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Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

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Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#21

Post by giantg2 »

justaguyhere wrote: post #17
giantg2 wrote: post #14

I've learnt that changing stacks gets exponentially more difficult as I get older. I've also learnt that even the good companies that say they care are just as terrible as the rest. My company touts in interviews how they never lay off employees (contractors they will) and they essentially laid off 3000 employees recently. They have continually eroded benefits since I joined. They also don't care about your career an…

I think we are at a tipping point - my dad had a single job all his life, for 30+ years. While the organization he worked for wasn't great, they also didn't actively sabotage their own employees (benefits etc) as far as I know. At this point, people with skills have a choice - they can start a business, freelance etc which come with their own problems (healthcare in the US especially). Even if a small % of the curren…

Well put.

I have a friend with a union job (construction) and is overtime eligible. I would love to get paid for the hours I actually work and have a contract that details what I'm responsible for. I know tons of people who consistently work more hours than required and get a small bonus relative to the extra hours (9-11 hour days vs 7.5 required). Then the rest of us are seen as lacking potential because we 'only' work 7.5-8 hours. They are constantly adding additional responsibilities and expectations at an unrealistic rate without any real training.

When I was hired, they hired me for a Java developer position and then stuck me into Filenet work immediately. The company is notorious for hiring under a generic title and then placing you into some obscure stack like FileNet or Neoxam.

I know unions can have their downside, but having a contract and representation when dealing with violations of it would be awesome.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#22

Post by twox2 »

muzani wrote: post #6

The world happenings hasn't affected me at all. Same job, family is fine. Things are nice and getting better. One trick I've learned is to just show up. Instead of planning to write a whole module in a day, I now plan to just write 5 lines of code. This has helped me a lot - I've picked up two programming languages in three months just with the intent of watching one minute a day. I've had a lot of work done on my si…

Can you share some examples of your tasks?

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#23

Post by jakkyboi »

souprock wrote: post #8
mister_hn wrote: post #7

I can work remotely productively, even with kids at home and that I am more productive than being in the office. I've learned that I can be very fast in changing environments and being able to do my job from home after the very next day I've started working from home, without disruption, on a new, unconfigured machine. I've also learned that interviewing for jobs has become something horrible, with most ghosting and…

I find that even with 12 kids, working from home is productive. The difference is that I can go do a bit of work between other tasks. If I have an hour to spare and need to walk to work, about 50% of the time would be walking. It just isn't worthwhile. At home, I can put the whole hour to use. Also at home, I know I'm there for emergencies, so my wife can go out to run errands.

You have 12 kids?

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#24

Post by toto444 »

I thought some people were acting dumb but that it was only a facade, that once things would get serious they would stop pretending being dumb.

I now genuinely believe that if there was an Ebola outbreak people would still go to underground gatherings and say 'I did not know' once they or someone they know gets sick.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#25

Post by justaguyhere »

giantg2 wrote: post #21
justaguyhere wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we are at a tipping point - my dad had a single job all his life, for 30+ years. While the organization he worked for wasn't great, they also didn't actively sabotage their own employees (benefits etc) as far as I know. At this point, people with skills have a choice - they can start a business, freelance etc which come with their own problems (healthcare in the US especially). Even if a small % of the curren…

Well put. I have a friend with a union job (construction) and is overtime eligible. I would love to get paid for the hours I actually work and have a contract that details what I'm responsible for. I know tons of people who consistently work more hours than required and get a small bonus relative to the extra hours (9-11 hour days vs 7.5 required). Then the rest of us are seen as lacking potential because we 'only' w…

From what little I know of unions, I'd say it is better to have unions (with all the problems they bring) than not at all. With unions, workers have a chance at least to get fair treatment. Without them, it is totally one sided. Just look at the way Amazon treats their employees - who has the balls to take on them? Cities and mayors are bending over backwards to get Amazon come to them. The power imbalance is pathetic.

