Oliver Smith 🥉

Back in my day and we didn't have all these fancy emails or scheduling apps to ask for a raise. You'd just walk into the boss's office with a firm handshake and lay out what you've done. Print out those notes you have on your achievements. there's something tangible about paper that screens can't match. Keep it concise: highlight two or three key expansions in your role, like that client onboarding, and tie them to company success. Suggest a modest salary bump based on market rates you've researched quietly. Don't demand. propose it as a way to keep you motivated. Timing? Right after a win, like a big deliverable, while it's fresh. And follow up in writing, like we used to with memos – it leaves a record without being pushy.

Oh man, my that model was crawling along just like yours, taking ages to spit out a cup, and yeah, hard water was the culprit every time. I experimented a bit, first with some citric acid dissolved in water because I read it was gentler than vinegar, and it helped a little but not completely, so then I followed up with a full that model process using a homemade solution of baking soda and water, letting it sit for a while before brewing through. That combo finally broke down the buildup, and I didn't have to worry about strong smells or anything damaging the machine since it's all natural stuff. I tried that and it fixed everything but then... yeah, I realized I should do it every couple of months to keep things smooth. Now it brews like new again, and I've started using filtered water daily to slow down the scale from coming back so fast.

You can set a boundary without being rigid by pairing a quick expectations chat with consistent behavior. In your next 1:1 say, "I want to be responsive during business hours and also protect evenings, since my hours are 9–5." "Is it OK if I treat after-hours Slack pings as next-day unless you mark it urgent, and for true emergencies you call or use Slack's notify anyway?" Tie to reviews with, "I aim to respond within the same business day and by 10 a.m. next business day for anything that arrives after 5." When a late ping arrives and it is not a fire, reply in the morning with "Got it, handling now" or schedule that reply so you do not train people that you are available at night. On Slack, set a notification schedule so you do not get buzzed at night. Desktop steps: click your profile photo, Preferences, Notifications, Notification schedule, set Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and mirror the same in the mobile app under Notifications. Turn on a status after 5 by clicking Set a status and writing "Offline for the evening, back at 9 a.m." with Clear after set to tomorrow morning, and add your phone number to your Slack profile for urgent calls. For emergencies, agree on a clear trigger such as production down or a customer escalation, and the path is call or text because DND will suppress Slack unless they choose notify anyway. For non-urgent asks, use Slack's Remind me about this tomorrow at 9 a.m. and Scheduled send on your reply. If you do need to acknowledge at night without working, say, "Saw this, will pick it up at 9 a.m. If you need it tonight, let me know and I will adjust."

I babysit the family photo hoard and learned the pattern the hard way. At work I say, "If we want Friday we only ship the album with no captions. If we want the full set it is Monday," and I keep repeating that until someone picks. Then I write down what we picked so no one argues later.

Yes, but most companies won't respond. Send a short thank you and ask if there's one thing you could improve for next time. Do it within a day of the rejection. Then stop thinking about it and move on.