patrick.net

I hope people continue to share. This is interesting.

Onvacation says

Retired pirate. Living off the loot.

In Caligulan splendor?

Patrick says

Programmer. Last job was at Craigslist in SF. Retired early, but not sure I'll stay retired.

You should mentor my oldest, they learn shit in school these days. At least I got him signed up for tryouts. US public school system is a joke, so are most private schools unfortunately as well, they just cost more money.

Sales Manager for a large water/wastewater technology company. I have 11 sales engineers on my team covering the Western US.

GNL says

Patrick says

Programmer. Last job was at Craigslist in SF. Retired early, but not sure I'll stay retired.

What do you think you'll do? Go back to coding?

If I really need a job, that's what I'll do again. At the moment, I'm pretty happy working on patrick.net and a genealogy website I made for my large extended family.

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

Yes, immigrants.

I maximize medicare reimbursement for hospitals. I lost several clients for not taking the toxxine but business has been nuts and busier than ever.

I bow to no man ……. that is unless I’m working - Floor covering -Fmr owner of Floor covering store - fmr. over leveraged RE investor

latitude38 says

I bow to no man ……. that is unless I’m working - Floor covering -Fmr owner of Floor covering store - fmr. over leveraged RE investor

Need an employee?

I'm fucking tired of being "smart" :D

I'm a coder but I'm sick of working for evil corporations.

I'm semi-retired, I'm working on decentralizing the internet. What I've seen so far for this is not usable. My goal is to make things like Facebook and Twitter, obsolete. Centralized control for information, at this point in time, I judge to be impossible.

We have ANCIENT tools that exist, and I want to resurrect them. If you've never experienced something like ytalk, it's between an instant messenger (SMS/IM) and a telephone call. It has a very heavy bandwidth requirement, but in this day and age, who cares? It's far less than a voice conversation, and it's not quite like a phone conversation - you can predict what somebody is about to say before they say it. It's an unusual form of communication, where interruptions are not a problem. You can't talk over one another.

So few of you realize what the early internet was like. There was a lot of great stuff, and I want to bring it back.

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

That's what I'm getting(returning) to now. I was a flooring guy in my previous life before programming Now I'm getting into to electrician work. I specialize in old Florida houses with Plaster walls and old wiring.

Tenpoundbass says

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

That's what I'm getting(returning) to now. I was a flooring guy in my previous life before programming Now I'm getting into to electrician work. I specialize in old Florida houses with Plaster walls and old wiring.

Good to make something tangible isn't it?

Here, if you want to go WAY out of the spectrum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27v7Oq-q9xs

Better talk to him before building something though. See how it holds up. Always annoyed me that we are forced to use ancient building methods but more modern ones, they've not been tested through time. I don't understand the compression stress of what he built, and I do not trust it. I think his idea would be useful for non load bearing walls though. You could make a pretty awesome Buckminster Fuller enclosure with it.

GNL says

I hope people continue to share. This is interesting.

I agree. A few I took a guess at and was right, others I had no clue at all.

NDrLoR says

Worked 30 years at Lone Star Gas Co. headquartered at 301 S. Harwood in Dallas. For 27 years I wrote and distributed the daily drilling reports and 20 of those years worked for the same man, Jack F. Lyle, Jr., VP of onshore drilling operations. Took early retirement at the end of '97 when they merged with DP&L and formed TXU.

Thanks for sharing. Your lengthy retirement inspires me.

I had a set of friends I grew up with and one of our goals was to be retired before age 50. We didn’t quite get there, but one will make it at 55 and if he hadn’t started a family at age 40, he would have made it by 52. Me and the other guy will make it before 60.

Tenpoundbass says

That's what I'm getting(returning) to now. I was a flooring guy in my previous life before programming Now I'm getting into to electrician work. I specialize in old Florida houses with Plaster walls and old wiring.

If I ever do move to Florida, I should do this.

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

If I were working with my hands, could I be posting here during normal working hours?

not doing anything right now, but working on software startup idea for construction. im very familiar with building industry.

its in the idea phase, so im not rich or big time hotshot out there.

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

Well, I now have to retile a built-in shower bench that the builder's tile man did not waterproof correctly. I removed the tile and the old backer to let the bench dry. Now I have to replace the backer board and add seams, then waterproof and relay the tile. I also have to rebuild my mom's front porch railings.

