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I left the industry for the exact same reasons as you. I like like solving problems conceptually, but don’t actually care for the hours of bug fixing and learni

I left the industry for the exact same reasons as you. I like like solving problems conceptually, but don’t actually care for the hours of bug fixing and learning syntax. I stopped pursuing it because I don’t think I have the drive to make it my career. However, I do like tinkering on my own time and not feeling pressured to do better because it’s my job. In my current non-programming job, I get to go home after finishing my tasks and I still get paid the same 8 hours a day. So, I made a little Shortcut in iOS that tracks my arrival time, what time I finished, what time I left work, and the workload that day. I plan to write another script to parse the data and graph it. Another example, if you like cooking, you can write a program that calculates cost per recipe given parameters like how much you bought the ingredients for and how much you used.

giantg2 6y ago
What is your non-programming job that pays the same for 8 hours?
- lawkwok 6y ago
  Believe it or not, I became a letter carrier (mailman). It’s not the most glamorous job or what I expected to do, but it’s the most enjoyable job overall I’ve had. I get to enjoy the outdoors and push myself physically while listening to podcasts. If you have a good route, you can probably finish in 4 hours and get home by mid-afternoon and have time to actually enjoy life and hobbies. If you really want, there’s plenty of opportunity for overtime. I don’t know if I’ll be a lifer, but at least there’s a pension building up while I decide what to explore next.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    I thought that paid less than $60k per year? Plus, those are tough to get without civil service points (like military service).
    - lawkwok 6y ago
      I’m from Canada, so while we don’t have civil service points that I’m aware of, it sounds like the wage is similar. There’s a lot of overtime so people can definitely pull in more than $60k. I was never part of the 6 figure startup scene commonly seen on HN. Plus, I worked for a super small company that didn’t pay well for my web development work so the letter carrier job is actually a horizontal move. At the moment, I think of it as a more enjoyable job with similar pay.

giantg2 6y ago

What is your non-programming job that pays the same for 8 hours?

lawkwok 6y ago
Believe it or not, I became a letter carrier (mailman). It’s not the most glamorous job or what I expected to do, but it’s the most enjoyable job overall I’ve had. I get to enjoy the outdoors and push myself physically while listening to podcasts. If you have a good route, you can probably finish in 4 hours and get home by mid-afternoon and have time to actually enjoy life and hobbies. If you really want, there’s plenty of opportunity for overtime. I don’t know if I’ll be a lifer, but at least there’s a pension building up while I decide what to explore next.
- giantg2 6y ago
  I thought that paid less than $60k per year? Plus, those are tough to get without civil service points (like military service).
  - lawkwok 6y ago
    I’m from Canada, so while we don’t have civil service points that I’m aware of, it sounds like the wage is similar. There’s a lot of overtime so people can definitely pull in more than $60k. I was never part of the 6 figure startup scene commonly seen on HN. Plus, I worked for a super small company that didn’t pay well for my web development work so the letter carrier job is actually a horizontal move. At the moment, I think of it as a more enjoyable job with similar pay.