Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer • Hacker News Board

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#171

Post by ArkyBeagle » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

philbarr wrote: post #22

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 never understood that about America. I've been lost in the suburbs in Michigan once, driving along for ages with just house after house after house, and thinking, "where's the local shop?" Surely it's got to be worth someone setting up a local shop every couple of miles?

Americans are big optimizers. Our retail has gone big for logistical and economy of scale reasons. Paradoxically, this is how we are frugal while maintaining a nod to consumerism. For a complex set of reasons ( much of which involves how our tax system works ) , we tend to separate housing space from business space unless you're in a city where that grew up closer together.

Suburbs are unnatural and inorganic, and that's what people either hate or love about them.

This being said, there's frequently a "convenience store" that's sometimes closer than Big Mart. No veggies or actually even food, but they're there.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#172

Post by mturmon » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:09 PM UTC

dudifordMann wrote: post #98

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…

That sounds amazing. Lately I've been picking up hobbies, like wood working or building more hardware centered projects because day-to-day I design and produce software, which itself is intangible. My girlfriend is from upstate New York, and her father is a farmer. It's backbreaking work to run a farm if you're mostly by yourself, hiring farm hands when necessary, and when ROI is sufficient. Yet, at the same time, th…

If you have a connection to upstate NY, and are interested in this stuff, you might want to visit the Ithaca EcoVillage: http://ecovillageithaca.org/live/

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#173

Post by zrail » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:11 PM UTC

pnathan wrote: post #157

zrail wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMHO, this is also the reason for really bad public transit. This is an undisputed fact, as people in those communities will readily protest the "crime train" coming through their neighborhoods.[1][2] [1]: http://lewwaters.com/2012/05/22/light-rail-likely-to-raise-v... [2]: http://larslarson.com/would-you-trust-your-kid-on-the-crime-...

That's horrifying. 'specially as I thought Portland area had good transit!

Don't get me wrong, Portland has excellent transit. However, a very large number of people who work in Portland actually live in Vancouver, WA. Those commuters strenuously object to running light rail over any proposed replacement bridges for the more than 100 year old trestles that currently handle all of that traffic. In addition, commuters to the south of the city limits also strenuously object to light rail running into their neighborhoods.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#174

Post by saganus » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:11 PM UTC

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.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#175

Post by iagooar » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:12 PM UTC

a8da6b0c91d wrote: post #140

pjc50 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is essentially the hippy commune / kibbutz concept, with the wrinkle of generating most of its "foreign exchange" through tech work rather than pure agricultural produce. With a bit of careful tax planning you could offset all the fun unproductive stuff against tax and claim both R&D and small farmer allowances. Division of tasks is where this kind of thing tends to fall down.

> hippy commune / kibbutz concept It's been tried over-and-over-and-over for centuries and there's a ton of research. If it's not based on a religion, it fails, is the long and short of it. Only works with religious people.

Is there some interesting research paper one could read?

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#176

Post by jefurii » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:12 PM UTC

Immortalin wrote: post #72

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.

After all, the grass is always greener on the other side..

Except in California.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#177

Post by dejv » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:13 PM UTC

dasmoth wrote: post #101

jkot wrote: post #53

Cubicle != programmer. One can program and run company from a farm.

Do you do this yourself at the moment? It's certainly possible on paper, and looks like a more-or-less ideal balance to me -- but very interested to hear about actual experiences.

I did it for two years. It is possible, but the farming work is quite demanding and you always have something to do outside. I also find it much interesting to go out to do work or just visit neighbours than actually sit down and do much coding.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#178

Post by iagooar » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:15 PM UTC

ctb_mg wrote: post #118

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…

It would be interesting to subsidize your tech R&D (and therefore your food output) by using a CSA-style subscription service. You don't have to only self-sustain. You could produce quality food for the local community using technology.

Thanks for this information. Looks like CSA is a lot more common in North America than in Europe, but I guess there are similar solutions worldwide.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#179

Post by worklogin » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:15 PM UTC

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.

I imagine it's similar to drinking from a mother. One way or another they're twisting their heads or looking up.

Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer

#180

Post by crpatino » Tue, May 05, 2015, 5:17 PM UTC

magice wrote: post #146

You know, farming may be wonderful and all. But it's not silver bullet. Nor does it make programming any less rewarding, provided that one does it right. In fact, it is YOUR OWN DAMNED fault if you fail to sing with your children while you worked as a programmer. Wait, it's your own damn fault for pretty much everything in your life. Programming is not the disease; you are. I know people who finished extra degrees wh…

It. Is. Not. About. You. Nobody's bashing your job. It's about someone sharing their own journey.

On the other hand, I think you do us all a big disservice by clubbing down anyone who has anything slightly negative to say about our trade. If you cannot criticize, you cannot optimize.