Another problem are the middlemen. In my own case, all the middleman company did was organize an interview. I haven't met them, they don't care about the candidates they place. They do nothing but write contracts and make phone calls. They lie to everyone - their clients, the candidates they place, and fellow middlemen. And for that, they take a huge cut of the candidate's salary/billing rate.

40-50 years ago, it was easier to do protests, spend time on policy/societal issues etc. Today's society is held hostage by high tuition, expensive healthcare and a hostile police force. It is hard to muster the energy to do anything but survive.

I don't know what the solution is. It is not pretty though - we cannot continue like this and still hope to support 7+ billion people (and rising).

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#26

Post by tmaly »

muzani wrote: post #6

The world happenings hasn't affected me at all. Same job, family is fine. Things are nice and getting better. One trick I've learned is to just show up. Instead of planning to write a whole module in a day, I now plan to just write 5 lines of code. This has helped me a lot - I've picked up two programming languages in three months just with the intent of watching one minute a day. I've had a lot of work done on my si…

I like the 2-minute task idea. It reminds me of the 1-pushup micro habit. Once you get down to do one pushup, you end up doing more.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#27

Post by oldsklgdfth »

tmaly wrote: post #26
muzani wrote: post #6

The world happenings hasn't affected me at all. Same job, family is fine. Things are nice and getting better. One trick I've learned is to just show up. Instead of planning to write a whole module in a day, I now plan to just write 5 lines of code. This has helped me a lot - I've picked up two programming languages in three months just with the intent of watching one minute a day. I've had a lot of work done on my si…

I like the 2-minute task idea. It reminds me of the 1-pushup micro habit. Once you get down to do one pushup, you end up doing more.

I do something similar with running. I tell myself to give it a mile before I quit. Once I'm a mile in a usually finish the run.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#28

Post by oldsklgdfth »

If you have a problem you can fix, fix it. If you have a problem you cannot fix, accept it. Either way complaining gets you nowhere.

Building consistent daily habits takes a while, but after a year you will marvel at your progress.

The medium is the message. Social media [probably] cannot be built in a way that promotes "healthy" discourse.

Not all things can be understood in a scientific context. That does not make them any less real.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#29

Post by giantg2 »

justaguyhere wrote: post #25
giantg2 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well put. I have a friend with a union job (construction) and is overtime eligible. I would love to get paid for the hours I actually work and have a contract that details what I'm responsible for. I know tons of people who consistently work more hours than required and get a small bonus relative to the extra hours (9-11 hour days vs 7.5 required). Then the rest of us are seen as lacking potential because we 'only' w…

From what little I know of unions, I'd say it is better to have unions (with all the problems they bring) than not at all. With unions, workers have a chance at least to get fair treatment. Without them, it is totally one sided. Just look at the way Amazon treats their employees - who has the balls to take on them? Cities and mayors are bending over backwards to get Amazon come to them. The power imbalance is patheti…

The population and future population events (pandemics, wars, control policies) are something I've wondered a lot about. I wonder if things will happen slowly enough that a sufficient portion of the population will voluntarily say "I don't want to bring a kid into this world" or if controls will be necessary. Of course with the economy being consumption driven, we will have a massive problem either way.

Re: Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

#30

Post by throw_away_45 »

It's important to hold on to good habits and not slip up beyond an acceptable threshold.

The world happenings have definitely affected me significantly. I had a great set of habits, pre lock-down with a meditation practice, exercise routine and just generally getting out and about in the city over the weekend.

Now, I have a sense of hopelessness that seems to have percolated through my body. I find movement and just generally motivating myself to do anything as a big challenge. I've tried the 1 push up mindset, but somehow I keep tripping up and eventually feel 'gassed' and 'exhausted' from just being.

Job-wise - am barely making it. Just about touch and go. Life wise - don't really have one. We are expecting a kid soon, preparing for that, but otherwise not really much going on.

Would love suggestions from the community here around working one's way out of a rut. Just nervous af in general knowing that I was at a much better state few months ago.

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