Campground host. Camp all day every day. Be nice to everyone. Rest for years...
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
581–590 of 881 posts
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#582Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you find consistent work doing that? I try to work part time as a developer and usually either my clients pressure me to full time or hire someone else who will.
I'm a VA with one long-time client who can only offer me part-time work, plus the occassional small project related to the work. I also sometimes get a few side jobs from previous employers. For the last several years, I've generally worked an hour per day, M-F. Living abroad on dollars, and staying out of native-English speaking countries and Nordic ones, it's quite easy to live an average lifestyle on around $600/m…
> I'm a VA with one long-time client who can only offer me part-time work, plus the occassional small project related to the work.
What's a VA?
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#583Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love this. My single regret about doing programming for a living is that I rarely have anything physical to show for my work at the end of the day. I've been looking at hobbies to pick up that involve making things with my hands. This is an innovative way to do both.
> My single regret about doing programming for a living is that I rarely have anything physical to show for my work at the end of the day. This is the most challenging thing about most IT jobs. I was working "maintenance" (read: janitor that occasionally builds things) at an outlet mall before I fell in to an internship that led to the VoIP/MSP job I've been working for the last decade. I'm making a lot more money an…
Amen to tangible evidence! I feel similarly about my current career, but there are two things to keep in mind: the grass is always greener, and you can do something on your own terms (hobby) that fills the same niche. Thus, woodworking, or even painting, volunteering, etc.
As for the grass being greener, it's important to keep perspective about what the former was. I think your example re: bodily fluids is a pretty good example :)
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#584I would become a full-time MUT runner (mountain/ultra/trail) and adventurer like Kilian Jornet (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-t...) or Karl Meltzer, who broke the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail this past summer here in the U.S.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#585Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saw Stop might interest you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYoBbEZwlk
That is pretty impressive. Sadly, I'm limited to shared workspaces given that I'm in an urban area. Good to know about for whenever I decide that I'm sick of the city.
The table saw at the maker space / shared woodworking shop near me has a SawStop, which is a pretty good idea given the varied experience levels of users in a community space. If that's really what's keeping you from pursuing an activity of great interest to you, consider checking to see if the workspaces near you are equipped with SawStop. Even if they're not, you might persuade them to get one. Especially if you're willing to chip in.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#586Was just there two days ago, that place is like an engineer's wet dream.
Briefly, and without an intent to shame or embarrass you - I think it's worth thinking more carefully about using (presumably male-centered) sexual language here, especially since the bookstore is named after a pioneering woman engineer.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#587Politics. The only way to fix the broken stuff in the world. I have stood in a bunch of elections and lost them all. I'm not dissuaded yet.
Interesting. At what level? And are you involved at all in your local party, on the precinct or county level?
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#588Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless moving out of SF/NY is a deal breaker, it's not necessary to make $100k+ a year to have a solid middle class life. You won't be driving a BMW making $55k a year but you won't need to eat Ramen to make the mortgage payment either. Obviously kids make this harder and my perspective is certainly biased as my wife and I don't plan on children so our nut is much lower every month than our friends with kids in HS or…
> it's not necessary to make $100k+ a year to have a solid middle class life Depends on your circumstances. 100k with one salary?
I live paycheck to paycheck on six figures in the midwest. I'm not broke but I'm certainly not living it up. People act like 100k is life changing money.
I think it depends more on circumstances before you get to $100k. If I had parents who paid for school I'd probably be living it up too.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#589Plumber. Locksmith. Similar. Jobs that you can do at your own pace, and with the kind of SEO skills I have I'm sure I'd do well. Plus these kind of jobs cannot be out-sourced.
Witnessing a plumber literally taking a flow of shit falling on his face from a pipe, I think I'll pass.
Having experienced that same situation metaphorically too many times to count, I think getting it literally would actually be a refreshing change of pace.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#590Earlier quoted context omitted.
> it's not necessary to make $100k+ a year to have a solid middle class life Depends on your circumstances. 100k with one salary?
"Obviously kids make this harder..." If you didn't have kids you would feel incredibly rich. You could pay off your house in five years and feel even richer.
Don't forget it's not uncommon for two college grads to have $100k in student loan debt today.