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Comment by neuroticfish | Hacker News Reader

You and I are in the same boat, except I've grown to hate not only the culture, but programming too. I've not heard of former devs breaking into other technical fields, but I have heard of them getting into stuff like farming, construction, or trades (electrical, plumbing, etc.). I wish I hadn't spent my 20s dwelling in anxiety. I wish I had moved around, become a trail guide, or got into scuba diving, or even joined the coast guard. Sadly the best I can hope for nowadays in my 30s is to program in a domain I don't totally despise.

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My VP Engineering quit and opened a Falafel joint.

Sounds more fulfilling than a stand ups to be honest. Better stories too.

He's very happy. Best falafel in the Midwest (did a tour and charted every recipe, then created his own).

Keeps his crew for years - the normal term is months, especially in a college town. He's brought his management experience from Engineering teams to food prep and cooks and servers, some of who've never been treated like professionals and peers in their lives.

Does catering too, and supplies restaurants with 'snack packs' which are very popular around here.

So did mine, weird...

Lol we’re all thinking the same thing here aren’t we?

I enjoyed working in restaurants in my formative years but I don't think I'd be happy owning one. Honestly I think my dream job would be working on a cargo ship or something but sadly I'm well past the age cap for breaking into the field.

30s is so young, though! If you don’t have kids, the world is still wide open to you!

"If you don't have kids, the world is still wide open to you", this is the truth. I would also add 'not married' to that. I'm trapped at my job to support my family, and my wife won't consider moving to a cheaper area.

I left engineering at 36 and became a firefighter paramedic and I know quite a few people in their 40s who started. I just left the fire service after 14 years and now working as a programmer.

Age is just a number. Don't limit yourself.

I badly want to quit and have a small farm.

The idea of being my own boss and not being subject to the whims of my bosses or corporate bureaucracy is very appealing (my company doesn't follow their own policies). I have also been tasked with learning obscure technology such as FileNet or Neoxam. This leaves me feeling like all my effort and expertise is thrown away when the project winds down or gets outsourced. This feeling of my company throwing me away or wasting me has completely sapped my motivation (why try when I'll just be thrown away again? ).

I've gone in another path: applied programming. I chose a position that also involves programming rather than an actual developer role.

Personally the whole standup thing just drove me away

Can I ask what field you went into?

Random business enhancement work that usually involves the equivalent of a MBA - I got my MBA from reading a book. Mostly making businesses operate better by making sure the red tape is actually worthwhile. It boggles my mind to see how much gibberish is out there. I'll be in work until my talomeres give up or something otherwise falls off.

I often end up either writing some piece of code or project managing people who do.

I also volunteer for emergency services as well. Nothing realigns your priorities quite like cutting someone out of a car at 2am because they just had to send an important text and ignored a tree that was somehow inappropriately planted 100 feet away from the road. The hilarity of dealing with cats with their heads stuck in a pipe lightens other occasions.

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