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I appreciate the post (for what it's worth). I suspect that we are probably considered "anachronisms," in today's culture. I am retired. I didn't want to be re

I appreciate the post (for what it's worth). I suspect that we are probably considered "anachronisms," in today's culture. I am retired. I didn't want to be retired, but I was told that I'm too old (I was 55, when I retired in 2017) to be playing at programmer; that it's a young man's game, and I should just go and carve decoy ducks in my garage or something. Fortunately, I had enough set aside, that I was able to just accept that no one wants to play in my sandbox, and work on my own. The scope is more humble, but I am absolutely thrilled with the work that I do, and so are the folks that benefit from it (I tend to write stuff for people that can't afford the kind of stuff I write). Money isn't everything, but I suspect a lot of folks don't realize that, until it's way too late.

JohnFen 2y ago
> I was told that I'm too old (I was 55, when I retired in 2017) to be playing at programmer; Maybe you were ready to retire anyway so this doesn't matter -- but you shouldn't believe what you were told on this matter. There are tons of software engineering positions where being on the older end of things isn't considered a handicap. I'm pushing 60 and find there is plenty of opportunity. About half of the engineers I've worked with over the last 30 years or so have been over 40, many over 50. I have a coworker on my team right now who is one of the best devs I've worked with and is 73.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
  Part of it is my chosen specialty: Swift native Apple programming. Some folks actually seem to be offended that "olds" are doing it (I've been writing Swift since the day it was announced, and have released over 20 apps with it -all on my own time. My paid gig never wanted that stuff). I ran a C++ shop, with really experienced engineers. They were all able to get jobs, after our department was dissolved, but it took them years, and at least one of them keeps getting laid off, every two years or so. I used to say "My dream is to be coding for free." Livin' the dream, baby! [EDITED TO ADD] I think that I was ready to retire, but had no idea, until I was pushed out of the nest. I was REALLY pissed off, for a while, at the way that I was treated, but, in the aggregate, it has been the best thing that ever happened to me.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    > Part of it is my chosen specialty: Swift native Apple programming. Ahh, that makes sense. There are subcultures within the industry that are very bigoted about age. Fortunately, they aren't representative of the entire spectrum of the industry. > Livin' the dream, baby! Excellent! That's what we're all striving for, I think (although we all have different dreams). Keep it up!

JohnFen 2y ago

> I was told that I'm too old (I was 55, when I retired in 2017) to be playing at programmer; Maybe you were ready to retire anyway so this doesn't matter -- but you shouldn't believe what you were told on this matter. There are tons of software engineering positions where being on the older end of things isn't considered a handicap. I'm pushing 60 and find there is plenty of opportunity. About half of the engineers I've worked with over the last 30 years or so have been over 40, many over 50. I have a coworker on my team right now who is one of the best devs I've worked with and is 73.

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
Part of it is my chosen specialty: Swift native Apple programming. Some folks actually seem to be offended that "olds" are doing it (I've been writing Swift since the day it was announced, and have released over 20 apps with it -all on my own time. My paid gig never wanted that stuff). I ran a C++ shop, with really experienced engineers. They were all able to get jobs, after our department was dissolved, but it took them years, and at least one of them keeps getting laid off, every two years or so. I used to say "My dream is to be coding for free." Livin' the dream, baby! [EDITED TO ADD] I think that I was ready to retire, but had no idea, until I was pushed out of the nest. I was REALLY pissed off, for a while, at the way that I was treated, but, in the aggregate, it has been the best thing that ever happened to me.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > Part of it is my chosen specialty: Swift native Apple programming. Ahh, that makes sense. There are subcultures within the industry that are very bigoted about age. Fortunately, they aren't representative of the entire spectrum of the industry. > Livin' the dream, baby! Excellent! That's what we're all striving for, I think (although we all have different dreams). Keep it up!