Nice -- the last place I worked didn't really like guys a little older like me (50+), regardless of how good a job I did. I'm now happily working full-time on contract, and from what I hear, my last employer is working harder and harder trying to hire people.

Really, the key barrier to entry is, a) can you do the job, b) are you keen? Who cares about age, race, sex -- can you do the job?

Go Argoooooos! It's going to be a great game!

PS Happy Turkey Day you Yanks! Good luck on Black Friday!

It's a graphic novel by Terry Pratchett .. not normally something I'd read, but it was recommended to me on one of the IRC channels. I'm also knitting a tin foil hat .. do you think I'm too suggestible?

Four years ago I was working at a place I thought was fantastic, and was happily married. My older step-son was working his way through second-year university, still needing some assistance from me. But Fate had some bad s*** in store for me.

Today, I am very happily separated, sole owner of my house (yeah, with the bank), and have an awesome girlfriend (and two more sorta-step-kids). And I'm working on contract at place that has its challenges, but is a much more comfortable situation then living in a Watership Down type of company. And older step-son graduated from engineering (with a B+ average!!!), got his iron ring, and just celebrated his first anniversary at a permanent job.

Thanks for asking. Life is good. :)

Twice I've got my front wheel got caught in a streetcar track and gone down (happens frequently in Toronto). The other time a limo raced away from a red light and knocked me over. (Yes, he was charged, and there was a trial in Old City Hall -- GUILTY.) I've also been in a motorcycle accident (speed wobble on the 401) where a helmet saved my coconut. And my uncle Tim died from a head injury when riding a bicycle (granted, this was in the 1940's).

So you could say that my position on requiring helmets when riding a bicycle is .. inflexible.

And yeah, probably time for a new bike helmet.

This.

My previous employer moved into a new space but refused to install a single shower (200 employees, and dozens of bicyclists). After a half hour commute by bicycle, a quick rinse would have been wonderful. Too bad.

Think about the last time you had a revelation -- walking somewhere by yourself, washing yourself in the shower, driving somewhere without the radio on. That's valuable thinking time.

I used to be on Twitter dozens of times a day -- no pictures of the meal I was about to eat, but lots of surfing. I took a two week trip to China, and limited my wireless access to a few times a day for E-Mail only -- the rest of the time I was off the grid. Now I'm back in Canada, I'm continuing that trend -- I've visted Twitter a few times, but my participation is way down. Even riding the subway with my eyes closed is a nice respite from a busy day.

It's important to get your brain some time off.

I happened to be touring a university campus (UCLA? Berkeley?) and saw a poster for a talk he was giving, and bought a ticket on a whim. He was a fascinating speaker, and it was intriguing to hear him re-engineer and expand on Fahrenheit 451. What a treat. Afterwards, he gladly stayed behind and autographed books for quite a while.

I also remember something about him being arrested in Paris, France for being 'drunk and in charge of a bicycle'. What's not to like?

RIP.

> Many programmers find that their employability starts to decline at about age 35.

Well, it sure does decline if you don't continue to learn.

I made that mistake about 15 years into my career, deciding that C would do me fine; I wouldn't have to learn any new languages, ever. Then the Internet boom happened, and I picked up Perl, which then helped me find well-paying jobs for the next 14 years. I'm going to start using C again now, and .. 35 was almost twenty years ago. And I'm still finding gigs.