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Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

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Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#731

Post by mikewarot »

I find myself in the position of having unfashionable programming skills (Pascal), and not actually knowing how much effort I can sustain due to what I strongly suspect (but can't prove) is long Covid. The combination is highly demotivating.

Ideally at this point, someone would (incorrectly, of course) tell me that there's something that just can't be done, programming wise, that it's flat out impossible, so I could do it, and feel better about things.

Back in the days of MS-DOS and SCO Unix, you couldn't dual boot a Unix machine... so I did it by rewriting the boot loader with a flag stored in an unused entry in the partition table.

You couldn't write OS/2 programs in assembler, you had to use C (which I have never liked) so I wrote Forth/2, a native code Forth interpreter, in assembler.

I have jumped in and started doing the Google Kickstart rounds, placing 1018th in the latest round, with my submissions in Pascal. I'm starting to find all the quirks of their platform, so getting better at it each time. So that's a little hope.

Is there anyone who needs help with something in Pascal?

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#734

Post by d0gsg0w00f »

philangist wrote: post #180

I won the IPO lottery and I’m in the middle ground between rich enough to never work again but not quite rich enough for the yachts/mansions/private jets lifestyle. I haven’t worked in 6 months and I’m struggling to find a larger meaning to my life beyond getting yet another tech job. I’ve considered going to college for a math degree, moving to my parents home country, and joining the military (among many other opti…

I started my life as a carpenter. I loved it and would go back to it if money wasn't a factor. I'd love to be comfortable enough one day to flip/lease one house a year and do all of the work myself.

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#735

Post by andrewzah »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #707
andrewzah wrote: post #703

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in a similar situation. I recommend finding hobbies that have nothing to do with computers. I used to work on open source stuff all the time, now I find that my energy vanishes if I even think about it after work. Picking up guitar, cooking, studying (real) languages has rekindled my sense of purpose. Seeing my technical improvement on guitar from 3 months ago and being able to play and make music with other mu…

Unfortunately it is winter now and my more active hobby of biking is off the table, and my body is unable to handle more than 2 days a week of climbing at this point. I've tried learning Japanese, which I find interesting, but I find that no resource for it quite seems to work in a way that isn't tedious to the point of making me not want to bother. That may be endemic to any language that uses logograms so extensive…

IMO with any language one needs some sort of motivation that's media based, as just trying to go through courses is extremely tedious. It's the same for Korean, Japanese, German and just about every other language I've studied/dabbled in. I didn't find studying kanji particularly difficult, it's just some tedious work required upfront to get to the actual goal: communicating.

So for languages I would recommend pursuing native media and language exchanges. Discord servers are great for this as you can find native speakers and people to answer grammar questions, etc. For me, watching Korean variety shows motivates me to study vocabulary, and exchanges are great for making friends to commiserate with.

YMMV but actually being able to play music really deepened my connection with music. I understand and appreciate certain things now that would have been hard or impossible before.

---

It's dawned on me just now that basically most of my hobbies have a social element to them. So it's not just limiting my computer time, but also getting me to go outside and make new friends. Having social groups that aren't just tech nerds is quite nice as well.

---

Those are just some example hobbies, anyways. I'm sure there's a hobby for you.

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#736

Post by frankus »

Outside of the day job I've been tinkering with (too) many micromobility projects. I've been working on a series of weight-sensing-controlled skateboards, and this summer started working on an ebike project (https://metromotive.com/blog/2021/06/18/inertial-electric-as...) and a OneWheel-style vehicle (but with two wheels).

This winter I'm hoping to design a new PCB layout for an open-source motor controller, but it's been a nightmare getting parts even in quantities of one or two.

Coding-wise, I've got a bunch of projects that I'm kind of purposely not pursuing because the above is more fun and less like my day job:

- A connected "open" sign app for small businesses (connect a TV or use an old iPad, or an IoT plug switch). Collect and sell real-time data.

- Nutrition info for meals that aren't in a database (e.g. independent restaurants, modified recipes, box lunches), encoded in a URL-like format/QR code (https://nut.codes)

- A white noise app that tells time (https://www.halfbakery.com/idea/White_20Noise_20Clock)

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#737

Post by nicbou »

pochekailov wrote: post #204
nicbou wrote: post #12

I run a website that shows immigrants how to settle in Berlin. These days I'm thinking of codifying more things, so that people could fill a form and get answers instead of reading a long article. For example, a simple calculator that replaces pages and pages of information. I made a German health insurance calculator last week that saves a lot of reading and gives accurate results. Aside from that, I'm building a ti…

As an immigrant who switched between several countries, I must tell that this is an amazing project. The simplest and "obvious" guides are often the most helpful, and hard to find. I wish every city has a similar website with the most basic instructions.

I know how it feels. I started that website out of frustration, and it kept growing as I learned new things.

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#738

Post by playpause »

I had to stop work recently due to illness, I might be able to start again in a few months, we’ll see. I’ve been spending my extra spare time (when able) making an experimental GUI for grokking time. I guess it’s in line with the ‘4,000 weeks’ philosophy mentioned elsewhere in these comments. More precisely, it’s a tool for creatively designing a full-screen, zoomable, interactive timeline (of, eg, your life so far, and maybe future plans). Unlike a traditional digital calendar, it shows time as a continuous line with multiple tracks in parallel (eg a track for places you’ve lived, a track for jobs you’ve worked…), and it’s geared towards introspection and exploration.

I don’t really know where it’s going, maybe it’s just me navel-gazing while I’m unwell, but it feels interesting as a UI. If anyone likes the sound of it and would like beta access when I’m ready to share it, let me know.

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#739

Post by thr0w__4w4y »

colecut wrote: post #385

My son's mom died of cancer last February, and two days later they found tumors in my then girlfriend/now late fiancee. She passed away last month. I stopped working several months ago and have no immediate desire or need to go back to work. I'm not sure if it's a blessing or curse to have so much free time to grieve. Enjoying the downtime with occasional spontaneous bursts of tears. Edit: thank everyone for the kind…

Very touching video, your girlfriend/fiancee looked so positive, happy and joyful. Sometimes the randomness of the universe and the human body can be cruel and nonsensical.

I'm incredibly sorry for your loss. I'm happy that you had the time with this wonderful woman and that you have the memories, even though I'm sure right now everything is still raw. Godspeed.

Re: Ask HN: What you up to? (Who doesn't want to be hired?)

#740

Post by jl2718 »

philangist wrote: post #180

I won the IPO lottery and I’m in the middle ground between rich enough to never work again but not quite rich enough for the yachts/mansions/private jets lifestyle. I haven’t worked in 6 months and I’m struggling to find a larger meaning to my life beyond getting yet another tech job. I’ve considered going to college for a math degree, moving to my parents home country, and joining the military (among many other opti…

Find love. Make a family.

But first, you must shed al appearance of wealth, and don’t ever let anybody know about your money until your babies need it.

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