You my friend may just save an otherwise wasted life! Let me know if you are hiring, I guess i would be really good in picking cow dung and grazing cattles.
Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
21–30 of 351 posts
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#22It's funny to see this stuff go full-circle. My parents left the city in the early 90's to move to a small WI farm in the middle of nowhere (15min to get to a town of 5000 people). I can see the appeal of a simpler life. But the funny thing is, as a kid, I hated it. My parents got tired of the suburbs, I longed for it. They longed for simplicity, I longed for convenience. I hated the idea of having to drive long dist…
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?
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#23Sounds like the OP was never a "programmer", but rather a farmer trapped inside a programmer's job. I think it takes courage (and a bit of risk) to completely shift the course of your career, especially while you have a family to support. I will be curious to hear if he sticks with it long term, but to me, it sounds like he never was designed to be a programmer. To be a programmer, it takes someone that doesn't mind…
He liked programming. It was the entire life style that came with it that got to him. Like it gets to a lot of us. I am feeling much of the same pain, but I think I would rather just quit the office job, and start consulting on my own.
Then you can set your own terms, possibly livable ones :)
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#24It's funny to see this stuff go full-circle. My parents left the city in the early 90's to move to a small WI farm in the middle of nowhere (15min to get to a town of 5000 people). I can see the appeal of a simpler life. But the funny thing is, as a kid, I hated it. My parents got tired of the suburbs, I longed for it. They longed for simplicity, I longed for convenience. I hated the idea of having to drive long dist…
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 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.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#25Earlier 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?
I don't know much about Michigan, but it could be due to zoning that you don't see any shops.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#26Earlier 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?
Not really. The longer the distance traveled the more you buy per trip. It's universal foraging behavior.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#27While programming may be defined by math and intelligence to many who don't know better, it is the constant learning and problem solving that keeps it fresh for me. The Evolution of a Problem Solver sounds like a better title to me.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#28I'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 more time outside, with less time pressure.
I've been thinking about this idea to build something like a "tech-farmer colony". Maybe it's been done in the past, never heard of it, but it would be a group of engineers and their families, living together and working part-time as software / hardware engineers, and part time as farmers, with flexible division of tasks. Maybe the software / hardware company could even work on projects closely related to farming, in order to improve productivity / efficiency / cut costs / promote ecologic food, etc.
I'd be curious to see if there are more people in the tech industry who would love to do something like this. I'd love to read some interesting ideas / critique.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#29shitty shit.
Re: Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer
#30That bit about coming down with the 22 got to me a bit. I had a dog attack on my chicken flock last week and one of the last remaining birds was still alive but obviously dying. Even though I see them as livestock, not pets, it was still not easy to pick her up, break her neck to kill her quickly then stand back and watch it end. Never easy to kill something you're supposed to be taking care of.
> "Even though I see them as livestock, not pets"
Isn't it funny how this is a completely arbitrary definition?
The most sensible explanation I've seen about this phenomenon is called carnism and it's brilliantly explained by Dr. Melaine Joy in this TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VrZPBskpg