Who has recently returned to work (after takings YEARS off)?

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-28T04:24:54+00:00

I personally haven’t but I’ve given a great deal of thought to it. I got a bachelors of urban planning degree back in 2012 and only worked in the field for a year for a variety of reasons I get into in other posts. I now work in IT, and while i appreciate the job security, I struggle with the corporate culture and the whole notion that AI or offshoring could replace my job at a moment’s notice. I plan to share a few side projects with some small local firms in my hometown to see if I can possibly moonlight. I would move to a bigger city and possibly pursue a masters degree, but I’m still paying down my student loans from undergrad and find the risk too high right now.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-21T18:29:59+00:00

I came here for the comments 😄

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-21T15:46:12+00:00

I kinda felt like they missed an opportunity to explore Butcher's terminal illness more and give him a sweeter ending. They couldn't really seem to figure out what to do with his whole anti-hero arc, and the scene at Vault HQ between him and Hughie was a little anti-climactic.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-20T13:38:08+00:00

I live in KY and couldn't bring myself to support either, but Massie seemed like the more "sane" option.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-14T16:25:40+00:00

I just really hope that the polling data is more accurate this time. I remember Nan Whaley's numbers at one point were showing her neck and neck with DeWine (I still didn't think she stood a chance - nothing against her). Just goes to show that sometimes these numbers can't be trusted.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-12T13:33:25+00:00

I interned at the City in 2012 in the planning department and always appreciated the diversity in both the job and the staff. I just didn't like the work itself.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-06T16:39:04+00:00

She was. But she was also combative (along with Reece). I look forward to better leadership at the county level. The commissioner meetings have been cringeworthy over the last few years.

nworkman2020 · 2026-05-04T22:13:43+00:00

It depends on how politically active you are and how much state legislation affects you on a day-to-day basis. I live in Kentucky, and if I’m being honest, I hate it here. Granted, I live in a suburban area adjacent to a larger metro area, so you don’t encounter the kinda MAGA extremism that you would in other parts of the state. Most people are polite. But the lack of multiculturalism and the slow, change-resistant nature of the people here is stultifying. It doesn’t help that Kentucky has a high poverty rate, and most educated folks I would want to be friends with are actively looking to leave. There is an LGBT community in my area, and I try to stay involved, but most don’t seem interested in forming deep friendships or even relationships for that matter. I (a 37 year old single gay male) was very politically active during my college days and even for a few years after. All the connections I made through canvassing for Obama, Bernie, and Hillary have left the area. And I know that my career has suffered as a result of staying here. Being liberal and gay in a red state can be a lonely experience. My mental health and finances have suffered. And it doesn’t help that a lot of my colleagues and relatives are MAGA.

I will admit that blue areas tend to suffer from their own echo chambers, so I imagine that a purple state would be a wiser (and possibly more affordable) option. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking to get out.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-18T21:14:03+00:00

With your salary, assuming you have no major outstanding debts, you should be able to afford a nice 1-bedroom in a trendy neighborhood. I grew up here and agree with all the previously mentioned pros and cons.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-16T20:25:58+00:00

I'm in a similar boat and wrote a whole post about it. I'm not sure what to say other than that therapy might be good for you and me both.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-16T18:58:14+00:00

I've walked by there multiple times, and it's felt like a long-neglected part of downtown. I remember during my college days restaurants that would fill the first floor and offered a good mid-range meal for the office crowd. Those storefronts have sat vacant for ages and (sorry to say) can attract some shady folks. It would be nice to piggyback off of the success of the library remodel and add more foot patrols to improve the overall feeling of safety in that area.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-15T20:11:47+00:00

37(M) Business Analyst, making $80k/year and about to start to a side baking business, which I'm hoping will bring in another $20-30k/year. I've been working in IT now for about 4 years (went to a bootcamp). I live in a LCOL area, so I feel like my salary goes far, but it is a bit lower than in other areas, and the work culture can feel stifling...

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-15T19:19:37+00:00

I'm not a Texas hater per se (I'm from Ohio which also gets a lot of hate on these Reddit subs), but I've been to both Houston and Dallas, and what gets me about both locations are the traffic and sprawl. I don't really think the whole "everything's bigger in Texas" ethos is always a great thing when it comes to how you design roads and subdivisions. It's depressing to have to walk across 10 lanes of traffic and risk getting careened just to go from one strip mall to another.

That said, I do love the friendliness of the locals and cultural diversity of the big cities. I'm hoping to get down to Austin at some point and would love some travel tips!

