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Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

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Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#231

Post by symkat »

greggman wrote: post #115
torrent-of-ions wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in the suburbs and hated it. I hated the idea of having to go long distances to get milk and eggs. I'm happy now in a city centre.

I grew up in the suburbs and loved it. It was safe. I was allowed to go miles in any direction. I'd go 5 miles to Disneyland or 9 miles to El Dorado Park. I'd ride 3 miles to Knott's Berry Farm or 3 miles the closest mall. I could launch model rockets at the local school. There was some dirt patches where kids would make berms for riding their bikes on. My friends were all within a couple of miles. We'd play D&D and…

You just captured my early teens -- I lived up and down Beach Blvd in the La Habra to Anaheim area from the time I was 5-6 until my mid-teens, and then spent a lot of time in Huntington Beach.

I never really thought of it as the suburbs at the time. Thanks!

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#232

Post by xrange »

coldtea wrote: post #99
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 have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up Even so, you don't hear as many kids hating on the big city as they hate on the suburbs or the countryside. I mean, kids hatred for the suburbs have inspired tons of movies and songs, for the city, not so much.

>Even so, you don't hear as many kids

>tons of movies and songs

...this seems like self-selection bias, similar to I don't know anyone who voted for "X" in the last election. I'd present the country and western music genre as a counter-point, where there is a preference for non-urban living.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#233

Post by flycaliguy »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #92

I couldn't do this; I'm too addicted to always being "on". I'm constantly checking my work phone for email (even after hours and on weekends) just to see what's going on (I'm a remote worker). I constantly look at my phone (reading everything and anything; not using FB as I'm not very social that way). I lie down to go to sleep at night and my brain is literally buzzing. My focus is shit. The other day I thought I'd…

Thing is, if like you say it's not a facebook style social engagement you are chasing, this might be the life for you. Farming is complicated. Based on the images of his homemade farming tools and the fact that he also makes music with his kid, seems like this guy is "on". You would have lots of information to look over all day. Weather alone can be addictive and constantly updating, just think of all the cool dynamic maps and satellite images you could refresh on your phone all day. Best part is you get to sit down after a long day and eat your output! Devour yesterday's effort and let it power you into the next.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#234

Post by xrange »

saganus wrote: post #174

One thing that might off topic or it might just be my lack of farming-related knowledge, but, it seems in the third picture, the one with the calves (sp?) drinking milk from bottles... aren't those bottles too high? I mean, it seems like a very uncomfortable position to drink, no? I'm obviously no cow or cow expert for that matter, but it just struck me as odd.

Baby sheep are called lambs (which are pictured). "Calves" is the correct plural spelling of the singular "calf", which are baby cows.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#235

Post by joshmarlow »

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…

Very interesting! Not something I can be involved with right now, but it resonates with a couple of ideas I've kicked around. Maybe they'll be useful?

1) what about (possibly automated) vertical farming? It sounds like there's a fair amount of research/discussion of that right now and could be a neat blend of technology/nature. I'd love to see open sourced versions of this technology; possibly with toolkits for anyone to setup on their own. Also, might in the long run give you higher ROI for given land/water resources.

2) I've often thought of setting up some kind of ranch where fellow developers could go for a bit when feeling burnt out; you join for free (or maybe a fee) for a month or so and grow your own food (or else grow food for the next wave of burnouts and eat that grown by the previous wave). Getting back to nature and doing some strenuous work could be a great way to get back in your normal groove, or to see if this is the life for you.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#236

Post by crimsonalucard »

jorgeleo wrote: post #114
jroseattle wrote: post #81

I grew up on a farm. Not surprised to see this decision in the slightest. Farming is tough -- physically, financially, and in the end emotionally. But it is still a very rewarding life. I can remember sitting on my grandfather's lap, riding on his John Deere two-cylinder (it was called a Johnny Popper.) Pre-school? I went to pre-farming. I was probably 3 years old the first time I rode a tractor. By the time I was 8,…

"The farm life works for some people" I agree. I couldn't do farm, I have bad allergies to pollen, dust, and too much time under the sun and I become red as a lobster, and it is painful But programming is what I love to do. So I will say "The programmer life works for some people" I wouldn't call the original article "The death of a programmer", I would call it "The born of a farmer". He figure out were he feels happ…

As much as we "say" we love programming and farming if ever we became so filthy rich that we could pay other people to do these things for us... we would.

