I stopped tinkering with electronics despite being a full-time embedded software engineer. I have designed small boards, but I only know enough EE to get myself in trouble. I prefer working with EEs that know their stuff, where our skills can compliment each others’.
I no longer work on “hobby” projects; such things become an albatross around my neck. If you deploy a hobby project in your life, you must maintain it. Forever. For that time cost, I want to work on a product that could go into production and pay for its own maintenance.
Unfortunately, I cannot stand being around people anymore. I had my entire life savings stolen by an ex, with the government’s help. When I tried to open back up and make new friends after that shit show was over, I was drugged and raped by the first guy that I invited into my house in over two years; he was never even arrested for what he did. And after over 25 years, I stopped playing music, because those “friends” all actively abandoned me when I decided to start carrying a sidearm daily. Collectively, these events destroyed my belief in the just rule of law and the goodness of humanity.
Overall, the above factors make me read articles like this with a mixture of excitement and possibility combined with depression and hopelessness. I do not have the resources for a side project, financially or emotionally. I cannot design and launch a side project, even though I am fully capable and that is what I most want to do.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss of faith in humanity. Especially hearing how you don't play music with others anymore. I'm a musician and not being able to make music with my friends would be a huge loss.
I hope you find peace and healing. People often suck, but they can also be beautiful if given the chance. And you deserve that chance.
Sounds like you've had a series of incredibly traumatic experiences. I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope that you're able to find your way into friendships and relationships that allow you to trust again.
> I no longer work on “hobby” projects; such things become an albatross around my neck. If you deploy a hobby project in your life, you must maintain it. Forever.
Alternatively: If you do something yourself, you get the option to be able to maintain it forever. If you buy something, the vendor will probably stop caring the moment the sale completes; any maintenance you want to do yourself becomes a reverse engineering effort as your work into a system that you didn't design.
> If you deploy a hobby project in your life, you must maintain it. Forever.
Perhaps your definition of hobby is different to mine, but hobby projects are exactly the kind you can abandon in a heartbeat. No long term customers, no guarantees, no obligations. In fact, we hear about countless HW and SW projects being abandoned left and right, right here on HN on regular basis.
> For that time cost, I want to work on a product that could go into production and pay for its own maintenance.
Hobby and high volume production aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
I wanted to build a custom board to use USB-C power in my projects. Except the cost of a dozen boards assembled was quite high. So I made a thousand or so to subsidize the cost of development and production for myself. The chip I used went out stock (global chip shortage related) but until it did, my "hobby" project paid for itself and actually made me a small profit as well.
You don't mention where you live, but that last one suggests to me that you might consider moving to a different part of the country: I know several people, including myself, who carry sidearms. Where I live, everyone can do it, some people do do it, but no one gets upset by it or cares that much.
I no longer work on “hobby” projects; such things become an albatross around my neck. If you deploy a hobby project in your life, you must maintain it. Forever. For that time cost, I want to work on a product that could go into production and pay for its own maintenance.
Unfortunately, I cannot stand being around people anymore. I had my entire life savings stolen by an ex, with the government’s help. When I tried to open back up and make new friends after that shit show was over, I was drugged and raped by the first guy that I invited into my house in over two years; he was never even arrested for what he did. And after over 25 years, I stopped playing music, because those “friends” all actively abandoned me when I decided to start carrying a sidearm daily. Collectively, these events destroyed my belief in the just rule of law and the goodness of humanity.
Overall, the above factors make me read articles like this with a mixture of excitement and possibility combined with depression and hopelessness. I do not have the resources for a side project, financially or emotionally. I cannot design and launch a side project, even though I am fully capable and that is what I most want to do.