Where to go from here -- share your wisdom

[frostyneutron]

Spent four years in the American military doing communications. Got out and spent awhile in Afghanistan and Iraq contracting. Contracting was great; we were autonomous, lived off-base, managed our own security, everything. I haven't had anything like it since.

Fast-forward, working doing mostly programming. Have thought about going back into the military but I'm a little too old for most officer programs. The daily grind of a typical life is making me bored and maybe even depressed.

I'd love to go back into some fast-moving stuff. Even intermittent work for defense contractors or whoever. I'm currently based in West Asia.

The clock is ticking, 40 won't be long in coming, and I'm not satisfied. Where do I go from here? If this all sounds vague, it's because it is. Please send your ideas.

[AztecDave]

whatever you decide to do, make sure you are putting some $ away for retirement, etc. have aplan. if yer pushing 40, still time to do. take it from a 54 yr old. you can't have too much put away.

[frostyneutron]

whatever you decide to do, make sure you are putting some $ away for retirement, etc. have aplan. if yer pushing 40, still time to do. take it from a 54 yr old. you can't have too much put away.

You're right about that; I've recently been taking that seriously. Maxing out the IRA and putting some in stocks. Thanks

[Kurt]

The computer world is weird now. It is filled with weird New Agey types who discriminate against age, and 40 to them is old. Its possible to over-come this but it is not as easy as it once was where you could be like "Hi, I know stuff" and they would be like "Hi, here is some money"

Now they will talk about "Corporate Culture" and that nonsense. When you get rejected from a job because "you were not a cultural fit" that means you were too old, or HR was worried about the break room arcade and ping pong tables becoming a sausage festival.

So stay in West Asia unless you get a great job stateside.

[coldharvest]

Please send your ideas.

card sharp
monkey/pet groomer
free style nature punching....any weight class
motherfucker

[frostyneutron]

The computer world is weird now. It is filled with weird New Agey types who discriminate against age, and 40 to them is old. Its possible to over-come this but it is not as easy as it once was where you could be like "Hi, I know stuff" and they would be like "Hi, here is some money"

Now they will talk about "Corporate Culture" and that nonsense. When you get rejected from a job because "you were not a cultural fit" that means you were too old, or HR was worried about the break room arcade and ping pong tables becoming a sausage festival.

So stay in West Asia unless you get a great job stateside.

I think you have a point in the direction of the software industry, where I work now, and where my previous job was. Before that though, I was doing telecom (satellite communications, and other stuff like that). I think the Silicon Valley hip-young haven't infested the places I'm trying to find a way to get back into -- namely, the "downrange" places.

Part of my current crisis of self-identity is figuring out what field to go toward. I have experience with everything, but don't quite know in which direction to step. I want more adventure, and I want some intrigue. I miss the days of working as a contractor for DoD or some three letter agency. I miss flying at midnight in a blackhawk without doors, and watching explosions below.

[Kurt]

When I do not know what to do I apply for everything and see where that lands me.

What this era reminds me of is the dot com boom. The only difference is the dot com boom had actual money, where as this era has "valuation", where companies get a line of credit based on a fraction of their theoretical value. But you have the same crazy shit that companies have when they are social centers more than work areas.

In dot com land I had a steady but crap government job and when the crash happened I had people competing for our crap, unexciting positions and I would interview them. I would get questions like "what kind of beer do you get on beer Friday?" from these guys who made $70k a year for a company that did nothing so they played Quake on the lan and drank beer every Friday..but he thought that was what work was.

That is why older dudes do not fit into the "Culture". We have seen this kind of shit before and for some reason they think we are going to be party poopers rather than show them the best stuff to loot when the company cannot make payroll.

[friendlyskies]

You're right about that; I've recently been taking that seriously. Maxing out the IRA and putting some in stocks. Thanks

If you've got a decade or so before you need to pull the money out, any ETF involving gas, oil, commodities, and emerging economies in Latin America (especially Brazil) are in the toilet right now, it is like a blue light special at Wal*Mart. And they are all going to recover, this $27 barrel of oil thing won't last. Neither will China's and Brazil's upcoming recession. I just invested all of my kid's Christmas/birthday money in his little education IRA, and those sorts of stocks were at like 7% of their 52-week high, check it out.

[frostyneutron]

I appreciate the financial advice from the two wise men. Really, I do.

But what about jobs? Where can I go to get shot at again?

[Hitoru]

Find your nitch and start your own business. Working for other people sucks.

[nowonmai]

Go and join the Kurds fighting ISIS.

[ROB]

Find your nitch and start your own business. Working for other people sucks.

What do you do?

[SRR]

Idunno, actually I does kno, you gotta get your game on. Life is short, life is fun, you gotta have fun. Fuck them usual jerbs, you do whatcha gotta do to do the stuff that matters. And what really matters? Liquor n' whores. Cigarettes n' dope, n' mustard n' baloney, and so on. Naturally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKPCJUW2I4

[nowonmai]

Find your nitch and start your own business. Working for other people sucks.

What do you do?

He's JITW's comedy sidekick. Like the new Turner and Hooch.

[Kurt]

From his earlier posts I gather Hitoru get contracts for clearing invasive species and invasive pigs.