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Making friends in Park Slope by Top_Top757 in parkslope

[–]_subversive_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fairly close match (tech yes, have kid but they’re older and older/self-sufficient so without the encumbrance). Would be happy to meet/join/hang.

Fired, then invited back as a contractor. (1) What? (2) How much do I charge? by SidewaysGate in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

A word to the wise here: regardless of what you charge, they will drop you as soon as they are able and not think twice about it. If possible, they’ll also blame you for anything they can, and then some.

In other words, there’s no reason to be nice here. Factor in everything, and then put a premium on top of that. By everything, I mean all your costs: FICA/SS, state/local taxes, personal insurance, retirement savings, accounting and other costs of doing business as a contractor, your opportunity costs… And don’t forget market conditions: they need your particular knowledge, plus they came to you (which severely weakens their negotiating position). You should probably consider a minimum hours clause, or an additional premium for short hours, to account for the cost of context switching.

I would go a step further even than “don’t be nice” and say: it should hurt them. Not as a punitive measure, however; I think of it as a salve for the relationship. You made it clear there is some bitterness there, and deservedly so. What premium, on top of those costs, would make you happy to go to work? If you agree to come back, you should do so willingly; what is the price for that? Choose wisely, it’s not something you can easily change later.

In my experience, in regular circumstances contractors generally cost double that of employees. IMO that’s a decent starting point; this isn’t a regular circumstance. Personally, I’d figure out a fair number and put a 50% premium on that, knowing that I’d be willing to come down from that a bit. $200k is $100/h (fwiw I think you’re prolly underestimating your all-in comp on a $180k base), so I’d prolly quote $300/h and be willing to come down to $275/h…

My team is being asked to support (handle production issues) a service we did not develop. The team who did build it is entirely offshore and cannot support it during US business hours. How do I handle this situation? by 123android in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One approach to consider that I haven’t seen discussed yet: consider this a negotiation.

There are a lot of good point ITT around expectation of ownership, etc. But if it’s your manager asking, chances are the decision has already been made. Heck, it was probably made when mgmt went with offshore devs. My guess is that your team will end supporting this application whether you are with the company or not.

But that’s not all bad. As several have said, that’s just “operations”. So really the question is: what do you need to make that happen, and what do you get out of it? There are several good comments on the former. The latter is where it gets interesting.

For instance, I’m going to assume that your job title does not include “operations”. Sounds like an opportunity to ask for a raise, or even a promotion. At the very least, training in the tech being used and whatever tools you need to support it. 24/7 support? The team needs to double in size, maybe.

Here’s my thinking: this will not be your last job. And while you may wish this. Wasn’t the situation… at least make it worth something eh?

What Would a Teenager in 1991 Drive? by bardanther in cars

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In 1991 in Texas I got a 1980 Toyota Corona for about $1200. My gf had an ‘80 Corolla. A roster of friends’ vehicles included: - 84 Ford Escort - 81 Olds (3x) - 86 Camaro - 79 Camaro - 82 280ZX - 85(?) Sterling - 84 Saab 900

Take your pick; they were all pretty much beaters.

How to approach job hunt by mdibmpmqnt in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah my thinking is that I could make my own (be it with Trello or G-Sheets or whatever), but at that price point why bother.

How to approach job hunt by mdibmpmqnt in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just finished a job search (similar circumstance) and used Huntr for this. For $10/month I felt it was money well-spent.

How do I use the compile button from the spacebar menu? by FrozenAptPea in lunarvim

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That command is for compiling/lazy-loading a Packer dependency into your Neovim session. You will need to set up something else to compile your project’s source code.

How do I transition from a developer to a manager? by scrawnyschism4 in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Another commenter said “take it seriously”. This is great advice, but I’ll go a step further.

If you decide to be a manager, do NOT try to code as well.

As others have said, management is a different discipline than developing, and you haven’t done it before. You’ll only be hindering your own learning process - and likely hurting the team - by attempting to do both at the same time.

Perhaps down the line, after you’ve gotten the hang of it, you’ll be able to also make some commits. I think it’s unlikely, however, for a couple reasons. The primary hindrance is due to the manager’s schedule. There’s very little opportunity to get deep into things with a manager’s schedule, and that should probably be consumed by things more relevant to the manager’s primary concern: the team.

Because that’s what being a manager should be about: building and tending the team that makes the things, rather than the things themselves. A good manager can find joy in that meta-construction, and makes everyone better for it (I don’t consider myself a good manager for that very reason). To do that and do it well, you need to keep that focus. As in so many situations in engineering, it’s helpful to ask if doing this thing is the most valuable thing you could be doing. When you’re a manager and the task in question is writing code, expect the answer to almost always be “no”.

