The End of the Line
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I look forward to the day that I can retire from the regular work week, but I doubt that I'll ever get completly away from database development and the desire to improve my knowledge. Heck, even if I lucked out and won the lottery, after a timeout for some R&R, I'd still have to find something to keep me occupied, even if I acquired a small business and ran it into the ground...
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Thanks for the replies and it's interesting to read.
Luke! Send me some SQL-Beer samples and I'll get them reviewed for the site! Always on the lookout for new and interesting DBA products
ekackos, Congrats ad hope things go well for you. WalMart greeter would be easy and you get to smile all day. Definitely good for the soul. Maybe Starbucks barista as well? They seem to be happy despite all the double-cap-nonfat-caramel-cappucino-with-a-twist orders.
I think most of us want to retire from "having to work" and get to the "want to work" area. I wish I had something I loved to do and looked forward to. The bookstore/coffee shop dream is still alive, but not a Barnes and Nobles one. Maybe I'll get a small one somewhere up near Bob in Alaska. Do those guys read up there?
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As I often tell people, "I've been writing software for a living since September of 1972." That gives me 30 plus years. But it's not just writing. I've been DBA, sysadmin, hardware builder, cable puller, trainer, support desk, facilities manager, owner, etc. That's just the tip of the iceburg.
Besides software (Get a grip. SQL means Structured Querry Language and that means software) I've been involved in many business ventures from Vitamins to Life Insurance.
Then too a full time job is not a full time life. I'm into church activities and community activities. I like to write. Articles on just about anything, software too. I'm into Sci-Fi and have some sketches of stories and a novella. I've written short movie stories. Nothing on film yet but give me time (and money).
Not too bad for somebody in my condition. They gave me 5 years and I'm still here after 9. Yes, there is a lot that I can't do but I still show up and do meaningfull things every day.
Hey, I'm not special or even very different from anybody else. It's all about choices.
ATBCharles Kincaid
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I don't really even think about retirement. I think I could work in IT as long as I'm able and still be pretty happy. I really like what I do, where I work, and the people I work with and I've only had occasional brushes with burn out. I've got enough time (though not always enough money) to indulge my hobbies, wife, and kids.
I've worked for a state agency for over 21 years, so you could say that I've already chosen life over work. I don't make nearly as much as those of you in the private sector, but I've got a retirement plan with employer contributions, generous leave (vacation, sick, and every government holiday
), flex schedule, and I work in a fairly small city with an easy commute and a reasonable cost of living. Greg
Greg
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First DP work was in the early Stone Age when I wired an IBM 407 Tally machine and a few weeks later I was programming in absolute on an IBM 1620.
Later in the Bronze Ages of IBM I wrote 360 Assembler, COBOL, and PL/1. I knew many of the dinosaurs when they were young. The tools of the trade also included JCL, DAM, SAM, and later ADABASE.
In the Golden Age I saw many of the dinosaurs start to die off and a new breed of technologists take on the challenges of the day. Pascal, Basic, DBase, RBase, Sybase, became the current realities.
Now in the Technological Age where the IT world is littered with tools, techniques, and strategies that were only dreams only a short time ago, it is hard to think of how it use to be done. It once took hundreds of lines of code to read a simple record off a disk. You use to have to position the read head before you could read, and then after reading check for a wrong length record read back check. How things have changed.
After over 35 years it is hard to think of going on, but it is harder still to think of letting this all go. I have kept the cold arms of fossilization away for decades and have refused to be left behind in 'old technology'.
I will retire once the passion and the dream are gone.
Have a good day!
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
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And I thought that I had it bad splicing punch paper tape reading business data into a FORTRAN progam. Ah the joys of working with an IBM 1130. Retire? From things like this? When life is such and adventure? Never!
To twist a line from the NRA, they'll have to pry my track-ball from under my cold, dead fingers!
ATBCharles Kincaid
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You’re only in your early 40’s ? Jeez… to be 40-something again.
After 28 years in IT at many capacities for many companies, educational institutions and government agencies I am burned out. I said for 25 years that ‘the day some kid walks thru the door and is better than me I’ll quit.’ That day has come and gone – ‘Miles Neale’ I feel sorry for you because you will get left behind someday soon. Trying to stay on top of this ever expanding, morphing technology monster for 25 years has pushed me past the point of being interested anymore in the 'next greatest thing'.
