Random Fashion Thoughts (Part 3: Style farmer strikes back) - our general discussion thread

[hoodog]

This is what I did and now I have to shop on Grailed ?

I had no idea they sold rolls of summer tweed on Grailed.

 

[zissou]

Don’t go back to school unless it’s something you love doing. It’s just not worth it otherwise. I’ll get my new (third) degree when I’m 49! It’s been fun all the way. Hit me up if you want to DM about it.

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

Yeah Everytime I look at one of those high end project manager or sales jobs, they just seem ultra soul sucking. I don't need the jawns that bad. My wife works in the tech field and she already hates a lot of it. No grass is greener in the end.

I'm currently thinking of going back and doing food. I use to really dig it before everything became a contest even though the chef bro culture was grating. Maybe say screw it and start selling ice cream out of a push cart.

Hotels are fun because you meet tons of cool people but recently many places are restructuring due to COVID. Many are getting rid of dedicated night managers/concierge and just passing around the duties. Working 3 day shifts then 2 overnights is hellish. It's been a wild ride the last two years.

 

[erictheobscure]

if you study what you love you’ll never work a day in your life

as a bonus, you’ll end up being thoroughly sick of what you study

 

[zissou]

I'm currently thinking of going back and doing food. I use to really dig it before everything became a contest even though the chef bro culture was grating. Maybe say screw it and start selling ice cream out of a push cart.

If I was into food, other than just eating it, having a food truck could be a lot of fun.

 

[whorishconsumer]

All this rental market stuff is interesting. I ended up having the interview and also got all the deets and now I'm sitting around wondering if it's even worth it.

Overnights and 60k as the salary. My wife makes similarly so I don't doubt I can make it in Brooklyn but I'm so sick of working overnights that I might end up just using my savings and looking for a new career. Go back to school or something. Haha

Kyoto is going backrupt and taxes may be increasing. Honestly COVID got me wondering what's the next step right now.

I moved to Brooklyn in 2017 making 60k working (remote) in a job I hated. I benefitted immensely from a subsidized living arrangement afforded by a friend I moved with. In a little over a year I was hired on to a local company making more and doing more dedicated product ownership in app development. I have since made yet another job hop further into the same role, which finds me comfortable (for now). I have continued to benefit from taking the smaller bedroom in shared apartment, but I'm now poised to live alone, which will suck in taking the full brunt of NYC rent but is very necessary.

I say all this to suggest that it is possible to move to NYC on 60k – much more so on a dual salary – but it helps to have beneficial arrangements, and to be frugal (which I am not). I'll note that I also wasn't willing to make the concessions many make in moving to NYC, namely living in farther flung neighborhoods, accepting less space, accepting less pleasantness.

I will also say that it is only once I was in NYC that I had access to higher-paying jobs in my field. Although tepidly, I applied to some number of NYC jobs in the 7-8 months before moving and had no bites. After moving I was able to garner response. Although note that I submitted about 85 applications and landed maybe 14 interviews before arriving at my present gig.

But of course this is specific to my experience.

As for returning to school, as someone saddled with immense debt from my many meandering years of college I can only caution against doing so half-heartedly.

 

[mak1277]

Strong disagree with that. If you're investing in going back to school then make it something that is interesting and you enjoy, not something solely "with a good job projection".

If that ends up being one and the same for you, then awesome.

I don't really want to start a big debate about this concept...but I do think this idea is more valid for some people than for others.
For me personally, if you took my favorite hobby and made it into a job that I had to do every day for 8 hours, I would hate it within a year or two. That's just my personality...work is work, full stop. I would never want to ruin one of my hobbies by making it my job.

I acknowledge, though, that my point of view isn't the same as everyone else's. I just think we all need to know ourselves and not assume that making your passion your profession is 100% going to be right for all.

 

[sinnedk]

Strong disagree with that. If you're investing in going back to school then make it something that is interesting and you enjoy, not something solely "with a good job projection".

If that ends up being one and the same for you, then awesome.

a career change doesn’t always require going back to school especially these days, did he mention something about schooling? All I saw was “career”.

re school, it’s a slippery slop IMO. Most people don’t end up using their degrees but the skill set learned in college does come into play. Btw I did turn something I enjoy into a career.

Yeah Everytime I look at one of those high end project manager or sales jobs, they just seem ultra soul sucking. I don't need the jawns that bad. My wife works in the tech field and she already hates a lot of it. No grass is greener in the end.

I'm currently thinking of going back and doing food. I use to really dig it before everything became a contest even though the chef bro culture was grating. Maybe say screw it and start selling ice cream out of a push cart.