Former Civil Engineer. Quit engineering in 2009 to pursue real estate investing full-time. Got lucky. Now, I’m a “full-time” real estate investor. I work 2 hours/day, 3-4 days/week.

At this point, I don’t see myself ever going back to engineering. I’ll work and be a real estate investor until the day I die. There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

Eman says

There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

You'd be retired with a fat municipal pension and basically free healthcare?

Many of my colleagues/customers in industry that work for the public water sector are a couple years away from retirement where I still have 15+ years to go while being their same age!

socal2 says

Eman says

There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

You'd be retired with a fat municipal pension and basically free healthcare?

Many of my colleagues/customers in industry that work for the public water sector are a couple years away from retirement where I still have 15+ years to go while being their same age!

Theft. No other description for it.

RedStar says

I maximize medicare reimbursement for hospitals. I lost several clients for not taking the toxxine but business has been nuts and busier than ever.

That's literally what my current company does.

I do all things SW testing related. Hired for automation, but spend a good chunk of my time at every company attempting to get developers to follow better SCRUM and Agile practices.

SW is all service, and I don't see a future in that, at least not for the next five years. If I ever started over, I'd go into farming. But for now thinking of starting my own business with my wife as health coaches. Will stay in SW until gains traction, but I would love to help people start their journey towards better health, and getting started if often the hardest part.

NuttBoxer says

RedStar says

I maximize medicare reimbursement for hospitals. I lost several clients for not taking the toxxine but business has been nuts and busier than ever.

That's literally what my current company does.

I do all things SW testing related. Hired for automation, but spend a good chunk of my time at every company attempting to get developers to follow better SCRUM and Agile practices.

SW is all service, and I don't see a future in that, at least not for the next five years. If I ever started over, I'd go into farming. But for now thinking of starting my own business with my wife as health coaches. Will stay in SW until gains traction, but I would love to help people start their journey towards better health, and getting started if often the hardest part.

I have seen this or similar thoughts posted frequently now and I somewhat disagree. SW (and hardware) will be one of the strongest fields for many decades, automation and automated processes and improvements will continue, there is still so much out there that needs to be automated. Then there is AI, self-driving cars, healthcare wearables etc. etc. Sure there will be a nice demand for good, healthy and mostly organically farmed food, however don't think you can just do this without being harassed at every step by big govt., esp. the leftoids. If you have a nice local support network with enough clients to buy from you directly you may circumvent some of those hassles, but as soon as you rely on larger grocery chains you will likely be their bitch. I remember when they phased out raw milk from most grocery stores under obummer and his shit legacy, xiden is not any better. I have known many who went into farming and it was brutally hard to make a living. I would love to do the same, but as a side business/hobby on a small scale. I see vocational work to net good money in the future, but it's still hard work, plumber, mechanic, roofing etc. Sure tech will shed, esp. around the social media overload, but it will stay in high demand for decades imo. Whether it's fulfilling for most is a different question.

socal2 says

Eman says

There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

You'd be retired with a fat municipal pension and basically free healthcare?

Many of my colleagues/customers in industry that work for the public water sector are a couple years away from retirement where I still have 15+ years to go while being their same age!

There were moments I thought about it. I’m glad I didn’t accept that cushy offer. My wife has 3 brothers working for government agencies. Two of them can retire at 50 and one at 55. Great deal with the pensions IMO.

Richwicks - Haha I appreciate the offer .There’s one thing in life that has never been beaten and remains undefeated throughout the ages -Father Time .I think I might be bowing out of the race .You mught get a kick out of all the Sillycone Valley jobs I’ve done at one or another . Memorex probably the first landmark , most of the chip manufactures , I recall when Intel was a small OEM company in Mtn View as Intel grew I worked SC 1 &2 Singer Computer most of the HP bldgs and there quite a few back then Amoex in Redwood City pretty much the vast majority of SillyCone ,early Apple bldgs ,,Lockheed -Motorola -ISS the disc manuf . ,IBM bldg including the bldg that made disc drives he list goes on -Steward Brand of whole earth catalog I think he invented the mouse but his ideas were similar to what your saying information as tools Kevin Kelly ,John Barry Barlow of Eletrontic Frontiers Foundatiin also a songwriter for the Grateful Dead .It was interesting listening to these guys when they got together ……. though they were mikes ahead of my grasp Digital Equipment the small computer in Maynard Mass and Frammington ? It was in a old civil war factory .Atari gave me the prototype for their future games like asteroid and so on my kids were popular .
Ten Ton Bass ,Were you a journeyman installer ? I recently was going to go do a couple remodels in Kissnme Ut the hurricane changes that haha -I use to fly down there to do cruise ships that was $$ when I was going to Tahiti ti do a barefoot ship it was halted …….my wife said you ain’t going there or traveling anymore period .Dang !!

