Job and Life related questions, sort of...

[mjr]

Ok, the way this is going to sound is going to sound very weird.

I enjoy the work I do. I enjoy software engineering, writing the code, doing the architecture of programs, all that good stuff. And I get paid fairly well to do it.

The "struggle" I'm having, if you will, is that by definition, my work results in nothing tangible. And that's where I'm struggling a little, because there seems to be a certain "futility" in it.

Now, I guess I could look at it as most jobs don't really produce anything tangible. I mean, construction workers do, as you can see the finished product (houses, buildings, roadways, etc.), but for me, the "product" is all digital. There's nothing tangible to it. Sure, what I produce has value, but it's not anything tangible or physical.

I'm not sure how to handle it. I don't think other jobs in other industries would pay as well. I've considered taking up hobbies that result in tangible things, but I don't have a whole lot of space at my house. I would, if we could get rid of a lot of the stuff in our garage, but my wife doesn't want to. I mean, we're not having any more kids, we don't need a baby swing, stroller, crib, red wagon, tricycle, and boxes of baby clothes. If I had room, I'd take up Bob Ross style painting, and maybe buy a guitar kit and make my own guitar.

Maybe this is part of why I'm thinking about getting physical copies of my music CD once it's done, too. Just to have something tangible.

So I'm not really sure how to handle this.

Any thoughts or ideas? I know this is a weird way to feel. I mean, it was basically the same when I worked in foodservice, except that food was tangible for a very short period of time. Though I couldn't point to it months or years later and say, "I did that."

[Kittish]

There sort of is a tangible side to your work. You can point to any business that uses the code you wrote and say "I helped make this possible." ALSO, keep in mind that some of the most important advances we've made as a species came about because of people doing work that, by definition, has no tangible result. I'm talking about mathematicians and theoretical scientists. They do as much as they can to NOT have their work intersect the actual real world (and it still keeps working out that their work kind of DEFINES the actual real world). What you do may not carry that sort of chutzpah, but it's still good and important work.

Talk to your wife about rehoming some of the kid related stuff (NOT "getting rid of"!!!!- pitch it more along the lines of finding good homes for the stuff where it'll get used like it's meant to be and you might have some luck). Not all of it, necessarily, at least not at first. Just a box or two at a time. Might help if you know someone who could use it. "Hey, <wife>, <person> really could use some kid clothes. Think it would be okay if we got some of these to them? I bet the swing would be useful for them, too."

[mjr]

There sort of is a tangible side to your work. You can point to any business that uses the code you wrote and say "I helped make this possible." ALSO, keep in mind that some of the most important advances we've made as a species came about because of people doing work that, by definition, has no tangible result. I'm talking about mathematicians and theoretical scientists. They do as much as they can to NOT have their work intersect the actual real world (and it still keeps working out that their work kind of DEFINES the actual real world). What you do may not carry that sort of chutzpah, but it's still good and important work.

I never really considered things from this perspective. But I've never really worked at a company where I could really do that. I mean, when you write software, you almost have to check your ego from time to time, because at some point there's a very high likelihood your code will be replaced. I can point to stuff now, at my current job, and say "I did X and made Y possible", but other times it's been maintenance or work in a field I wasn't really that enthusiastic about.

[Food Lady]

My company wouldn't exist without people who do your kind of work. You probably provide jobs for people. I do understand wanting to work with your hands. The people in my family are like that. My uncle didn't make it through college but his daughter has a doctorate in pharmacology because he supported her with his talent. He owns a business that makes signs. Some of his are in the Biltmore Estate. (He lives in North Carolina.)

[mjr]

My company wouldn't exist without people who do your kind of work. You probably provide jobs for people. I do understand wanting to work with your hands. The people in my family are like that. My uncle didn't make it through college but his daughter has a doctorate in pharmacology because he supported her with his talent. He owns a business that makes signs. Some of his are in the Biltmore Estate. (He lives in North Carolina.)

I'm not sure I'd consider it "providing jobs for people". Though one day if I do have my own company I might.

Right now it's probably more like "help make people's jobs easier", or as I jokingly saw it on a t-shirt: "Solving problems you didn't know you had in ways you don't understand."

I'm crossing my fingers, but if things keep on pace, I'm a year or so from paying off my house about 12 years early (something like that), and at that point I will have zero debt. Then I'm going to start stashing away a lot of it, and maybe work on some hobbies.

[csquared]

While you may not have something to hold in the air while you shout "Lookie! Lookie!", you do create something. And it would appear that it is something that is beneficial to society.

Look at me. I am a Unix Admin. I create less than you do. I am just a small cog in the machinery. However, that machinery provides an essential service to several million people.

*points at company's offerings*
See! I helped to make that!

[mjr]

Talk to your wife about rehoming some of the kid related stuff (NOT "getting rid of"!!!!- pitch it more along the lines of finding good homes for the stuff where it'll get used like it's meant to be and you might have some luck). Not all of it, necessarily, at least not at first. Just a box or two at a time. Might help if you know someone who could use it. "Hey, <wife>, <person> really could use some kid clothes. Think it would be okay if we got some of these to them? I bet the swing would be useful for them, too."

To address this...

We really don't know enough people to do that. And I don't think she'd want to get rid of clothing in that manner anyway. I wouldn't mind (I'd honestly be perfectly fine donating a bunch of it to a local church or the local "helping hands" organization), but when she was pregnant, she actually turned down used clothing and such. She says she read somewhere that used things like cribs, strollers, etc. can be dangerous. I don't know. I've even tried to convince her to let me get a storage unit and just move a bunch of stuff into that. That was unsuccessful as well. Though I may try to bring it up again.

Of course, that means at some point we'll probably end up with more crap in our garage...but at least the baby stuff would be in storage.