• Zink@programming.dev
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    2 days ago

    Senior engineer of embedded c/c++ here. I have referred to myself a few times on here as trying to live the superposition of the engineer and the goose farmer. Now that I’ve built a palace of a chicken coop and there are grown chickens running around with the dogs betweenn the play house and koi pond, my back yard is turning into a village from a Zelda game or something.

    My power tools are newer and more numerous than my computing devices by far, lol. And it’s all higher end DeWalt stuff because using a good tool can be satisfying as hell. Plus I’ve already spent more money on wood, and the tools will last a long time.

    The kernel (heh) of truth underpinning this meme is real and profound. If you spend all your time on screens and in cyberspace, if you go beyond touching grass and get your fingers in the dirt or build something physical, it could be extremely good for you. It works great for me!

    • excral@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      I’m an embedded software engineer, too. While I love my job (for the time being) I definitely need to do other stuff with my free time. A junior colleague of mine couldn’t understand why I bake my own bread rolls when I could save so much time by just buying them, but I’m sure in time he’ll get there.

      • Zink@programming.dev
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        1 day ago

        I’m convinced that there is a flaw deep down in the basics of our culture that essentially says that success and prosperity and a good modern life all mean that you don’t need to actually do shit for yourself. All you need to do is make enough money at the job where you presumably actually do productive work, then you can pay some person or some company to take care of all the other shit in life.

        No doubt it’s a side effect of, if not a primary design feature of, our hyper-capitalist mindset. The ideal citizen is either working or consuming during all waking hours.

        Sometimes accomplishing a goal in the way that’s the most expensive and takes the most personal effort is actually the best way to go about it, assuming you count “improves my life” in your ROI calculation and not just the dollars in and out.

    • philpo@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      Not a programmer but doing healthcare IT coming from the equally mind numbing healthcare side.

      …I feel you.

      My woodworking shop in my basement is my solace that keeps my out of a mental institution. Most of my electric tools are oldet than I am - but the good ones, often bought during closing down sales from small carpentry companies.

      Besides a self build CNC it’s kept technology free by principle. The CNC is just too handy,though.

      Not growing goose,but the ITsec wife dreams of raising Capybaras one day.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      If you like quality power tools, don’t look into Maffel or Festool. They’ll destroy your bank account.