Yes! This is what I was looking for! Thanks!

Interesting! Would this be similar to how you might temper a raw egg mixture into a warm soup or somesuch?

I read it as an allusion to the price of everything going up. But yes, eggs.

It’s happening here in southern Louisiana. My insurance premium has been steadily increasing for the last 3-5 years.

Also, we’re going through a drought which is causing a saltwater intrusion into our wetlands and wildfires in the marshes.

https://www.drought.gov/states/louisiana https://gohsep.la.gov/emergency/Saltwater https://www.wdsu.com/article/heavy-smoke-filling-the-air-in-new-orleans/45608195

If you ever make it out to Pigeon Forge Tennessee, hit up the Lodge Factory. They have a store there that they sell all of their rejected cast irons for a pittance. Most of the rejects only have minor imperfections.

Pretty much the same story for me. I’m creeping up on my 40s. Mine has lasted me through highschool and college. I still use it as my daypack on family vacations and to haul my DnD stuff.

I quite like my Honda Accord.

I would second this.

I’ve been at my current company as a senior SW engineer since 2015. Mostly because it’s a good company, I like the people, I have mentors, the culture is good, and it’s all remote. It’s for a government contractor which means I ended up getting switched to a different project every few years when a project begins to sunset. Most of my experience is with various government contractors and this is the only one that’s been able to transition me to other project. I’m currently working on my 3rd major project with this company and various minor projects in between.

My annual raises have been about 3~5%, but even then I began to feel like it wasn’t enough. During my last transition, I mentioned to my new boss that I felt like I wasn’t being compensated enough. He asked me to name my price and I said something reasonable. He was able to give me exactly that and a few months later during the typical raise cycle I got another 5% on top.

I really think a lot of companies don’t put much thought into retention once someone is brought onboard. You just get scooped up and they do the 3~5% living expenses increase but not much beyond that. If you’re feeling like you’re not being compensated fairly, definitely bring it up to a manager or someone in the chain of command that can do something about it.