I've never heard of a tech billionaire profess his love of programming so much that he's diving right back into the trenches. We're all human, we may love programming and farming, but let's be real, programming and farming are still work and we're all working toward retirement: a state where we no longer need to work.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#237

Post by kenrikm »

declan wrote: post #185
kenrikm wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grew up in Fort Lauderdale (city) and my family owned land over in Everglades City (country) where we would go and enjoy the outdoors. Swimming fishing and boating in the 10,000 islands. Overall I actually had a pretty good childhood. A few years ago I moved to the Bay Area and do like it here. However recently I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin and grow a garden,…

>I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin... You can do this in the Bay Area itself, though in general the closer you want to be to a supermarket, bank, etc. the more you'll pay. If you're west of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Cupertino and cross the 280, you encounter rural areas very quickly. And if you head far enough into the hills, prices begin to fall rapid…

Yup, also if you head south you get more open ground and the prices fall rapidly. For example I found a some land within an hour of San Jose with 100acres for 200k. The trick is finding a lot with good water access. I'm up in San Mateo so it's a bit more of a drive. Ideally I could get somthing within an hour and a half drive at a reasonable price.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#238

Post by mikeg8 »

stickfigure wrote: post #229
mikeg8 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Interesting. I'm in Sonoma County. Would love to hear more about your plans with this. hey @ mikegranados [dot] com if you feel like discussing it sometime. I'm frequently in SF.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#239

Post by xrange »

jorgeleo wrote: post #114
jroseattle wrote: post #81

I grew up on a farm. Not surprised to see this decision in the slightest. Farming is tough -- physically, financially, and in the end emotionally. But it is still a very rewarding life. I can remember sitting on my grandfather's lap, riding on his John Deere two-cylinder (it was called a Johnny Popper.) Pre-school? I went to pre-farming. I was probably 3 years old the first time I rode a tractor. By the time I was 8,…

"The farm life works for some people" I agree. I couldn't do farm, I have bad allergies to pollen, dust, and too much time under the sun and I become red as a lobster, and it is painful But programming is what I love to do. So I will say "The programmer life works for some people" I wouldn't call the original article "The death of a programmer", I would call it "The born of a farmer". He figure out were he feels happ…

>I have bad allergies to pollen, dust

Interestingly enough, if you had grown up on a farm, you many not have developed allergies...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20497148

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=allergies+and+growing+u...

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#240

Post by Symbiote »

waffle_ss wrote: post #206
jroseattle wrote: post #81

I grew up on a farm. Not surprised to see this decision in the slightest. Farming is tough -- physically, financially, and in the end emotionally. But it is still a very rewarding life. I can remember sitting on my grandfather's lap, riding on his John Deere two-cylinder (it was called a Johnny Popper.) Pre-school? I went to pre-farming. I was probably 3 years old the first time I rode a tractor. By the time I was 8,…

I also grew up on a farm - a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin to be precise, which my father and younger brother still operate. Farming can be awesome. The hard physical work and exercise are satisfying, and you'll often encounter problems that need to be solved quickly and ingeniously (e.g. some implement breaks and you need to come up with a quick fix while the sun's still up). You can really build a camaraderie wi…

> The downsides are that the work never ends and you can never take a vacation

Agriculture workers in Britain are entitled to paid holiday, sick pay, etc. Does anyone know how this works in practise in the UK, or any other Western/Northern European country? (Is their leave fixed at the employer's convenience, are temps employed in the worker's place, or what?)

[1] https://www.gov.uk/agricultural-workers-rights

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