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Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

hello-world.io

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Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#221

Post by yellowapple »

tsunamifury wrote: post #86
dasmoth wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

World, maybe. But in terms of building a somewhat-self-sufficient community -- which seems to be what's being suggested here -- why wouldn't all-engineers work?

Land management, cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, teaching, schooling, animal husbandry, community health, repairs, safety, upkeep, music/arts/entertainment, policy... the list goes on And while many engineers seem to believe they can do anything with applied knowledge -- practice and execution are two very different things.

> Land management

You mean "civil engineering"

> cooking

You mean "culinary engineering"

> cleaning

You mean "sanitary engineering"

> teaching

You mean "educational engineering"

> schooling

You mean "educational engineering"

> animal husbandry

You mean "agricultural engineering"

> community health

You mean "medical engineering" or "civil engineering"

> repairs

You mean "engineering"

> safety

You mean "engineering"

> upkeep

You mean "engineering"

> music/arts/entertainment

You mean "acoustic/visual/recreational engineering"

> policy

You mean "political engineering"

> the list goes on

And the list will still be refactored into engineering fields (some of which I may or may not have extracted from my rectum in an ad hoc fashion).

Engineering really just boils down to using the scientific method, mathematics, and ingenuity to solve problems. Pretty much every activity you described could very easily have an engineering mindset applied to it.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#222

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

blt wrote: post #116
ashark wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be a lot happier as a programmer if I could do it only about 20 weeks a year. Hell, I'd probably gladly work 60+ hour weeks then. 40 hours week after week and I slowly grow to hate it. If only programming work were seasonal. 1/3 of my work weeks programming, 1/3 studying, practicing music, and doing non-programming creative work, 1/3 physical labor and building things with my hands. That'd be my perfect life, I t…

I'm continually in search of a job where I can split my time between programming and building stuff. I already had my dream job. I was writing control and data processing software for lab instruments, but also doing mechanical design, making parts in a machine shop, assembling electronics. Then my grant ran out, and I wasn't getting paid much either. Still think my dream job would be building boutique one-off scienti…

You and me both, sunshine!

Occasionally I get to do all that stuff above, outside the day job, and I love it. Trying to turn it into a real business but slow in getting there.

And I already live on a farm...

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#223

Post by chrismarlow9 »

iagooar wrote: post #28

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and this post definitely gives me some motivation. I'm a programmer who loves to code and build stuff, learning new programming languages and frameworks, discussing about architecture, etc. I love shipping new features and making customers happy. BUT inside of me a desire has been growing to go back to the roots, to live a life closer to the nature. I feel the need to spend…

I'm in

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#224

Post by yellowapple »

iagooar wrote: post #28

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and this post definitely gives me some motivation. I'm a programmer who loves to code and build stuff, learning new programming languages and frameworks, discussing about architecture, etc. I love shipping new features and making customers happy. BUT inside of me a desire has been growing to go back to the roots, to live a life closer to the nature. I feel the need to spend…

Count me in. For a specific location recommendation, there are quite a few existing agriculturally-oriented towns that are pushing hard to get a tech scene going. Of particular note (and one in my neck of the woods - figuratively and literally) is Loyalton, CA, USA, which has been pushing for a "tech-and-rec" environment (which sounds a lot like what you're describing, though with the "farming" component replaced with general outdoor recreation), and has been working on wireless hotspots and fiber connections to that effect in order to lure techies into the town.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#225

Post by katielo »

I'm a programmer, my dad's a dairy farmer. We're both happy with our choices. Anyone thinking of the farm life, just be careful of romanticizing it as this article does. You have to be very efficient and manage risk extremely well - a lot is out of your control (the weather, crop/livestock diseases, the prices of livestock feed/fertilizer/seed, the price of the final commodity you sell which is determined by global markets). Farmers often have razor thin margins and it can be very stressful when it doesn't rain and your crops/livestock start dying, or when input prices in your local area are above global sales prices for your commodity. These things happen from time to time and must be planned for properly (insure/self-insure and don't freak out), or you risk emotional and financial bankruptcy. This takes some doing. My dad can handle this risk and he is a very happy and successful farmer. I can't. I'm a very happy programmer.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#227

Post by Nicholas_C »

pugio wrote: post #211

This is probably too extreme of a life change for most people to implement, but there are ways to gain some of the benefits without an entire lifestyle upheaval. Recently I've begun camping on business trips instead of using my hotel budget. I'll fly in with a tent, sleeping bag, laptop, and cooler bag, rent a car, and set up camp in whichever campground is closest to the city. Most of these places are meant for loca…

> In the morning I drive into the city for business, then head back out to the campsite to hike, sit and think, and code. I haven't taken a smartphone with me, so those after-city hours are devoid of the usual notification hail.

You must be a great programmer because there is no way I could program without Stack Overflow/Google.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#229

Post by stickfigure »

mikeg8 wrote: post #214
stickfigure wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually working on something like this, although minus the hippie aspect. The biggest hurdle (at least here in California) is zoning. Every county in California restricts ag-zoned land to (at most) two dwelling units, where "dwelling unit" is typically defined by having a kitchen. There are some ways to work around this, especially if you're willing to go the "tinyhouses on wheels" route, but you get into grey z…

Curious, which part of CA?

We are primarily looking in Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, Napa, and Sonoma counties. But zoning ordinances are fairly consistent across the state.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#230

Post by Nicholas_C »

mod wrote: post #130
nkozyra wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up due to all of the perceived failings and things they're missing out on. I grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida, and hated it. My family all moved from NYC and fell in love in a heartbeat. Something about not being in the same place for too long applies here, too.

I grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida (Venice), and I liked it pretty well--but all of my peers hated it. "There's nothing to do here." I just thought "seriously? We have everything but a theme park." Go carts, beaches, movies, skating rinks, arcades, everything! I've since learned that kids say that no matter where they live, seemingly.

I have a similar anecdote. My parents moved from the country into practically the middle of Austin and took my little brother with them. He always complains how there is nothing to do in Austin and he wishes he still lived out in the country where we're from. Which is ridiculous, because there is never nothing to do in Austin!
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