus on stuff I actually needed to do. I still had a bit of an obsession with being as near-perfect as I could, but I could focus those efforts into things that were actually useful, instead of my mind going in circles.

    It improved my emotional state. I was kind of in a long term funk of “everything is meh”, and I found myself smiling so much it hurt my face. A lot of that diminished over time, but it hasn’t gone away, it’s just less intense.

    Recently I started on an NDRI, Wellbutrin, which had more subtle positive effects. Immediately I noticed the negative side effects, dry mouth, some GI issues. I stuck with it for a week and most of that has subsided. I dunno if the negatives made the positives more shrouded, or if the positives are just minor in comparison, but I find my emotional state and attitude is more on the positive side rather than sitting fairly firmly in the middle.

    As for my usual ADHD symptoms, with the combination of the concerta and Wellbutrin, I have little or no difficulty doing the little routine things that I always had to push myself to do before. The phrase “super easy, barely an inconvenience” applies to all the little trivial tasks I do daily, when before it was always some level of mental effort to get myself to do things.

    I feel more “normal” now than I ever have before.

    I must say, if this is how non-ADHD (and/or non-executive function disorder) people are, then I get why they don’t understand us. This is an easy, quick, and trivial task, it takes no time or effort to do… But when you have an executive function disorder, the task might as well be “climb Mount Everest” not “fold laundry”.


  • One thing that was recommended to me by someone a while ago, is that, unless you need it for something specific, mount your media in Plex as read only.

    Plex has functions where you can delete content from the library from their UI. If you need that for some reason, obviously don’t make it read only. If you’re hoarding the data, and therefore never delete it, or use an external system for deleting files, then RO all the way.

    The only caveat to this is if you’re using a local disk on the Plex system, which then shares out the drive/folder for adding new content, in which case, you’re screwed. It has to be rw so the OS can add/remove data.

    In my case, as I think may be common (or at least, not rare), my back end data for Plex Media is on a NAS, so it’s easy to simply have the system running Plex, mount that network share as RO, and you’re done. The data on the NAS can be accessed and managed by other systems RW, direct to the NAS.

    Since Plex is exposed to the internet, if anyone with sufficient rights is compromised, in theory, an attacker could delete the entire contents of your media folder with it. If you limit RW access to internal systems only, then that risk can be effectively mitigated.



  • APC makes low end offline UPS units, which are cheap garbage.

    They also make line interactive and online ups units, which are decidedly not completely garbage.

    I pick up line interactive APC units from used locations like eBay, and go buy off label replacement batteries. Haven’t had any problems with them so far.

    To date, over the last ~10 years of running a homelab, I have used mainly SMT 1500 units, one was a rack mount. I’ve recently upgraded to an SMX2000. I’ve replaced batteries, but never a UPS, and never any server components due to power issues. I’ve run servers ranging from a Dell PE 2950, to a full c6100 chassis, plus several networking devices, including firewalls, routers and PoE switches. Not a single power related issue with any of them.





  • The thing that helped me the most with sleep, is simple, but not easy.

    Don’t think.

    I know, I know. Asking someone who has ADHD to not think is like asking someone to not breathe. I get it. I struggled. It took me a long time to figure out how to do it for myself. I won’t claim to have the answer on how to accomplish this, the process I use, I can’t really explain.

    The single most important realization I made on my journey to having the ability to not think, was this: thinking about not thinking, is a thought, and therefore counterproductive.

    You have to not think. Do not try, do not think about not thinking, just don’t think. When a thought occurs to you, recognise it, but don’t engage the thought, the same way you would ignore someone yelling into the crowd as you walk down the street. You understand they’re there, but you are going somewhere or doing something and don’t want to get involved, so you just keep walking. Same idea. Just let the thought pass you by without engaging the idea.

    It’s simple, not easy.


  • Yeah, concerta is adjacent to Ritalin. Similar chemicals with similar effects from what I understand of it (I’m neither a doctor, nor a pharmacist).

    I was “diagnosed” with ADHD, by my family physician, it’s not a full diagnosis, that can only be done by a psychiatrist, which I haven’t done.

    I take it in the morning and by the end of the day, I’m usually tired enough to sleep at an appropriate hour. I don’t take it for that reason, it’s a happy side effect. The primary effect is restoring some level of control over my focus. Ita been doing a good job so far.





  • The answer is likely “other people”.

    I know that Tom, doesn’t really have much of a team, if any, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get help with stuff like organising and booking flights and stuff. I don’t believe for a second it’s just Tom, jumping a flight to somewhere and setting up his camera, talking to it for a while, then editing it and posting it, all by himself.

    I’m sure that was the case once upon a time… Currently, not so much.

    Don’t get me wrong, his content, the scripts, the research… I’m sure Tom is either directly involved, or doing that stuff entirely on his own. I believe the words he says are his own and that he has taken the time to learn the subject matter himself. Whether anyone helped with writing may be in question, I haven’t really dug into his process, so I don’t really know, but in the end, Tom is saying things that he believes to be true based on his own understanding of the matter. I believe that 100%.

    How he got here? Idk.



  • Bruh. Nothing called a “board” can contain all the steps to even one of my plans.

    And I’ve got a lot of plans. Hundreds of “I just need x to get to the next step of y plan” pass through my mind daily.

    I have no money, so I have no reasonable way to obtain x, so y is at a standstill… For now. Rinse and repeat with everything, and you’ll have a good idea of the chaos I live with.





  • You can do whatever you want. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s “wrong”. A big part of homelabbing is to try stuff. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine, you learned something, and that was the point.

    For me, I don’t see a UPS as essential. It’s generally a good idea, but not strictly essential. My servers are on 24/7, because I have services that do things overnight for me. I also know that some people access my lab when I’m not awake, so I just leave it on so it can be ready for anything at any time. It poses some unique challenges sometimes when running stuff that’s basically 24/7/365.

    Be safe, have fun, learn stuff.