We hear about enshittification but nobody talks about Ludditification

Reptile breeding for me

...and no mandate to use AI to increase productivity

My senior always jokes about opening a food truck. One day they're gonna push us hard enough that we'll do it, too.

I did this, except I actually have better pay and benefits than I did working in tech (I was a low paid web developer, now I am a highly paid finish carpenter). I was just warning my coworkers today to get ready for the wave of ex-programmers hitting the trades.

Tree trimming, welding, and camper van conversions for me, when it becomes necessary

I work in Automation/Controls and i spend most of my day pretending like i don't really know what I'm doing but amazingly enough getting it right on the first 1-3 tries while also accidentally fixing something else.

It's honest work.

I’m currently going down the software engineer to woodworker pipeline…

I'm going into plumbing. I'm done with this shit.

Shit is my shit now, and it's much nicer.

My dad went from db management to running a grocery store.

My one friend is now becoming an HVAC technician

I was a programmer for 25-some years but I haven't written a line of code since 2019. I now get my engineering jollies from the used school bus I converted to a motorhome and from the house I bought three years ago and am finishing up renovating. For money I drive a school bus, which pays about 1/6 of what I used to make but is infinitely more satisfying. As far as retirement goes, I'm hoping to die a painless death before AI replaces all the CDL jobs in the country. I think AI will work fine for school buses, mainly because kids are easier to replace the younger they are.

The AI-related bullshit definitely sucks the fun out of programming, but carpenters still have to deal with customers...

It's NOT funny! With all the AI shit, micro-managers trying to be clones of Hitler, and unemployment to make the line go up, it's something I'm seriously considering.

I'm in biotech and my wife and I keep talking about quitting our jobs and opening a meadery.

i once took over a consultancy gig at a high-tech optical lab. when me and the guy i was replacing were leaving on the last day of the handover i asked just conversationally where he was going next, and he told me he was going back to school to be a painter. guy was in his mid-50s.

Living the literal dream. Every software engineers fantasy is to be an artisan carpenter.

Literally me soon because of AI

I've always done both - software for a living, woodworking for fun and improving my family's life. For me both are great creative outlets.