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This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

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Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#161

Post by eeeeeeeeeeeee »

kordless wrote: post #135
whatever_dude wrote: post #103

Great read, not just for people from Silicon Valley. It's good to put things into perspective. It also reminds me of an article [1] about John Carmack and his choice of Dallas. To quote, > “A lot of people, especially from California, say, ‘Texas? Why the hell are you in Texas?’ But I am generally happy to wave the flag and say, ‘No, I am not here under duress.’ I actually like it here. And we appreciate the sense of…

> It's good to put things into perspective. A bunch of made up bullshit, no matter how entertaining, is NOT putting things into perspective. Oh, the irony.

If people relate to it, yes, it would put things into perspective. Just because something is "made up" does not mean it cannot be influential or give someone perspective. A lot of the fiction I read is more insightful than a history book.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#162

Post by exstudent2 »

usaar333 wrote: post #150
throwaway2016a wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We send our daughter to daycare [1] and I spend every minute I can outside of work bonding with her. There is some truth to it, they only stay babies so long and parents should enjoy it. Spending time with them is one of the magical things that makes it worth it. Without that, what's the point? [1] No nanny for us... I'm a CTO in a duel-income house and I can't afford that no idea how this character would.

Per your footnote, in SV professional households, combined salaries north of $300k/year are not uncommon. A nanny costing $40k to $50k is not trivial, but it's manageable. In fact, a nanny is generally cheaper than sending two children to daycare. (point of reference: the closest daycare to me charges $30k/year)

The median household income for SF is $83k a year. I wouldn't say that $300k /year is common.

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/california/san-francisco...

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#163

Post by JBReefer »

amyjess wrote: post #149
munin wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"southern hospitality" is great if you're straight and white. as a counterpoint, Dallas is the only place I've lived where people have shouted homophobic slurs at me on the street in daylight.

I'm openly trans, I didn't pass until a few months after I went full-time (and even now I pass only 90% of the time; I've been clocked by other queer people), and I've lived in Dallas all my life. I've never had anyone shout anything homophobic or transphobic at me on the street. Mind you, I live and work in the suburbs, so I'm not on the street very often, but I used to work downtown and the only harassment I got wa…

Well, at least he's probably not from NYC if you were in Times Square.

But sorry, anyway.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#164

Post by usaar333 »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #156
usaar333 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per your footnote, in SV professional households, combined salaries north of $300k/year are not uncommon. A nanny costing $40k to $50k is not trivial, but it's manageable. In fact, a nanny is generally cheaper than sending two children to daycare. (point of reference: the closest daycare to me charges $30k/year)

My wife and I made a decision not to move to SV because we figured the boost in salary wouldn't justify the higher cost of living (I'm in the greater Boston area). But based on this statement I'm not sure I made the right call. My wife and I make barely more than half that even though I'm senior and she has a master's degree in engineering. But per your point of reference, daycare here "only" costs $18k a year.

I suspect moves to a lower COL generally only work if one of the following are true:

A. Your income is below X percentile in your current area. (not sure what X is. Maybe 75th?)

B. You value having a large home more than the average person in your current area.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#165

Post by usaar333 »

exstudent2 wrote: post #162
usaar333 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per your footnote, in SV professional households, combined salaries north of $300k/year are not uncommon. A nanny costing $40k to $50k is not trivial, but it's manageable. In fact, a nanny is generally cheaper than sending two children to daycare. (point of reference: the closest daycare to me charges $30k/year)

The median household income for SF is $83k a year. I wouldn't say that $300k /year is common. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/california/san-francisco...

I'm referring to common in professional circles; professionals already represent a small number of people. SF has high income inequality, so median says little about what the top 20% actually make.

See details here: http://www.city-data.com/income/income-San-Francisco-Califor...

Note that for 2 earner households, median income soars to $131k/year.

31% of married households pull over $200k, which is the highest tier the data has.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#166

Post by stevenwiles »

keefe wrote: post #5

For the last decade since I moved here, my life in silicon valley was more like: wake up without an alarm, brew a cup of dragon well tea, walk my dog, hit my gym for slow and steady progress, check email for crises, deal with anything other people care about, maybe go to the office. Have some lunch, write code until I'm tired, then maybe make an effort to socialize. As far as coal mining goes, these are sweet digs.