mell says

SW (and hardware) will be one of the strongest fields for many decades, automation and automated processes and improvements will continue, there is still so much out there that needs to be automated. Then there is AI, self-driving cars, healthcare wearables etc. etc.

Your outlook is based on the current system lasting, it can't. And completely ignores the primary purpose of the computer age, information, being co-opted by every government in the world in an attempt to realize 1984. The system is fatally flawed, beyond repair, and falling down around our ears. Adapt or die.

Eman says

At this point, I don’t see myself ever going back to engineering. I’ll work and be a real estate investor until the day I die. There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

@Eman is there a target cap you recommend to not go below on rentals? im looking to invest into few here, but cap is pretty low around 4. im in ID as you know. these seem to sell every year too, noone holds them.

or just look for total fixers, sweat equity fix em up to get better cap?

FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden says

Eman says

At this point, I don’t see myself ever going back to engineering. I’ll work and be a real estate investor until the day I die. There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

Eman is there a target cap you recommend to not go below on rentals? im looking to invest into few here, but cap is pretty low around 4. im in ID as you know. these seem to sell every year too, noone holds them.

or just look for total fixers, sweat equity fix em up to get better cap?

One of indicators for buy and hold says don't buy when your CAP is lower than your mortgage rate. You be eaten alive by bank.

REpro says

FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden says

Eman says

At this point, I don’t see myself ever going back to engineering. I’ll work and be a real estate investor until the day I die. There were moments I reflect back and thought had I accepted the offer to work for the Water District, what would my life be like by now?

Eman is there a target cap you recommend to not go below on rentals? im looking to invest into few here, but cap is pretty low around 4. im in ID as you know. these seem to sell every year too, noone holds them.

or just look for total fixers, sweat equity fix em up to get better cap?

One of indicators for buy and hold says don't buy when your CAP is lower than your mortgage rate. You be eaten alive by bank.

True. That’s called negative leverage. At a minimum, need 20% buffer, but 30-40% would be more ideal. This means if borrow rate is at 5%, you need the asset to have 6-8% cap rate.

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

I kind of work with my hands. It's categorized as labor. Thing is I don't "need" the job and it's seasonal. We're a small school district but have 3 schools with about 30 acres of land a piece. I mow the lawns and it's flexible so I take care of the kids and house when not working. I get the winters off, we don't have to hire anyone to deal with the kids and I'm paying into the retirement system here.

You could categorize it as semi-retired. In season I deal with no humans outside of shop talk with the bus barn. Gets me out of the house and covers our current mortgage for the year. I get winters off. After 15 years in RE managing a brokerage for a child boss I'm done with service industries and having a "boss" that cares. Grass is cut and trimmed you don't have a boss at that point.

Wife works in road building sales without getting into details as it would dox me. She's known nationally... which is annoying. I'm a fucking spoiled human basically is what I'm getting at because of her work. I get to jam out to my favorite bands, make the schools look like a country club, get a tan, don't have to deal with people, and the commute is 1-8 minutes to the schools.

I did originally build the website for the wife's company. It's not an industry that needs a flashy website, but what they had was pure shit. Either way a $1M company is worth $30-40M now and I've helped a lot with that. Been a crazy ride.

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

I tried working with my hands for pay. I fell off a ladder painting and the other time the foreman of the framing company fired me because I couldn't handle the Texas heat with hauling lumber to the carpenters. I think construction isn't my forte.

I have cooked for pay...that was fun.

Back in IT.

1337irr says

I fell off a ladder painting and the other time the foreman of the framing company fired me because I couldn't handle the Texas heat with hauling lumber to the carpenters.

