Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suppose I am both lucky and rare: I get to experience the "I do what I want to when I want to how I want to" for both my programming and construction work. A useful insight, I hadn't connected them in that way before.
Out of curiosity, what programming work do you do that’s both so free and pays the bill? Do you sell a successful indie product or something?
Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
201–210 of 470 posts
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's something so insidiously, backhandedly condescending about tech workers pining for the simplicity of an honest day's job that drives me nuts. Yes, there are almost always jobs with less strenuous requirements on time, fewer requirements and late nights. But the average tech worker has a pretty good gig. And if they don't they can go down the street in 2022 and get one. Trades scratch a similar itch to develop…
I think it's a manifestation of the inherent feeling that many of us developers are doing something mostly useless compared to others. We know that the world could be different and we could be working jobs that are physically and/or mentally difficult but also fair and useful. Ursula K. Le Guin puts it thus, from her novel "This Dispossessed": "A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic compe…
I can't understand that one. Software fascinates me since I was a child by how universally useful it is. Even for the more manual stuff, computer is still a hyper-useful tool.
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#203There’s a lot between leaving your high paying comfy job and working full time cutting trees or something.
One of my former co-workers left to become a lumberjack. I don’t blame them, I spend a day or two cutting trees on my property and it’s enjoyable. That said, you won’t make six figures doing that.
Without fail, the people I see making complaints (1) lack a family with kids and / or (2) don’t own a home / property.
We’re very much predisposed to having a family and having something to build (physically). If people feel this way, try a decent sized garden (150+ square feet). Or build some furniture. It’ll be fulfilling and you’ll learn to love your job lol
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#204I'm a software engineer who does his own plumbing and his own electrical. Example projects: * rewire 1920's three story house with romex instead of knob & tube * install 6.6kW ground mount PV arrays and connect to grid * replumb two kitchens and three bathrooms * install water softener (all copper, dozens of required brazed joints) I love doing that stuff (carpentry and cabinet building too). But ... a couple of time…
> Doing work like this for other people is completely and utterly different from working on your own projects. To be fair this same logic likely is the source of stress for a lot of software engineers. Loving to program and programming for other people for a living initially seems like a brilliant way to make a living. For plenty of people it is, but for some what programming for money looks like and programming for…
To bring it back to the premise of this entire website: this is a reason why entrepreneurship becomes a recourse for some dissatisfied engineers. Startups, small-scale consultancies, side projects are all ways to code the programs they want to code.
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#205I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay
I sleep all night and I work all day
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#206This 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…
Yeah lol... The apartment building next to mine was having some reconstruction and the guys working on the exterior saw into my office windows (5th story). I started talking to them, had a cigarette together when I saw them lighting up, shared my WiFi password with them, etc, just being friendly. After a few days the guys asked "so, do you ever work man, or are you one of those computer pussies?". I agreed I'm a comp…
"Computer Pussy?.. no mate, computer hacker, and seeing as you all connected to my Wi-fi, my rent is covered for the next 2 months"....
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#207Gardner for me. Fresh air everyday and making things grow.
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#208In the FIRE community, this kind of topic often comes up. Are there any enjoyable full-time or part-time jobs to do in semi-retirement?
Invariably, the conclusion is that low-wage or part-time jobs almost always come with enough baggage to outweigh any perceived benefits as a semi-retirement gig. A job is a job -- anything that produces a consistent income is going to involve dealing with unreasonable people or expectations or situations. [0] The most efficient path is to get into the most lucrative role possible early on and simply do that until you don't need to work at all anymore.
If you like carpentry or machining or driving around or landscaping or gardening, you're going to enjoy these activities a LOT more if you're doing them on your own terms in proper retirement for your own satisfaction. As soon as someone else is paying you to deliver these types of services for their benefit and not yours, you're in the same situation you're in as a software engineer, just with far less income and thus less potential to ever truly retire.
[0] I'm sure some "unicorn" jobs do exist. So I'm speaking in generalities here. There probably do exist some gigs out there that are genuinely great for semi-retirement; they're just going to be surprisingly difficult to find, they may not be stable over a long period of time (decades), and it may not be possible to find one for yourself.
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#209This is why I like frontend development - you get to see the results of your work.
It's satisfying to start with a blank screen or perhaps a times new roman mess, and leave it as something that looks great and works well.
Backend development can sometimes be a tedious death march where all you get at the end of the day/week/sprint is not-an-error or perhaps just wiring up RPCs, or maybe if you are very lucky upgrading to a new point-release of a library with no other visible changes. Don't get me wrong, refactoring and fixing backend bugs can be satisfying, but I often find it is not as genuinely enjoyable as being able to actually see the results of your work.
Re: Anyone else feel the constant urge to leave the field and become a plumber?
#210One summer in college I worked with my Dad as a timber faller. I had the luxury of getting paid for writing software before that (being paid to learn). On one hand I enjoyed the work… I was outside, getting great exercise, and I gained a ton of respect for my father. But by the end of the summer, it became pretty repetitive, extremely hot, and I was physically exhausted every day. Nearly 20 years later, when I feel like I am burning out for whatever reason, I reflect on that one summer and ground myself a bit. I have it really good. I’m extremely fortunate to have found interest in this world at a young age, and even more lucky to have hard working parents that supported my interest.