“Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work • Hacker News Board

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#301

Post by rorykoehler » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:33 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #103

RSchaeffer wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'd structure my days very differently What would your restructured day look like?

I think I would definitely put more effort into establishing clearer space/time boundaries between work and home. I live near a local library and might turn it into an office of sorts so that I have a place to go, people to interact with and so on. I'd definitely put more effort into making sure I'd wake up, shower, and dress for work during work hours and then stop at the end of the work day. Basically, better disci…

I do this. I work from home mostly as my companies office is an 8 hour flight away. I have a standup first thing in the morning and try get a bike ride or gym session in at the end of the day. I also have a table in an office that is a 40 minute bike ride away however I feel better and more productive when I work from home with this schedule.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#302

Post by gaius » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:36 PM UTC

technofire wrote: post #227

zw123456 wrote: post #53

Yes, but the Wall Street CEO's are sooooo hard working. Give me a break. I once worked for a company whose CEO completely ran the thing into the ground and eventually got fired but got paid millions anyhow. I jokingly said I could have ruined the company for half what they paid that meathead. I think the real scandal is the ridiculous amounts of money CEO's get paid for doing nothing in a lot of cases. The money thes…

One reason CEOs are paid so much is to offset the risk involved in accepting the position. If a CEO performs poorly, that's often the end of their career, so the high compensation makes that gamble more acceptable.

What risk? What end of career? Maybe that's the theory but a failed CEO who destroys a company will cruise into another CEO job in practice... or even make a run for POTUS.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#303

Post by gaius » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:38 PM UTC

m-j-fox wrote: post #40

jokoon wrote: post #32

I wonder what kind of work they do that makes them so unique and indispensable. I also heard stories about engineers who did not share how their code worked, so that the company would not risk firing them.

I've wondered this about CEOs. For the price of one Jamie Diamond you could hire the entire graduating class of Harvard Business School. Surely, between them, they could perform his duties, no?

No way, Jamie is one of a kind. Just like you couldn't replace Elon Musk with 100 random MIT grads.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

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Post by croon » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:41 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #283

watwut wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To my surprise, when I announced my departure, a bunch of people suddenly came out of the woodwork to tell me that they really didn't want me to go, including a number of very senior managers. So I used that as leverage to negotiate a deal for myself: I would come back after a year on the condition that I be promoted to Principal. Which is what happened. Every time I hear how someone had to threaten to leave to get…

> Every time I hear how someone had to threaten to leave to get recognition/raise he deserves, the believe in meritocracy dies a little in me :). Well, there is this problem with all support and maintenance tasks: if you do everything perfectly, no one notices. It takes you leaving (or a threat of you leaving) for people to realize that your contributions are important to the operation. I don't think I've heard of an…

> Well, there is this problem with all support and maintenance tasks: if you do everything perfectly, no one notices. It takes you leaving (or a threat of you leaving) for people to realize that your contributions are important to the operation.

I'm not sure I follow. If threatening to quit is sufficient in making your work visible, then your work should've been recognized to begin with.

And if it takes you quitting for people to notice things falling apart, then the threat wouldn't be enough regardless.

If people came out of the wood-works to ask you not to leave, it means you were doing good work that people saw, but you weren't sufficiently rewarded for.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#305

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:45 PM UTC

kbutler wrote: post #230

jasonkostempski wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We were glad to find we enjoyed just being together" Currently. Feelings towards people change constantly. They can hit extreme levels on either side at any moment.

Yes, but we are 20+ years in, and excited to continue... Seems like a house - if you don't do maintenance, it gradually deteriorates until it becomes unlivable, but with continual maintenance and improvements, it can last forever...

Thank you for articulating my exact thoughts.

I also feel maintaining the relationship is extremely important. We the people are instinctive beings and some of us have very curious character flaws. If we let things to entropy, no relationship can hope to survive. No exceptions.

As I shared in another comment in this sub-thread, I found that being honest (but not brutal; give your opinion and feelings openly but caring for the other person's feelings!) and never going to bed angry with each other have not only prevented the relationship from rotting away, but also improved it by a lot.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#306

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:47 PM UTC

jasonkostempski wrote: post #236

kbutler wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but we are 20+ years in, and excited to continue... Seems like a house - if you don't do maintenance, it gradually deteriorates until it becomes unlivable, but with continual maintenance and improvements, it can last forever...

Sometimes. And sometimes it's better to walk away from the mortgage and file for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, there's no way to predict which choice is right. I think "The Money Pit" has some solid guidance here but I haven't watched it in many years.

You are right. We can never truly know from the start, especially having in mind that we grow and change all the time as well.

I've had a failed relationship which lasted 8 years and I know the struggle and the bitterness.

I have however confirmed the old cliche that love can bloom any time at any place as long as one is with an open mind and open heart and doesn't hold grudges to the world at large.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#307

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:49 PM UTC

alasdair_ wrote: post #220

pdimitar wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like love and respect are long gone from that "relationship".

Perhaps the wife like the time she had alone in the house. Even if you love someone deeply, it's still good to have time to onesself.

Agreed. It's good if people discuss these specifics of their character before moving in to live together though. It helped me and my wife a lot.

She is less extroverted than me and sometimes she wants to be left alone for several hours. I grew to know her very well and she needn't even say a word -- I can recognize by her posture, facial expression and what she does currently that she is in the introspection mini-period, and I simply don't at all interact with her until she's done, at which point she comes to me and often times she says "thank you for knowing me and being considerate".

My original point was more along the lines of "always be very honest (in a thoughtful and sensitive way) with your spouse".

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#308

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:52 PM UTC

cloakandswagger wrote: post #238

pdimitar wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marriage must be a happy coexistence with another person in the same household, and that's exactly what I have.

Then why do you sound so worried?

Do I? Apologies if it came out that way. I guess I was somewhat triggered by several more pessimistic people around here.

Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead anyone.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

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Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 12:59 PM UTC

hosh wrote: post #242

pdimitar wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I follow. Your reply reads like "marriage is yet another job, you must invest the proper amount of hours in it". If so, I disagree. If not, what were you trying to say? And apologies if I misread your comment. In general, I agree with the notion that relationships need "work" -- but in my case the "work" is basically not allowing certain relationship entropy events to ever happen (or to never last more than…

Thanks for responding. Not sure why you got downvoted. I don't equate work with a job. By "work", I mean that you have to put effort into the marriage. A marriage is not the same as a romance, and should also not be conflated with love. That you and your wife are honest with each other and make an effort at not going to bed angry with each other is aligned with what I was expressing. On the brutal honesty thing: it s…

I love reaching out when a possible misunderstanding is in progress. Appreciate your reply.

You're very correct about the false dichotomy -- it's happening way too often and too much people fall into that trap. It's saddening for me to watch, especially having in mind that me and my wife are doing both.

But as she would say -- "yes, me and you are far ahead in that regard but it's very likely that the people who just discover this aspect are far ahead in other regards, and we're likely very behind in those".

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#310

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 1:02 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #261

pdimitar wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my subjective experience, most relationships' future is known no later than year two.

Of most relationships maybe, but not of most marriage type relations though. People marry and divorse after the 5th and 10th and 15th etc. year all the time...

That's a sad reality. If my father hadn't died 16 years ago, my mother would have divorced him.

People change. Sometimes a lot. You've fallen in love with a certain person and one morning, decades later, you suddenly realize this person is no longer with you.