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I am a self-employed furniture maker. I'm that guy who somewhat infamously no longer builds software[0]. About a year ago I moved my operations from a makerspac

I am a self-employed furniture maker. I'm that guy who somewhat infamously no longer builds software[0]. About a year ago I moved my operations from a makerspace to my own shop. That's come with its ups and downs. On the one hand, I know which idiot last used a tool: me. On the other, I would no longer see other humans besides my wife most weeks. To keep sane I also work one day a week at a bike shop fixing bikes. It's something I'd done on a volunteer basis many years back. The unexpected nice thing about this is that it gives me projects that are an hour or two in size in addition to the many-week sized projects that I do as part of my business. It's sort of like getting to fix a small bug in the midst of adding a big feature; it lets me pop out of the big project for a bit and see something else through from start to finish and see some tangible progress before diving back into a long-running project that moves forward in fits and starts. Beyond getting to tackle some bite-sized projects, I'd say the thing that sustains me is getting to work with clients. It's tons of fun when people come to me with a vision that we can iterate on and bring into reality. And then the flip side is also rewarding: getting to scratch an itch and turn a design I've been turning over in my mind into reality. Edited to add: If you've got an idea for a furniture or woodworking project, my contact info and website are in my profile. https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149477 https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149...

buttermonster 3y ago
I'd love to hear more about this. I'm a software developer by day and woodworking is a huge passion. Alas due to full time job, kids and other commitments, I don't have much time for it at the moment. Did you start off with woodworking as a hobby? If so, has it affected your enjoyment now it's a job? What pitfalls did you find when you first started out?
- mauvehaus 3y ago
  I'm sorry you don't much time to pursue it; It's a delight to get to build things! I might be a little weird in that I started woodworking by taking classes to explore it as a possible career change. I took some evening classes, followed by some week-long classes to see how it would feel to do it all day for a full week. It's not directly comparable, but it was close enough. Given that I got into this with the intent of it possibly being a job instead of going from hobby to career, I'm not sure I have a good basis for answering whether doing it for work has sucked the enjoyment out of it. I love building stuff, and when I get tired of doing one kind of project, I seek out other types. Sometimes I quote something lower than I otherwise would if it's something I'd like to do (or vice-versa). Honestly, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this for work. The parts that do sometimes wear me down are the non-woodworking parts. Today I'm in front of my computer getting my books finalized to get a P&L to my accountant for our taxes. I can enthusiastically recommend FreshBooks for having excellent support, but damn, bookkeeping is not my thing. Figuring out how to market the product is also a trick; I don't have a background in that, and I'm probably overlooking opportunities as a result. Keeping a website up to date is sometimes kind of a hassle. My wife does most of the nuts-and-bolts work (because otherwise I'd get hung up on stupid stuff that doesn't matter), but I'm still very much a part of generating the content. As for pitfalls, I guess the above has pretty well covered it :-D Figuring out the non-woodworking aspects is a continuous learning experience.
jeanlucas 3y ago
I still find your comment hilarious
oooyay 3y ago
Hah I remember seeing this issue. It made me chuckle. I also do wood working part time, it's kinda funny how similar software and woodworking are. I'm hoping to open up a hobby shop one day that teaches both software and woodworking. Congrats to you on following your dreams.

buttermonster 3y ago

I'd love to hear more about this. I'm a software developer by day and woodworking is a huge passion. Alas due to full time job, kids and other commitments, I don't have much time for it at the moment. Did you start off with woodworking as a hobby? If so, has it affected your enjoyment now it's a job? What pitfalls did you find when you first started out?

mauvehaus 3y ago
I'm sorry you don't much time to pursue it; It's a delight to get to build things! I might be a little weird in that I started woodworking by taking classes to explore it as a possible career change. I took some evening classes, followed by some week-long classes to see how it would feel to do it all day for a full week. It's not directly comparable, but it was close enough. Given that I got into this with the intent of it possibly being a job instead of going from hobby to career, I'm not sure I have a good basis for answering whether doing it for work has sucked the enjoyment out of it. I love building stuff, and when I get tired of doing one kind of project, I seek out other types. Sometimes I quote something lower than I otherwise would if it's something I'd like to do (or vice-versa). Honestly, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this for work. The parts that do sometimes wear me down are the non-woodworking parts. Today I'm in front of my computer getting my books finalized to get a P&L to my accountant for our taxes. I can enthusiastically recommend FreshBooks for having excellent support, but damn, bookkeeping is not my thing. Figuring out how to market the product is also a trick; I don't have a background in that, and I'm probably overlooking opportunities as a result. Keeping a website up to date is sometimes kind of a hassle. My wife does most of the nuts-and-bolts work (because otherwise I'd get hung up on stupid stuff that doesn't matter), but I'm still very much a part of generating the content. As for pitfalls, I guess the above has pretty well covered it :-D Figuring out the non-woodworking aspects is a continuous learning experience.

jeanlucas 3y ago

I still find your comment hilarious

oooyay 3y ago

Hah I remember seeing this issue. It made me chuckle. I also do wood working part time, it's kinda funny how similar software and woodworking are. I'm hoping to open up a hobby shop one day that teaches both software and woodworking. Congrats to you on following your dreams.