> it identified items in our AWS that saved us $250 a month
I gave Claude Code access to the Azure CLI and had it review usage. It found a couple servers that were underpowered, but it also found a lot of things that weren't being used at all. The total reduction was $40k a year.
We're having the users who understand the business processes use Claude to create clickable demos. Then these are presented to the engineering team to re-build. The users are loving it because they can ask for exactly what they want.
> As PRs, would you still then need to remain self-employed (forever)?
Nope, once we get PR we have the same rights as citizens except: we can't vote in national elections, and we can't leave the country for too long without losing the residency permit.
> I've bookmarked your website for further inspiration
Our main motivator was that we watched our grandparents grow older and just stop moving. I absolutely love America, but you do spend the majority of your time sitting. I'm not inactive, I do ultras, I hike, etc. But that doesn't make up for the fact that we're just always sitting - at home, at work, in the car. We wanted to live somewhere that would force us out of that.
> Were ya'll's companies already established
I had an LLC I used for contracting in the US, but the DAFT visa required setting up a new Dutch corporation.
> Citizens, yet
We're currently applying for our first visa renewal. Next time we'll be elligible for PR. Citizenship would require us to give up our US citizenship and I don't want to do that.
> is living in Maastricht similar to living in a US state panhandle
It kinda is. We don't have a car, but we do have neighbors that only grocery shop in Germany because it's cheaper.
> What drew ya'll south (V.e.g: Amsterdam)?
I just couldn't imagine living anywhere so flat and so far from forests / mountains. We still don't have proper forests in Maastricht, but I can be in the forests of Belgium or Germany in 20 minutes.
> Any suggestions/websites for a single electrician that's been thinking about DAFT for over a decade?
No websites, but just as someone who has tried to hire an electrician in both countries it seems like the shortage is greater here. It really seems like you could just come over and have a lot of work.
> monetary requirements, which are actually quite low
Technically, yes - you are required to hold only €4,500 as an "investment" in the business you create. In reality you will need a lot more. My wife and I spent about €40k to move over which is inline with what others on the DAFT program have said they spent.
> Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.
I also think the old epochconverter UI was dated. I'll switch to yours
I seem to remember Gates talked about how we would soon have cheap enough storage that a person could record every conversation they ever have for this reason. This was in his '95 book 'The Road Ahead' or maybe I'm remembering it wrong
This bot is almost as bad as I am at estimating projects.