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We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

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Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#61

Post by edabobojr »

sergiotapia wrote: post #28

Yes we make more money, but we also take our work with us and the stress that comes along with mentally taxing work. It's 11pm and I might be thinking of a problem at work I've been tangling for for the past 4 days. A gardner or a construction worker leaves work and _leaves work_, you feel me?

As opposed to the nurse who lost a patient, the social worker who has to remove a child from their home, a teacher that gets to see all of problems kids bring from homes, many aspects of being a police officer, etc?

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#62

Post by learc83 »

aasarava wrote: post #49
spindritf wrote: post #5

Yes, working from home is great. It is a luxury. Working at your own pace is also nice. But working "on the Internet" means you're also comparing yourself to the best, brightest, and driven. Then it seems like you're achieving maybe 10% of what you seemingly could be, because you're setting your own goals based on what you see out there. It's like getting stuck in traffic. You can point out that I'm sitting in climat…

So what is the hack that keeps us from constantly taking our luxuries for granted? Just as with the traffic situation, how often do we find ourselves complaining about having to do the laundry or the dishes or vacuuming or even heating up something for dinner -- all fairly small and easy tasks thanks to the help of technology, which took much more time and labor in a previous generation? Yes, it's true that the compl…

>So what is the hack that keeps us from constantly taking our luxuries for granted?

There is no hack. Humans are wired to seek novelty. Novelty by definition wears off. The best thing I've found is to try to seek novelty in creating rather than consuming, but our very nature ensures contentedness is an elusive goal.

Many people attempt to attain contentedness through religion. I'm religious myself, but I think that man was made to create, and to improve the world, so being content with the status quo isn't really something I've tried to work on.

That being said, I think that it is important to attempt to be thankful for what you have while still working towards the future.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#63

Post by RyanZAG »

aasarava wrote: post #49
spindritf wrote: post #5

Yes, working from home is great. It is a luxury. Working at your own pace is also nice. But working "on the Internet" means you're also comparing yourself to the best, brightest, and driven. Then it seems like you're achieving maybe 10% of what you seemingly could be, because you're setting your own goals based on what you see out there. It's like getting stuck in traffic. You can point out that I'm sitting in climat…

So what is the hack that keeps us from constantly taking our luxuries for granted? Just as with the traffic situation, how often do we find ourselves complaining about having to do the laundry or the dishes or vacuuming or even heating up something for dinner -- all fairly small and easy tasks thanks to the help of technology, which took much more time and labor in a previous generation? Yes, it's true that the compl…

Going camping with a tent for a fairly extended period generally works well (and serves as great exercise and a holiday, too). Try to do this low tech though, eg. walking a good distance from your car so you can't use the car battery etc. When you spend 2 hours making a fire and getting some hot soup it gives you a chance to think about how easy it usually is.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#64

Post by zaphar »

aasarava wrote: post #49
spindritf wrote: post #5

Yes, working from home is great. It is a luxury. Working at your own pace is also nice. But working "on the Internet" means you're also comparing yourself to the best, brightest, and driven. Then it seems like you're achieving maybe 10% of what you seemingly could be, because you're setting your own goals based on what you see out there. It's like getting stuck in traffic. You can point out that I'm sitting in climat…

So what is the hack that keeps us from constantly taking our luxuries for granted? Just as with the traffic situation, how often do we find ourselves complaining about having to do the laundry or the dishes or vacuuming or even heating up something for dinner -- all fairly small and easy tasks thanks to the help of technology, which took much more time and labor in a previous generation? Yes, it's true that the compl…

Complaining is often a result of comparing our situation to the rest of the environment. When you are sitting in your car in traffic you see that other lane moving faster than you and you get frustrated. When you are at that amazing job you see that other guy two job levels above you with even more perks.

If you only surround yourself with an environment where you don't quite measure up then your baseline gets set two high. You need to recalibrate.

I recalibrate by doing Charity work. And I don't mean just writing a check. I roll up my sleeves and actually engage with people in less fortunate circumstances. Work in a soup kitchen or a food pantry. Volunteer to repair or rebuild someones house when they can't afford to or a tragedy has struck.

It exposes you to people who haven't had the breaks that you had and also helps raise the standard of living for someone less fortunate or lucky and that helps keep your baseline from getting to high.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#65

Post by gohrt »

Touche wrote: post #23
rjknight wrote: post #12

No, we do not have luxurious jobs. Other people have really really shitty jobs. Software developers are just getting the kind of relative pay and conditions improvements that a much larger number of people took for granted in the 60s and 70s. It's everyone else who is fucked.