Fuck ladders. I can handle heights, but all it takes is a foot cramp and you're on the ground. One of our agents back in the day was working on his primary home and fell 2 stories off a ladder. Was in the hospital for two weeks and ended up with permanent scarring on his face. Xmas lights on the gutter freak me out every year if I'm being honest.

Nothing. Retired.

Some Snarkey Bay Area Hipster may "Gotcha!" me for sharing my status when I wrote on a different thread that we charge my plug in hybrid EV at the workplace

If you say so, homie, - whatever. I am retired but not everyone in my household is retired.

mell says

I have seen this or similar thoughts posted frequently now and I somewhat disagree. SW (and hardware) will be one of the strongest fields for many decades, automation and automated processes and improvements will continue, there is still so much out there that needs to be automated. Then there is AI, self-driving cars, healthcare wearables etc. etc. Sure there will be a nice demand for good, healthy and mostly organically farmed food, however don't think you can just do this without being harassed at every step by big govt., esp. the leftoids. If you have a nice local support network with enough clients to buy from you directly you may circumvent some of those hassles, but as soon as you rely on larger grocery chains you will likely be their bitch. I remember when they phased out raw milk from most grocery stores under obummer and his shit legacy, xiden is not any better. I have known many who went into farming and it was brutally hard to make a living. I would love to do the same, but...

What would be your advice to a freshman in Computer Science at Ohio State University?

gabbar says

mell says

I have seen this or similar thoughts posted frequently now and I somewhat disagree. SW (and hardware) will be one of the strongest fields for many decades, automation and automated processes and improvements will continue, there is still so much out there that needs to be automated. Then there is AI, self-driving cars, healthcare wearables etc. etc. Sure there will be a nice demand for good, healthy and mostly organically farmed food, however don't think you can just do this without being harassed at every step by big govt., esp. the leftoids. If you have a nice local support network with enough clients to buy from you directly you may circumvent some of those hassles, but as soon as you rely on larger grocery chains you will likely be their bitch. I remember when they phased out raw milk from most grocery stores under obummer and his shit legacy, xiden is not any better. I have known man...

If you want to work in SW engineering, always do hobby work at home and at least one side gig if possible, with different technologies. The most important aspect is breadth, don't specialize unless it's something you know will be in high demand for many years to come. The landscape is shifting so fast these days that you have to be at least somewhat familiar with everything. Probably - unless you go into an academical career - 80% of the work experience useful to get you hired comes from outside the university.

WookieMan says

Xmas lights on the gutter freak me out every year if I'm being honest.

I would recommend not installing lights and using a ground based Christmas light projector if you feel the need to decorate.

I also do my own roof repairs, but I have a roof access panel (2nd floor) and a flat roof.

1337irr says

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

I tried working with my hands for pay. I fell off a ladder painting and the other time the foreman of the framing company fired me because I couldn't handle the Texas heat with hauling lumber to the carpenters. I think construction isn't my forte.

I have cooked for pay...that was fun.

Back in IT.

lol same. I did an internship at a restoration/painting co. which also does some construction many years ago. After using an electric grinder for 2 days making my body reverberate, toppling over freshly painted blinds, and other fun stuff, I decided after the 2 weeks were over that vocational work may not be in my skill set. I can do crude work, heavy lifting and stuff, but when it comes to house stuff where you need skilled hands I just do the bare minimum, rest is done by contractor. I prefer manual tools over electric ones, e.g. drills (though I occasionally use them), and I assemble all the furniture we buy. I don't touch electrical wiring although theoretically I should know how to do it. I used to assemble computers occasionally back then, but I feel much better suited for software than hardware. Over the years though I have at least increased my vocational skills to be able to do small work here and there in the house when necessary ;)

komputodo says

I see coding, IT, engineering, programmers, office stuff....does anybody work with their hands anymore?

I am definitely not working with my feet. Noone pays for footjobs anymore behind Wendys

I think the incentives in America are all wrong. The most money goes to those who put others out of work or even those who peddle debt. It just feels wrong but, I guess...Welcome to the Jungle.

GNL says

I think the incentives in America are all wrong. The most money goes to those who put others out of work or even those who peddle debt. It just feels wrong but, I guess...Welcome to the Jungle.

de industrialization made a lot of that. cheap labor overseas coveted by greed, we sold our businesses to China. that is flaw in the system where the golden calf is worshipped.