Working with computers.
I've been programming for fun and profit since I was 11. I'm now 42 and realise that I have very little interest in what I do anymore.

Only problem is I've never really done anything else so have no idea what I can do as an alternative that pays so well.

Pisser.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:06, 25 replies)

* high fives *

(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:09, closed)

Have you considered debasing yourself for sailors?

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:10, closed)

I don't really live near the coast so it's not an option.

( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:10, closed)

You could always become an airman gobbler.

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:15, closed)

Or a soldier holder

( Fork Has lost his bash virginity!, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:16, closed)

No squaddies around here but there are a couple of airports.
I'll look into what qualifications I need.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:17, closed)

Salt on the tip of the tongue helps reduce the gag reflex.
/pro tip
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:38, closed)

You had a good run.
I've been programming for profit for 4 years and am fed up!

Actually I think that's just the job; I don't program much since I now look after a system where the coding's done offshore and I have to do all the bullshit admin associated it without any of the sense of achievement.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:20, closed)

I'll probably end up as some Development or Project Manager.
My suggestions of becoming a Driving Instructor have been universally met with derision with people who know me. Bastards are probably right.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:23, closed)

I've managed to avoid becoming a manager
Still coding, Still enjoying it. I'm 50 tomorrow, so I've been doing it professionally for 29 years.

The downside is I'm probably too old to get another similar job if this one goes tits up...

Also, I can't actually remember the last time I did any coding for fun. Oh, wait, I tell a lie: a few years ago I wrote an image generator for my Baird-style televisor.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:26, closed)

I don't think I've ever done coding for fun since I did it for work.
I do like spending a lot of time in the pub, to be fair.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:30, closed)

This

( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:34, closed)

I even started writing a Windows Mobile Phone app for a change of scenery.
Got bored half way through my first one.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:34, closed)

I find having a worthwhile idea is the hardest part.
If someone says 'make this' I can usually do it no problem.

Maybe I just lack imagination.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:36, closed)

I can't think of anything worse than being a project manager.
It seems that practically nobody here can grasp that fact when talking to me about 'career development'.

Ideally I'd like to be a contractor so can go about the enjoyable coding with less of the corporate bullshit.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:27, closed)

I think I would enjoy the sense of payback.
I've had Project Managers twisting my tits for the past 2 decades and I think I need to return the favour.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:40, closed)

I don't think I could convince myself that
Reporting what you're doing is far more important than doing what you're doing.

I seriously believe that if we dropped the granularity in our timesheets/workflow tools and trusted people a bit then SOMETHING MIGHT ACTUALLY GET DONE for once.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 12:52, closed)

^ this
piss off with your kanban boards and just let me crack on with it.
( rofl harris, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 15:51, closed)

This made me laugh, the driving instructor part. I know of a gentleman who became bored of
his company and was bought out. He became a driving instructor, lasted 3 years. Now works as a website monkey. Company he was bought out from they are doing rather well - rather well indeed.

It is probably not the programming that bores you but the use to which the code is used.
( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 15:06, closed)

Not that much money in driving instructors.
From what I can see, top money is about 30k/year, if you manage to stay fully booked.

Not sure if that's gross either - buying and running the car must cost at least 5k/year.
(username failed moderation, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 17:21, closed)

30k a year and stay fully booked working at least 14 hours per day*.
Cost of car and fuel is of course a very good deductible. But, as is often said you got to earn it to deduct it. Otherwise the cost is still a millstone.


* seriously, taking people on late shift out at 10.30pm or early shift at 5.30am and then college kids and then dead time and then more learners.
( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 19:28, closed)

I did it the other way around, kind of.
I work in a trading job, but have always been at least involved in the IT systems, and at times completely responsible for them.

I spent 20 years staying up to date and trained for MS systems, including an MCSE in the 90s. The idea was that I might eventually move into IT full time.

Never happened, as IT has always paid less than my job does. I stopped trying to keep up about 5 years ago, so now I'm completely out of touch.
(username failed moderation, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 17:19, closed)

Toilet trading, it makes that much.

( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 16 Aug 2013, 19:29, closed)

I hate it too.
I now dream of becoming some sort of self sufficient nomad
( Locus213 Slightly to the left of Bakunin, Mon 19 Aug 2013, 8:33, closed)

I hear you
4 years ago at a similar age, I jumped.

Landed on my feet with a new career. The prospect of programming till retirement scared me enough to move.
(justin(e), Mon 19 Aug 2013, 13:49, closed)