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It is funny you should say this. A friend recently had me interview for his company. He is a great guy, works too much, wakes up in the middle of the nights whe
by eshvk 13y ago
It is funny you should say this. A friend recently had me interview for his company. He is a great guy, works too much, wakes up in the middle of the nights when he is on call. His boss started off by agreeing that yes, the friend worked too much. He may even have used the word burning out. He then hastened to tell me about his theory in life. Your 20s and 30s are meant to be a time for learning. Apparently, this "learning" involves working on these problems day in and day out. So the burning out was a good thing. Then, in your 40s, you start earning money. I could be a tech-lead or a manager, he said. Then, in my fifties, I could enjoy. He did this. He was happy with it, he said.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y agoMy reply to this: anytime I see 50 year old bold fat guy in a Porsche 911 it's depressing. EDIT: should really be pathetic and sad and not depressing, but I think you get my point. Youth and health are so precious that no amount of money compensates ever.
- throwaway1979 13y agoIf even that were true! I really don't see my 40s and 50s being better than now. Personally, my biggest weakness is that I am passionate about the technology and getting my hands dirty. If I start getting practice in management, crafting bold powerpoints, dressing up, etc. I think I'd go far in tech in my later days. But I won't because I love getting my hands on code. sigh
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- brightsize 13y agoHow about a 50 year-old slim guy with a full head of hair and a 911? Is that pathetic? Why? That would be me (minus the 911). I'm too frugal to buy a 911 but if another guy has socked away two or three million $ (or more) over the course of his tech career, how is this different than a 25yo with a big exit buying a 911? You seem a bit misinformed about age, a bit of an age-ist perhaps: I'm healthy and can bench press more now than in my entire weight-lifting life (since about 22). I agree with you that "kids" (i.e. people 20-30 :-) ) in tech are very often suckered into giving up their young lives to their tech employers. I saw this happening in the mid-90s at M$ and in their Seattle-area wannabes. I never participated in that, my time outside of the 9-5 norm was precious to me. You are right that "no amount of money compensates ever" for those years if they are lost.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y agojewish proverb/saying: it is better to be young, rich and healthy than old, poor and sick. all your efforts are to look younger, but this is lost as your youth is long gone. if you think you made great use of it by sitting at the office... well not even sure how to comment on this. let me rephrase it: guy in 911 in his 50s even in great shape is a little bit like a woman in her 50s in great shape who just had a boob job done.
- Dylan16807 13y agoAre you completely incapable of recognizing that powerful cars are fun?
- jquery 13y agoYou know what's more pathetic and sad? A 50 year old fat guy with no financial security. Even more pathetic is a 20-30-something thinking life ends at 50.
- sateesh 13y agoMay be he was lucky and it worked for him. I am not sure that would work well all the times. It is not necessary that the skills you acquire working harder would make you still relevant (as tech lead or manager) when you are in your forties and fifties. At the same time it is no guarantee that you would still be employed in the same organization where you worked hard during your twenties and thirties. I think not burning out, being healthy, staying fit and to never stop learning would work better.