If you’ve been reading gitter, I started working for the first time in my life. A fast paced warehouse job. It’s a major milestone of my life (I’m still in the probation period, so it’s not set in stone yet).
The feeling of contributing and giving the majority of your paycheck to your mother, who has GIVEN ME everything in life, is a really good feeling. It feels good to finally give back. I wish my grandma was still alive so I could give back to her too.
I deeply underestimated the physicality of the job. I also underestimated how much time away from the computer affects your ability to jump back into programming. However, it’s not going to stop me. I’m slowly adjusting to the lifestyle change, and I’m lucky I get to work part-time hours (sometimes full-time, if they need me), so I should still be able to spend a good amount of time programming. I have to. This is not just a hobby, it’s a staple in my heart that gives me real joy in life. It’s never going away.
The physical pain (blisters on feet, shin splints, etc) are terrible. The blisters hurt like hell the first few weeks, but surprisingly they have not returned! I have flat-feet and severe over-pronation, so the shin splints seem like they will always be there. I’ve tried custom orthotics, arch strengthening exercises, insoles, special stability shoes, etc, etc. Now, I’m trying barefoot walking. I pronate way less walking barefoot and it feels like I’m strengthening the arch muscles more and more. So we’ll see how that goes.
The first 4 weeks or so after I got the job, I did not feel like checking github, gitter or anything related to programming. Mostly because right when I got home, I felt exhausted and my feet hurt so bad. Coding while there is pain lingering in your feet is nearly impossible. I am taking ibuprofen and my body is “adjusting to the workload”, so maybe the pain will slowly dissipate overtime. Hopefully to the point where I don’t need to take ibuprofen.
I am slowly getting back into the groove, and happy to see everyone.
Thanks for reading