I'm not anti-social at all.

Can't imagine where I got that idea

Well thankfully my social life won't be a sacrifice as I've not had a friend in 13 years and don't make friends easily (I'm obnoxious in a lot of regards).

...most people have no trouble telling me their negative opinion of me being with someone with a disability which doesn't fly with me.

That's pretty messed up. I don't think I've ever met someone who holds that opinion. As long as you love your wife and she's a consenting adult who loves you back, I fail to see how it's anyone else's damn business.


Ultimately, every job is a sacrifice of some sort. That is the nature of employment; people sacrifice their time for monetary reward to provide for themselves or their family.
I sympathise with your position regarding your sons health problems. It would make things difficult if you can't really leave home, but you'll find that's an issue with almost any job and not really programming specific. If anything, programming is a field where you are more likely to be able to telecommute once you have a few years experience under your belt.

Can't imagine where I got that idea

Everyone is obnoxious to people some point or another (I just know I am and admit it as it is far better than being blind to it) and while I haven't had a friend in 13 years or don't make friends easily, it does not immediately mean anti-social. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are very social, but have a strict set of guidelines before they consider a person a friend or keep talking to them.

I don't think I've ever met someone who holds that opinion.

Wish I could say that, but instead I've met so many that I've lost count.

It would make things difficult if you can't really leave home, but you'll find that's an issue with almost any job and not really programming specific.

Yeah, I already figured that. Not done a job search in a year and a half now.

If anything, programming is a field where you are more likely to be able to telecommute once you have a few years experience under your belt.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Most companies I ever applied to always told me I needed industry experience. Guess that means my sacrifice is my dream job. Oh well, can't have everything :).

Also, I don't know if this is just Austrlaia, but every games studio I've been in has had "beer o'clock" -- where anyone who partakes in such things will crack open a beer (or pour a wine, or whiskey) at the end of a Friday (and/or at Friday lunch), which makes for some easy socialization for even the socially impaired ;)

Years ago we had an Engineering Manager that would occasionally announce a 'Brew-Thirty', which meant he was heading to the local restaurant/bar (which was about 5 minutes away from work), and for the next thirty minutes, 'all drinks were on his tab'. I put that in quotes cause nobody ever had more than 1 drink unless they were sticking around for dinner, and then they might have 2.

He also used to have a cooler of beer with company cook-outs as well. The 'new' guy doesn't allow any of that. Too much liability.

The sacerifice i make is : i cant type the word : in , i Always type int.

greetings

And sometimes, I will accidentally add a semi-colon after every sentence;

And sometimes, I will accidentally add a semi-colon after every sentence;

Ever have nightmares in code? I had memory leak nightmares......

But to be on topic, there's no sacrifices here that you wouldn't find in any other job. At least I don't think there is anything....

So, there are some physical sacrifices. Sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy, and mild exercise won't undo it. Typing\mousing for long periods of time is unhealthy. Staying inside for long periods of time is unhealthy, watch out for Vitamin D deficiency. (And even weirder, I knew a guy who started to suffer from Scurvy while working at a game company)

But these aren't unique to programmers, most office jobs will have these same problems, except maybe the scurvy.

And sometimes, I will accidentally add a semi-colon after every sentence;

Ever have nightmares in code? I had memory leak nightmares......

But to be on topic, there's no sacrifices here that you wouldn't find in any other job. At least I don't think there is anything....

Yes I have actually! More than often my brain refuses to rest during sleep - it will ruthlessly calculate nonsensical equations and execute imaginary segments of meaningless code. Results are headaches and feeling under slept.

the secret to be successful in anything is make the process the reward, not the end goal

~Icebone1000 ;D

If things go wrong, it will not be a waste of time that will put you in depression and make you give up, it will be good experience, fun, etc.. You have to enjoy what youre doing, not go trough supposed suffering/sacrifice to achieve an ultimate success.

This way anything that comes will be good.

This is much more a personal thing than professional though (which I value more). For example, you can do what you love, be awesome on it, and not get any money, cause business and marketing have noting to do with it. Of course, the fact that you go with passion for something will make you stand out more than average joes, but still not a guarantee for a wealthy life.

None IMO (not gaming though). A job you can take on freelance at huge rates, take months off each year, with virtually zero overhead in terms of tools (laptop, couple of licences mosty your client covers), can work remotely from a beach anywhere in the world over the internet and skype/vpn and is intellectually challenging. The demand is huge and keeps growing, rates are rising dramatically (30% so far this financial year), There's no hard labour and on the whole you can leave the office and not really care much until the next day. Get to browse facebook and email without anyone really caring. Free hackspace and labs, a team to support you and one of the only industries I can think of where you get supported if you have good ideas and want to go it alone (providing you play it right!). A super easy going environment out of the rain.

I've no idea why guys self-flagellate and whine, it's the easiest gig I've ever known except for maybe slinging drugs, but software has no risk of going to jail. It's sweet.