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Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#191

Post by tarsinge »

artagnon wrote: post #66

I used to work as a compiler engineer in the US for several years, before deciding to try starting over at the age of 30, in pure mathematics. I moved from the US to Paris in pursuit of an affordable mathematics education, and spent two years in a Masters program. I did have a considerable amount of savings, but it was very risky nevertheless: if it didn't work out, I'd be out-of-touch with compilers, and it would be…

OT but if your French is decent and in a few years you get tired of city life maybe keep the French countryside in sight, outside of Paris it's a different country.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#192

Post by greenpeas »

OliverGuy wrote: post #177
mauvehaus wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's me! It also generated a rather large discussion here and if you want to read how things were going up to that point, I posted a lengthy comment there: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964 How am I doing now? Still good, still grateful to be married to somebody who gets good health insurance through their job. Still need to update my website a bit (is that work ever really done?). Still working on the…

Do you still have all your fingers?

Have you mastered 9 finger touch-typing?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#193

Post by bufordtwain »

mabbo wrote: post #47

The greatest such story I've ever read is this one from a GitHub issue comment: https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149... > Sorry I missed your comment of many months ago. I no longer build software; I now make furniture out of wood. The hours are long, the pay sucks, and there's always the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw, but nobody asks me if I can add an RSS feed to a DBMS, s…

My son is taking classes in IT and one of his current lecturers switched from carpentry to IT after cutting off several fingers.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#194

Post by LanceH »

armagon wrote: post #187
User23 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw This is a solved problem. SawStop will reduce the injury from amputation to somewhere between laceration and a pinch.

Looks like the price has finally come down a bit, but it did seem to be $2000+ for something with a saw stop, but only $200+ for a regular table saw, making it out of reach of many home handypeople. Interestingly, as I recall, nearly as many people are injured each year from power tools as are injured in vehicular collisions (in the US) and way more people drive than use power tools. There is a solution, yes, but the…

So you're saying to put the saws on the vehicles...

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#195

Post by mrsofty »

selimthegrim wrote: post #94
mrsofty wrote: post #38

yep my wife and I. we retired from tech ( startups) at 50. In order to keep out minds working AND make a buck we decided to both trade options. Luckily for us we have chums who own a trading environment that teaches people, like us, how to do this effectively and so we set off on our adventure. Very quickly into this I decided to code up a trading analysis dashboard which gave us guidance as to the REALITY of our app…

Interested to hear more about your experience with Julia!

I was in Silicon valley for most of my time, lucky to have Tom Perkins as our Chairman and Ceo for our first startup as he taught us how to ignore the "shiny" tech. Our experience with Julia has led us to believe that it's a language with a great future behind it. We're going to work with the Carbon guys to highlight lessons learnt.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#196

Post by penumbral »

cryptica wrote: post #182

I've been passionate about coding since I was 14; I self-taught myself to code on school library computers during my lunch break, went to uni, was involved in some startups. I still enjoy coding (I'm 32 now) but I hate coding as a day job because I'm forced to do everything in ridiculously inefficient ways. I often think to myself; surely, if they force me to use these insanely wasteful, over-engineered tools, they s…

Sad how much this comment resonated me, but 1000% true in my current work environemnt.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#197

Post by zer0tonin »

gvedem wrote: post #142
GoToRO wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.

>It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on it seems like everyone in this thread saying "tech workers get no respect" actually just work for shit companies...

Well, there's probably a lot more shit companies than decent ones out there

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#198

Post by mrsofty »

cosgrove wrote: post #93
mrsofty wrote: post #38

yep my wife and I. we retired from tech ( startups) at 50. In order to keep out minds working AND make a buck we decided to both trade options. Luckily for us we have chums who own a trading environment that teaches people, like us, how to do this effectively and so we set off on our adventure. Very quickly into this I decided to code up a trading analysis dashboard which gave us guidance as to the REALITY of our app…

What is your general approach? Selling premium? Earnings announcements? Do you frequent any online communities of professionals, or is it just you, your spouse, and your mentors? Beyond wanting to learn alternative approaches myself, I help moderate a local trading group. We are always looking for presenters in our monthly meetings.

Yes we sell premium. I suggest you listen to the www.tastylive.com people, they are pretty sharp and realistic. We do NOT listen to anyone but the math and our mentors who help us add realism to the approach. Pure math is ok but, as Simons showed, you need a little guesswork in there. We use graphical representations of complex data sets ALA Tufte.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#199

Post by bityard »

detourdog wrote: post #73
fwlr wrote: post #43

Dropped out of tech, arguably more by force than choice. My lifestyle, finances, social life, even country of residence (and by extension my love life) were all balanced on top of that little MacBook Pro. Used it for work, used it to socialize, eventually my brain refused to let me mediate my entire life through a computer any longer and I burned out. Now I work at a hotel! Receptionist, barista, waiter, even some ma…

I work as a janitor in the building I own and I love it. The problems people bring to me are so realistic and easy to solve. The worse thing that could happen is I have to call a tradesmen. I have about 24 bills to pay a year. The real world happens at such a manageable scale compared to technology. The stress of being a System Administrator was such a low-level hum I didn't know it was there.

Wow! I've been dabbling in real estate investment as a potential escape hatch from tech and I'd love to hear more about this!

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#200

Post by adamsmith143 »

jollofricepeas wrote: post #154
shigawire wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why would you just accumulate savings without using them for living an interesting life? Having kids. Not that you have to do this with kids, but it is a reason

I don’t understand Americans POV on this subject. Other than providing tutors and making sure their children are in the best secondary schools, I don’t understand the American obsession with paying for college. The best way to prepare your child is to let them experience reality not coddle them. - A luxury university diploma will not guarantee a good job - There are other educational opportunities besides an expensiv…

Not sure if you know but things in the US are outrageously expensive. Childcare might cost 4k per month, a private tutor is ~50-100/hr, the best schools are generally either public schools in the richest suburbs or private schools that cost 50k/year. College even at a State University is going to cost $10,000 per year and at least as much for living costs so you are looking at ~$80,000 for a 4 year degree.

>- A luxury university diploma will not guarantee a good job

Maybe not guarantee but it can certainly make a difference. All else being equal a job candidate with a degree from University of Florida is going to get passed up for one with a degree from Yale and one with a degree from University of South Florida is going to get passed up for the one from University of Florida.

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