It seems like he might have solved his problem twice. I have a friend who's a serious dog person, and having a significant other who gets home several hours before he does has helped his dog to be happy. Perhaps Lisa also has an easier schedule than dsowers would have if he continued being a chemist.
Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
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Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#22The bit about having to overcome feelings of guilt about disappointing your advisor in order to live the right life for you really resonated with me. Taking the long-term view to make the right short-term life choices is something that many of my unhappy colleagues still toiling on their doctorates would benefit from. We PhD dropouts have decades of experience meeting and exceeding the expectations of others by the time we reach graduate school, so it feels like a radical step to finally place our own needs and desires above the need for validation from others in our lives.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#23The author's opinions on incurring credit card debt strikes me as naive with a hint of survivorship bias. > As long as you use the money properly, and investing in yourself is the best possible way to use money, credit cards can give you a new life. If by using the money properly he meant investing in his business, then, what would have happened if his business instead failed (as most do)? Incurring high-interest deb…
That's the wonderful and horrible thing about the US. There are a myriad of high risk high reward options like credit cards and student debt. For some people they pay off, for others they end up drowning in debt. There are some wonderful success stories and some terrifying stories of lives reduced to abject poverty.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
lol. Sorry for ripping on cat people at the end. For the sake of my dog, I felt like I had to get at least one jab in there.
I found it a happy little jab at the end of a serious, introspective article. Thank you for the neat read! I, personally am looking to get a dog and cat(s) soon, and I, too, realize the massive time commitment these animals require to make it worth it. I'm shooting for a stronger at-home presence before I make the leap.
My roommates told me that when I went home to visit family for vacation, my cat apparently sat at the door every day as if she was waiting for me to come back. What am I supposed to say when I hear that? She demonstrates her affection in other ways too. Dang, you get attached so easily. Definitely be prepared to be committed before you get a pet.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#25The author's opinions on incurring credit card debt strikes me as naive with a hint of survivorship bias. > As long as you use the money properly, and investing in yourself is the best possible way to use money, credit cards can give you a new life. If by using the money properly he meant investing in his business, then, what would have happened if his business instead failed (as most do)? Incurring high-interest deb…
That's the wonderful and horrible thing about the US. There are a myriad of high risk high reward options like credit cards and student debt. For some people they pay off, for others they end up drowning in debt. There are some wonderful success stories and some terrifying stories of lives reduced to abject poverty.
I think it is mostly wonderful. In the part of the third world my parents are from unless your family is independently wealthy then you simply won't be able to afford to go to college and thus are destined to (at best) have some very low-paying menial labor job.
Contrast this with the US, you can get federally-backed, low-interest loans, go to school majoring in engineering and move from poverty to middle class in one generation.
Pretty sweet deal, imo.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#26Remember kids, if you work hard, sacrifice, and have parents with a spare house in Tahoe they can lend you rent-free indefinitely, you too can make it as a programmer.
Pretty sure he would have found a way even without these advantages. Might have taken a longer time, might have been a pretty ugly show, but once the conviction the hardest part was over.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#27I like this guy. Except for when he acted like cat owners couldn't make sacrifices too. I once had to cut a trip short because my cat missed me so much that he made himself sick.
I'm a dog and cat person, though mostly I've only been what my roommates have been. My current roommate has a dog. My last few roommates have had cats...Living in New York now, what I wouldn't give for a mouse-killing cat...
It's hard to say which animal is better, overall. I will say though that a cat whose devotion you've earned, to the point that it's as loyal as a dog (yet knows how to use the litter box)...is my favorite hybrid pet of all.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#28A dog is a living creature, just like a child is. Sounds good enough to attempt to make it happy. I wouldn't worry about what others think. ;-)
(note: I don't have a dog.)
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#29Best ending ever.
Re: Sacrificing everything for my dog. How I became a programmer
#30I'm in the same situation, getting sick of spending too much time away from home, but I am already a programmer who's made to commute 2.5hrs a day for a job I can do from home :(