[nktrnk]

I haven’t spent much time thinking about the full extent of the metaphor I’m about to propose. But what you’re saying sounds to me something like “do you hate being in a relationship but love making love?” Yes, many people would prefer one without the other. But that’s not how it works in real life most of the time.

And not only engineering vs programming or relationships vs love making. If you pay attention, many other aspects of life are like this too: — do you like learning but hate school? — do you like hiking but hate waking up early, driving, and sweating? — do you like seeing new places but hate planning and getting there?

Granted, sometimes some people manage to arrange their circumstances such that there’s no dichotomy there. But most of the time, on average, this is what it is. There are two ways of dealing with it: accept it as a fact and learn to deal with it or try to change your circumstances with the understanding that there’s a high chance it’s going to be the same at another place.