Ask HN: What is your blog and why should I read it?

Long story short. I was 18... graduated high school and knew it all. I was going to get a good job, work my way up the ladder, get paid well, and live happily ever after with the girl of my dreams, wherever she was. Yeah... it didn't end up like that at all.

I hated my job. I wondered why I did it. For the paycheck. Until one day, after 3 years of service with the company, I asked my boss for a raise. He gave me a penny. That day changed my life. I decided to go to college. During my time at college, I studied while I was a security officer on his payroll. I did my job but now I was getting paid to educate myself.

Eventually, I'd move on from that job, work others, live in another country, live in another state, go to college in another state, volunteer in different parts of the world, etc. I had stories to tell about my life, and how all these situations, including the bad ones, helped improve my life, such as working for a tyrant boss -- who helped unleash a hidden talent I had for programming. I will forever not like the man, but what he taught me, helped me stay focused and start a business.

Anyways, I eventually became a web designer. I went to school for psychology, which is what I wanted to practice, but I had student loans and no one was hiring, so I applied across the boards of Craigslist, and got a hit for a programming job, hence working for the tyrant boss above, but I was still fascinated with this question: why are some people so passionate about work while others just do their jobs? So I sought to figure it out and even landed my dream job, though it came with a lot of stipulation... almost like selling your soul to the devil.

I couldn't pursue what I studied in college, which was a cross between social psych and IO psych... so I created the website, which keeps me connected to my passion and continues to improve my skills in web technology. The website has been a compliment to my life. If I had pursued my original goals, I wouldn't be making as much as I am making in my field right now. So I keep doing what I do because that pays the bill, but the site keeps me connected.

It is 7 years old... millions of visitors from all over the world, and many people understood its mission and have kept it going.. i opened it up for anyone to "confess" .. no way I could have written over 2500 articles, helped evolve it to what it is today.. which is a lot of information about what we're all doing at work, both professional and personal articles.

So the premise is: Tell me your story of what it is like to go to work as you, why you are there, why you keep going back, etc. I am fasinated with jobs and careers and how people make money. It has since evolved into much more, but that was the start.

Life happens... and you just go the direction you feel is the best for you. Sometimes you'll make mistakes and have regrets, but it's best you do something, then nothing at all. Live for today, hope for tomorrow, reflect on what you really want in your life.

Read more about my start here which explains the whole job situation: https://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com/the-opportunity/

It's been active for 18 years, I was 16 when I started it and now I'm trying to write three or four times a week about several topics, mostly what comes to mind at the moment.

I'm a software engineer from Israel. I'm mainly a Pythonista, but I also dabble in C++ and Embedded Linux. I write about code, technology and my personal life - from a programmer's perspective.

Highlights:

Knowledge Debt https://amir.rachum.com/blog/2016/09/15/knowledge-debt/

Shared Libraries: Understanding Dynamic Loading https://amir.rachum.com/blog/2016/09/17/shared-libraries/

Python Entry Points Explained https://amir.rachum.com/blog/2017/07/28/python-entry-points/

My elevator pitch: I'm curious about many different topics and have had some unconventional experiences, and I share them through writing. A reader would hopefully learn many interesting things along the way.

For example, my most recent post was a photo-essay showing what lockdown life is like in NYC, America's coronavirus epicenter: https://www.gautamnarula.com/new-york-in-the-time-of-coronav...

My most popular post (hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million views) is a step-by-step guide to rapidly improving at chess: www.gautamnarula.com/how-to-get-good-at-chess-fast

Here's a preview from a book I wrote about my friendship with a well-known death row inmate: https://www.gautamnarula.com/remain-free-preview-ii-death-ro...

A surprisingly popular one was the post I wrote as a sophomore in college on creating a multiplayer Elo-based rating system. This post actually got me a great job several years later! www.gautamnarula.com/rating/

Another post about meeting a surfer who helped me rethink what was important to me: https://www.gautamnarula.com/what-javier-taught-me/