Introduction

Well, it’s been a while since I last made a post. A lot has happened in tech and in my life. I got a good job on a good team working with Go. I went to Japan for a little over two weeks, something I’ve wanted to do since I was eight. I read a lot of books, started a side project I’ve had in mind for years, got heavily into Balatro which re-inspired me to make games again (something I’ve only done once before on a tiny scale). I got into sandbag lifting, started skateboarding more, and I’m not far off from getting my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt. Cool year overall, but not the whole story.

Mid-summer my wife was laid off shortly after being told she wouldn’t be. Not fun, but she handled it like a champ and started her own web design business. Still unfair. Fast-forward a few months and I’m writing this about seven weeks after getting laid off myself. Also blindsided. Also not cool.

What’s the point?

I’m writing this to reflect, vent, and plant a flag I can look back on a year from now. I’ve been getting paid to make things on computers since 2018. Started with maps and automation, then pivoted into “coding” (I thought it meant frontend/websites), but I’ve basically spent the last six years in backend-heavy roles.

I’ve worked at places ranging from 500k-employee red-tape corporations to 100-person startups. Seven teams. Seven managers. I’ve led planning, mentored junior devs, partnered with system architects to lay groundwork for big ideas I pushed forward, got forward-deployed into the feature trenches, worked the firehose, worn the ops hat, and managed Docker/Kubernetes configs for microservices I ported out of unscalable messes. I’ve seen a lot, good ideas, bad ideas, failures, wins, and everything in between.

And yet here I am. No W-2. A little burned out in the age of AI, easily one of the weirdest moments in tech in the last twenty years. It’s a “damned if you use it, damned if you don’t” kind of time. Old heads (not all of them) get skeptical if anyone under them touches it. There’s no agreed-upon rulebook for how to use it, while CEOs see dollar signs. It’s a strange, toxic mix, and I don’t see it clearing up soon.

After seeing and doing so much, it’s hard not to question whether the grind is worth it. You push uphill, get tossed aside anyway, and are expected to “dance, monkey, dance” with almost no real support. Outsourcing, underpaying, belittling, blaming, poor communication, constant churn, ego, tech-bro attitudes, if I described your pilot’s software with those words, you wouldn’t get on the plane. Yet somehow this is norm for a lot of dev teams.

Out of all the places I’ve worked, I can count maybe a couple handfuls of people who genuinely cared about doing things right, helping others, and pushing teams and companies to win. Not just good people, amazing ones. You know who you are.

So what’s the point? A paycheck? Comfort? A W-2? I don’t know. We all want to pay our bills and do good work, but given everything, it’s hard not to think there’s a better way. I’m not perfect, but I care about people, I care about the craft, and I want what I build to be right and fast. I’m not willing to be a jerk to save myself, and I never wanted to be some mythical 10× engineer. I just like having a craft, tinkering, polishing, and doing good work.

Where are we at and where are we going?

So where does that leave me? And others like me? Honestly, I don’t know. Right now I’m working for myself, coding, consulting, and a few other things. Big Tech is big annoying at the moment, and I just want to build things unhindered for a while.

So yeah, I guess I’m taking a career break (if we can still call it that). I’m going solo for a bit, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if more devs start doing the same. With six years of actual experience, I’ve got plenty of skills. Sure, there’s still stuff I haven’t built. No, I couldn’t just walk into Google and instantly crush it (most people can’t). But most businesses don’t need Google-level engineering. They need a little software, a little automation, and not a full-time dev forever. I think the “call a dev in when you need one” model is going to grow, and that’s where I’m putting my energy for now.

AI is only going to level the field more. Devs should think about that and what they actually want to do with their skills. Coding has always been a means to an end. Build stuff, tinker, make that game, work the gigs, but don’t get comfortable. Your W-2 isn’t safe. You’re valued until you’re not. The safer bet is getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and finding some joy in it.

That’s it. Rant done.

More writing soon about solo web dev and solo game dev.

Thanks for reading!🤝🫶