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Why I hate the weekends (2017)

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Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#71

Post by war1025 »

grecht wrote: post #57
rb808 wrote: post #36

Honestly I hate these self-absorbed, live-is-tough posts by Software Developers doing creative work in a nice air conditioned office. Get a real job, try milking a few hundred cows at 6am, work as a cop in a bad city, or outside in construction when its freezing or scorching hot. Not to mention doing it on a 20k wage with a few kids. I get it, figuring out how to get our software working can require a lot of thinking…

Developers and other people with great jobs know very well how privileged they are. That doesn't mean that they're not allowed to have problems and be stressed.

Many of them do. Certainly not all.

There is also a certain level of knowing that you are privileged without understanding what exactly that means in how your life is different from people who are less fortunate.

I'm sure I'm guilty of that more often than I'd like to admit.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#73

Post by war1025 »

darkmighty wrote: post #58

What I don't understand here: Why can't we just work less ? I know it's not trivial, but it can't be impossible either. I doubt he would starve if he got a part-time dev job (are those easy to find? I have no idea). I agree wholeheartedly with all that he said. I think a life of work-home-work without breathing is almost meaningless unless you can have possibly unreasonable amounts of fun and freedom in the job (few…

The first step to working less is being in a comfortable enough financial position that you can push your boundaries without worrying that if it backfires you'll be out of work and behind on your bills.

Once you have the money to cushion the blow, you can start pushing back on demands for your time with a lot more confidence. A thing I've personally found is that my employer just wants results and things done on time and when needed. They don't particularly care how much time I'm physically in the office working.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#74

Post by rayiner »

GuardianCaveman wrote: post #51
rb808 wrote: post #36

Honestly I hate these self-absorbed, live-is-tough posts by Software Developers doing creative work in a nice air conditioned office. Get a real job, try milking a few hundred cows at 6am, work as a cop in a bad city, or outside in construction when its freezing or scorching hot. Not to mention doing it on a 20k wage with a few kids. I get it, figuring out how to get our software working can require a lot of thinking…

So by your logic you can work 80 hours a week but because you’re inside an office and not a barn you lose you’re right to want a better work life balance? Where is the cut off for not being able to complain or is it like a spectrum? 20k wage with kids is bad you say what about 30k with 1 kid? Is that too easy? Cop in a good neighborhood? How good does the neighborhood have to be before you can’t complain anymore? You…

> Where is the cut off for not being able to complain or is it like a spectrum?

Wherever the cut-off happens to be, software developers are far past it.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#75

Post by Consultant32452 »

VyperCard wrote: post #68
Consultant32452 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I find it off putting when the 1% complain about how tough their lives are. It would be more palatable if it were surrounded by intense gratitude they are afforded off the backs of the less fortunate who are doing the grinding work of keeping the world functioning. But the gratitude is practically nonexistent.

I'd wish i was one of the 1%

Global 1% is about $34k. $100k gets you to the 14th percentile in the US. $150k gets you to the 94th percentile.

If you're a developer in the first world, you're incredibly rich and privileged not just by historical standards, but by real world modern standards.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#77

Post by glangdale »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #63
hassan_shaikley wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of our ancestors were like you we wouldn't have a 40 hour work week

I dunno, I find it off putting when the 1% complain about how tough their lives are. It would be more palatable if it were surrounded by intense gratitude they are afforded off the backs of the less fortunate who are doing the grinding work of keeping the world functioning. But the gratitude is practically nonexistent.

If we reach a point where, to paraphrase the Situationist International, "the last Koch brother is strangled with the guts of the last Sackler", I'll feel a lot better about people like you attacking members of the professional upper middle class for having the termerity to complain that working life isn't all that fun ("hey, at least you're not picking through a garbage heap on Manilla"). Until then, it seems a bit misplaced.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#78

Post by sacado2 »

VyperCard wrote: post #68
Consultant32452 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I find it off putting when the 1% complain about how tough their lives are. It would be more palatable if it were surrounded by intense gratitude they are afforded off the backs of the less fortunate who are doing the grinding work of keeping the world functioning. But the gratitude is practically nonexistent.

I'd wish i was one of the 1%

Fun fact: you only need $32,400 to be part of the 1%.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/05061...

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#79

Post by bradlys »

rb808 wrote: post #36

Honestly I hate these self-absorbed, live-is-tough posts by Software Developers doing creative work in a nice air conditioned office. Get a real job, try milking a few hundred cows at 6am, work as a cop in a bad city, or outside in construction when its freezing or scorching hot. Not to mention doing it on a 20k wage with a few kids. I get it, figuring out how to get our software working can require a lot of thinking…

Eh. Been in more manual labor oriented jobs before. It's mindless. I'm far more exhausted after thinking all day than I am from physical labor.

I've also found that once you fulfill the basics in Maslow's, you can be less happy or satisfied. Before you were too focused on just surviving so the idea of contentment and satisfaction wasnt much of a thing.

I envy the mindless jobs. Those people always seem so much more high energy when I meet them. It's the mind workers who look like zombies so frequently.

Re: Why I hate the weekends (2017)

#80

Post by miguelmota »

Many software developers are 9 to 5-ers meaning when they get home they don't do any more programming and don't do programming on the weekend either. They do most of their learning while on the job. These programmers are of course mediocre at best and typically work at slow paced large companies with lower pay but they're satisfied with their work/life balance and there is nothing wrong with that.

If the author is complaining that work leaks into the weekends then perhaps he should communicate with his colleagues and managers to figure out which processes in their workflow can be fixed to avoid that. He also has the ability to jump to another company if he feels his current company is too demanding.

Everyone has 24 hours in a day; use it wisely, especially doing something you're good at that makes you money but also enjoy.

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