If you read my last post, you know how the current tech job market is super weird. If you haven’t, give it a quick read. It will only take you 4 minutes. This weirdness is impacting me along with all the people who are out there trying to build a team. I want to hire people. I send out multiple offers every week. People accept the offers as well. But eventually do not join. They rather use my offer to get a better offer somewhere else. This is happening with everyone at every level.

The only appropriate word that comes to mind to describe the current tech jobs market would be weird. What’s happening is common knowledge. The demand/supply scales are skewed to a level that the rules of the game have changed entirely. Employers now have no other option but to offer 2x-3x compensation for the same profile. And even this does not guarantee joinings. The demand for the market is high and most of the candidates are offer-shopping and job-hopping at unprecedented levels.

That’s what I consider myself. I know the correct term is “voracious” but I choose to stick with ferocious. And I will tell you why.

I have always wanted to attend a Vipassana retreat. For those who don’t know what that is, here’s a brief summary - Vipassana retreat is a 10-day retreat where you go to a dedicated venue, mostly somewhere quiet and full of nature, and participate in guided meditations for all of the 10 days. During the entire duration of this retreat, you are entirely cut off from the outside world. No phones, no internet access, not even a courier pigeon. Making things even harsh is the fact that you are not even allowed to speak to fellow meditators. Apart from a few conversations that you can have with your mentor you are not even supposed to make eye contact with fellow retreat goers. Did I tell you you wake up super early and aren’t even allowed books? Sounds interesting, doesn’t it!

If you know me or have any of my recent posts, you know I am a staunch advocate of internet privacy and security. I take every possible step to navigate through the advertisement and tracking riddled online world even if it costs me time and actual money. I pay for services (eg YouTube and many android apps) when I can so that I can get an ad-free experience, block ads and trackers using various means if paying is not an option and even go to the extent of entirely abandoning the use of any such service which can’t be modified to my ad/tracking free needs. If you want to know what I do to achieve this, you can read about it here.

It is safe to assume that you know about the changes in the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This is not a post about what they are and what they mean to you. Mainly because I assume wherever you got the news have already appraised you of this information.

Making major tech purchase decisions is hard. It’s even harder when there are way too many options to choose from with each having way too many differentiating features. Here are the absolutely important features to look into for the most common major purchases that you should be looking for when making a decision. These should be your starting point to filter out the options you don’t need to consider.

Buying a car

I don't think I am ready to go back. I think my mind has accepted the new "new normal" as the, well, "normal". I am perfectly fine working with all colleagues remotely. I don't mind the extra work that I have been doing owing to there being no "stop-time" anymore. I don't mind pulling a few extra hours that I need to make up for the lack of close up collaboration. Zoom is OK to me. I don't really miss the office parties that much. I do miss the change of scene I get when I go to work sometimes but that seems like a fair price to pay. I don't want to waste any more life "commuting". I like how sometimes I feel I have forgotten how to drive. I am happy with this slightly cleaner air. I am happy with the true objectivity of work. I am happy with the succinctness of conversations. I am happy to save the time wasted in banter. I am proud that I am eating a little healthier. I feel good that now I have time to exercise. No exercise, but time still.

But most of all I’ve tasted the blood. That I can be a better part of my family. Interactions are a lot more than morning and night. Quality time doesn’t have to wait for the weekend. I get more “me time”. I am writing more. This. I have more time to be alone.

How many phone numbers do you remember? I remember 10, I think if I exclude the ones that I remember correctly but are no longer used [landline numbers of childhood friends :)]. I think ours was the last generation that even bothered about remembering phone numbers. Anyone born after the landline era doesn't "need" to remember a phone number anyway. Heck, even we don't bother to remember numbers now. It's all there saved on the phone. Always available to us at the touch of a single button.

Every now and then there comes a tread on Reddit that’s a true goldmine. Yesterday I stumbled upon one such great thread. It was an AskReddit thread with the question - “What is the harshest truth you’ve ever learned?”. The answers were truly astounding. Some were things I already knew but most were things that I knew but didn’t realize how deep they went.

Here are the top 10 points from the thread which I wanted to document for myself and share with everyone. Links to original reddit comments are provided with each point.