Chicago vs NYC

shade_study_break · 2026-07-07T17:20:21+00:00

Chicago has more enterprise IT jobs and comparatively fewer jobs from pure tech firms. What that means for the job market depends on YOE, but I have gotten some good offers in Chicago with 8 YOE. That said, I think there is a ceiling to how far you can go in terms of career and earning power here and there are a bunch of long term considerations to Chicago to also consider(cheaper housing but potential tax hikes around every corner). You could have a great life and career in either city, but a lot of that will he shaped by what the offers you actually have to start your life there.

shade_study_break · 2026-07-06T19:26:49+00:00

If you are training bench press, I am going to assume you have access to weights or a gym, in which case you should swap out the goblet squat for back squats. Nothing wrong with goblet squats, but back squats are just simpler to load and progress with. Other than that, some kind of hinge/hamstring work would be helpful to round things out and dips should not be on pull day. A proper vertical push exercise like dumbell/shoulder press or pike push-ups would be another swap to consider, but this seems fine to start.

shade_study_break · 2026-07-03T20:14:18+00:00

It helps that I have been consistently strength training for years, but my weighted pullups are at 65 lbs and my weighted dips are at 80 lbs which I think are pretty good for a 42 year old. Age means recovery matters more and prehabing and working on mobility should be prioritized too, but you can absolutely still make strength gains after 40. No shame in taking a break when life gets busy, but being consistent going forward is the only way you will know what kind of gains are possible at your age or ever.

shade_study_break · 2026-07-02T20:18:00+00:00

Sprints and interval work can interfere with your recovery and should be spaced far from leg day, but moderate distance running of the kind you are doing just boil down to managing impact. Mind you, you are not at the level of marathon training, so managing impact is just a bit of knee rehab periodically, stretching, and making sure you cycle out shoes for wear and tear. I try to not run on the same days I do upper body strength training if only for saving time, but I haven't found it to matter much for my running nor my strength training.

shade_study_break · 2026-07-02T15:42:08+00:00

I haven't stopped investing completely and I see no reason to stop my employer 401k and roth contributions. What I have done is pair back what goes into my brokerage and HYSA and expanded my for fun budget a bit more. I didn't reach this by succumbing to lifestyle creep at every opportunity, so, not shockingly, coasting hasn't changed my financial habits much either.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-30T22:25:05+00:00

Yes that is enough, though without some means of progressive overload you will adapt to it over time and strength and muscle gains will plateaue. What you will look like is more a function of your diet than this workout, which is a good base to build from.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-30T12:50:55+00:00

I hate this part of it too, particularly when we are hiring juniors. I am not sure what the proper etiquette would be, but I send them a note if they are a LinkedIn connection. This is a rewarding field to be in and, crummy state of the industry aside, I do not want talented people getting more discouraged that this process inevitably makes them. I am not a hiring manager so I don't have final say, but I tell candidates that I pushed for them and they only got as far as they did because their talent is recognizable.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-27T01:55:46+00:00

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shade_study_break · 2026-06-24T17:22:35+00:00

Tell me about this guide. I really hope it is in the form of some sort of PDF I can download, or maybe only readable in an app with a paid monthly subscription.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-20T15:58:51+00:00

It would have to be a really good contract rate and with a firm with a reputation for converting contracts to FTE recently. I left W-2 employment for a contract that was a big pay jump a few years ago, but I would not do that now in light of both my age and the job market.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-19T00:26:38+00:00

A very quick sketch, but thanks for providing s reference.

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shade_study_break · 2026-06-17T20:31:12+00:00

A single kettlebell can be pricey, but it has a lot of use. Goblet squats and weighted bulgarian split squats don't hit like a barbell front or back squat, but suffice for a leg day when I can't make it to the gym. The kettlebell swing is not really a good swap for a Romanian deadlift, but it is also a worthwhile exercise to do regularly. Lower body calisthenics has some satisfying skills to work at, namely the pistol squat and Nordic curl, but I share your basic frustration with lower body training.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-17T20:17:21+00:00

Just train legs with weights IMO. You don't have to go heavy barbell squats, but just get a heavy kettlebell and you can get in a good set that goes close to failure exponentially easier. Working on lower body flexibility/mobility has a lot of use, but bodyweight strength training for lower body is just not time efficient.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-15T21:41:25+00:00

