I don’t work in IT/Tech at all, but I’ve been an enthusiast since I was young, at first piggybacking off of my dad, then developing my own interests as I got into high school and college. I started self-hosting because I found it interesting and as time progressed I saw the benefits of operating things locally. I only host things within my own network though, because I’m not yet comfortable with how to safely set up external access.

While I know you’re being funny, for those unaware, the snakes being referred to with St Patrick were a euphemism for the non-Christian beliefs in Ireland.

Teacher here; this is the first thing I do on day one with new students! You want to build a classroom community of mutual respect; failure to do so makes for a hostile classroom and a wasted year.

Let me pop in as a high school teacher in the US. I make decent pay, but it took me over a decade climbing the pay ladder to reach this point. It’s only been in the last five years that I’ve made enough to afford the mortgage on a house (well, prior to all of the rate hikes, but that’s another issue entirely). But there’s another problem: You’re expected to put in 10% of the value (even with first-time buyer incentives) as a down payment (I last looked with any seriousness in '22). I have yet to be able to put away 5% of the average costs in my region, much less 10%. Every time I start building back up, other costs drain most or all of that within a year or two. Unless the housing market bursts big time, I’m not likely to be able to afford a home anytime soon. Note: I would rather keep renting than take a variable-rate mortgage; the last three years have seen previously affordable mortgages with variable rates go sky-high.

On the hardware from the early '00s in my collection I’ve had good results from AntiX and Q4OS.

It took about 25 systems of searching to find my first one; I also found the updated ice world foliage in that same system, pretty cool stuff!

When our best friends were getting married and we met at the rehearsal dinner. Her best friend had been trying to get us to meet for years (our work schedules and lives in general always kept us from meeting). Within two months we were dating and have been together ever since.

It’s my daily driver; the benefits of mint with the stability of a Debian base.

I started taking Latin in college and got immersed in it and other languages, it stimulates the analytical side of my brain quite nicely. I ended up getting a degree in Classical Studies, then looped back and got my teaching credentials when grad school admissions in my field got bombed into oblivion by the crash in '08.

Sadly I haven’t seen any active communities here on Lemmy; Reddit has/had one (I haven’t checked in on them in a long while though). As to what resources you would need for a refresher, I’d recommend something like Wheelock’s Latin Reader, which is full of adapted and original texts to get you some practice. As to the grammar side of things, either a formal reference grammar like Allen and Greenough’s or Bennet’s. If you want something more structured, I’d recommend a collegiate textbook, such as A New Latin Primer (I use this with both my collegiate and (upper-level) high school students). Lastly, if you’d like some bite-sized refreshers on specific topics, Latin Tutorial on Youtube is a good resource. Hope that helps! Edit: Turns out Bennet’s grammar is available at the Latin Library: https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bennett.html

As a Latin teacher I can back up your assessment; well done! And 100% agree on Cicero, especially his private letters.