There seems to be a recurring theme of those over 50 who have responded, that the ride was great but it takes a toll on you in the long run. I think that depends on your employer and your health. I agree with ‘Loner’ who said “I want to quit IT but I don’t want to retire.” I share ‘ekackos’ view of having to do annoying things instead of challenging things. I blame bad management/managers for this.
I will quit IT soon but the dreams will never be gone – just replaced by other passions and for me that sems consistent with the seasons of our lives.
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Steve, yes, we do read in Alaska. However, we have both Borders and Barnes and Noble in the Anchorage area. The plus side is we actually have several microbreweries (quick plug for my friends at Midnight Sun Brewing Co. and they do export out of Alaska) and a couple of brew pubs. We also have a couple of shops that sell brewing supplies for making your own beer and wine.
I think I need to echo some of what I have read here today. I am 42, but have been playing with computers (the early years) or employed in the business (most of the years) for 26+ years. I still enjoy the challenge of learning new technologies, but I am getting tired of many of the people I work with. That sounds a bit harsh, but many of the tech types I have worked with in recent years do not understand, appreciate and/or care about the lessons learned from the past in regards to some of the simplest concepts (documentation, planning, communication). It is a struggle to read others minds or divine intent.
Anyway, the wife and I have been discussing the possibilities of moving elsewhere (I have been in Ak for 39 years) and since I have found many ways to damage my body over the years, I know longer can get out and enjoy the winters like I used to. I am hoping to change away from the IT field into something that suits my interests a bit more and occassionally gets me outside into the fresh air. So, in essence, I would like to resign from the IT field, and reinvent myself while I have a larger window of opportunity to be successful and still retire young enough to enjoy life.
By the way, the last kid is in college, getting scholarship support, and is not a huge financial drain. So, one less road block to change.
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I'll be 40 in February and the past two years have been an eye opener.
I left a job that paid well, was within cycling distance of home and had colleagues who I would be delighted to spend social time with. I did this in the name of career progression. I couldn't even imagine retiring. Geez what a stupid s*** I was to leave that job!
I quickly realised that my career move was a big mistake. I reached the stage where the roads were clear and yet the closer I got to work the slower I drove. Frankly I was at the point of retiring from planet earth, let alone the IT industry.
Thankfully I've now got a job I enjoy, again with people I like but the lesson I've learnt is that a combination of seemingly insignificant changes to a work environment can mean the difference between euphoria and black depression.
Of course the other factor is that I can't afford to retire. Thanks to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown I don't think I will ever afford to retire.
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Well I started in IT (or EDP or DP) in the late '60s and I still get a buzz out of working. I told my mum when I was 14 that I was going to retire at 40, but I guess I have missed the target! At 56 I still enjoy consulting, the money is a bonus.
As long as I am enjoying it I will stay in the business. Maybe wind down from 60 hours to 55 or 50!!
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I would like to retire and race cars and play golf, but I know that those things require money, so I'm working on creating the next YouTube, Google, or MySpace, so I can sell out, retire, and fade away
I would probably still write code though. I did it for many years without compensation, so it wouldn't be much different. I love coding
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I'm 59 and came to IT from an analytical chemistry background about 15 years ago. I get tired of the lack of statistical process control for almost every and business process, low budgets and pressure On the other hand, the move of data mining to desktops and distributed computing is pretty exciting.
I would like to retire now and only concentrate on federated databases but the real life demands like grown up kids in graduate school, aging parents and retirement keep me working in IT.
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I was fortunate enough to 'temporarily' retire for a couple of years (well 4 actually) and sail around the world with my wife. Getting back into IT was a little interesting but now that we have a couple of young kids and I have technically 'caught up', I am looking forward to doing it again and experiencing it with the kids. I am now 42 and afraid of waking up at 60 reflecting on the stuff I can't do anymore.
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As usual a day late and a dollar short but heck at 74 (75 in April of 2007) think I can be some what slow. To quote a preious reply "Now I am among those that started out in IT way back when we called it Data Processing." ..on an IBM 709 coding in Fortran I .. For myself retirement money is not a problem, enough to live on, travel a bit so that is not the question. I keep working for a coupe of reasons. To learn the new technologies, and the challenge of solving a problem. True my work week in now just 24 hours instead of the usual 50 to 60. But without the mental stimulation am afraid that I would dry up and blow away. Have seen too many of my generation, retire, then vegetate and die earlier than they should have. There is medical evidence that an active mind does hold off illness such as alzhimer's (Pardon the spelling).
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