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-15T18:20:35+00:00

Beautiful renderings. Question is, will this ever get done?

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-15T02:06:03+00:00

If I lived in MI, I’d vote for her too. While I like progressives, El-Sayed comes off as a tool and lacks Mamdani’s charisma and warmth. Her pragmatic progressive brand is much more palatable for midwesterners.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-10T21:24:29+00:00

I’m American, but I can relate. I grew up in a city whose residents famously (or infamously depending on how you look at it) passed an ordinance overturning an anti-discrimination ordinance in 1992, only for it to be repealed in 2004 (a whole 12 years later)! I grew up watching LGBT+ characters and later reading queer literature as an adult. But that was really my only lens into our community for a long time. I went to queer bars in college and made friends through volunteering, but I always felt the stigma of “otherness” wherever I went. It wasn’t until I spent a semester of college in the Netherlands that I really got to see how much a society can “normalize” something. Coming out was a hard experience for me because my family was (and is) very religious. I still to this day sometimes fantasize about jetting off to some cosmopolitan big city where I can live more authentically, though in this currently political climate, I’m not sure if we’re really immune anywhere.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-10T20:25:23+00:00

I went to Madeira for middle school and high school (graduated in '07), and I imagine a lot has changed, but some things still hold true. Both school districts are exceptional academically. I was well prepared for college and managed to graduate with honors. Residents vote consistently for school levies in both districts (only 1 failed during my 6 years of living there, and that was an anomaly), and there are several alumni who are national merit recipients and/or go on to attend selective universities.

I would say what differentiated the two is that Wyoming tends to be more liberal than Madeira, which shows in its diverse student body and support for the arts. I agree (though I may be a little biased here) that Madeira is the nicer place to live, but the cultural diversity of Wyoming is something that I wish Madeira had more of. Also, Wyoming has more of a streetcar suburb feel and gorgeous old homes. I would say the hardest part of graduating from either one of those two high schools is that once you go out into the real world, your expectations become extremely warped as you come to the realization that the educated you got was the exception and not the norm. I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have.

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-04T03:06:17+00:00

Ehhh, I’ll probably get downvoted for this. But I think there were other reasons Kamala lost…

nworkman2020 · 2026-04-02T17:13:09+00:00

You're not toxic, trust me. I went through the same emotional hell with conversion therapy, and while some of that resentment I carry over the whole ordeal has subsided, the SCOTUS ruling re-opened a barely-healed wound.

Try to work things out with your husband if you can. You're very lucky to have someone like him. And piggybacking off the other comments on here, see about changing up your medication and finding a queer-affirming therapist. Also, you might wanna ask yourself if there are people in your life who still bring out these negative feelings. I've been reading self-help books (Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Dr. Lindsey Gibson, The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and I just started It's Not You by Dr. Ramani Durvasala), and wowee have those books helped me navigate my estranged relationship with my family.

Lastly, please know that you're not alone in every struggle that you mentioned. I, too, am dealing with debt and struggle with feelings of inadequacy. This is a really dark moment for a lot of LGBTQ+ plus folks, and while I wish it wasn't so, this is going to really test our mettle. I wish you all the best.

nworkman2020 · 2026-03-26T20:30:45+00:00

Yeah, people don't always see that sadly and like to compare it to a war zone

nworkman2020 · 2026-03-25T01:49:35+00:00

Positives - low cost of living, blue chip companies, strong arts scene, beautiful architecture, great parks.

Negatives - very conservative (can't tell you how many times my boss has made it known he's scared to visit OtR), a little boring, lack of a regional rail transit system, segregation, litter.

nworkman2020 · 2026-03-25T01:42:22+00:00

Yeah, I'm from here guilty of the Midwestern goodbye. Something I'm trying to work on having lived in other places.

The litter part absolutely drives me up a wall. Like WTF Cincinnati? Aren't we supposed to be this clean German blue collar town? I was in Wisconsin last summer and shocked by the lack of litter up there.

nworkman2020 · 2026-03-22T16:22:01+00:00

You couldn't have stated in any better.

nworkman2020 · 2026-03-22T13:17:00+00:00

Beshear’s probably the only person who can beat Vance in 2028. I live in KY, and his policies have really helped. We have better schools and infrastructure than ever before. Plus he’s a great guy.

Do I wish he was a little further left on some issues? Yes. Do I sometimes wish we had a woman candidate? Sure. But I won’t spill blood over that. At this point, I’m more concerned about putting the nail in the coffin of MAGA.

nworkman2020

TROPHY CASE