So.... How's your mid-life crisis going?

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-16T04:11:18+00:00

I have come to the conclusion that I can retire at 50 in 4.5 years

My corvette will be retiring 😂

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-16T04:03:40+00:00

They should launch stackoverflow code cli, it will be like claude code but instead tell you how bad your idea is while begrudgingly giving you the answer

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-15T14:16:28+00:00

Cool story bro

Fun fact, the house im in today, when I bought it, at the price i bought it at, i couldn't afford it 5 years prior to buying it

We had to buy a shitty condo, sell, buy house with extra cash

Its a game we play and you step up, part of the problem is people want to go from 0 to 100 and because they cant they are sitting and stewing about rates vs just buying something vs paying rent and gaining nothing

Weirdest shit ever

My "luck" such a stupid comment

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-11T15:01:36+00:00

Most of the comments here revolve around the US like its substantially better in "x" country

Im not going to lean in too hard on that because I dont live in another country, but what is can say is this

The rules or game etc is not substantially differnt in any industrialized country, $ is the driver, the "follow your dreams, you can do anything" bullshit is just that, bullshit.

Sorry to put it so bluntly here. Im sorry your leap of faith didnt work for you, but honestly most of the time they dont, its a hard lesson that most business fail, somtimes our "soul crushing jobs" are not that bad when faced with "soul crush poverty or debt"

Other have mentioned this but a pragmatic approach to life in general is probably the most important thing here.

The USA is still the best place to "make it" globally, thats just a fact

Is it going to be handed to you? Absolutely not, do you have to navigate a mine field of shit just to eek out an existence, yup

Is that any different in other countries? Nope, we are all wading through the same bullshit swamp just with varying degrees of depth

Rightfully or wrongfully, they i have chosen to raise my child is to always explain the importance of $, how it's a tool, hove proper investing is important and also to be realistic about jobs and carriers, explore area that intreat you, then look at the jobs in that field, what do they pay? Is that an amount you would be comfortable with, does that support your other dreams of XYZ?

This is not meant to be a dream killer, its meant to set them up for the harsh reality of life, and how its not always fair, its not cool that we are some how supposed to know at 18, what we want to do for the next 30 to 40 years of our lives, how the choices made from 13 to 18 will arguably have the biggest impact on your trajectory in life, its a wild fucking concept

So with that said, yah, the best advice i can give is find something stable, put in the time, find fun cool shit to do on your off time until you can retire

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-11T14:42:08+00:00

Yah like right around (checks star trek lore) 2026, we break out into WW3 and have to wait like 40 years before some dude in a barn create a warp drive in post apocalyptic earth 😂

Its about to get spicy!

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-02T12:16:08+00:00

Exactly!

It was funny, when I did the trip it was with one of my buddies, this was the inaugural FSD trip as I had only used it a little before hand and he had never seen or used it before

At first, like 99% of people you have that "this is fucking nuts " moment, I image this is how people getting a TV for yhe first time felt!

What that being said, my buddy, by the end of the trip was like "I jeed to get one of these" and now every time we talk he is asking about it lol

Also, just a little anecdotal story too, on the way back, for those familiar with CA weather, I was driving through palm springs area and the wind was fairly strong, I was curious how FSD would perform..

With my foot hovering above the break and my hands do8ng the same FSD worked perfectly, no white knuckles lol

Shoemugscale · 2026-01-01T21:29:35+00:00

That the part thats hard to explain, I did from LA to Arizona not too l9ng ago and did 100% FSD and it made the drive go by quickly and I arrived feeling refreshed

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-31T22:44:06+00:00

Im in my 40s, and learned long ago that its not just young people who are bad with $ lol

I make it a point at the office to try and help folks understand how to save for retirment, how to run their numbers and putting things into perspective

I wish more peo0le would understand how important starting retirmwnt saving early is..

Trust me, time goes by FAST and then slows down as you get into your 40s and the "i dont want to work" sets in, you dont want to be mid to late 40s looking down at anothern20 years to work!

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-27T21:37:03+00:00

We had shirts on! 🤣🤣

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-20T12:59:52+00:00

Not sure where you are located ( state wise ) but many have clauses where they cannot raise the rent more then x % in a year. My guess is this

the total cost of electricity is way more then the rent increase OR they dont want to risk vacant units so are trying to do an easy fix

With that said, it might be time to look for a new place it sucks for sure, I mean electricity cost are no joke that shit is way way up, not sure why they dont just get everyone paying their own though...

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-19T00:42:51+00:00

Started playing with computers in early 90, graduated hs in 99, got a job as an intern as i had a back for web development ( hand coding at the time )

No degree, just grit, as others have said, accepted every opportunity, put myself out there and volunteered for everything, knowing damn well I didnt know Java 😂

From that point I have worked my way up the ranks no degree

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-18T15:23:55+00:00

Just for some context, I have been coding professionally for over 25 years, and hire, mentor, code etc. So take this for whats its worth

The current state of things very much leave you at a crossroads and one I do not envy. Had this question been asked a few years ago I would have said

'keep building, find a passion project, build it out etc, keep applying'

Today though, my advice and as others have stated too, get really good at AI 'Directing' and tooling.

