Our previous CTO left by saying “I have enough money now. Peace out!”
I worked in IT for 20 years. I became a handyman and have 7 geese.
Are geese good animals to have?
Yes and no. They are much cleaner than ducks and they can be exclusively fed on grass once they are feathered out. This makes them unbelievably awesome in addition to their guard dog ability. In the springtime you get giant goose eggs. Which is a big perk. Since we got our first two geese we have not lost a single chicken or duck to hawks. Which is why we got them. We were losing 1 to 3 a year just to hawks.
The downside is that like all birds they poop everywhere And their poops are more undigested grass than runny stuff. And in the spring when you get those giant eggs the geese can become extremely aggressive. This means separating them from the other birds to prevent injuries and it means learning how to wrestle geese in a safe manner. And it means always being on guard. You will not be safe on your own property.
But for me the benefits far exceed risks. They pay for themselves. They give giant eggs, they stop hawks, they mow the yard, they require no feed.
There were a bunch of geese around my grandparents’ house when I was a kid. God those things would torment me. They had free range of the property and I tended to completely avoid the area they hung out because they were hyper aggressive and would chase after me every time I got anywhere near them. I was six years old, so it felt like they were as tall as me and they were definitely faster.
It wasn’t so bad once I got a little older, a little taller, and relied more on my bicycle than my feet for movement.
Nonetheless, those things gave me childhood trauma to the extent that I still can’t stand geese some forty five years later.
If they’re not tormenting you, they’re not doing their job. That’s their niche. They have one job.
I’m a senior/principal engineer with 20+ years of experience and I can’t even think about retiring any time soon. All the posts in this thread are making me super sad. And the posted salary numbers are way higher than mine. :(
20 years of Microsoft stock options is a good pile of money
This isn’t a shit post, its the truth
You ever been around geese? Those terrible shits take shits everywhere, all the time. Loud, nasty birds.
You ever been around Microsoft management? It’s an improvement.
Currently have 26 ducks and one goose on my farm so I get it.
Wtf does a goose farmer even produce
Maybe they’re raising an army of nature’s angriest animal.
Maybe if enough programmers become goose farmers they’ll be able to reprogram geese.
i’m a data analyst. there’s an urge to say fuck this shit and start a brewery. That urge is there every single day.
I quit my 20+ year career as a sysadmin about 2 years ago and started turning my backyard into a massive garden. I’m currently trying to figure out places to sell large quantities of hot peppers and I’m about to start selling matted and framed photos of flowers and wildlife from my garden.
Fuck IT.
To have such a good career payout that you don’t need a career.
Not in computers. I’m an accountant. I don’t have enough money to throw the double middle fingers. Can somebody please, for the love of all that’s holy, show me the way out or, you know, come sneak onto my property when I’m not looking and delete me?
Edit: JUST now, I got told that I’m unprofessional because I refuse to give my personal cell phone number to all three thousand of our clients. I said that my private phone funded by my personal money is not a business asset and they can give me a company phone if they want me texting clients. This was met with a huff, turning of a back on me, and storming off.
sell all your earthly possessions and buy two geese, one male and one female. then you, too, will be a goose farmer.
I’d way rather be a duck farmer. Geese are noisy little bastards.
Ducks are the grossest birds. Anything is better than ducks. I have 6 ducks.
Wait I thought you had 7 geese.
18 chickens, 7 geese, 6 ducks, 11 cats, 3 fosters, two dogs.
Today I turn on one foster kitten, the rest leave next week. Not sure if they will give me more when I drop off the one today. But if they have something extra spicy I’ll probably get it.
Basically multiple types and the number is fluid. We’ve lost two chickens and two geese this year.
You got a whole menagerie! Sorry about your chicken and goose loss.
Removed by mod
And more cuddly.
and MEAN
Yeah I was thinking farming geese has got to be complicated and awful work.
Entertaining for the neighbours though!
I feel like the progression of my “Programming shelf” says a lot about my career trajectory as well.
Thanks for reminding me about Art of Shen Ku. Friend had a copy years and years ago and from time to time I would remember reading parts but could never remember the title. Cheers!
Yeah… But right to left or left to right… Lol.
This looks uncannily like my shelf, I’m trying to buy land now for my permaculture forest 😭
You should say “This is how something looks” or “This is what something looks like”, but don’t put the “how” and the “like” in the same statement.
That is not how it should look like.
We found John Stardew!?
Yes, with AI anything is possible!
I have taken a half step in this direction and it’s improved my life greatly.
I still have a normal job, but my Covid project back in 2020 was to finally put a koi pond in my back yard. I spend way more time learning and thinking about it than keeping up on tech shit. And the job I have now is great - I’m not trying to escape from it or anything.
The best part is that even the guy I bought my recent koi from has a microbiology degree. He’s properly living the “x farmer” dream, but that “job” is much more than a 9-5.
Wait…you mean to say it’s feasibleto have a cottage-industry koi farm for a hobby/supplemental income? I’ve been considering putting in a pond and looking at different ideas for what to put in it and koi are a contender.
Oh no, the microbiology guy I’m talking about is beyond full time with his farm. He’s there 7 days a week when he’s not traveling to shows.
And that’s just taking care of the fish and growing them out, not breeding them. He imports from Japanese breeders.
As for breeding new babies and selling them, it’s certainly possible but there probably isn’t a ton of profit in it. Any time I’ve thought about it I’ve thought two things: I don’t want to deal with rando customers and I don’t want to turn my happy peaceful hobby into a job.
Even farming eggs and gardening vegetables as a hobby is basically a p/t job for me. I do about 25-30 hours of work per week on my property, and some of that is just groundskeeping, then I work 40 hours at a 9-5.
But I wouldn’t trade it for anything lol
Yep, now with having my pond chores zen time and being able to enjoy the end results, I think I fully understand what gets people into gardening. I’ve just been forever obsessed with aquatic life.
Good points, thank you for the followup!