On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:15:29 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>> And yet there are plenty of people in Switzerland who have jobs even
>> like the jobs you and I have.  But you've been there to ski, and that's
>> great - but you should expand your experience a little and not just
>> think of Switzerland as a place to ski, but as a place that people live
>> (and from what I've heard, have pretty good lives).
> 
> It depends on what you like.
> 
> I gather that there are people who actually *like* travelling. People
> who pay to go on round the world cruises. Personally, I'd hate that. But
> that's OK; people are different.

Working someplace isn't the same as vacationing there.  But you know 
that.  And yes, people are different.

I'm trying to point out (and apparently reaching "epic fail" with it) 
that you're forming opinions on places based on, well, nothing.  You 
think you would hate living in Zurich or Geneva based on no actual 
experience at having been there at all.  You make assumptions that the 
people there would treat you as bad or worse than you're treated now, but 
you have zero empirical evidence to suggest that.

> There are people who *want* to live in the south of France, because it's
> very sunny there. Personally, I hate hot weather. It would drive me mad!
> But hey, that's why I'm not moving to the south of France, right?

"Sunny" is different from "hot".  OK, you don't like warm weather; I 
don't particularly like it either.  Maybe you'd like Scotland?  Or 
Norway?  It's not as warm there, in fact can get quite chilly at times of 
the year.  Hell, you'd probably like Minnesota if you like cold, 
especially the northern parts.  Or Canada - you could probably even move 
to Canada with a minimum of fuss.

> And I am completely confident that there are plenty of people who'd
> *love* to live and work in Switzerland. (It would be kind of an empty
> country otherwise...) Doesn't mean I'd like it though.

But as I said you don't seem to have any empirical evidence that says you 
wouldn't like it either.

>>> Well sure, if I go live in London I'm sure there are bucket-loads of
>>> programming jobs. The point is that I don't *want* to ever have to
>>> live in London if humanly possible. What's complicated about that?
>> 
>> You don't have to *live* someplace to *work* there.  My office is 45
>> miles south of me; I go there about once every two weeks or so.
> 
> ...which is about the distance I currently travel too, yes. I'd like to
> *avoid* all this travelling if possible. It's expensive and it's a huge
> waste of my time.

So then if you can't find something closer, then you move somewhere 
that's closer to where you want to work.

When I first moved to Salt Lake City, I lived close to the office.  Then 
my office moved to the other side of town.  I changed jobs and moved 
closer to the office, and then changed jobs to one that has an office 45 
miles from me.  I'm not moving again, but it's OK because I get to work 
from home most of the time now.

So if you want to live near where you work, there are two options:  Find 
a job closer to home, or find a home closer to the job.  If you're 
looking for a new job, then you have the freedom to look anywhere and 
move near the job.  Which means you can find something you'll actually 
*like* doing without the constraints of it being "near home" because 
"home" can be moved.

You're still young (no matter what you think) and unattached.  It's the 
*perfect* time to look for something that really engages your abilities 
and skills and passion and not care particularly *where* it is.

>>> Hell, if I move to Germany, I could hypothetically go work for Native
>>> Instruments. (I mean, if it weren't for the fact that this is
>>> obviously impossible.) But then I'd have to live in Germany, which
>>> would kind of negate the benefits.
>> 
>> I know quite a few people in Germany who would see it different;
> 
> I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that maybe that's *why*
> they're in Germany? ;-)

Actually, most of them are in Germany because that's where they live and 
they are doing something there that makes them happy.  I also know 
someone who grew up in the Netherlands who works in New Zealand, someone 
who grew up in New Zealand who works in New York, and my younger brother 
grew up in Minneapolis and now lives and works in Osaka, Japan.  I've 
another friend who grew up in Alabama (if I remember correctly) who lives 
and works in Germany.  Shall I continue?  Coworkers who grew up in India 
who live and work in Utah; another who is from Australia who lives and 
works in Utah.

>> and why would it be "obviously impossible" anyways?
> 
> Because ordinary people don't get to work in cool places like that. Only
> special people. I'm not special. (Not that way, anyway...)

Bullshit.  The only people who don't get to work there are those who are 
(a) unqualified, or (b) don't bother to apply because they don't think 
they stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting the job so they don't 
even try.

TRY, DAMMIT!

Jim

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