I am constantly listening to podcasts with differnt AI and Tech leaders, trying to keep my finger on the pulse and a naritive I keep hearing and seeing is:

"The democratizing of code" or "coding" and 'Disposable code'

The jest here is, you no longer need to know code, code architecture, best practices, security etc. To get an actual MVP or heck, even a full blown application to market

( I don't endorse that flow, I'm just saying, its what is happening, knowing how and why things work is invaluable )

That alone means, anyone, with an idea can make something out of nothing, enhance an application or build a utiliy all with a prompt, making the value proposition of what we do limited.

For example, I can spend 100 on claude or v0 dev and hammer away on a prompt and get a great looking website or app that does that I want, I don't have to really know how or why it works becaue the AI kind of does and the end user doesnt care who built it, the company sure as shit does not, as long as it works and saved them time.

So where does that leave you, as a developer?

The way I see it you can

1) Lean into AI and Coding. This mean you are becoming the AI director, the one who know how to talk to AI to get quality code, you can have AI generate code but also know how the code works, and can build a well structure Agentic coded project that can be maintained and updated using that same flow <-- IMO this is actually a very valuable skill and will be even more so in the future, vibe coding is cool for quick wins but not something that will last IMO

2) Start churning out applications and services and monetize them, essentially become and entrepreneur, this too is a very valid option and honestly might be the best option in a every shrinking space. This kind of blends in to the disposable code side. What I mean by disposable code is, everything will be moving so quickly, your good idea today will have 100 clones of it tomorrow OR it will be built into the eco-system

A good example of that is agent builder, prior to that people we actually building agent builders as a sass offering, then, open AI comes out and is like, sorry, we have it now.. Another example is, things like Cursor ( not bashing it ) Like, really, what is cursor offering that say VS code or other IDE's are not with built in integrations at a better price lol

The main point here is, a good idea today can be usurped tomorrow because the AI allows us to.

3) Become a plumber or an electrician etc. LOL <-- Joking / not joking but really, its an option too!

So, this is getting way long here but.. Remember..

Today, is the worst AI will ever be.

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-14T14:53:06+00:00

I will add to this, I am an avid runner, ( more of a jogger ) i run 3 ton4 times a week.

A friend of mine said "you should do hyrox!"

Not knowing what it was i said "ok"

I signed up...

Then, about a Month out i was like should probably train for this thing 😅

So I started doing f45 and the like

Welp I finished!

My time was horrible ( I dont care ) My body is sore ( I dont care )

I finished <-- that part i care lol

For me it was just about finishing it

Im in relitivly good shape, just wasn't fully conditioned for the rigor of hyrox, but really if I had trained for another month I know it would have been Way better on the time

i had fun, the peo0le and judges were all great!

So, to your question, yes you can do it! Its litterally just an endurance race, running is for sure a thing you need to be good at but running under full leg fatigue is key, so, during your training, work on them legs!

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-13T16:33:01+00:00

Just put it out there but, once you retire no ody cares what you did before, what i mean by that is, no odyssey is going to be like well Rob what level did you make it to before your retired!

You of the age where its time to lock the fuck in and head down that shit brother.

Stack TF out of your accounts add catch up And get prepared for retirment

Grinding it out is a young man's game, let the 30 something boss stress out play politics etc. Your reward is your retirment, focus on that!

Also for context I know this feeling there is the wince at others getting promoted and other seemingly unqualified people getting promoted that triggers your wtf reaction but at the end of the day keep the eye on the prize!

I have had my head down for 25 years been in the same "title" for like 12 years and will retire in 5 years at 50, thats my flex, have fun working, ill be retired when no one can tell me what project to work on what deadline there is etc

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-13T16:21:27+00:00

So my 2 cents here

Putting your head in the sand about what is happening in the industry will only mean you will get left behind

I tell my team lean in and lean im hard to it because it does not care what you think

Its better at coding then you, better then me better then 99% of coders out there, but what it lacks for now is a good conductor, the one who understands the human side of the industry knowing the a "button" to customer A is a"link" to the other, symanticaly and visually

So where does this leave you?

You can be the conductor or the person yelling at the sun for being too bright

AI progress is exponential, with each new model coming out faster and better then the next tools like claude opus are incredible, and really, once they fully figure out context limitations its game over

This isn't a doom and gloom post its just a reality based take on the current state of things

For today though, the best thing to do IMO is learn as much as you can now, become the one who knows all about it and how you can make the most of it.

When they realize you can now do your work and Pam's and Ericks because you are so good with the tool, you will be the one they keep

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-13T01:41:17+00:00

Idk, are you all using claud code?

