Comment by blueridge

These days, professionally, I am primarily a manager of people. This is the only thing keeping me in tech—my teams are composed of excellent humans and I get to make meaningful contributions to their personal and career development. I'm also able to influence the hiring process so that our incompetent HR team doesn't fuck up the hiring and onboarding experience beyond repair. And, the young people entering the workforce have no idea what to expect, how to act, how to behave, how to communicate like an adult, how to connect ideas—at the very least, I can help with this stuff and that makes me happy.

Outside of work, my computer usage is limited. I no loner maintain a personal blog or website, and I've given up on writing or online community projects simply because I can't stand having to constantly tinker with the tech—WordPress, Jekyll, maintaining domains, security, whatever. I don't have social media accounts. I don't read online or with a Kindle, I continue to buy and read physical books. No smart home, no smart car, no TV in the house, no apps on my phone other than weather and maps. No time spent watching obnoxious SeatGeek, Liberty Mutual, or Grammarly ads on YouTube.

I am a deeply technical person, my skillset makes me employable, technology and computers have made all sorts of things possible in my life, and for that I am thankful. But more and more, the good life is a life without the screen, without the connectivity, without the neurotic tinkering with tools and libraries, without having to spend full days figuring out if my data was exposed in a breach.

I sit on ass all day for work, I will not sit on ass all evening in pursuit of technical hobbies that no longer bring me joy. There are sunsets to see.