This. We enrich "business guys" with connections to billion dollar exits while we ourselves make middle-class or slightly upper-middle class wages. Meanwhile anyone willing to take out the loans to put themselves through Dental school will eventually make more than we do and if they have the motivation to open up their own practice, much more than we do.

You think dentistry is a luxury? Half the time is chasing down nonpying clients, the other half is doing disgusting physical labor.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#66

Post by coolsunglasses »

throwaway812 wrote: post #30
Touche wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. We enrich "business guys" with connections to billion dollar exits while we ourselves make middle-class or slightly upper-middle class wages. Meanwhile anyone willing to take out the loans to put themselves through Dental school will eventually make more than we do and if they have the motivation to open up their own practice, much more than we do.

I agree with the sentiment, but I think your facts are a bit off and reflect HN insularity. The median 33% household income ("middle class") in the US is $30,000 to $62,500 ( household ). Even if you are the sole earner in your household, it is still unlikely that you make less than $62,500. If you do make less than that, ask for a raise. If you don't make less than that, or your combined household income is more tha…

This is highly location dependent and programmers are often located in expensive cities.

100k in the bay area is just middle class, no upper qualification. Very unlikely to afford a home within 25 minutes of work unless they're in the south bay.

You need 200k total household income before a mortgage on a $1.3mm house (starter home cost in most neighborhoods) is realistic.

There is a 10x difference in the cost of a home in SF and Austin (where I just moved to from SF) and a 20x difference between SF and where my father lives in Ohio.

There is not a 20x difference in income between developers and the 30-60k US median. The medianites live out in the sticks where their mortgage is $150-600 a month.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#67

Post by Touche »

andykmaguire wrote: post #50
Touche wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. We enrich "business guys" with connections to billion dollar exits while we ourselves make middle-class or slightly upper-middle class wages. Meanwhile anyone willing to take out the loans to put themselves through Dental school will eventually make more than we do and if they have the motivation to open up their own practice, much more than we do.

Many (or most) of the great technology companies have technical founders that benefit tremendously from a successful exist. Equating "business guys" with "the man" who get all the benefit and engineers as the poor labor is misguided and ignores basic facts. Every technology startup that blows up have people with engineering backgrounds in positions of senior management. Across levels of seniority, engineers often mak…

Engineers who work for technology companies are in the extreme minority. The average engineer works for a non-technology company doing work that management views as an expense, not a revenue generator, coding up features that sales people who make twice as much as them promised to a client months ago.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#68

Post by redblacktree »

samstave wrote: post #19

No, I am keenly, almost obsessively aware of how lucky I am and how fragile my situation can be. I have three kids, a stay at home wife, make a considerable salary and have a job I absolutely love and excel at. But I am still fundamentally subsisting; my living expenses are just covered by what I make and am not able to save a considerable amount. This scares the bejesus out of me because all my kids are young: I hav…

I addressed that fragility in my own life by following most of Dave Ramsey's advice. If you're in debt and you're not budgeting strictly, I humbly suggest that you pick up one of his books and start today.

For a bit of inspiration: I started the process with about $47k in debt. This included student loans, auto loans, and credit cards. After 19 months of working on "baby step #2," I've reduced that debt to $10k, and I expect to have it fully paid by August of this year. I used to feel as you do, about the fragility of my situation, and I now feel much much better, since my monthly expenses have reduced by about $700 (due to no longer needing to service that debt), and soon I'll feel better still, as I accumulate an emergency fund of 6 months' living expenses.

Obviously, I can't know your personal situation or your specific challenges, so take this advice from a stranger on the internet for what it's worth. If you can benefit from it though, you will feel so much better about your situation.

Take care.

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#69

Post by biafra »

samstave wrote: post #19

No, I am keenly, almost obsessively aware of how lucky I am and how fragile my situation can be. I have three kids, a stay at home wife, make a considerable salary and have a job I absolutely love and excel at. But I am still fundamentally subsisting; my living expenses are just covered by what I make and am not able to save a considerable amount. This scares the bejesus out of me because all my kids are young: I hav…

Why does your wife not work? Lack of daycare in your area? Lack of work opportunities for her in your area?

Re: We Have Luxurious Jobs but We Are Not Aware of It

#70

Post by MyNameIsMK »

Dear Recruiter, You are a middleman. Your job is pointless. Your industry will go "kapoom" soon. Enterprising young people are already figuring our ways to automate you out of your job . Take me off your list. I am not a 'lead', or a 'prospective candidate'. Show me the money. That's what she said. Goodbye.
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