My kids are 12 and 13 - wfh was is getting very old for me, especially during the school holidays when I’m constantly in ‘dad mode’. Don’t get me wrong - I love them with all my soul but sometimes I really want a break.
At least where I live (France but not Paris) all the decently paid jobs in my field all seem to be fully remote. I’d love to go back to partial RTTO but it’s simply not financially viable given the paycut and commute costs.
My Dad’s got early stage dementia and Facebook is an absolute nightmare. The apps infested with AI slop and the algorithm seems to fill his feed with stuff designed to get him worked up (currently badly behaved cyclists even though he no longer drives).
I have hoarded 61849 short videos (44 GB, filtered, no propaganda, spam or low quality stuff) from 9gag, with this you could build a "Fakebook" of your own and serve your parents whatever you want, I randomly picked 5 videos:
- funny cat video
- superfluid helium document from 60s
- people jumping on a roof and falling through
- abba sos song (in Swedish, or Esperanto, idk)
- kid saving bus driver with stroke
Analyze them with LLM, generate positive comments and you're good to go.
Yes, but just as a ruler. It belonged to my Dad who was an avionics engineer starting back in the 1950s. He worked all over the world seeing out the end of the British Empire. It smells of old cigarettes and is very worn and chipped.
My monitor (a Samsung ultrawide thing) has an option to reduce contrast (I think it’s called ‘eye saver mode’) that makes a massive difference. I don’t use for gaming but for work it’s made a massive difference to my comfort.
> McDonalds pays nearly $20 an hour these days, if it keeps the lights on, don't be above it.
I was between jobs several years ago and my startup failed - I ended up washing up at a restaurant to be able to continue feeding my family. At the time it was humiliating to be in my late 30s scrubbing pots and pans for the minimum wage but looking back it’s probably one of the periods of my life I’m most proud of: Putting pride aside to do what’s required to be a father and a provider.
> At the time it was humiliating to be in my late 30s scrubbing pots and pans for the minimum wage
I’m not sure if this is part of America’s “temporarily embarrassed millionaire” syndrome, but I don’t see anything wrong doing dishes for 8-12 hours straight to feed your family… unless this is actually the norm in thinking and maybe it’s just my poor blue collar upbringing?
I agree-there's nothing wrong with the means nor ends.
But, I'd bet that most people, after having failed a big endeavor that they put a lot of energy and time into, would feel at least some mixture of doubt/discouragement/disillusionment. Pile onto that resorting to less respected work (in a culture obsessed with money/power/prestige) and I can easily see how the parent commenter would feel some sort of humiliation during those times.
Nothing at all wrong with doing what is necessary to provide. Growing up we were poor... Lots of mac and cheese dinners. My parents were young, starting from nothing, and watching them struggle to build a little wealth was humbling.
From 15 to 19 I worked restaurant/shipment jobs, and carried a rifle in a warzone soon after that. Fast forward to present day - I sit at a desk and write software all day, getting paid well to do it. If I didn't have a job tomorrow you bet I'd be doing what it takes to provide. However, if I had to go back to the restaurant or shipment centers making 1/8th to 1/4 of what I do now you bet I'd be feeling pretty fucking pitiful about myself.
Do I look down on the work? Absolutely not. We do what we need to survive. IMO though, as a physically/mentally healthy person, the idea is using lower paying monotonous positions like washing dishes as a stepping stone for a more fulfilling and better paying career move.
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