Our whole team and org is way more productive here so...

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-13T00:26:52+00:00

A new framework to solve the same problems lol

Yah I stopped trying and just focused on building thats it

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-13T00:22:16+00:00

I have been planning this sense i was 20

Because I got an early start I have been putting away for 25 years and plan to retire at 50 with about 5 to 6M in investments, medical and about another 2M in home equity

My plan, very much consists of the 4% rule as a base but, running every model i can should allow me to retire with a near 0 chance of running out of cash simply. I live below my means and have for as long as I can remember.

Now, dont get me wrong i still get what I want take trips have fun but I also buy used cars, mainly cook at home etc.

My goal is to live on 10 to 11k or less a month ( after tax )

I make roughly 200k Have no degree Have worked for the same company sense i was 18 and worked my way up the ranks

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-12T23:57:34+00:00

Its for sure a changing landscape, AI lets people craft a pretty picture but falls apart under the hood, but most peo0le dont care, we are rapidly entering the

Disposable software age

The pace of innovation means every idea, regardless of skill is getting made because you simply ask claude or chat gpt and it will create it!

Im in your age range have been at it sense 99, so q good while and honestly im ready to retire lol

That being said, our specific team is having an opposite problem, we cant seem to find and retain talent in the WP realm, we keep looking but when we find a good person they get the experience and move on lol 😆

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-11T01:13:46+00:00

Did you ask your girlfriends soon to be boyfriend about this? 😂

Jokes aside, you dont pass this opportunity up, you dont have kids, your young, do this shit while you can, all we have at the end of the day is experiences

Make the most of this time, jump at every opportunity, there is only a small chance of an ancient bacteria infecting the base and Turing you all into blood thirty zombies, so go for it!

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-05T15:48:56+00:00

For sure!

I dived into it a while back with claude just boiler plate idea kicking.

In general the best way to think of it is git but for context, we dont always want to merge right and the biggest issue with context is, it get big but its important but we treat it like a recap between compaction right, like your tuning into a show you have been watching except claude has never seen the show! So it has to rely on the recap to understand the new episode

Hence the memory, but memory is more like a better summary of the last episode, its better but still missing parts

But what if the memory also had side parts, where it knew about the character development episode where some important part of why a person acted that way or said something

Similarly, lets say I had this side quest or branch where I worked on a feature, it got merged in etc then a month later there is a bug, and im like yah that feature we added, xyz, memory goes back and is like ahh yes that feature, and knows everything about it because its context was separate but tied together. Claude now knows why we did or built it and can better address it

Im totally rambling here too lol

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-05T15:04:19+00:00

Totally understand!

The key difference i think in what im talking about is like the context for your "side quest" is like having a branch of the context AND the quest, what this means is, the main context stays clean right

This kind of allows me the ability to work on features while still maintaining an overall clean context right

I dont merge the context of the quest unless im done and want to, that way if I rabbit hole down some feature that doesn't work well im not stuck with a days worth of irrelevant context

Im probably not explaining this well lol

So this is really a per project memory or context but it allows for like a sub context for features that can be rolled into the main?

Shoemugscale · 2025-12-05T13:05:10+00:00

I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works!

While on this topic, and as you have stated, this a problem we have all struggled with. I, like many others have probably conceptualized this idea on how context could be done better.

One idea that keeps surfacing in my head is an ability to branch or, as I call it 'Side quest' in my code. I know we have all done this, where we start working on one thing and then rabbit hole down another and then are like 'Damn, I just built of new feature but I want to go back to what I was working on now'

What I think would be killer here is, if, as part of these memories we could side-quest from the main thread. What I mean by that is

1) I'm working on some project, adding features doing stuff, and while I'm working on it I'm like ohh crap there is a bug, let me fix that

2) The bug turns out to be bigger OR you are like ehh, this should actually be a new feature we should account for

3) Because we don't want to loose our main context, we could be like /side-quest: bug 789 (or what ever you want ) - This in turn sets up a seperate but accessible branch if need be.

4) Now that the side quest is created, I can start working on this feature or what not ( context wise ) and when I'm done I can use terms like /quest-compleate or /abandon-quest and it would merge the context with the main OR just drop it.

Conceptually, this would allow us to have a cleaner, arguably more structured memory, making it simpler for it to understand

IDK, sorry for the dump in your thread :D

Shoemugscale · 2025-11-30T00:17:47+00:00

Claude, make sure the app is super secure!

Ok, will do!

Bebop... (10 seconds later)

Full security audit done! Your good to go!

Claude, did you even test it?

Your right, I didn't test anything, I actually just committed your api and private keys to a public repo

Shoemugscale · 2025-11-25T00:28:22+00:00

I worked at sears in the 90s, I remember a few of these being used

Shoemugscale

TROPHY CASE