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My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

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Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#171

Post by yellowapple »

physcab wrote: post #22

This really is only one small segment of the programming population. I really hate superficial shit like this that paints tech workers in a bad light bc most have ordinary jobs and live ordinary lives and aren’t social recluses. I work typical 9-5, wife and kids. We go grocery shopping and make dinner every night together. We live very modestly and we have lots of non-tech friends and family. It’s literaly nothing sp…

The article was almost my experience, having (within the last two weeks!) relocated to SF for a promotion. The near-work coliving space I was originally considering wasn't quite this extreme, but with 14 people sharing 2.5 bathrooms - and 0 people having a private bathroom (contrary to what was advertised on their website) - it certainly felt a bit too dorm-room-ish for my tastes. I was going for a private room, but I do know there were bunk-bed rooms, too.

After the showing for that one, I was able to get a showing and eventual application acceptance for some tiny studios at a nearby converted hotel - no kitchen, but totally private bed and bath for only $100 or so more per month than what the coliving space offered. So far so good - not my ideal living space by any means (I miss having an actual kitchen), but it's a short-term lease, so it gives me time to find something better.

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#172

Post by j7ake »

gm-conspiracy wrote: post #115
j7ake wrote: post #95

Is this monthly rent what is expected or is this an outlier case?

From multiple recent cursory craigslist searches, it seems you can find a bedroom of your own in a shared apartment/house for $1200, but you would share a bathroom. For around $2000, you would share an apartment, but have your own bedroom and your own bathroom. For $3000 to $4000, you can have your own space and bathroom, but that would unlikely be more than 500sqft. All seem to want a security deposit equivalent to…

Thanks. Wow the prices really increase at a steep rate!

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#173

Post by ybtrewa »

dhnsmakala wrote: post #167
ybtrewa wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, your situation doesn't sound a whole lot better. I assume for $400 more he could have graduated to a full sized room.

1/2 roommates and private bath vs a dozen roommates and a closet...and we're talking about staying in SF here. If I wanted to save money, I'd accept a half hour commute and get a room near a Bart station for half the cost. This article is a total lie, unless these people are really bottom of the barrel idiots.

Ok fair enough. I'm in the bay area too and I think you're being very optimistic/unrealistic re half the cost, near a Bart station with only a half hour commute (assuming you work in SF).

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#174

Post by fastball »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #152
fastball wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

London is an amazing city. I don't think there is much more to it than that. People just enjoy living there even if it doesn't make as much sense economically.

I disagree. The pollution, increase in knife and gang crime, work yourself to death culture and overcrowding due to immigration. This makes London not feasible for the long term. If you look at statistics of immigration / emigration from London by age. Anyone below 30 is net migration, whilst above 30 its the opposite.

Ok, well you are in the minority of people who don't think London is an amazing city then. Not really sure what your point is. It's still a place people want to live, even if quality of life is lower than other places. It's just that desirable in many people's minds.

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#175

Post by ashtonbaker »

mmt wrote: post #36
akavi wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...I don't think so? Or at least, it's totally alien to me as someone who's spent ~6 years in SF tech. 1,200 $/mo is more than enough to get a room to yourself in the nice neighborhoods; admittedly, you'll need to put in the time on craigslist to find sublets, "interview" with potential roommates, etc. I can see if you're desperate to find a place in a hurry, an airBnB like this might make sense for a month, but more…

> 1,200 $/mo is more than enough to get a room to yourself in the nice neighborhoods One of the difficulties potential renters can run into, especially ones from out of town, is that no matter how nice the neighborhood is from a residential standpoint, it might be much less nice from a commuting standpoint (be it work or the coding bootcamp). Whenever I try it, I find public transit within SF to be remarkably time-co…

I know this isn't for everyone, but I'm just curious - what about cycling? Are the distances large or is it simply a congestion or street layout issue for driving and public transit?

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#176

Post by hfdgiutdryg »

sockgrant wrote: post #137
hfdgiutdryg wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean enthusiastic, curious, focused, or interested. Not passionate.

Can you explain why you don’t think a SWE can be passionate about coding? I don’t think I understand your point.

Read the definition of passionate. People mean enthusiastic and misuse passionate. I have no idea why, they do it, other than as a completely arbitrary way to discount others whenever they want.

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#177

Post by hfdgiutdryg »

walshemj wrote: post #144
hfdgiutdryg wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean enthusiastic, curious, focused, or interested. Not passionate.

Well one of the DBA's I worked with at BT made his own sensory deprivation tank and used to meditate on problems. They where also renowned for saving a huge sum of money for the company when a quarterly CSS run barfed badly - CSS was the BT billing system and the worlds largest IBM system at the time.

That's not passion. That's a reasonable, experimental approach to problem solving.

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#178

Post by mylons »

volkl48 wrote: post #163
mylons wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boston isn't really cheaper than The Bay. Traffic is terrible, so commuting by car long distances is out, and living near your job is often just as expensive as The Bay.

Can't really agree with that. There's still quite a few sanely priced neighborhoods with good transit access, and without huge crime issues. (Ex: Malden)

looking at what's available for under 800k in malden, and I don't really like the idea of living in a former retirement home.

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#179

Post by [deleted] »

hobls wrote: post #14
themoat wrote: post #2

I know the author wised up and moved on, but I would rather work construction for the rest of my life than be a programmer and live like this. I worked for a startup for a couple of years that really got it right. The CTO really wanted a certain lead developer as his first hire (they had previously worked together) and the lead dev said (paraphrased, of course) "Nope. Not interested in working more than 40 hours per…

Oh no. I hope you find another time in your life where you’re treated as well as you were then.

[deleted]

Re: My life with 12 programmers, 2 rooms and one 21st-century dream (2016)

#180

Post by coolaliasbro »

marmaduke wrote: post #101
noir_lord wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want the 40 hours and treat like a human not a code producing robot I found the best way is to work as a techie for a none-tech company. I handle the internal ERP and related software (android terminals, sandblast machines etc) I get to work on varied problems in multiple languages where my contribution is immediately visible and then go home at 5pm. It's glorious, I'll give up programming as a career rather t…

This is a good point. Not even tech but being one of few fluent programmers is a good position.

Completely agree. Just understanding paradigms and being willing/able to read documentation goes a long way at non-tech companies.
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