Yes, it's sexist, and it's pretty confusing UI when in other contexts they're using their newer arrow-boxy form fill icon. Nothing about two humans says 'fill forms' to me. I don't think you'll get anywhere with Joe from Support, though, and probably not with largely-male HN.
My employer has to nag me every year to use up my leave days. If they don't, I forget! I'm on the autistic spectrum and easily get caught up in routine.
Generally I use holiday time strictly for relaxation and enjoying being at home.
I go for 64 as a default length, but it's surprising how many sites respond with "No! You can't havee more than 8/10/12 characters or I'll sulk!" Makes me extremely suspicious re: just how they're storing them.
I actually read HN through the RSS feed, which I assume contains everything posted. The noise-to-signal ratio is high, but I've had some luck training my RSS aggregator to hide anything related to startups. After that, I actually click on maybe 1 link in 5 (very rough guess, could be fewer than that).
Oh hell, is it? Quite often I'm short on cash and just tip with the change I have - not tiny-denomination coins, I hasten to add, but 50ps/£1s. Bugger.