11 Oct 2026 #misc
Golden handcuffs are real.
I’ve had them once or twice in my career.
The first time, it was with a challenging problem, casual Fridays, and monthly birthday celebrations.
The next time, it was with flexible hours, decent salary, and the promise of building any role I wanted.
Each one had more “freedom” than the previous one.
Just more loosen handcuffs.
Paul Glushak writes Corporate Burnout:
Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.
By Paul’s definition, I’m not a slave anymore.
And an aunt recently taught me a lesson:
Freedom is doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
By my aunt’s definition, I’m almost free.
Are you completely free?
10 Oct 2026 #wellness #selfgrowth
Don’t fight your biology, genes, or nature.
For months, I’ve had high cholesterol levels.
I’ve tried a low carb diet, more intense workouts, fiber supplements, and all sort of treatments to improve my digestion.
They don’t seem to be working.
Only to learn from my last blood test, there’s a marker that points to a genetic cause.
And to optimize my sleeping routine, I started to go to bed around midnight.
I stopped drinking liquids before dinner and dimmed my room lights.
Only to learn from a chronotype test, I should go to bed way earlier.
Just like Robert Green says in Mastery, you can’t swim against your own current and you can’t be your own resistance.
Don’t fight your nature.
If you’re curious, here’s my #1 life lesson and another 7 lessons I’ve learned the hard way in recent months.
09 Oct 2026 #mondaylinks
Hey there.
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. AI, burnout, lack of incentives…Developers are not okay (10min). And that seems to be a trend in the whole sector.
#2. Here’s a good reason why vibecoding isn’t as fun as writing code by hand (7min). That’s if you code for fun. Do you?
#3. Based on how much AI you use, here are 4 levels of programming (4min). Mine is mostly A1.
#4. Bar codes are about to go extinct (8min).
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about the C.R.O.D. framework for AI-assisted coding (2min) and compiled all my posts about rest and sleep (2min) into a single one.
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Street-Smart Coding Manifesto. A case against syntax obsession. Because real impact comes from skills outside your IDE.
Keep coding smart.
See you next Friday,
Cesar
08 Oct 2026 #misc
You can’t predict if a post, book, or any sort of creation will be a hit.
Once you have one, the temptation is trying to replicate it. Same post format. Same book outline. Same type of visuals. That seldom works.
Some of my social media posts have gone viral, bringing book sales. But when I’ve tried to write anything viral by copying a hit, the copies pass unnoticed. No shame or glory.
All art is theft. But as Picasso said copying oneself is pathetic—and doesn’t work.
07 Oct 2026 #coding
As I adapt and adopt AI, I’ve come up with four rules to leverage AI while keeping my coding skills in shape. I’ve compiled them into the C.R.O.D. framework. Here it is:
C) - Calculator: Use AI as a calculator: only useful if you know what you’re doing. Don’t use AI to generate code you wouldn’t be able to write yourself. Build skills first, then leverage AI.
R) - Read-Only: Don’t give AI full control. You’re the surgeon and AI is your operating room staff. AI can suggest actions and hand you tools, but you’re always in charge. Never use code you don’t understand.
O) - Oversight: Use AI as an extra layer of verification, just like a copilot in a cockpit. If you write code, AI reviews it. If AI generates code, you review it.
D) - Do It Yourself: Write the code yourself if it would take you longer to instruct AI than to write it. Even with autopilot, pilots still train and practice manual flying to maintain their skills. Keep your coding skills sharp.
Use AI like a calculator, keep it read-only, apply oversight, and never stop doing the work yourself. AI only amplifies the skills you already have.
To help you build skills that last a career, I wrote Street-Smart Coding. The roadmap I wish I had on my journey from junior to senior coder.