Neri Ionescu 🥉

Been there with a boss who changes direction while I'm trying to line up daycare pickup and actual work. I started sending a morning note at 9 with the top three tasks and wrote, to confirm, today I'm doing A, B, C. if something new comes in, which of these drops. Then I asked to lock those for 24 hours unless it's a true emergency, and I framed it as wanting to hit their metrics and protect quality since I cannot do unplanned evenings. Offer to set up a tiny Kanban board visible to both of you so whatever is in Today is the commitment and everything else sits in Next. Suggest a 10 minute daily check where you say what you will not do as clearly as what you will do. The key line is, I can pivot, but when priorities change, tell me what moves out and the new deadline, otherwise quality will slip.

Short answer — do not tell them until you have an offer in hand. There is very little upside and a lot of risk & especially on a small team. Once a boss believes you are leaving, you can be pulled off key projects, excluded from planning, or quietly targeted for the next layoff. Even in good cultures, managers protect delivery first and people second. Transparency only helps if you truly trust your boss and the company has a track record of fixing issues fast, and even then a counteroffer usually only delays the exit. Keep your one on ones focused on the work and your growth, not your job search. Answer the quarter question with specifics like, "Next quarter I plan to deliver Project X, reduce tickets in Y by 30 percent, and I would like to take on more ownership in area Z. Can we map a path to that and talk about compensation and title expectations?" If they probe about interviewing, use a neutral line like, "I am thinking about my longer term path and market value, but my focus is hitting our Q3 goals," and shift back to performance and development. Schedule interviews outside work or use PTO, call them personal appointments, and use your own phone and email for all recruiting touches. When you do get an offer, give clear notice, propose a handoff plan, and leave with relationships intact.

Been there with a determined water-tipper. Most gravity jugs are tall and light, so they slide or wobble. A few quick helpers are a grippy silicone mat or rubber shelf liner under it, setting it in a low baking tray to catch spills, and keeping the bottle filled to the top so it sways less. If your cat is persistent, the real fix is a dispenser with weight at the base and a bottle that locks to the base. I would switch to PetSafe Healthy Pet Water Station. The stainless steel bowl adds weight at the bottom and the reservoir locks into the base, so a head butt or paw shove will not pop it loose. That combo makes it much harder to tip and keeps the water where it belongs. Pair it with a silicone mat and you should finally get a dry floor.

Baseline that actually matters: A+, basic networking concepts, Windows support, and how tickets flow. Nice‑to‑haves: light PowerShell, a whiff of Linux, and understanding Wi‑Fi weirdness. Your hospitality wins translate as de‑escalation, prioritizing under pressure, and hitting response times; put numbers on them. Write two versions of your resume, one general, one tuned to each posting, and keep it plain. While working full‑time, think 4–7 months to land interviews if you apply weekly. Not glamorous, but it's a clean, doable path.