Half way thru, how is this year going?

[Aspychata]

This year is half gone. Has it been a better year, a horrible year, a blah year so far? A self-discovery year, or a year that you are anxiously waiting to end because of the economy, pending retirement or divorce or???

 

[Jenisautistic]

To be honest, is one of the worst years that we have gone through so far last year was even a bit better, which is not saying that much however, there are still a lot of little moments to treasure and hopefully they'll be a lot more and we will be able to have some wins and finish the year strong.

 

[Judge]

Historically catastrophic. One too many existential alarms have gone off for good reason.

 

[Aspychata]

On so many levels, wrong, wrong, wrong. My partner found out about a devastating medical issue, l had to emotionally support us both.

 

[vergil96]

This year has been crazy for me. The new job was hard, but exciting and definitely a beginning of a a new stage of life.

I'm not sure if better or worse than the previous year. In the previous year I graduated then looked for a job. It was a lot of progress, but stressful at the same time. This year... I have also made a lot of progress and it has been stressful but it different ways - maybe less stressful than graduation and job hunting. At the same time of the year a year ago, I was a lot more tired, although I did less work. I'm really looking forward to what will be going on later during the summer. It's still a novelty And I have resolved some problems that I was dealing with successfully. I found that looking for a job was especially stressful for the whole year of 2024 (also before graduation) and I'm glad that I have found the right job. There isn't reasonable help with it and honestly both the whole process of looking for a job and finishing school are too time-consuming to make a good portfolio in the mean time. The hiring process is also designed to psychologically crush you and the greed and explotation on the part of firms is extreme.

 

[maleonolo]

This year has been crazy for me. The new job was hard, but exciting and definitely a beginning of a a new stage of life.

I'm not sure if better or worse than the previous year. In the previous year I graduated than looked for a job. It was a lot of progress, but stressful at the same time. This year... I have also made a lot of progress and it has been stressful but it different ways - maybe less stressful than graduation and job hunting. At the same time of the year a year ago, I was a lot more tired, although I did less work. I'm really looking forward to what will be going on later during the summer. It's still a novelty And I have resolved some problems that I was dealing with successfully. I found that looking for a job was especially stressful for the whole year of 2024 (also before graduation) and I'm glad that I have found the right job. There is reasonable help with it and honestly both the whole process and finishing school are too time-consuming to make a good portfolio in the mean time. The whole process is also designed to psychologically crush you and the greed and explotation on the part of firms is extreme.

Is unpaid overtime common as a programmer?

 

[Dagan]

The first half of the year has been insane dealing with scam artists just per my neighborhood...let alone the ones who infiltrated the government. I do not anticipate health care to look so good by year's end. It's a legitimate fear.

On the flip side, UAP stuff and disclosure on a lot of ancient technologies have been interesting. Music has been decent. Movies, TV and gaming have been on the upswing. All of this can be perceived like the Roman A-holes giving us the colosseum games, though.

 

[Misery]

I cant even count the number of times I've looked around and thought "ya know what, I think that person needs to be kicked by a horse. A horse that leaves live grenades (each of which explodes into 500 angry hornets) stuck to whatever it kicks."

Often, it's the same few people over and over again. And over and over. And over. I doubt I have to name any names.

Sadly, the hornet bomb horse kick upgrade has yet to be invented.

 

[vergil96]

Is unpaid overtime common as a programmer?

Quite common, but it also depends on the company a lot. They have different cultures when it comes to work-life balance. In banking it's quite poor, for example. But the work isn't all that uniform, you work more close to the deadlines, and less at other times or don't do much at work at times. There is quite a lot of pushback against the jobs wanting to take up your free time too. Sometimes it's easier to stay longer and do something in one go too.

 

[Mary Terry]

I feel like I've been jogging in place so far this year. I had pneumonia in January and husband has to get a molar implant in December. We did get a new granddaughter in March which is always exciting. We haven't gone on vacation anywhere this year and that always depresses me. I love to travel, footloose and fancy-free. Maybe we'll go somewhere in the fall.

