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Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

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Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#131

Post by 01100011 »

lolinder wrote: post #23

This comment and its top reply are dead on: https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/sm54ri/a... No job is going to get you away from unreasonable people with unreasonable expectations, and most trades introduce a bunch of other unpleasant things that you'd have to deal with. It's all tradeoffs. Someone may legitimately prefer the stresses of a trade to the stresses of working in software, and that's great…

An old, cynical engineer I once worked with left me with two indelible quotes:

- If it was fun they'd charge money at the door.

- If you can't write it down you can't do it.

You can argue about the accuracy of those ideas, but more or less I've found them to be true.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#132

Post by davewritescode »

When I was 15 my dad got me a job where he worked, a trucking business where the work was dirty, hard and not well compensated. Moving equipment and large Diesel engine parts was incredibly tough. I made more money than I would have working in retail.

At the time my parents were worried that I was getting paid enough doing that kind of work that I might consider not going to college. If anything it solidified my view that college was my only option.

I do occasionally miss working with my hands but I’m thankful for what I have now as a software engineer. I’ve never seen anyone get sprayed in the face with hot coolant or hurt their back sitting at a desk programming. I don’t have to worry about punishing my body for 30 years.

White collar work can be exhausting, unfulfilling and stressful but it has to be put into perspective.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#133

Post by ggcdn »

Well, I guess I should rethink my constant urge to leave structural engineering and become a software developer.

“The grass is greener…” fallacy seems to be prevalent in most people. It becomes most intense when encountering obstacles, frustrations, boredom, and stress in the current situation, which makes sense I suppose. And it’s so easy to gloss over all the privileges that come with the current situation. When I was broke and busting my ass in university, I couldn’t wait to start my coop jobs. Then half way through coop, I couldn’t wait to get back to class. Now I have the luxury of living a comfortable life and there are no abrupt changes unless I decide to implement them. Yet the dissatisfaction creeps in…

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#134

Post by nixgeek »

hodgesrm wrote: post #76
civilized wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Hey! What's wrong with BMWs? We have two of them. Both diesels. The gas mileage is slightly below amazing. (Though my lawyer says you should always buy them used, never new. He's very good on life advice in general.)

They’re incredible, in slow traffic I have no issue fitting into a space which is only 12” bigger than the BMW is in length terms, and everyone around me is impressed, particularly the driver behind, they often gesture congratulations about these feats

In all seriousness though after a few years driving a Tesla it is a stark contrast, the BMW’s are actually well-manufactured, very quiet in the cabin, tactile controls instead of touchscreens. I’d forgotten what a good car behaved and looked like instead of an early-adopter plastic-fantastic interior and technology stack. Really do think with “Big Auto” starting to figure out bEV and things like F-150 Lightning, BMW iX and more coming to the market, Tesla is not looking like a solid safe equity to be holding in a 5 year time horizon.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#135

Post by mkl95 »

I feel a relatively frequent urge to run away from my stressful job and spend some time working on passion projects. After a while I remember the industry has made me a relatively privileged citizen, that I never expected to be making so much money at my age, etc. Tech has a way of trapping you in if your work ethic is remotely decent and you are not wealthy.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#136

Post by ReactiveJelly »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #123
jedberg wrote: post #64

This last summer/fall really put things in perspective for me. We did a major outdoor renovation at our house, which involved landscapers, plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. Every day these guys would show up at 8am and long sleeves and jeans and hard hats, work super hard, pee in a port-a-potty, and be exhausted by the end of the day. They worked out in the 100 degree heat as well as the rain as the job got nea…

Your contractor, on the other hand, may well have got a few rounds of golf in during the day time. A neighbor owns a painting company. He goes around the various job sites in the morning, sees that everyone has their marching orders for the day, returns in the afternoon to check in on the progress. In between the morning and afternoon though? He does what he pleases. I believe he started the company with a buddy, the…

I don't really want to be a manager, though. I want to be retired.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#138

Post by thaw13579 »

988747 wrote: post #18

I'm turning forty this year. My original dream was to get rich quick and retire at 30. Then I pushed that to 40. Now I think I will need to push it another 3-5 years... In general I agree with the sentiment: high salary is the only nice thing about working in IT. It's simply too much pressure. Best you can do is to make your fortune quickly (joining FAANG helps, becoming a freelancer is a reasonable alternative in Eu…

I wonder why avoid computers in early retirement? Is it burnout from the grind or a lack of pleasure in the work itself? I imaging there are a ton of cool and worthy charitable causes that would benefit from the expertise, which they couldn't afford to get otherwise.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#139

Post by renewiltord »

Never even thought about it. The constraint solving is what I find interesting. I revel in being able to adapt as the circumstances change.

Sometimes, I even tire of writing the code once I know how to solve the problem. But you sort of have to do that to get the next problem.

Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?

#140

Post by civilized »

nixgeek wrote: post #134
hodgesrm wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey! What's wrong with BMWs? We have two of them. Both diesels. The gas mileage is slightly below amazing. (Though my lawyer says you should always buy them used, never new. He's very good on life advice in general.)

They’re incredible, in slow traffic I have no issue fitting into a space which is only 12” bigger than the BMW is in length terms, and everyone around me is impressed, particularly the driver behind, they often gesture congratulations about these feats In all seriousness though after a few years driving a Tesla it is a stark contrast, the BMW’s are actually well-manufactured, very quiet in the cabin, tactile controls…

You're making a surprisingly persuasive case. Maybe it's time for me to become an asshole too.
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