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Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

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Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#541

Post by _yb2s »

sgt wrote: post #472
_yb2s wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to feel exactly like you, until I started for health reasons, and found I couldn’t have been more wrong. Weight training is the most cognitively demanding thing I’ve ever done, not at all mindless or boring. Using proper form and technique is essentially a martial art, and takes tremendous skill and focus, and can advance in skill limitlessly. As a competitive strongman, I’m also always pushing my skills by li…

I'll give the weight training a chance. What you say certainly make sense and I can't just dismiss something without trying.

Great! I recommend finding some sort of community, club, or coach. Heavy lifts are dangerous if you do them wrong, and you also run the risk of developing bad habits. An hour or two 1:1 with a strength coach from a program like Starting Strength is really worth it. https://coaching.startingstrength.com/

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#542

Post by codebutler »

gen220 wrote: post #526
bradlys wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe... don't flaunt the fact that you work in tech? I never brought it up nor do I wear FAANG apparel or anything that would indicate such. It would be brought up in conversations among other people that you'd hear. People were always bitching about people in tech going to climbing gyms. I went to Vital in Brooklyn mostly. I did metrorock in Brooklyn as well. Considered some others but that's where friends wanted…

That makes sense! For context, Vital is a climbing gym where Google employees are arguably the target demographic. It’s a strange, Equinox-y vibe. Metrorock Brooklyn is in a neighborhood that used to be working class, then was basically an art colony, and is now being converted into high-income housing (it’s been poster child region for gentrification in the last decade). So the resentment of “the other” and fear of…

I’m surprised to hear about your experience at Vital, I go there all the time and have never felt unwelcome for working in tech.

There’s also a weekly Saturday meetup for people who explicitly want to be social. https://www.reddit.com/r/nycmeetups/comments/13qpv7e/0527_1p...

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#543

Post by abnercoimbre »

wallmountedtv wrote: post #485
abnercoimbre wrote: post #55

Take matter into your own hands. "Be the change you want to see" basically. For example I organize software meetups at a nice coffeehouse. It started out with like four people a year ago, and now we average ~25-30 each month, and growing. Consistency is key. P.S. If you live in Seattle, and you're a software engineer, shoot me an email: abner at handmadecities dot com

> Consistency is key. This 100%, but a warning, this consistency also applies to the people meeting. And that is much more difficult to encourage than anything else. Funding, organizing and advertising meetups ends up being the easy part. I have run a LUG now for half a year now, and it has been impossible to get people to meet up more than once. This is regardless of content, free food, event weeks, high quality tal…

Congrats on running something consistently for half a year!

> [...] they do not want to see it gone, but also continue not showing up.

Could it be you need more than one social channel that funnels the group from one place to the next? That would improve their sense of belonging raise the stakes.

In my case, we have a website [0], a Discord, and a couple of conferences. The meetups are strongly tied to these other channels and that seems to do the trick.

[0] https://handmade.network

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#544

Post by gen220 »

codebutler wrote: post #542
gen220 wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense! For context, Vital is a climbing gym where Google employees are arguably the target demographic. It’s a strange, Equinox-y vibe. Metrorock Brooklyn is in a neighborhood that used to be working class, then was basically an art colony, and is now being converted into high-income housing (it’s been poster child region for gentrification in the last decade). So the resentment of “the other” and fear of…

I’m surprised to hear about your experience at Vital, I go there all the time and have never felt unwelcome for working in tech. There’s also a weekly Saturday meetup for people who explicitly want to be social. https://www.reddit.com/r/nycmeetups/comments/13qpv7e/0527_1p...

Oh no quite the contrary, I think we agree! :) Sorry, my comments on Vital came off differently based on the context of the paragraph. My guess is the GP's comment on being made to feel uncomfortable happened at MetroRock – it would be really ironic for a Vital person to say something unwelcoming towards tech, because techies are such a big component of their community. :)

By "strange", I meant that it's not a "typical"/"traditional" climbing gym – in that it's explicitly aimed at the top of market with their pricing, network, and amenities. Although, to be fair, it's a literally-dying breed in NYC so there isn't much to compare it to, locally.

I was saying I wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable there if I were self-conscious of appearances, because it's a relatively affluent milieu and setting. I do personally feel comfortable there myself, was just trying to empathize.

Happy to see there's meetups – it's a great place for that sort of thing.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#545

Post by YellOh »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #521
thepasswordis wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my first child was born, he didn't cry and had to spend the beginning of his life in the NICU. When he first cried, after having his life saved by doctors, so did I. I love the sound of crying babies. It means they're okay enough to cry.

I don’t have any children and don’t want any. I wish people didn’t trap me in metal tubes for 12+ hours with their crying children. My brain hasn’t been reprogrammed to enjoy it- actually the opposite; it’s a non-stop car alarm.

Maybe buy earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones? The parent probably doesn't want their child to be crying either, but sometimes there's not much to be done.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#546

Post by unsupp0rted »

YellOh wrote: post #545
unsupp0rted wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t have any children and don’t want any. I wish people didn’t trap me in metal tubes for 12+ hours with their crying children. My brain hasn’t been reprogrammed to enjoy it- actually the opposite; it’s a non-stop car alarm.

Maybe buy earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones? The parent probably doesn't want their child to be crying either, but sometimes there's not much to be done.

I use AirPods Pro with aftermarket memory foam tips.

They block about 50% of the noise of a crying child in the area. Not nearly enough.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#547

Post by YellOh »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #546
YellOh wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe buy earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones? The parent probably doesn't want their child to be crying either, but sometimes there's not much to be done.

I use AirPods Pro with aftermarket memory foam tips. They block about 50% of the noise of a crying child in the area. Not nearly enough.

Idk about AirPods in particular, but you could try layering good PNC earmuffs over your ANC earbuds? I doubt you'll get it <10%, but should still help cut a lot of the high-frequency crying.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#548

Post by bazzert »

no_butterscotch wrote: post #454
seoulbran wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second that. I do a 5:15 am class on weekdays even during the summer when I don't have to take kids to school. My wife pushes me to sleep in a little and do a later morning class but I would miss my 5:15 crew so I keep getting up at 4:30 a.m. I love the community in CrossFit.

Is there any eh video (short-docu style) on CrossFit? All I know about it is that people make fun of it. And they do weird pull-ups that I don't want to do. But I am attracted to the community aspect because I've also heard about that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTdNI6Alh4c

Like most things, "dont knock it till you have tried it". You never have to do something you are either uncomfortable doing or are unable to do; and there always progressions for movements that might be difficult for you. For example, many overhead movements are difficult for me but the coaches will always work with you to find something you can do that will still be challenging and achieve the goal of the workout.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#549

Post by Brusco_RF »

NickC25 wrote: post #53

I live in a very transient city with very little tech industry, which also happens to be a city where half the population leaves every April/May through October/November. Community has been hard, especially meeting new folks. There have been a few community tech events that have come and gone, and I've been lucky enough to meet a few friends through that. I joined a gym 4 years ago, and a lot of my friends now I've m…

Phoenix? Because I have been living in southern Arizona for 5 years now and have also found this frustrating.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#550

Post by [deleted] »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #521
thepasswordis wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my first child was born, he didn't cry and had to spend the beginning of his life in the NICU. When he first cried, after having his life saved by doctors, so did I. I love the sound of crying babies. It means they're okay enough to cry.

I don’t have any children and don’t want any. I wish people didn’t trap me in metal tubes for 12+ hours with their crying children. My brain hasn’t been reprogrammed to enjoy it- actually the opposite; it’s a non-stop car alarm.

[deleted]
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