This, is what gets me. It's stuff like this that makes me feel like the longer I stay in software the further detached from the general reality I will become. I love software, but I hate how much it drives me away from the rest of society.
>This, is what gets me. It's stuff like this that makes me feel like the longer I stay in software [...]
I can assure you that this is not the general job hunting scenario for software people. This may be the case for a particular engineer, or small class of highly-sought-after engineers, in a couple of very short-lived time periods of frothy hiring. The vast majority of us still have to get out there and pound the pavement like everyone else, and it's not overnight.
Having to leave my job let me spend more time with a variety of people (lots of baristas, many of them are super interesting) helped me significantly.