>There's also a striking parallel in something he said: the stress in A&E is about me not having control. So I think it's important to have a hobby where you do

>There's also a striking parallel in something he said: the stress in A&E is about me not having control. So I think it's important to have a hobby where you do have complete control. If programming is a hobby where you do have complete control, what does it say about the people it attracts? I'm a firefighter/paramedic. He's exactly right that the most stress you'll ever feel is taking care of a critically ill or injured person and feeling like you're "behind" the call. I'm also a full time developer (and part-time sysadmin). The two disciplines have a lot more in common than you might think. Debugging is debugging, it's just that the stakes are a bit higher in the back of the rig. Financial reality means I get paid to use vim and save lives for free (well, less than free, I paid ~$6k in tuition to get my paramedic certification). I love my day job (I work for Silent Circle with some of the coolest and smartest people I've ever met), but I do hope that someday I get to flip which skill I get paid for full-time.