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Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#111

Post by throwawayeng999 »

pictur wrote: post #68

We need to get rid of the bullshit about companies trying to connect with employees. As the company grows, it does not benefit the employee at all, but the bosses still wait for more effort. The biggest problem of modern man is being pushed into such stupid sentiments.

Growing companies have short memories! You can build teams, processes and culture, and as the company multiplies it's staffing levels, new bosses take hold, and all the rest of it, the loudest salesmen come out of the woodwork to push their personal brands. It doesn't help if they come to the table with workaholism as a trait they're branding themselves with.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#112

Post by bradlys »

throwawayeng999 wrote: post #110
bradlys wrote: post #95

Absurd, most definitely. I got divorced about a year and a half ago. I’m 32 - for what it’s worth. In June, I left my job and SF. Put all my stuff in storage and went to the east coast for a month then went to Europe for 3 months. After all that, I committed to getting a six month lease on an apartment in Manhattan. Been here since November. I haven’t worked at all. Maybe done a total of 20 leetcode problems but I sp…

New York, and Manhattan specifically, is uniquely difficult as a place to find a woman to settle down with! I'm sure you can do it, but don't be shocked if you find a lot of women are picky or career-focused and uninterested in serious relationships, or just averse to commitment!

Honestly: The biggest issue I find is finding any women who are single to begin with. I do find women here and they do show up (especially compared to SF) but it’s still shit odds cause they’re always in relationships!

It doesn’t help that I’m the Dalit of the professional world. (Working in tech) Here, finance reigns king. Doctors and law are fine. Tech though? (Even if rich) May as well be a janitor.

Status obsessed in this region. They don’t even think about the money.

Tbh - the real issue though is that I’m just an ugly fuck with a hard to place racial makeup. I’m going to get some more cosmetic surgery in May/June because I need to do something to improve my odds if this isn’t working.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#113

Post by throwawayeng999 »

bradlys wrote: post #112
throwawayeng999 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New York, and Manhattan specifically, is uniquely difficult as a place to find a woman to settle down with! I'm sure you can do it, but don't be shocked if you find a lot of women are picky or career-focused and uninterested in serious relationships, or just averse to commitment!

Honestly: The biggest issue I find is finding any women who are single to begin with. I do find women here and they do show up (especially compared to SF) but it’s still shit odds cause they’re always in relationships! It doesn’t help that I’m the Dalit of the professional world. (Working in tech) Here, finance reigns king. Doctors and law are fine. Tech though? (Even if rich) May as well be a janitor. Status obsesse…

No way, don't make any changes to yourself cosmetically. Please observe carefully - confidence and communication skills win out. Even highly attractive men don't succeed well if they don't demonstrate these. And many dates are women testing these things (consciously or unconsciously; either way they'll articulate if someone seems insecure). Manhattan is bru-tal in that department.

Tech is tech, it has a reputation as associated with men who are cold or uninteresting. But I'm increasingly meeting women working in tech. And if any woman is turned on by finance bros, consider it a good avoidance filter!

Source: single 40somethjng with reasonable success with women (not long-term relationships) working as a techie in a financial services company. I've been here two decades now.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#114

Post by bradlys »

throwawayeng999 wrote: post #113
bradlys wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly: The biggest issue I find is finding any women who are single to begin with. I do find women here and they do show up (especially compared to SF) but it’s still shit odds cause they’re always in relationships! It doesn’t help that I’m the Dalit of the professional world. (Working in tech) Here, finance reigns king. Doctors and law are fine. Tech though? (Even if rich) May as well be a janitor. Status obsesse…

No way, don't make any changes to yourself cosmetically. Please observe carefully - confidence and communication skills win out. Even highly attractive men don't succeed well if they don't demonstrate these. And many dates are women testing these things (consciously or unconsciously; either way they'll articulate if someone seems insecure). Manhattan is bru-tal in that department. Tech is tech, it has a reputation as…

I don’t get dates. That’s my point. I’m just too ugly, bub. I’ve already done some cosmetic surgery and do some other stuff to improve texture of the face (microneedling with a professional).

It’s important. We underestimate how much looks matter for men to have success. No one has told me any surgeries or work that I’ve done was a bad idea. They all much prefer the after than the before.

I don’t miss the mark when it comes to this stuff. I’m just ugly and not the right race. It sucks but is what it is. Modern dating.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#115

Post by xkcd1963 »

quechimba wrote: post #84

I've been working on a web framework in Ruby. It's inspired by all the JS frameworks, but uses Haml instead of JSX and all code is executed on the server, and patches are streamed to the browser. I'm about to run out of money so I'm planning to move to the Amazon rainforest where money will last longer...

Uh, where? Manaos?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#116

Post by markus_zhang »

anthropodie wrote: post #5

I am happy with my current employer but I always liked Paul Graham's idea of not having a boss[0]. I had read it quite a while back but here's the gist of it: Paul mentions that we work best when we work in a group of 8-20 people in a flat structure like our hunter gatherer ancestors use to do. Each member have their own roles and responsibilities and each individual contributes the well being and future security of…

Instead of capping company headcount, cap team headcount.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#117

Post by bosch_mind »

noahth wrote: post #39

I worked for several years as an independent contractor; when my last big project ended several months ago, I decided to take a sabbatical for the climate. So far that has meant spending more time with my kids, learning to compost, building some new raised garden beds, mending some clothes that I previously would've replaced, reading more books, and various other little things. I plan to start volunteering soon with…

On a more personal note, how much money did you save to feel comfortable doing this?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#118

Post by bosch_mind »

bradlys wrote: post #95

Absurd, most definitely. I got divorced about a year and a half ago. I’m 32 - for what it’s worth. In June, I left my job and SF. Put all my stuff in storage and went to the east coast for a month then went to Europe for 3 months. After all that, I committed to getting a six month lease on an apartment in Manhattan. Been here since November. I haven’t worked at all. Maybe done a total of 20 leetcode problems but I sp…

Thanks for the transparent and interesting reply. Best of luck

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#119

Post by itisit »

busboy wrote: post #72

Coming from someone whom loves their career(engineering not tech) - I am learning web dev for fun on the side. Got some cool ideas for websites and low effort income streams.

Without revealing details of your ideas, how did you go about getting the ideas in the first place? Were you bumping into problems and encouraged to solve them in a more structured way? Did you have conversations or read some stuff that inspired you to create something? Did you work on a project purely for fun that led to being a potential business?

Seriously asking as someone who is grateful to have a wealth of resources at their disposal, but suffers from a complete lack of imagination in the idea department—that is any idea that would motivate me to the point of starting up a startup.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone doing some absurd stuff after getting laid off?

#120

Post by YorkshireSeason »

AxEy wrote: post #78

Not laid off but on an extended sabbatical. I'm working on a Rust library for SAT solving and other things informed by John Harrison's text on Automated Theorem Proving. https://github.com/aetilley/harrison-rust This is largely for me to to learn Rust, but I think it may have the potential to turn into something cool. Next on the todo list is optimizations to DPLL as the existing implementation is currently in its mo…

Unfortunately, Harrison's book, despite its many other merits, doesn't really treat CDCL (= conflict-driven clause learning), which is really what makes SAT solvers fly.
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