Yep, I agree with this. I am a highly paid senior engineer at my current tech startup. I basically wake up at noon every day, on some days I pop into the office for a couple hours, but most days I just chill at home, go to the gym, hang out with my dog, take vacations. I basically check emails when I'm having my coffee in the morning but that's pretty much it as far as work.

I've been enjoying this lifestyle for 12 years with no end in sight. Living in Silicon Valley is the greatest thing I have ever done and is absolutely nothing like this article claims.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#167

Post by amyjess »

meestaahjoshee wrote: post #142
Cshelton wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He still lives in Dallas. Which by the way is a far better option than Austin if you were to move to Texas.

Could you explain why? I was always told Austin is the fun, SXSW college town and Dallas is a nice big city but boring. Coming from my friends who are from Dallas and went to Univerity of Texas.

Because the hipster pretentiousness of Austin is annoying. I'm reminded of this article: http://www.vice.com/read/reasons-why-austin-is-the-worst-pla...

The first point is the most salient:

> But you’re not keeping Austin weird. You’re engaging in this fake, utterly distasteful blend of irony and feigned enthusiasm that will eventually cause the city to self-implode under the density of its own facetiousness. Soon you won’t be able to identify a single genuine emotion within its borders. You don’t actually care about whiskey-infused bacon. You don’t give a shit about whiskey-infused bacon. You’re pretending to, because that’s what keeps the whole city from feeling like a big lie.

Also, the smugness of a good chunk of Austin's citizens is unbearable. See, this guy: https://np.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/4ts7mt/hawaiian_fall...

I don't really want to live in a city like that. Honestly, I enjoy living in a safe, quiet suburb with a low cost of living. I have that in Dallas.

And, hey, you know what else we have here? Ethnic food, of every kind. There's at least one good pho joint in every shopping center. We have an amazing Chinatown with some incredibly good Sichuan restaurants, Cantonese barbecue places, and more. We have multiple great Koreatowns. We've got a section of town filled with Ethiopian places. We've got all the ethnic food diversity of a coastal big city, married to the low-key, low-cost lifestyle of the suburbs. I love it here.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#168

Post by kafkaesq »

Your 27-year-old CEO wants to make every enterprise company in the world switch to your product. He’s never worked for an enterprise company, or any other company at all.

Eloquent synopsis a certain well-funded, highly buzzed-about "disruptive" startup I know.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#169

Post by JauntTrooper »

usaar333 wrote: post #150
throwaway2016a wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We send our daughter to daycare [1] and I spend every minute I can outside of work bonding with her. There is some truth to it, they only stay babies so long and parents should enjoy it. Spending time with them is one of the magical things that makes it worth it. Without that, what's the point? [1] No nanny for us... I'm a CTO in a duel-income house and I can't afford that no idea how this character would.

Per your footnote, in SV professional households, combined salaries north of $300k/year are not uncommon. A nanny costing $40k to $50k is not trivial, but it's manageable. In fact, a nanny is generally cheaper than sending two children to daycare. (point of reference: the closest daycare to me charges $30k/year)

There's also a shortage of professional daycare providers in the Bay Area.

Two of my co-workers hired a nanny because of the >1 year waitlists for infant daycare around here. It's really tough to find a daycare if you don't sign up in the first trimester.

Re: This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley

#170

Post by dragonwriter »

JauntTrooper wrote: post #169
usaar333 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per your footnote, in SV professional households, combined salaries north of $300k/year are not uncommon. A nanny costing $40k to $50k is not trivial, but it's manageable. In fact, a nanny is generally cheaper than sending two children to daycare. (point of reference: the closest daycare to me charges $30k/year)

There's also a shortage of professional daycare providers in the Bay Area. Two of my co-workers hired a nanny because of the >1 year waitlists for infant daycare around here. It's really tough to find a daycare if you don't sign up in the first trimester.

> There's also a shortage of professional daycare providers in the Bay Area.

> Two of my co-workers hired a nanny because of the >1 year waitlists for infant daycare around here.

Given real estate costs in the Bay Area, I'm not surprised that the economics favor in-home nannies (where the day care facility is the home of the family receiving service) over day care centers, compared to areas with more affordable real estate.

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