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Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

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Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#71

Post by Aeolun »

usrnm wrote: post #56
sukruh wrote: post #35

Most of the people I know who pursue creative/crafting hobbies alongside a software development job have chosen to work for well-known big companies, for prestige and safety, and ended up unfulfilled in their jobs. Most big companies are not good if you want to solve problems and build stuff. Especially "the enterprise", where software is seen as a cost center so the less of it the better. The effort of managing up e…

What's wrong with doing a boring job for a lot of money and then getting all the fun elsewhere? This actually seems to be the best way to do it to me

Doing the boring job at all is a waste of 50+% of your waking hours? By all means, do it if it makes the remaining 50% more enjoyable, but I think it’s possible to have both.

I want to have my cake and eat it too.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#72

Post by peschkaj »

asddubs wrote: post #22
jeromenerf wrote: post #20

You can find all the problems of Software in Woodworking, except that sometimes, using an axe is a legal and well-suited move.

You would basically never use an axe in woodworking. It's widely considered bad practice, produces unstable results, and there are better tools available

Well, I mean you could use an adze or a froe. Axes are really common in green woodworking (chair making) and they’re great for getting wood to split along the grain.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#73

Post by bmj »

>I went through those stages too: when the Agile meetings at my last job got so absurd that we were being asked to estimate JIRA task time in T-shirt sizes

Oh, boy, I can relate. Every three months, I think our program increment planning meetings can't get more ridiculous and, yet, they do. Most recently, we were told that we should just treat story points as days of effort.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#74

Post by darkwater »

sukruh wrote: post #35

Most of the people I know who pursue creative/crafting hobbies alongside a software development job have chosen to work for well-known big companies, for prestige and safety, and ended up unfulfilled in their jobs. Most big companies are not good if you want to solve problems and build stuff. Especially "the enterprise", where software is seen as a cost center so the less of it the better. The effort of managing up e…

I was in a fast-growing company (although adjacent to Tech), that grew "big" and went though tons of extra bureaucracy where you will spend months fighting for some stupid change that makes all the technical sense. Now the company is sinking, I hope I will be fired and with the severance package I can enjoy life for 6-8 months and then go find again a company where I can fix things and impact someone's life in a mostly positive way. Wish me luck.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#75

Post by Aeolun »

MyFirstSass wrote: post #51
mavamaarten wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. People nag our customer service until they get redirected to us (software engineers). When you finally spend expensive time looking into their issue, finding the root cause on their end, take the time to explain it in detail, more often than not the answer is among the lines of "couldn't be bothered to read your response, it still doesn't work, fix it!". I love software development. I love building both s…

Same in many industries. I have friends who are restaurateurs and people are often extremely ungrateful, demanding and straight up mean. Most don't earn a lot, margins are slim and people are late, you have to perform 100% for each dish, then people don't show up, get mad when arriving late, want well done when they say rare, or think the chef can just magically change the recipes to accommodate bizarre allergies or…

I find that after about 15 years of it I have a pretty good intuition for when it’s a ‘me’ problem versus an external one.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#76

Post by austin-cheney »

Last year I abandoned my JavaScript career of 15 years. I made a promise to myself that I will NEVER go back for less than $500,000. Yes, the number is large enough to reach absurdity, but that’s the point.

I am currently happy at my current job that pays well enough writing proxies. The team and leadership are great with tremendous internal training. It just feels military, which is fitting since it’s at a military organization.

If this line of work doesn’t work I will still not go back to software. I would rather be unemployed and lose my house.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#77

Post by Aeolun »

withinboredom wrote: post #4
cqqxo4zV46cp wrote: post #2

> when the Agile meetings at my last job got so absurd that we were being asked to estimate JIRA task time in T-shirt sizes Feels like a very outsized reaction to have to something well-intentioned, useful, and not-ridiculous.

It's quite ridiculous for a number of reasons, well documented by research and experience: software engineers can't estimate how long something will take with any kind of accuracy.

That’s true, but it’s also well documented that biz likes having any estimate over nothing, no matter how unrealistic.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#78

Post by demondemidi »

sukruh wrote: post #35

Most of the people I know who pursue creative/crafting hobbies alongside a software development job have chosen to work for well-known big companies, for prestige and safety, and ended up unfulfilled in their jobs. Most big companies are not good if you want to solve problems and build stuff. Especially "the enterprise", where software is seen as a cost center so the less of it the better. The effort of managing up e…

I worked for big companies, startups, and freelance. If you don’t take control of your career you will be unfulfilled. Software has the pick of the litter. The winning combination is a big company and a role you chose. Security, compensation, and creativity all in one. Startups are 90% likely to fail, contracting will set you back late in life if you don’t hustle all the time. YMMV but nothing beats a blue chip.

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#79

Post by anal_reactor »

xandrius wrote: post #64
t43562 wrote: post #48

I have to laugh because I find almost all programmers are like this. They are almost always people who like making things. A lot of them are musicians too. I find DIY to be similar - you get a physical result, you use your hands to make something, the satisfaction is almost always about pleasing your own sense of what you want. Ok there's the wife too but .... I also like feeling that I can cope with certain jobs eve…

Yeah, agree! I also find cooking (not necessarily baking) to be quite similar to programming: you follow steps and if some bug happens in production (too salty, too thick, not flavourful enough) then you go in and try to debug it and fix it (I guess the simile breaks down here). But if someone is good at breaking down IT tasks, I believe they will be able to prepare a large meal with multiple courses, as I find it re…

I love baking! I purposefully don't try to optimize my recipes so that there's always a bit of art, magic, randomness, individual element to it. It's so much fun compared to corporate job!

Re: Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software

#80

Post by withinboredom »

Aeolun wrote: post #77
withinboredom wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite ridiculous for a number of reasons, well documented by research and experience: software engineers can't estimate how long something will take with any kind of accuracy.

That’s true, but it’s also well documented that biz likes having any estimate over nothing, no matter how unrealistic.

Then ask for an estimate of effort, not time. Let someone else take the responsibility of figuring out how long that will be.
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