Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Where are you and where are you going?
white belt
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by white belt »

TopHatFox wrote:
Wed May 10, 2023 5:14 pm
I think I figured it out with mostly having intellectual hobbies or hobbies with a reasonable one-time cost. For example, after work, I enjoy German lessons, programming lessons, or math lessons.
I'll be curious to see how long this lasts. One of the things I've noticed when working on intellectually demanding tasks all day (coding is usually one of the most demanding, especially when it's the "bang head against wall to solve problem" phase) is that after work I am completely mentally drained. There is no world where I have the focus to be able to then study a language, math, or more programming. Physical hobbies that don't require a lot of abstract thinking can still be refreshing. There is a reason many people who work these types of jobs come home and just flip on the Netflix.
Last edited by white belt on Wed May 10, 2023 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Slevin
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by Slevin »

white belt wrote:
Wed May 10, 2023 8:46 pm
I'll be curious to see how long this lasts. One of the things I've noticed when working on intellectually demanding tasks all day (coding is usually one of the most demanding, especially when it's the bang head against wall to solve problem phase) is that after work I am completely mentally drained. There is no world where I have the focus to be able to then study a language, math, or more programming. Physical hobbies that don't require a lot of abstract thinking can still be refreshing. There is a reason many people who work these types of jobs come home and just flip on the Netflix.
I've just switched jobs to one that has rigorous problem solving and creation in it and I can't possibly agree more with this. Once I've finished work + 2ish hours of cardio / weights / calisthenics / whatever, I'm basically a potato.

TopHatFox
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by TopHatFox »

@white belt, I'm hoping it'll last, or I'll have to push through to make it last. At least German or Romance languages don't use too much bandwidth anymore. I can just turn on Portuguese Star Wars & watch passively, for example. The math is ridiculously easy at the moment, just doing Khan Academy 1st grade through Differential Equations. Coding can be tough, but look, if I don't do it, no startup. I'm glad they're tutorials tho, so they're hand-held experiences.

For work out, I just do 10 pull-ups and 100 push-ups 2 times a week :lol:

zbigi
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by zbigi »

For me, I recall it was gradual. As I progressed in my interests, they got harder and required more focus. At the same time, as I progressed in my job, it also got harder and required more focus. So, in the span of a couple of years, I changed from someone who was doing stuff after work to someone who's happy to (perhaps not the right choice of words) simply veg out.

TopHatFox
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by TopHatFox »

MAY 2023: WORK + PLAN FOR NEXT 2-3 YEARS

Been at my new job for almost a month now. Things are going well, learning the ropes. I have around 7 hours from 5-12 PM to work on my startup after work, as well as weekends. Having money coming in has helped a ton, I feel like I can breathe as I learn coding & apply it to a startup.

I think I will eschew the online MS-CS. It would monopolize the time after work that I could instead dedicate to startups for the next 2-3 years. I'd much rather wake up in a few years with the experience of a string of failed tech startups, or even a successful one, rather than another credential. I'l probably learn more code this way too. There are a ton of even PhD's in CS that have never made anything or even worked in software engineering. Maybe I'd do it at a later date for intellectual curiosity, like post-startup success.

TopHatFox
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by TopHatFox »

Got my first paycheck! :3

$5800 - ($5800 * .0765 FICA) = $5,357 for May. No state taxes because FL, and no federal tax because I deferred income and will choose to pay any resulting federal income taxes for 2023 (probably $1K) later in the year.

So, to buy a used 250K house in a small western city, that's $250,000 / $5,357 = 46 months, or 3.9 years of work. More like 4.5 years cause of federal income taxes.

--------

$250K is a lot of money to save up. I wonder if it'd come out significantly cheaper to just buy a plot of land in that same small western city, and build a nice 2-bedroom, 1.5 bath house w/ a garage on the plot while living out of a trailer w/ internet. Put those tools in the other thread to good use. I'd probably find a good design online, pay for the driveway, grading, foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and fencing, then do the flooring, roofing, insulation, sheet rock, trim, siding, paint, cabinetry, appliance research, interior decoration, deck, and landscaping myself. I could maybe figure out the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and fencing, but the driveway, grading, framing, and foundation work seem pretty vital.

white belt
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by white belt »

Here is perhaps a useful thought exercise. My impression thus far, as a stranger on the internet who has been following along with your posts for years, is that you are overly fixated on moving west and owning a home to live a good life. While this could be the right answer for you, I think another approach could offer some insight.

What would you do if the western states fell off the map and you couldn’t move to them? What if for some reason you can never buy a house? How would you live a good life? Why do you need to wait until you move out west or until you buy/build a house to live a good life?

TopHatFox
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by TopHatFox »

Probably just bounce around city to city a la digital nomad or RV-life, and buy a house in the western-state equivalent of Europe. :p

The goal of buying a house doesn't just happen magically, otherwise we'd all have one at 25. Requires getting a high-paid skill or trade for years, keeping a job for years, learning DIY skills. It's no wonder most fail and take the perpetual mortgage route.

white belt
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by white belt »

TopHatFox wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 12:44 pm
Probably just bounce around city to city a la digital nomad or RV-life, and buy a house in the western-state equivalent of Europe. :p
Right, but those are quite vague descriptions. They are essentially what people put in their Instagram bio. How do you actually envision your time spent during those days? Who are you with? What activities are you doing? How do you know that this will fulfill you?

Answering those questions is similar to a perfect day exercise. Then, you can compare your answers to how you currently spend your time and figure out how to get from here to there. The challenge is that if you don't have a lot of experience doing certain activities, then you may later find you enjoy them a lot less than you thought you would beforehand.

I see your focus on buying a house and moving out west as a freedom-from mindset we often talk about in FIRE. You want freedom from all of the struggles related to your current lifestyle, but I worry you may find that wherever you go, there you are. In other words, many people think they can't start living their life until they quit their job and FIRE, but in your case it seems you think you can't start living your life until you own your own house and/or move out west. I relate because I've been guilty of similar thinking; I've blamed xyz for the reason that I can't start living my preferred lifestyle now. On a related note, there are many on these forums who can talk about the struggles they had when they accomplished their FIRE goal only to find themselves quite bored/unfulfilled in their new lifestyle.

TopHatFox
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by TopHatFox »

I mean, I'd just do the same stuff I do now: learn natural languages, learn scripting languages, learn math, learn trade skills, go on hikes and road trips, visit historical places, etc. Mostly with myself or a gf. TBH there isn't much of a difference b/w living with the parents or owning my own house day-to-day, just that I'd own the house and I'd be OK actually paying off the principal in a few years using my salary.

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fiby41
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Re: Fox's Journey: And Onto the Sunlight!

Post by fiby41 »

Your work is related to geology so I presume you must be using the GIS tools you mentioned earlier like QGIS?

The only person in the 'GIS Team' where I work put in his 3-months notice so I was asked if "I'm interested in GIS". Half way through the knowledge transfer, his future employer decided to buy out his notice period by paying his current employer (where I also work) his salary in lieu of the notice period to be reduced making Tuesday his last working day.

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