3 ms·

I feel terrible for this guy, but he really has stacked the deck against himself by moving to a rural area and refusing (or being unable) to work "on-site". He

I feel terrible for this guy, but he really has stacked the deck against himself by moving to a rural area and refusing (or being unable) to work "on-site". He is up against every new grad and every laid off FAANG programmer clinging to the notion that they should be able to work remotely. To be clear, I'm a huge proponent of remote work but I recognize that many power dynamics have shifted in the last few years. I could offer a number of critiques about things but instead, I'll encourage him to go back and un-delete his AI vlog content as even if he feels the ground has moved, I would likely find his interest in this topic as a positive thing. I would also recommend he move his tech vlogs to someplace where the topic was the focus rather than blending it into other important parts of his life.

autumnstwilight 1y ago
Am I a bad person for laughing when I realized he ranked "Wordpress theme developer" above the "rock-bottom" of applying for a non-remote job? (Typing this from an office.)
- Spivak 1y ago
  It feels like we're living two separate lives when it comes to remote work. If my office was a 5-10 minute walk then in-office could be fine. I used to longboard to the office and I didn't have too many complaints. But after getting 2+ hours of my day back every day, an extra hour of sleep, gas money, not having to meal prep or get take-out, and work among my at-home comforts not under wight fluorescent light and an oppressive HVAC it's really hard to imagine an in-office job getting preference over basically any remote job. I did the hour commute thing, I hated it even when it was the norm.
  - uberman 1y ago
    I hear you for sure. I personally have the luxury of working remotely on a semi-regular basis when I'm not on site at a client's location and I love it. I have worked remotely on and off for 20 years and it is not all gravy though. It does get kind of lonely sometimes. On the flip side, in my early career, I worked with a one way daily commute of 90 minutes or 3 hours a day! That was sure a kick in the crotch.
  - parliament32 1y ago
    But isn't that a textbook self-caused problem? You could live in the city and have a 5-10 minute walking commute. But you choose to live somewhere with a lower cost of living, more space, etc.. and then complain about the commute. It feels like you're trying to have your cake and eat it too, and (for OP) it's predictably backfiring.
    - Spivak 1y ago
      I mean I do live in the city, 10 minutes walking doesn't actually cover that much distance. It gets me to the end of my street basically. I'm genuinely struggling to think of any US city where you wouldn't have to move any time you changed jobs to maintain a short walking commute.
      - parliament32 1y ago
        Yeah of course, it depends on your city. But you're not going to have a two hour commute within city limits. My city is conveniently on a quasi-island, so the sprawl is naturally limited -- if you get a place somewhere near the center it's a 20-minute walk to all of the "ends".
        vel0city 1y ago
        > But you're not going to have a two hour commute within city limits "Within city limits" is where things get fuzzy in the giant metroplexes of the US. I've got family that live in Arlington and work in Plano. It's an hour and a half most days. They never really leave "the city" despite driving across several different cities. Just one massive sprawl. They aren't the only people I know who have commutes like this. A friend lives in Josephine and works in Addison. I know people who live in Anna and work downtown.
    - BriggyDwiggs42 1y ago
      Isn’t the cause the unnecessary requirement of onsite? This forces parent into the least of two bad options.
- bb88 1y ago
  A co-worker in NJ had a 4 hour commute one-way because of the I-80 potholes. This is just so he could sit in an office while all of his teammates were remote in other locations.
- xtracto 1y ago
  I was just offered a job in Capital One (the bank) in Mexico city(mexican living in a cheap state in Mexico). I declined because I already have a remote job and I prefer that. But, if i didn't have that luxury, I would not hesitate to sort my stuff to go where the work is. People that refuse to work on site and instead remain unemployed remind me of the saying "we've done nothing different and we are all out of ideas" . Just 20 years ago we HAD TO go where the jobs were. We've become very entitled.

autumnstwilight 1y ago

Am I a bad person for laughing when I realized he ranked "Wordpress theme developer" above the "rock-bottom" of applying for a non-remote job? (Typing this from an office.)

Spivak 1y ago
It feels like we're living two separate lives when it comes to remote work. If my office was a 5-10 minute walk then in-office could be fine. I used to longboard to the office and I didn't have too many complaints. But after getting 2+ hours of my day back every day, an extra hour of sleep, gas money, not having to meal prep or get take-out, and work among my at-home comforts not under wight fluorescent light and an oppressive HVAC it's really hard to imagine an in-office job getting preference over basically any remote job. I did the hour commute thing, I hated it even when it was the norm.
- uberman 1y ago
  I hear you for sure. I personally have the luxury of working remotely on a semi-regular basis when I'm not on site at a client's location and I love it. I have worked remotely on and off for 20 years and it is not all gravy though. It does get kind of lonely sometimes. On the flip side, in my early career, I worked with a one way daily commute of 90 minutes or 3 hours a day! That was sure a kick in the crotch.
- parliament32 1y ago
  But isn't that a textbook self-caused problem? You could live in the city and have a 5-10 minute walking commute. But you choose to live somewhere with a lower cost of living, more space, etc.. and then complain about the commute. It feels like you're trying to have your cake and eat it too, and (for OP) it's predictably backfiring.
  - Spivak 1y ago
    I mean I do live in the city, 10 minutes walking doesn't actually cover that much distance. It gets me to the end of my street basically. I'm genuinely struggling to think of any US city where you wouldn't have to move any time you changed jobs to maintain a short walking commute.
    - parliament32 1y ago
      Yeah of course, it depends on your city. But you're not going to have a two hour commute within city limits. My city is conveniently on a quasi-island, so the sprawl is naturally limited -- if you get a place somewhere near the center it's a 20-minute walk to all of the "ends".
      - vel0city 1y ago
        > But you're not going to have a two hour commute within city limits "Within city limits" is where things get fuzzy in the giant metroplexes of the US. I've got family that live in Arlington and work in Plano. It's an hour and a half most days. They never really leave "the city" despite driving across several different cities. Just one massive sprawl. They aren't the only people I know who have commutes like this. A friend lives in Josephine and works in Addison. I know people who live in Anna and work downtown.
  - BriggyDwiggs42 1y ago
    Isn’t the cause the unnecessary requirement of onsite? This forces parent into the least of two bad options.
bb88 1y ago
A co-worker in NJ had a 4 hour commute one-way because of the I-80 potholes. This is just so he could sit in an office while all of his teammates were remote in other locations.
xtracto 1y ago
I was just offered a job in Capital One (the bank) in Mexico city(mexican living in a cheap state in Mexico). I declined because I already have a remote job and I prefer that. But, if i didn't have that luxury, I would not hesitate to sort my stuff to go where the work is. People that refuse to work on site and instead remain unemployed remind me of the saying "we've done nothing different and we are all out of ideas" . Just 20 years ago we HAD TO go where the jobs were. We've become very entitled.