Hacker hostels in SF — interesting article

[spdrun]

http://goo.gl/iyjij — links to NY Times.

Interesting article … a few points:
(1) $1200/mo for a shared room (not a shared apartment) is really expensive!
(2) Why is this being publicized? Chances are, there will be a very irate landlord or condo board next week. Or at least want a cut of the $12000/mo for a $4000/mo apartment action.
(3) This isn’t to be compared to having a bunk in your lab as a grad student. Sleeping in your lab is free. This isn’t.
(4) Programming requires quiet time, which appears to be in short supply there.

[Coronita]

I’m sorry spdrun…But there was once upon a time when I thought camping out in cot or sleeping bag in an office of a startup I was working at was fun…Because others were doing it…But seriously, it comes to realization that there’s more to life than living like a peasant, hoping for that one hit tech wonder…I have this perspective ever since unexpected things happen along the life, and you never know what all this savings/living like a miser really is going to be beneficial to you in the end…. if you end up dead…..

I’ve done the startup things. I’ve been there for the .dot ipo’s and all the fanfare. And frankly, purely from money perspective. It ain’t worth it… I would have come out further ahead if I just stayed in my cushy job at Qualcomm back when there were only 4000 of us.

I like going home and watching the sunset or sunrise. I like getting behind the wheel of of my favorite german car and putting 200+ miles on it going absolutely nowhere in particular. I like taking my daughter to her ice skating classes. I like taking a road trip with my significant other, even if means she has to listen to me bitch about how impossible someone I have to deal with at work can be. I like seeing my rent checks come in, and being able to use some of it on gateway. I like being able to whip out my D-SLR to take some pictures. I like to be able to google to Google IO just to mess around. I like being able to rip apart a Nexus Q for no apparent reason….

Something I hope you realize very very quickly. If you really want to make a lot of money really quickly and be as sure about it is possible…You definitely should NOT be doing tech…… And the other corollary is there are a lot of people who made it in tech who didn’t have to live like a hermit to get there either

….Even more so now…This country has proven time and time again, it punishes savers…And this isn’t going to change. My advice… Enjoy life for a change…I often hear people say… I don’t understand why anyone XYZ would ever what to spend XXXX on that (car, house, insert whatever thing here)….My answer is…Because (a)that person can (b) life is to fvcking short and (c) better him than uncle sam.

They last thing I want to be doing is trying dick around with stick shift in a track car when I’m 50+ after my goddamn reaction/reflex timing is way out there….Or for that matter not allowing my kid to learn how to ride a horse, ice skate (insert your favorite kid activity here)……only to haveall this extra income I have now taxed more so that other people can enjoy their life.. the way they want it and expect…..public pensions, obamacare, RE bailouts, state-rate tuition for illegal immigrants while simultaneously imposed asian raced-based quotas…It’s all bullshit.

If you like something, can afford it, without creating a huge dent in your financial future…just do it…..Don’t do it because you think it will make you look cool. Or you think it will help you get lucky…That’s stupid…. Buying an insert-your-favorite-thing to impress some person is just stupid. Do it for your goddamn self for a change…Before the state/federal/local government makes it harder for you not too…

-The new FLU…after having gone off the deep end 1.5 years ago…

[spdrun]

I don’t disagree … note that I don’t live in one of those “hacker hostels” and have ZERO desire to do so! Though I’d say that living in one is more like living as a peasant than as a “hermit.” I find nothing romantic about the idea, especially since most of the romance going on in those spaces is likely to be bromance.

This being said, if I found the right space and felt I could get away with it, I’d be more than happy to RUN a “hostel” till the landlord gave us the boot. Note that most people who made it big during the gold rush did so by supporting the miners, not by mining themselves. And that’s the way it usually is.

Disagreed about the stick shift track car, though. The day I get an automatic will be the day after my left foot gets cut off in a tragic accident. Automatics are for people who can’t drive 😀 I’d tolerate two pedals in an electric car, that’s about it.

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]

Disagreed about the stick shift track car, though. The day I get an automatic will be the day after my left foot gets cut off in a tragic accident. Automatics are for people who can’t drive 😀 I’d tolerate two pedals in an electric car, that’s about it.[/quote]

You might have no choice. More cars these days are going dual clutch.

[spdrun]

If I buy a new car (say a BRZ) with a real transmission today, I’d expect it to last me another 50 years, whereupon I’ll be driving a wheelchair if we don’t run out of oil first.

Or I could always go the kit car route. IMHO, automatics are only good for teen girls who like to have a hand free to yapp on their cell, text, and surf MyFace.

But none of the above has anything to do with the article I posted 🙂 And no, I really don’t care that the Nintendomatic shifts in 0.00001 seconds. I like computers. But I don’t want to feel like I’m driving one.

And lastly, I’m not a startup jock. I’m just an engineer who happens to be putting his talents to good use on a freelance/consulting basis. While also being interested in buying up enough property to give the benefits of a full-time job without the drawbacks of being someone’s b*tch 45 hours a week.

[flyer]

Glad to know the “young” are discovering the “secrets of life”–and I mean that sincerely.
(I should have noted per flu’s post.)

I’m about 20 years older than you guys, and I’m glad to look back and know I lived, and am living the life I wanted to live.

None of us get out of this world alive, so I’m a big believer in making the most of each day we’re given.

[sdrealtor]

+1

sdr
-has never purchased day old bread

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