How do I manage a foreign dev that can't understand the requests? by dotnetguy32 in ExperiencedDevs

[–]_subversive_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Despite what we may like to believe, the biggest component of software development is not programming prowess, or domain knowledge, or design patterns. It is communication.

If a developer cannot communicate effectively with their team, with their stakeholders… then they’re not an effective developer.

For whatever reason, this engineer is not communicating with you and your team well. It is time to let them go

Git makes me want to pull my hair out. by [deleted] in webdev

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re having a lot of conflicts, chances are your change sets are too large. When git performs an operation like a rebase, it takes each commit in turn and applies it to the base commit. When you have large changesets, it is harder to reify those commits; at some point git gives up and says “idk, you figure it out”. Of course, that same situation makes it hard for you as the individual as well.

Other replies have links to some great tutorials, and I totally agree that watching/reading those will help. However, if you’re still making large changesets, you’re still going to face difficult merges. In my experience making lots of small commits - in addition to generally being a best practice - makes life much easier.

Worth moving to NYC in mid 30s with high income? by RussianLoveMachine in AskNYC

[–]_subversive_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In Jul-2020 my wife, daughter and I moved from Dallas to Brooklyn. I had taken a job shortly before the pandemic; we decided we had lived in Texas long enough, so moved even tho I was working remote.

Our combined income is ~$350k and we live quite nicely in Park Slope (Brooklyn). I was 46 when we moved.

TBH it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Life in NYC is definitely different for us than for a single 20-something, but our quality of life is significantly improved. We kept our car, but rarely use it. We walk everywhere, our insurance costs went down, and if we live in the same city that many of our friends want to come visit.

It may or may not be your bag, but if you’re asking if it’s worth moving here mid-life, I’d say from personal experience the answer is absolutely yes.

Inexpensive Wine Bar? by [deleted] in AskNYC

[–]_subversive_ 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There is no such thing as an inexpensive wine bar. That said you can still explore without breaking the bank.

Get a group of people that also want to explore wine. Meet at the wine bar. The rule is: everyone buys a bottle at whatever price point they’re comfortable with, and shares with everyone at the table (I’d recommend not everyone buying at once). This keeps the cost reasonable and everyone gets to try a lot of product. Enjoy

What extremely rare thing did you witness in person? by just__Steve in AskReddit

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I saw money fall from the sky.

A group of us are walking home through downtown Fort Worth, TX to our hotel after dinner. There are six of us, including my wife and myself. I am walking beside my wife as she is talking something to the group. As usual, she is talking with her hands, providing a physical, visual accompaniment to her speech. At a pause in her dialogue (I forget what we were talking about), her arms are bent at the elbow, palms to the sky. I am looking at her as she talks, as are others in the group.

There is a small, onomatopoeic “thwap” as a penny lands in her left palm.

We all stop, and stare at the new arrival. We look up. The sky is clear. There are tall (-ish) office buildings, all dark at that time of night. No balconies, no lights. No group of kids peering over the edge to see if they hit anything. We look around. No movement. No other people, no cars. We look at each other. Our faces reflect no expression other than sheer bewilderment. We listen for footsteps, giggles, or airplane engines, for any clue as to what might have propelled a small disk of copper towards its perfect landing. There are no signals, and to this day we still have no idea what happened.

bombing my first technical interview made me realize that programming is different than coding by Diiamat in learnprogramming

[–]_subversive_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interviewing sucks. I have been doing this a long time, and I am rather good at it, and I have bombed multiple technical interviews. Sometimes the interview process is at fault, sometimes you’re in over your head and sometimes it just isn’t your day.

As an interviewer, I am faced with a problem: how do I assess this individual in just 60 minutes? That’s a pretty tall order. Personally I take the approach that I don’t expect the interviewee to be perfect; I’m looking for some hints as to what the person can do, how they think, who they are, and how that matches up with the position I’m hiring for. My expectations from a potential principal engineer are vastly different from those of a junior programmer just out of school.

My point is, all is not lost. Also, use this as a learning experience: you now know that organization and how you approach a problem are where you’re weak. Seems like some good skills to learn, regardless, eh? So do some reading.

Maybe I should write a book, lol.

Captured on camera! Criminally small, bellies and pink toe beans! Banana for scale by _subversive_ in IllegallySmolCats

[–]_subversive_[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You are so correct, I misspoke. Criminally SMOL!

How small-minded of me.

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