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Comment by hkuo | Hacker News Reader

Most telling quote for me was “If I walk to the store, I’m back in 10 minutes, and then what?” And then what???? Man, if I had enough money to live for 2-3 years, single, and having 24/7 time to do whatever the heck I wanted, I'd for damn sure be working on some crazy-ass shit. Another quote from him "...I can adapt". He refers to adapting as taking a cut in pay. Simply put, this man has no ability to adapt, nor an understanding of what adapting means. I have zero sympathy for this guy. 10 minutes to the store and back and then what? Get on the f'ing internet and freakin learn something and get a clue.

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The trip to the store seems to be a reference to the plans he has each day, that is he has nothing he has to do each day that will get him out of his flat. On the other hand at the end of the article it mentions that he's written a book, is actively seeking publication, and has started to think about his second. So he is in fact being productive. His statement about adapting was to an interviewer who asked about pay. He may just have wanted to make it clear that he doesn't expect to earn anything like what he was on before. Taking a massive pay cut requires adapting. Going from a $225,000 lifestyle to a $30,000 one is a hell of a difference.

Does writing a book seem like a reasonably intelligent reaction to the scenario he finds himself in? What percentage of writers make enough to survive on....my guess would be <1%.

No sympathy for this guy, or others of his ilk. There are so many middle aged, baby boomer, middle management people that have been way overpaid, promoted for no good reason, and pissed all of their ill-gotten gains away who are now complaining that they are hard done by in the financial crisis. I would counter that no, they aren't hard done by, they are now actually getting what they deserve, it certainly must feel like they are hard done by compared to the decades of being massively overpaid.

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