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My first developer laptop was one of these hacked to run Ubuntu. I think I dropped $400 on it. That puppy took me from barista to employed software developer.
by zumu 6y ago
My first developer laptop was one of these hacked to run Ubuntu. I think I dropped $400 on it. That puppy took me from barista to employed software developer.
Afterwards it found a second life as my favorite travel / bedside laptop until a glass of water claimed its life a few years back.
- brailsafe 6y agoAre you happier as a barista or SD? :) I'm only kind of being snarky
- iakov 6y agoIt's a valid question though. So many of my colleagues in software engineering want to be baristas, or bake bread, or grow organic marijuana! But I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
- mettamage 6y agoFor me not really. Remote work all the way :) It takes a certain kind of person, and I'm part of that group ;-)
- will_pseudonym 6y agoI got a laugh at the "grass is always greener" pun. Thanks :)
- Spooky23 6y agoMy high school job as a barista/sandwich maker/prep guy was probably the best job from a fun POV ever.
- llampx 6y agoNow imagine doing that as a 45 year old
- Spooky23 6y agoLiving on that salary would be misery. But I like talking to people and enjoyed interacting with customers and regulars.
- rhizome31 6y agoLiving without the social stigma associated with IT work (at least in western countries) is also an incentive. So many times I have seen faces changing when I say that I work as a SD. It's a real attraction killer. I even once had a lady who wouldn't believe me because I was "too cool" to do this job.
- zumu 6y agoBeing in the service industry isn't great either. I was blown off many a time when the person I was otherwise hitting it off with found out I was a barista. I have literally been laughed at. I have a lot of pent up trauma about it.
- zumu 6y agoI was a barista at a pretty successful shop, where we did a LOT of business. It could be fairly back breaking work at times. Despite winning a few awards (excuse the brag), I don't think I ever made more than $44,000 a year in a high cost of living metro. But yea, being young, working with my hands, and having significantly less after work mental baggage was all awesome. Doing painful physical labor 40 hours a week, but barely being able to afford rent and having no sick days or health care makes it a pretty poor trade in the big picture. There really are two Americas, and having lived in both, it is much better in the bubble than on the outside. Everyone is different so ymmv, but that is my experience.
- core-questions 6y agoAll good SDs are their own baristas ;)