So yeah,"the #1 office perk" for me is not getting interrupted with inane shit every ten minutes.
Winnipeg might be much sunnier in the winter, but I'm not sure you'd get much more sun exposure given things like wind chill.
BTW, where on VI are you? Quadra here.
You want sunny days per year. Which Seattle gets less than 90. Most cities in California get over 200.
Last year was unusually warm and sunny in the summer as too, though I guess a couple years isn't really a climate change, it's just unusual weather.
On the flip side, people that got along without air conditioners 5 or 10 years ago are revisiting that decision, I called around a few places to get a quote for a split unit to be installed, and they were booked up through August.
Not to mention the week of smoke we've had the last 2 summers. ;)
The May-August period has very few clouds and a not-too-hot sun, so that is a fine season from the point of view of spending time outdoors and letting your skin work for your body.
Was a great choice for me.
I'm not a doctor either but have you consulted your doctor about this (or is this a short time frame for you to get back up to a health level?).
Cost isn't really an issue, I pay 15 dollars on Amazon for 360 5000 IU softgels.
Should note that I work in a windowless office room and almost definitely get less sunlight then the average person.
On a related note about sunshine, Sam Altman recommends a full spectrum LED light in the morning as his most beneficial productivity booster. http://blog.samaltman.com/productivity
I get all my day-work done in the evening, when I'm in the office I just browse reddit or read HN because; unless I'm in a meeting or talking to a colleague- I cannot possibly be productive.
(I _really_ did try to avoid Reddit/HN but after 2 years of doing basically nothing above a 10 minute task I couldn't do it anymore, I was bored.)
And my company still trucks on with an open office policy. :(
Or the shaking of the floor. I worked in a "modern" high-rise of a well known company with open offices and the floor felt like it was made of Ikea particle board skin of an under-floor giant African drum.
I don't have an option, the fishbowl is thrust on me and has been for many years over many jobs.
Similarly; I actually prefer the dark, but were I in a situation where I walked into a dark room in the middle of a building- I would probably not like it.
CUDA, C++14, Python.
> Is it a better gig than previous one ?
It is! The office conditions are terrible, but my coworkers are freaking amazing, and I am genuinely excited about the work we do, which is the main reason I'm still there.
> Can you hear people farting and shitting in the bathroom ?
Only if the door is open and my headphones are off. :O
> How do you decompress after work
I hit the gym.
> are you currently searching for another job?
Actively, although the office conditions are mainly a symptom of utterly terrible management, which is my main reason for job hunting.
It's awesome.
Measured, it's right around ~60dB.
I just spent two and a half years working from home, where I could leave the tv on in the background. That was awesome. A little motion out of the corner of my eye, some noise, but nothing structured in a way I cared about. Loud reality shows about mechanical stuff were my noise-companion. I could just ignore them.
Music is full of structure. I love it far too much to work with it.
On the positive side, the "open office" I'm in now has some restaurant-style booths set up with glass doors. They're lifesavers.
Don't listen to music while doing creative work. Use noise, like sounds of the sea (I use an app called "Naturespace" for high-quality audio).
and people complaining about headphones don't buy the right ones. i use beyerdynamic headphones and could wear them all day.
This simply doesn't work for me. I understand it probably works for you: We are all a bit different. I find much of the "noise" (rain, seascapes, and so on) grating and annoying to the point that I don't want to finish anything creative. (I don't mind the real thing: I enjoy falling asleep when it is raining outside, for example, or hearing birds singing).
I'm also easily distracted by small sounds. A "quiet" library is full of shuffling, people dropping things, whispers, and so on.
However, drawing and painting to music of my choosing? Absolutely fantastic. I tend to choose things that are either instrumental or that actually use lyrics as part of the music instead of the music highlighting the lyrics. I'll even pick music depending on how I want to move when I draw or paint. If I want to create ideas or think? Stick on headphones and tune the world out. Perhaps go for a walk while doing so.
I tune in and out of the music, and that's fine. It tunes out basic noises: car and apartment doors and so on.
It converts it all into crystalline white noise. You can practically perceive the sound waves convert into a low pass filter, as soon as you turn the noise cancelling on.
Added bonus: put your chair and feet on a mat with vibration deadening material such as sorbothane, so you don't even feel people walk by.
Next I am planning on experimenting putting up a tri-fold poster board to block out visual distractions, too.
Call me crazy If my workplace decides they want continue to pay a developer salary and have it be at 20% efficiency, then that's on them to figure it out as long as it isn't effecting my outcomes. At the end of the day, I am there for the exchange of my time for their money. If my workspace begins to interfere with that, then I'll start looking for a new place.
It also doesn't solve having an actual conversation with someone else, which can be hard when you're competing with Sales-bro Bryan.
I felt the same for about 6 months. It's been a couple years now, and I am getting incredibly lonely and bored. Which is weird because I've never been a "social" person.
Even though my office is huge, it feels like hiding in a closet.
I often wonder why I even come in instead of working from home. All my collaboration with co-workers happens over email and screen sharing programs anyway.