 

[Jumpinbare]

meh

 

[George Newman]

All in all 2025 has been pretty good.

There have been challenges but they have only made me stronger. I am grateful for this community and the positive role it has played in my day to day.

Thank you, all.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

This year is half gone. Has it been a better year, a horrible year, a blah year so far? A self-discovery year, or a year that you are anxiously waiting to end because of the economy, pending retirement or divorce or???

So far it's been neither good, nor bad. So far I have been relatively insulated from all the political, economic, and social chaos of this administration, albeit the stock market and my investments could have performed better. As a retail investor I have to simply accept all the volatility and be patient, after all, I am a long-term investor, not a day trader. I can't allow myself to get rattled when my investment portfolio is bouncing up and down by tens of thousands of dollars from day-to-day. That takes some discipline and a patient mindset. I force myself to look at yearly trends, not weekly or monthly, then I realize I'm doing better than the S&P 500 and I chill out.

Because I have been relatively insulated and I have developed some patience in my old age, whenever the news wants to catastrophize over everything, twisting narratives to the worst possible outcomes, I just sit back and watch it all pass by. It's rarely as bad as the news wants us to think. It's like I am sitting on a bridge over a river, feet dangling over the edge, looking over, watching the water, and all that it is carrying pass on by and out of sight. Most of life, I have found, is water under the bridge. Give it time. It will pass. I've lived through many presidential administrations, each one of them a lot of people thought it was the end of the world as we know it, and then a new president and administration comes into power, and the world keeps turning. Doors and windows open and close throughout our lives, sometimes we chose to go through them, other times we are forced, we adapt and overcome to new circumstances, but life goes on.

Professionally, I have made some adjustments, with less time being a neonatal clinical specialist to more time being in the role of neonatal and pediatric transport therapist and charge duties, running the team. I am a good team leader in the sense that I do take care of my team, support them, make sure they get their breaks in, helping them with patients, cleaning equipment for them, etc. I can roam where needed throughout the hospital, and I'm not stuck, mired in a busy patient assignment. It's been good for me seeing the appreciation. Knowing that I am getting closer to retirement, I have stepped back from climbing the corporate ladder in our department, allowing some of the younger talent to apply for and achieve new roles. They still use me as a resource, as they have in the past, but now I am that of the "father figure" giving guidance to the younger people in roles that have more authority and autonomy. I can influence and hold some level of power and respect, but I am not the one responsible for the final decisions.

 

[Masked Man]

It's been okay I guess. My life has been just a bit slower since I no longer have multiple papers and chapters to read every week. Work is a bit better too since we have gotten over the planning and implementation of a brand new electronic medical record system which became active in early April. The bugs of that are mostly worked out and now it's just old hat. Now I'm just going through the motions of surviving the summer.

 

[maleonolo]

It's been okay I guess. My life has been just a bit slower since I no longer have multiple papers and chapters to read every week. Work is a bit better too since we have gotten over the planning and implementation of a brand new electronic medical record system which became active in early April. The bugs of that are mostly worked out and now it's just old hat. Now I'm just going through the motions of surviving the summer.

how often do u use the ac

 

[Masked Man]

how often do u use the ac

Every day. I've had it on since about maybe mid May. Also using a dehumidifier since the beginning of June. Makes the AC work better.

 

[maleonolo]

Every day. I've had it on since about maybe mid May. Also using a dehumidifier since the beginning of June. Makes the AC work better.

Do you service it yourself?

 

[Aspychata]

Do you service it yourself?

Let's stay on the theme of this post? Thank u.

 

[maleonolo]

Yeah this year's going okay. Trying to get a job, seems like everyone's struggling too. It'll probably get better in a couple of years

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Do like what is going on south of us, sort of like watching a game and all of a sudden you are on the field as a player.