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Comment by lifeisstillgood | Hacker News Reader

I am not sure I want to start over in that I want to change profession. I love coding - have done so for nearly thirty years now and cannot see myself stopping even in retirement (I do see software as a form of literacy) but would I like to work in different domains - yes. Write code for non-profits ? yes. In different parts of the world with different people? yes

That kind of start over I do want. The give it all up and become a landscape gardner ? Not really, because although I would enjoy it, I know in six months I would be trying to use code to solve landscape gardening problems :-)

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For me, I'd love to have the freedom to work on what I find technologically challenging or important. It's been a few years since I really felt invigorated by my work. My pay is "good", but my work is boring/complicated/messy/uninspiring (typical "keep the lights on" work). Some days, I feel like I jumped back ten years in my career. I've tried to drive inspiration and challenge within my work, but it's often met with silence from my team — I feel alone and unsupported, yet my team would wholeheartedly claim otherwise.

Check out software research engineer positions at the national labs, universities, or UARCs. Pay isn't FAANG tier, but it's usually comfortable and you get to constantly work on new tech

A lot of those presumably require doctorates however.

Not for the software work. In fact, some will give you time to pursue graduate degrees

There are options for switching to the public or non-profit sectors if that's what you are after. In the US Code for America has since 2011 run yearlong partnerships with cities (mostly) to tackle entrenched problems with tech-industry style innovation and processes. Many other national programs have also been launched around the world under similarly named "Code for X" names.

In the US there are also many avenues for contributing at the state or federal levels such as 18f, US Digital Service, Defense Digital Service, and so on. The UK has the Government Digital Service,

If none of those seem right to you, perhaps a stint in academia would appeal more? The demand for research software engineers is skyrocketing, even though the pay being offered is not. Anyone with experience willing to tolerate a pay cut ought not to have much of a problem finding a position (and field) that suits them.

Combine your love of coding with landscaping. That's what I'm doing with food now. Twenty years in tech, now I'm doing food and drink marketing - with tech.

There are also a number of companies doing things like computer vision to optimize crops, robotics for automating vertical farming, etc.

Iron Ox comes to mind: https://ironox.com/

Also https://farming-revolution.com/en/

Bob Ross of code? Iñigo Quilez videos.

Maybe landscape gardening needs software solutions, who knows. Optimization of irrigation, planting, taking soil readings, understanding the binary language of moisture vaporators...

If you are serious about writing code for non-profits, you might be interested in places like Zuri Group (https://zurigroup.com/) or BrightVine (https://www.brightvinesolutions.com/). I am in that space as an independent consultant, and it can be really rewarding.

I built a garden reticulation system using a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a relay board and 12v solenoid valves bought off eBay, and integrated it with HomeKit for automation. Compared with what’s on the market, it’s easier to use and cheaper.

I know that’s not what you mean but maybe a hobby like mine would help?

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