Hotels are fun because you meet tons of cool people but recently many places are restructuring due to COVID. Many are getting rid of dedicated night managers/concierge and just passing around the duties. Working 3 day shifts then 2 overnights is hellish. It's been a wild ride the last two years.

money doesn’t make you happy but it sure makes life easier.

of course do what you like I was suggesting two high paying positions that came to mind and mostly have on the job training. I don’t think I saw you mention anything about schooling earlier.

food is though, I think it has a 60% fail rate

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

Totally nothing is perfect, I don't mind taking a look at anything available and I'm definitely not closing my options. Luckily, I have the ability to do something in not just one country but three. I can go back to Mexico, I can stay in Japan, I can go back to the states. I'm not meaning going to "college", I mean just take some sort of schooling, certs, apprenticeships etc.

Food is indeed tough, and I probably would still be working under a team and just doing my own thing on the side. My wife makes more money than me and she has more growth potential so her thought has always been to give me freedom to pursue whatever I want because someday I will probably make funny money in comparison. She works in fintech/education technology. She probably would do way better in NYC than anywhere else since Japan has pretty low tech salaries.

I think when I say money doesn't make me happy, I mean that I don't need a super surplus to be happy. As long as I can travel every once in a while, make tasty food, and buy some crap here and there I'm happy. I once worked a job that I really hated but made decent money, all I did was fill the hole with jawns.

 

[imatlas]

Yeah Everytime I look at one of those high end project manager or sales jobs, they just seem ultra soul sucking. I don't need the jawns that bad. My wife works in the tech field and she already hates a lot of it. No grass is greener in the end.

I've been in tech for 20+ years, more if you count corporate IT before that, and I am So. Sick. Of. It.

There's an apprenticeship opening for a bookbinder in my area, which has been a hobby of mine for a long time. I'm so tempted to apply for it and chuck the tech job.

(truth is, I think they should hire someone young who will keep the tradition going for a few decades more than I can)

 

[FlyingMonkey]

money doesn’t make you happy but it sure makes life easier.

The research is quite contradictory on this: up to a point, money makes you happier, but then it becomes less and less significant, and the point at which it stops making you significantly happier isn't super high (can't remember off hand). There are also contradictory findings about how much individual happiness is linked to national wealth, and what seems to be the most important thing is a combination of guaranteed basic needs met and economic stability / predictability - in other words not having to worry about poverty or you or your children's future.

 

[mak1277]

The research is quite contradictory on this: up to a point, money makes you happier, but then it becomes less and less significant, and the point at which it stops making you significantly happier isn't super high (can't remember off hand). There are also contradictory findings about how much individual happiness is linked to national wealth, and what seems to be the most important thing is a combination of guaranteed basic needs met and economic stability / predictability - in other words not having to worry about poverty or you or your children's future.

I feel like there are a ton of different inflection points on this and it's also very personal. I've read that the happiness curve bends at around $75k annually (i.e., more doesn't make you significantly happier). I don't really disagree with that from personal observation. That being said, making a lot more than that has gotten me to a place where I can quit working entirely at 45...the happiness that freedom brings is beyond anything I could ever purchase with that money.

 

[jaaz16]

I feel like there are a ton of different inflection points on this and it's also very personal. I've read that the happiness curve bends at around $75k annually (i.e., more doesn't make you significantly happier). I don't really disagree with that from personal observation. That being said, making a lot more than that has gotten me to a place where I can quit working entirely at 45...the happiness that freedom brings is beyond anything I could ever purchase with that money.

Yeah there's just a lot going on that makes generalized findings difficult to apply 1-to-1 to real life. The famous happiness study from 2010 suggested that more money = more happy until 75K, then happiness levels stall out. In all likelihood this is because more money beyond that means a more stressful job, or more expenses, etc etc. Similar dynamic with the research on parenthood and happiness. Becoming a parent reduces happiness...but increases self-worth and other positive emotional effects (and is mediated by how much your national context supports parents). Does that means parents are unhappy? That I wouldn't be happier with another 50 grand? No, but it means there are some cross-cutting things that muck it all up once you get past the population level and think about how the research is actionable for you individually.

 

[peachfuzzmcgee]

You know I often hear about retiring early and not working at all. I don't even know what I would do. For the most part I like a lot of the stuff that my type of work brings especially socially. If I had enough money to retire in 15 years, I'd probably just take a different cool job or switch careers to something that is a passion. I'd definitely work toward that level of flexibility. However working a job I hate for 15 years for big ass money seems like a waste of an already short existence. Gotta find the right balance of good pay and can deal with the work.

Frankly I wish all people could do what they enjoy and be guaranteed a comfortable living. Free leather jackets for all.

 

[happyriverz]

You know I often hear about retiring early and not working at all. I don't even know what I would do. For the most part I like a lot of the stuff that my type of work brings especially socially. If I had enough money to retire in 15 years, I'd probably just take a different cool job or switch careers to something that is a passion. I'd definitely work toward that level of flexibility. However working a job I hate for 15 years for big ass money seems like a waste of an already short existence. Gotta find the right balance of good pay and can deal with the work.

Frankly I wish all people could do what they enjoy and be guaranteed a comfortable living. Free leather jackets for all.

I would love to retire early and not work at all, but then I wouldn't be able to afford jawns.