In order of preference: Yoga teacher Professional chess player Fantasy book author
Meditation teacher is my FI goal, I'll probably get yoga certified because I'm sure those businesses will be tightly coupled.
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
721–730 of 881 posts
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#722Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the time when someone loses a finger on a table saw, it is because they were doing something that they know better than to do, or because they didn't know that a particular action is high risk. What really helps is to initially work with someone who knows what and what not to do, so they can correct any bad techniques that you have. Common errors are things like trying to cut a piece that is too large / awkwa…
That you have an opinion on this and know the circumstances seems to suggest you know multiple people who have lost their fingers, which would suggest the risk is actually quite high.
anybody that does a lot of machine/wood work knows a few friends with missing parts. whole fingers or partials.
i had a roommate for years, was a very skilled machinist... we called him "nine and a half" although he was really only missing about 2mm from his right index finger... state compensated him $10k for those 2mm's though.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#723I'd open a bookstore/cafe that sells tech and engineering books. We'd run tech classes in a space in the back, with a discount for vets and artists looking to change careers. I'd live in the apartment above the store, with a garden on the roof. The wifi would be phenomenal.
I did that after saving enough money in Silicon Valley back in 2008. I lived on the top floor. It was called USA Books and was the 1st English only bookstore in Vietnam. Naturally it was tech heavy http://wordhcmc.com/news-latest/in-the-papers/usa-books . Every month we d host a get together and do a storytelling event like the Moth. Good times :)
Why did you stop?
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#724Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in the same boat, currently frustrated by the high cost of entry for a lot of projects. There's always "just one" tool that's missing. (Plus, I have the habit of starting projects with a lot of confidence, then they turn out ruined. This hurts worse when I just spent a bunch of money on supplies.) In any case, your blog looks like it's going to be a lot of help, thanks for sharing it.
(I assume you meant to reply to me.) Thanks, glad you like it. Feel free to throw me an email, I love chatting about woodworking.
Womp, I did indeed. Will do.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#725Earlier quoted context omitted.
So it's basically wood that people put on their cake, never saw something like this. Is common in Canada & US?
I've not seen a wooden cake topper like this, but it's very common (and used to be pretty much mandatory, if I understand right) to have something on top of the cake, usually little figurines representing the bride and groom.
I've seen cake toppers for special occasion, like bride and groom, flowers but never saw a wooden one. I was wondering if wooden cake toppers are a thing over there
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#726Woodworker. From running two small ecommerce companies I think I've learned enough about MVP, shipping, inventory management, etc. From 25 years as a software engineer I've learned about building tools to automate steps. I'd pick some "hard to find / expensive niche (e.g. Greene and Greene, Art Nouveau, etc.), but offer repeatable designs, not do custom work. That would allow for lots of jigs, fixtures, using cheap m…
Came here to say this. I have a garage full of tools (I built all of our kitchen cabinets and other built-in furniture). I'd love to have more time for woodworking.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#727I've thought about doing something like Lester from American Beauty, where he just quits his job and works at a fast food restaurant. Maybe just for a few months. I've never worked at a cafe or a restaurant so I want to see what that's like. I think I will start a cafe with my wife one day, so it would be good for me to have some personal experience.
I don't think I could contribute much to an NGO if I had to leave my technical skills at the door. But that's certainly a domain that I'm interested in.
I would also love to do something in the film industry. I would start as an assistant, and eventually do something with special effects. I also enjoy editing.
Maybe writing. I don't think I'm a very talented writer, but I might try to write a novel one day. I've tried to write a few screenplays for short films, and so far they've just been awful. It's a lot of fun, though.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#728Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's incredible. Theoretically you could even wear gloves and the saw would stop as soon as it reached tissue. Although, some sort of conductive work gloves might serve as an additional safety layer so it doesn't even have to hit tissue.
In general, it's a bad idea to wear gloves when working with spinning tools. If the glove snags the wrong way, it can pull your whole hand into the tool.
For sure, but in this scenario I doubt snags pulling anything would be possible. In the video it was stopping the blade before it could even break the skin on fingertips.
If the safety mechanism failed though, the resulting injury would be far worse as a result of the gloves, so it might not be worth it in that regard.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#729I'm a 24 yrs old humanities student which spent two years self teaching programming, but decided to pursue sth. else as while programming is fun, the industry for the most part very boring. If I could, I'd become an architect. I love buildings, I often get tripped on the street because I'm watching the houses, the shops etc. And in my childhood I had the chance: my parents begged me to go to the architectural schoo (a vocational secondary), then they forced me, but I was stupid and I went to the normal lycée. I just love buildings, but in the other hand, I know that I wouldn't be able to work with the kind of them I adore, masonry beauties. So I'm kind of happy that I didn't become an architect given I'd have the same situation as my software attempt: big contrast between the ideals that drive me and the economic reality. I would love to do interior design though, I guess I'll try my luck in it after graduating from uni next year.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#730Earlier 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…
Let me know if you're ever in Chiang Mai and would like to get a coffee, or maybe watch a documentary.