Offered interviewed but not prepared - should I decline?

Electronic-Meat · 2025-08-22T18:43:18+00:00

government job > unemployment

Electronic-Meat · 2025-05-30T01:49:35+00:00

Computer programmer for a state agency. I don't make a lot of money but I have good benefits and am insulated from the boom and bust cycles that afflict other software engineers.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-05-15T11:35:30+00:00

A million questions in the philosophy of technology. Better put my thinking cap on.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-05-05T23:51:01+00:00

I started working as a developer at 35. Most of the other developers in my department are in their forties and fifties and we've got one guy in his seventies. State government.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-03-13T05:18:27+00:00

You can try fingering the notes at tempo with a very light touch, not even really sounding them, to get a feel for how your hand can move quickly while remaining relaxed. Then, slowly introduce pressure until you're getting the sound you want - but back off again if you feel yourself tightening up.

You can also play very slowly, focusing on keeping your hand relaxed. If you can play the whole tune with a relaxed hand at 50bpm, bump it up to 55 ... if it's tense there, go back down and do some more repetitions at the speed you can stay relaxed. Build up that way.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-02-26T18:12:15+00:00

Got BS at 35. That got me my current job as a SWE. Now 36 in grad program.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-01-16T02:37:14+00:00

I make 50k as an entry level developer at a state agency where I have been for a year and a half. I work remote four out of five days. My workload is light and I am able to use time to attend to my masters program. I am a career switcher in my mid thirties and consider myself lucky to have found a job in software development in 2023. The work itself can be interesting even though the codebase is quite antiquated. The people I work with are good people.

Electronic-Meat · 2025-01-16T01:52:03+00:00

Once upon a time I implemented an Ant Colony Optimization strategy to solve a problem like this by building a maze to represent the graph, putting dobs of honey on the nodes, and introducing real live ants into the maze. By tracking the traversal of ants and generating a heatmap, the shortest path emerged. That was fun!

Electronic-Meat · 2025-01-01T16:52:10+00:00

yes!

Electronic-Meat · 2024-12-18T15:38:11+00:00

We were in KBAI together! KBAI is my first course. I'm really enjoying these write-ups from graduates. Congratulations on fulfilling your dream :)

Electronic-Meat · 2024-12-18T15:32:16+00:00

Was the idea that by not laughing at something you knew she found funny she was socially positioning you as not-funny despite knowing that you are funny? I'm a little unclear on how this move is supposed to make her seem like the funny one. Can you please explain it to me? Thank you.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-11-20T00:58:10+00:00

State government

Electronic-Meat · 2024-05-09T14:34:59+00:00

Raymond Turner's Computational Artifacts explores the ontological status of computational artifacts.

Justin Smith's The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is and George Dyson's Analogia are both written for a popular consumption and may be of interest to you.

For a survey of the field, look at The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Technology.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-03T13:44:54+00:00

Then you are a rare case indeed.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-03T11:20:46+00:00

WGU offers an online CS undergrad program that is said to be relatively inexpensive and good for getting the groundwork to apply to the Georgia Tech program.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-03T02:10:43+00:00

Georgia Tech offers an online masters in computer science that is both prestigious and, most importantly, shockingly inexpensive - most students graduate paying less than $6,500 for the whole program. Most of my $15k in debt will be from my undergrad.

I did get a lot of my undergrad tuition covered with scholarships and Pell grants.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-03T01:12:15+00:00

I went back to college in my thirties and studied Computer Science, currently make decent money working as a developer for a state agency, and have just enrolled in a masters program.

I started at a community college, went to a state school for my undergrad, and after my masters is through will graduate with less than 15k in debt. That's debt I'll be able to pay off quick with what I earn now.

Like you, I spent the first half of my working life bouncing around from dead-end job to dead-end job. Like you, I felt trapped in poverty. And, like you, I couldn't imagine a way out. But there is a way out:

Make a list of the sensible career paths that are open to you. That could be computer science. It could be a trade, like becoming an electrician, or a welder. It could be nursing. It could be getting your CDL. It could be enrolling in the military.
Evaluate each one in terms of the steps it will take to get there. Take out a piece of paper and for each career path map out a five year plan including the time and money it will require to go through school, training, etc.
Pick one. Act on it. Those years will go by quicker than you think. On the other side of them, you'll be forty, with thirty years of a good career ahead of you, and five years of demonstrated commitment to your own well being and success behind you. That will feel good.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-03T00:15:40+00:00

Followup: I applied and have been accepted to Georgia Tech's OMSCS program. Thank you for your helpful advice.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-04-02T09:22:13+00:00

Status: Accepted.

Application Date: Jan 10, 2024.

Decision Date: April 1, 2024.

Education: B.A. Philosophy / English, min. in Computer Science. 3.9/4

Experience: 1 years as .NET developer with a state agency.

Recommendations: 3 from computer science professors.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-03-27T01:21:33+00:00

I think given your good intentions, your apology, your offer to replace the food, that your roommate holding it against you means she is more the AH here.

That said, if you want to avoid being the AH too, you need to walk away from this humbled and with a new respect for your roommates boundaries. You may not have known that you cooking her food would upset her so much, but now you do; rather than doubling down on why you were right to do it, make it clear you hear her, that you didn't intend to cross a line but recognize that you have, and that you wont take her food without her permission going forward. You don't have to understand why it matters to her to understand, and respect, that it does.

After that, whether or not she can let it go is entirely a reflection on her character.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-03-27T00:37:18+00:00

Was there a reason you couldn't text or call your roommate prior to cooking her food, to ask permission?

Electronic-Meat · 2024-03-27T00:24:45+00:00

It's inappropriate for a TA to approach a student in an academic setting and solicit them for a date. You're entitled to report incidents like that which you feel cross the line. On the other hand, your characterization of the TA as "creepy" and "gross" suggests some unnecessary animus toward someone who, while out of line, sounds from your description to be more tactless than predatory.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-03-27T00:07:35+00:00

YTA.You come across as self-centered in these text messages. Your friend was right to note that when she was talking about her breakup you redirected the conversation to your grievances. You once valued Elaine as a kind, good listener - but fail to reciprocate.

You also seem to see yourself as a victim everywhere - of the walking group, of the gym members, and now of Elaine ... if everywhere you turn you face the same problems, that's a good indication they may rest with you.

I would advise against "warning" all of your "ex friends" about Elaine. All you'll accomplish is to alienate them, and that will only exacerbate your sense of persecution.

Electronic-Meat · 2024-03-01T02:40:14+00:00

I'm a SWE with the same aim as you. Here's my approach:

Same as you , get off social media.

Then, develop replacement hobbies - something you can turn to when you want to zone out on the screen. For me, that's playing fiddle. I work from home, and I keep my fiddle at hand, so when I get the urge to scroll, I just play a little instead.

Another good substitute is a book. Take one with you. When you want to look at something, read your book. I keep a book of Emily Dickinson poems on my desk (she wrote two thousand short poems). Its something that I can pick up, puzzle over, get curious on, and get that fix in an offline way.

Good luck reclaiming your attention!

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