Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not a native speaker either so I may be wrong in this assessment, but a physio is someone who also gives therapeutic massages when needed. Hence, rubbing shoulders.
Or rather rubbing shoulders is usually used to describe networking, though if you are mingling with the great and the good/important or famous, hobnobbing may have been a better term.
Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
341–350 of 570 posts
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#342I currently work in a good environment where I'm appreciated and paid well. Not many people in the world can say that, so I have a lot to be thankful for. Programming has done good by me. But I don't love it. Alan Kay is right, it's like building "an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves". There's no eleg…
> I would prefer, if I could retire, to make short films and maybe to write plays. But I can't retire yet. So I'll push stones. It pays well. Please don't stay because of the pay. You won't look back in 25 years and say "I'm so glad I bought a new iPhone in 2016, but didn't do the things I wanted to in life" The last company I worked for was full of people only staying because retirement was "only" 10-15 years away,…
You were able to not work for two years, twice, because of the software money. What is the difference between you and this guy?
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's an Asperger profession; smart but artless. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you on this. I've been programming now for over 35 years, and really cannot see myself doing anything else. I find I can channel my creativity into programming in many ways, and writing a good piece of code gives me the same satisfaction as writing or recording apiece of music. Yes, I am a musician too, and while they are very…
But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions. This makes it difficult to share your problems with other people, and of course, also because people in general would, I suppose, find the problems that musicians or theatre writers have more interesting, and more approachable than the problems of a software developer. Also, this makes that a musician can be a "musician"…
I never have issues like this. Of course I am not a programmer that thinks about code all day every day either. I am good at what I do, but I also have many other interests. No one stigmatizes me.
The key is to not let your profession define you no matter who you are. Once you let your profession take up every part of your life that is when it is difficult to discuss problems with other people. This would be the same with any profession even artists of any type.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#344Yes, Yes and yes! I consider myself a quicklearner. I am 28, been working as .NET consultant but know the other languages such as javascript/node, php, swift, java. Paid well, but I cant help feeling like I was meant to do something else. I wish I could use my brain capacity to help other people. UNICEF, UN or other NGO. I believe technology can have massive impact on countries which lags behind the "western" standar…
Just the other day I saw a data analyst position at UNICEF. Probably not the job you're after, just wanted to let you know those jobs are out there!
thanks, will try to find it.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's an Asperger profession; smart but artless. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you on this. I've been programming now for over 35 years, and really cannot see myself doing anything else. I find I can channel my creativity into programming in many ways, and writing a good piece of code gives me the same satisfaction as writing or recording apiece of music. Yes, I am a musician too, and while they are very…
But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions. This makes it difficult to share your problems with other people, and of course, also because people in general would, I suppose, find the problems that musicians or theatre writers have more interesting, and more approachable than the problems of a software developer. Also, this makes that a musician can be a "musician"…
I think that the stigma is less than it was, and these days people are quite interested if you're working on a cool public facing service. No, what we do isn't really /cool/ and you will still bore them if you get into details, but that applies to most white-collar professions.
You don't need to change your identity or succumb to "developer culture" in order to succeed, and in fact being a citizen of the "normal" world is a distinct advantage in many regards - product design, communicating with non-developers, team management..
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#346A bit too late, but if I could do it all over again, I would have gone into health care. I have lot's of friend in the industry.
Ask them about their day, they just saved lives - heart surgery, brain surgery, trauma stabilization in ER, just saw a toddler through cancer treatment, and so on and so forth.
What did I do? Oh, I wrote code.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#347Every day of my working life. I am not sure that's not just my depression talking though - maybe I won't be happy in any job.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#348I think about leaving programming every day. I love programming, but I'm not sure I enjoy software development as a career. I enjoy coding and understanding how computer systems work, but I don't care for the constant changes in tools and techniques in certain domains of development. I'd rather practise with and improve my existing knowledge of a subject, instead of constantly playing catch-up with someone else's too…
> without having to play the development workflow game with the daily standups and so on? It never used to be like this. I think management has reacted to the traits they perceive in programmers - get distracted too easily, work on things that don't need doing, take too long, cannot provide work-time estimates, etc - by putting in place this micro-managing approach: "only do it if it's on the kanban and tell us each…
I believe Agile (at least as thought of by management) is designed to make programmers interchangeable. If programmers are interchangeable, they are easily replaceable.
We just started doing "by the book" Agile with daily stand ups. Now that you mention it, it does feel like I'm being micro managed. Put in your time every day so we can email everyone the burn down chart. Lets add some more pressure to the job if you are behind a day. There are no milestones, just an endless grind. I don't know why programmers don't push back against that stuff.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#349A bit too late, but if I could do it all over again, I would have gone into health care. I have lot's of friend in the industry. Ask them about their day, they just saved lives - heart surgery, brain surgery, trauma stabilization in ER, just saw a toddler through cancer treatment, and so on and so forth. What did I do? Oh, I wrote code.
Its never too late. May not be easy, but its never too late.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's an Asperger profession; smart but artless. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you on this. I've been programming now for over 35 years, and really cannot see myself doing anything else. I find I can channel my creativity into programming in many ways, and writing a good piece of code gives me the same satisfaction as writing or recording apiece of music. Yes, I am a musician too, and while they are very…
But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions. This makes it difficult to share your problems with other people, and of course, also because people in general would, I suppose, find the problems that musicians or theatre writers have more interesting, and more approachable than the problems of a software developer. Also, this makes that a musician can be a "musician"…
> But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions.
Works both ways though. I'm a writer (albeit a technical writer) and I find developer culture a bit intimidating as I'm trying to educate myself and hopefully change careers. Devs can be quite sniffy and elitist if you're not one of the club.
But, as a freelance writer who works remotely, I do get the "you can't possibly understand what it's like to have a real job" attitude from a lot of people too. It's not like creative professionals are entirely accepted by "mainstream culture" either.