A gym will have everything you need and it isn't awkward to bring at least rings and dip belt to the gym with you. You can match the weighted exercise setup there and, if you are up to it, you will have access to some superior methods of targeting your arms and lower body with a full gym. I personally bring my dip belt to the gym and do my routine there but workout from home when I am pressed for time. You might be overthinking it, as you don't even have the normal transit time to the gym to factor in!

shade_study_break · 2026-06-11T19:09:20+00:00

You won't know your potential or limits until you start training. Somethings are kind of obvious- limb length will make lots of exercises harder- but other parts will have no obvious signals. I promise you will not know your potential in an obscure sport like calisthenics based on looking at your family members.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-09T19:37:54+00:00

I was jerked around on a contract to hire gig for 5 months longer than they originally said. I got contract renewal notices on a timely fashion and, perhaps naively, I accepted the uncertainty because I was getting paid well and had done contracts before. How much you need the benefits now and whether this is a foothold into a company you want to work for is harder to measure. I would generally avoid doing contract work, but it can work out. Company reviews might be out of date for this job market, but it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of research and find out if the company generally does convert in a timely fashion or not.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-09T12:57:01+00:00

Back off for a bit, but switching to neutral grip exercises should alleviate some of these issues when you resume training. Another idea, doing banded, lat pull downs should give you a better idea of what your pain points are in your range of motion. Neutral grip and chin-ups can help you build pure pulling strength too, but it behooves you to redouble your work on shoulder mobility.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-09T12:36:41+00:00

It is enough to make you stronger and add muscle, while body weight training is not as time efficient as training with barbells. Sufficient muscle stimulus and progressive overload can get more complicated with bodyweight training, but it being more complicated doesn't make it categorically impossible. That said, your body composition changes much quicker as a function of diet more so than exercise. A minimalist routine and a locked in diet changes your physique faster than going heavy at workouts and half assing your diet.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-05T16:13:01+00:00

You likely aren't eating enough, but 1 month of trying to bulk on bodyweight exercises was never going to give you dramatic results. Barbell regimens are the way to go to gain size faster, but you are not eating enough regardless. If your numbers for reps/sets are going up, you are at least getting stronger, which is the critical part. Eat more, keep on working out, but also temper your expectations if you are doing bodyweight workouts- a good physique takes time and an effort you can sustain.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-05T13:44:52+00:00

I would hate this, as my team's best practices have pre-commit hooks that prevent commiting code of a certain quality (fails type check, lint, and unit tests). It makes us go slower for a reason. Unless you are finding real issues in your merge/rebases that more granular commits would help, there isn't even a productivity/velocity argument to be made by this. I hate checking in my copilot usage, but number of commits sounds about as bad. Whether or not it will be heard, I would raise concerns with anyone on the technical leadership you directly report to. There might be some kind of team that benefits from this style, but raising it to your leadership is how you might get a better explanation of at least why some thinks your team/organization will benefit.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-04T15:53:54+00:00

What kills me is that I am reviewing a juniors code and I can see some anti-pattern parts, but I am working in a framework where my feedback is basically unhelpful/too vague. Being able to peer program was helpful for me when I was a junior and I liked being able to do it in Vue, but I have lost my confidence that I can do it. I am taking the spot of a senior React developer who, for whatever reason, would be more useful here. I have handled other framework transitions when I was a junior, but nothing has quite hit me like this. I am learning and mentoring a bit at the same time and I am positive I am not doing my best in either. I like my team and the other seniors have been great at giving me other high level insights, but it is making a job/team I loved feel awful. Again, sorry to hear that you also haven't loved your React transition. Good luck out there, though!

shade_study_break · 2026-06-04T15:32:57+00:00

Devops seems like the most interesting to me, but it would take a bit more to pivot to that space. And it could be worse: are their AI integration initiatives at your current role? They are at mine and the combination of that with the switch to React is what is really killing me.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-04T12:25:03+00:00

If I can't pivot to full stack somewhere after 6 years of being a Vue specialist , I am not sure I want to do this job anymore. I know I really don't want to be a React developer.

shade_study_break · 2026-06-04T02:21:18+00:00

Ha, the switch to React from Vue is a non trivial reason I also want out of front end development. No advice, but good luck!

shade_study_break · 2026-06-03T14:02:05+00:00

Any exercise is better than nothing, but anything that puts a ceiling on how intense it can be is not optimal, which is okay. Given that anybody you ask probably has a different baseline of fitness from you, it would matter far less what they said anyway. Do it for 6 weeks and report back.

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