Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?

Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by thomaslord on Sunday May 31, 2020 @01:44PM (#23371147)

I want to start by acknowledging that's a totally legitimate perspective.

I'm curious though - do you think you'd be fine with only doing walks and TV for 40+ hours a week? Personally I got interested in computers and programming very early, and at first it was 100% a leisure activity. It stayed at roughly that level of exciting for me until probably 6 months to a year into being employed as a developer, but it's no longer the #1 thing I like to do when I'm not at work. My current situation is work with a side of typical relaxation (watch tv, browse the internet, etc.), but I expect when I eventually retire I'll start spending a bunch of leisure time on programming and general messing-with-computers stuff again.

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by paulcole on Sunday May 31, 2020 @02:08PM (#23371345)

I know I’d be fine with it.

I took 3 years off from working (lived frugally off savings) and that is basically all I did. Purposely avoided anything that would be considered “productive work.” I mean I read some books and rode my bicycle, too. But my time was pretty much just watching TV/movies and laying around.

Best time of my life by far.

I cringe when I tell someone about it and they are like, “oh but didn’t that get boring?”

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by dorkwood on Sunday May 31, 2020 @03:27PM (#23371943)

Are you saving up to do it again? I want to do something similar but I find it hard to justify the cost. I also feel like my family would constantly hassle me about it, which seems like it would offset any sort of relaxation or enjoyment I might get from the experience.

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by paulcole on Sunday May 31, 2020 @04:04PM (#23372244)

Unfortunately I now have a chronic disease that makes constant health insurance a necessity.

Do you mean family like parents/relatives harping from a distance? If so, they’re just jealous and aren’t worth listening to. As long as you’re smart about your money and make a plan to get a job before you’re tapped out, go for it.

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by hpen on Sunday May 31, 2020 @03:20PM (#23371892)

This sounds like absolute hell to me

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by paulcole on Sunday May 31, 2020 @04:06PM (#23372259)

I had ultimate and total freedom to do exactly what I wanted. If that’s not heaven I don’t know what is.

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by hpen on Monday June 01, 2020 @09:53AM (#23378423)

"I had ultimate and total freedom to do exactly what I wanted"

That does sound like heaven. Watching TV all day does not.

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Re:Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years an... by jlokier on Sunday May 31, 2020 @07:55PM (#23374201)

Fwiw, I agree with you.

Freedom to choose is what it's about.

I'm really glad you got to enjoy those 3 years.

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