Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 463 posts

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

#321

Post by ProllyInfamous »

mtm wrote: post #299

After working full time in a wide variety of tech since 1983 (embedded systems work on medical equipment and commercial fire alarm systems, hotel reservation systems, ramp and fuel delivery systems in aviation, multiple startups in Silicon Valley, etc, ad naseum) I’m currently taking a break and working as a pin setter mechanic at a couple of local bowling alleys. The work is physical (running up and down the back of…

Pin-ball machines seem to have This Certain Zen, which when money is of less importance to me... perhaps I can fruitlessly explore (some day).

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

#322

Post by bshipp »

mywacaday wrote: post #222
bshipp wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats a good question, and no, I haven't written them up yet. I probably would title it "Adventures in ADHD". I grew up in a rural region and so ended up in university for agricultural science, but midway through my second year I was accepted into the Air Traffic Control school. My best friend was driving long-haul tractor trailers across the USA and since I had a half year waiting for my ATC school to start I went t…

How was your ADHD diagnosed and how did you deal with it, I have just been given a questionnaire to by my psychologist to see if I have it.

That was similar to my experience. I had gone in for some counseling with a therapist and she forwarded me to a psychologist. After a few weeks he diagnosed it.

I'd love to say it was magically fixed by pills but it will always remain a struggle.

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

#323

Post by ProllyInfamous »

SamWhited wrote: post #311
gavinray wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you going to lose your house? You bought it while you had tech money and the bicycle mechanic money can't pay for it now? Have you considered doing some consulting or something on the side? So sorry to hear this.

yah, I have the tinniest cheapest house pretty far outside of the city but the mortgage is just too much without roommates (which is how all my coworkers afford apartments), but it's small enough that I really don't want to do that I've tried to do some consulting work, but never could figure out how to get any clients. Apparently this is a thing people do somehow, but everyone I asked just knew somebody to get their…

Same thing (on the housing situation)... except I'm currently in fear of losing my home to an active landslide that just recently took out my septic.

Currently been using a portable toilet, for weeks, with no end in sight. Perfect metaphor for the mid-life crisis that's fortunately been co-happening during this same shit period =P

Currently seeking land with less of a view, and more solid foundations.

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

#324

Post by MR_Bulldops »

sleton38234234 wrote: post #270
ewhanley wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a total win. You studied what you wanted, didn't completely wipe out your finances, and successfully re-opened a door you thought may have been permanently closed. I view self actualization as a far more important component of a life well-lived than your savings balance.

but he's back to where he started in the beginning. I didn't sound like there was any more self actualization, after he went back.

Going on an adventure and finishing back where you started is not a bad result.

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

#325

Post by dharmab »

mtm wrote: post #299

After working full time in a wide variety of tech since 1983 (embedded systems work on medical equipment and commercial fire alarm systems, hotel reservation systems, ramp and fuel delivery systems in aviation, multiple startups in Silicon Valley, etc, ad naseum) I’m currently taking a break and working as a pin setter mechanic at a couple of local bowling alleys. The work is physical (running up and down the back of…

This sounds just like the early Simpsons episode where Homer quits the nuclear plant to work a rewarding job at a bowling alley!

https://youtu.be/T4MjXFV3q_I

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

#326

Post by cryptonector »

mabbo wrote: post #233
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…

I need you to understand that I think about this comment all of the time . Every time someone asks for something ridiculous, I think "I could be making furniture out of wood". I doubt that I am alone in that.

You're not remotely alone in that; this thread is full of people thinking the same. Save up money, buy land, build a small home, become a small scale farmer. That's a fantasy, but quite realizable. OK, first the kids have to grow up and leave the house if you have kids -- if you're not going to have a large income, then you'd best not have large responsibilities. Maybe you can supplement with consulting. Or maybe you'd take a job for a few years then semi-retire again.

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

#327

Post by EMM_386 »

synu wrote: post #33
globular-toast wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why it's so important to mix with people from outside of your bubble. HN has some of the worst examples of people who don't know what they have. The discussions around salary are particularly amusing. I'm lucky because my partner is a nurse so I never forget how easy my job is. I also grew up in a poor family and I haven't forgotten what that was like. Honestly, if people would go and spend a long time in a c…

For me it's not that I don't feel lucky or enjoy my job in a general sense I guess. I just don't want to do the same thing over and over again my whole life. I started programming on a Commodore at like 6 or 7 years old and have basically never stopped now that I'm in my 40s.

Same age, same concerns.

I was 8 when I started on a PcJr with BASIC.

I'm now in my 40s writing everything from Angular to C# APIs to database stored procedures.

Honestly, I've had enough and already suffered through one massive burnout that almost cost me my career.

I've been looking at what else I can do ... but I have no idea. And that scares me.

I can't see myself doing this in my 60s! And I'm not really the management type.

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

#328

Post by counttheforks »

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…

And we still can't do concurrent pushes/pulls

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

#329

Post by counttheforks »

mdorazio wrote: post #263
armagon wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Just a quick note on this since I ran into the same wtf? moment a few years ago. 1) Saw Stop holds a number of patents that legally prevented anyone else from adding the same tech to their saws. Most of the patents didn’t expire until 2021, but a few are still effective until 2024. We will probably see other manufacturers add similar features in 2025 as a result. 2) SawStop built its reputation on being a premium bra…

Another point to show how deeply unethical the US patent system is. I wonder how many people have lost appendages because of these patents and the exorbitant pricing?

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

#330

Post by vintermann »

Not me, but I used to work with a software developer who quit and became a train driver. As far as I know he's still driving.

I also know a guy who quit and became a Methodist priest, though I'm not sure he worked as a software developer much, he started at the seminary pretty quickly after finishing his first degree.

Post reply on HN