mackraken's comments

Similar experience here. “Trade Wars” was amazing for the time and place. I’ve often wondered what happened to it and why someone hasn’t ported it (has it been?!)

OP this is the way. I’ve landed on all these same things. Will add a few more that you can’t buy , but should do to stay healthy: 1. Immediately attend to discomfort. This is your body telling you it’s hurt. Trying to power through it is going to risk more injury. Once you’re hurt the road to recovery is long and prone to re-injury. 2. Take breaks. Do some light stretching before and while you work. Less intensive, but more frequent gentle stretching has worked better for me. 3. Drink water. Take it easy on caffeine and booze.

Inflammatory response is complex. Do everything you can to avoid it. In my experience, long term use of anti inflammatory drugs won’t heal you and will cause other problems.

Most of my employment contracts have typically contained a clause, where my employer gets to claim ownership of anything I’ve built or conceived while on their payroll that can be logically associated with the business.

If I was in this position I’d stop talking to my employer about this until having consulted with an attorney specializing in this field. Definitely do not sign anything between now and then.

Full time remote here divorced 2 yrs. Also in Wisconsin. I share 50% full time custody of my 3yr & 7yr old. This is very solid advice. OP - be very skeptical of anything coming from people who don't have young children around. Even those who did, seem to forget how taxing it is. You may reason that the time that you don't have them is "free". It is not. You will need most of it just to properly care for yourself, the household and to recover. Happy to talk more. Feel free to pm me.

My experience is similar to yours. I have an SE sitting right here (still works!).

Being good at interviews comes with work experience. You get better at evaluating/profiling employers, and responding accordingly.

What I've come to believe is that at many of the big names, unless you're very highly specialized or have a very valuable, unique skill-set (I don't) - then you can expect to be treated like a cog (tested for strength, then run around on rote tasks until you're replaced). I no longer move forward with technical interviews, unless it's a very special opportunity (cool, fun, meaningful). That said - I'm sure working at Apple you'd have to chance to learn from some really talented people.

My guess is a startup might be a better fit for you at this point. Pick one where you be working with good senior engineers (key that they're nice people, who'll make good mentors). Work there a year or so, then find something better. Repeat.

Are you actively coding? You should be. Get on Github and either find a project or start one.

We'll miss him

I don't really follow the current thread this article seems to. It just sounds like the cool CS kids lamenting how the web used to be cool. The masses have discovered it and are contributing to it now. Wasn't that kinda the goal?

<quote>Eight months later it still bothers me, because I should have seen it coming, and because I wasn't able to change it, nor did I find a way to turn it to my advantage.</quote> I'm dealing this due to a failed project (last year was spent on it). I (and other team members) did see it coming though. I'm still sad/mad that our higher ups didn't heed credible guidance.

Get a partner who's a front end dev like me ;)

Can anyone share how/if Health Insurance benefits are provided?

No, but maybe something in another field (like applied Math or Science) and you might find yourself in a position to be doing something meaningful/valuable.

Spend the money on a good term life & a disability insurance policy. You'll sleep better.

uh... re Loops: "Try and avoid making calls in a loop." This is an over simplification. The author draws the wrong conclusion from the example given:

    for(var x = 0; x < 100; x++){
      var keys = Object.keys(obj); 
      sum = sum + keys[x]; 
    }

The problem here is needlessly invoking the same operation 100 times (Object.keys).

Don't over think it or start self doubting. Are you getting interviews? As previously asked - where are you located?

1. You must network. Make the effort to go to local meetups, etc. One problem you have is that you don't have other developers around. Knowing how to market yourself comes with awareness and experience you get by having relationships with other developers. Get out to a local meetup or something.

Without knowing more, in general: 1. If you're able to reduce your salary requirements then look for something that offers you a chance to build skills (sacrifice compensation for now). 2. You may need to relocate for greener fields.

As for tech choices, I think it's more about being with a team (or project) that is actively practicing high-quality code craftsmanship. Languages come and go, but delivering high quality code is a skill that sticks.

I was using Transit, which performed very well. After pulling in HighchartsJS I ran into a strange conflict (tbd) in the transitions (animations), so just switched to Velocity. Works well.

Thanks!

Yup but not a bad move. You're an elusive DevOps now (It's hard to find them!). That's what I would use as a job title. It's a good market for that and you can always go back to being a Web Dev if you want. On our team, we tried to find a sys ops who was interested in doing dev ops to mentor us. None of the Sys ops guys we had made the transition - you're in a great position. (edited : expanded response)

Yes. This. We have a cushion (although a larger one would be better). There aren't a lot of comparable options here. Most of the jobs here are limited, being a step back in pay and either experience or benefits. I'm half-heartedly looking for remote work.

Single reason - that it would be a great growth experience and maybe give me career options down the road. Thank you!

Definitely - great advice. I've been out, had a good experience interviewing, but declined offers for those reasons. But still, I'm feeling like doing a few years for some big names might give me more options and flexibility in the long run.