Being the engineer on-call when the website/service/app is down and the company is losing $xMM/minute while you debug the problem is the very definition of stress.
Some companies like Google cordon this responsibility off to SREs. While Amazon has started developing a similar job family, the burden of supporting critical services still largely falls to software engineers.
While software engineering is certainly not the worst job from a stress perspective, my experience (particularly with operations at Amazon) is far from the zen-like state the author describes. It can also be pretty exciting.
I have a deal with my SO, that, if at any time, I feel that either of us is too overcome by emotion to discuss something rationally, we get to say so, the other person gets to say their piece (without lecturing or railing) and then the discussion is tabled.
If either of us feel it is important, then it's up to them to bring it up at a later, calmer time. Otherwise, it wasn't actually that important.
This rule has saved us from all sorts of pointless strife.
In my experience, writing things down brings additional insight, more than an accident.
When I first heard Leslie Lamport say “If you think without writing, you only think you’re thinking.”, I thought it was a bit much, but now I suspect he's right.
It took me nearly 10 years to understand the line "I believe that trust is more important than monogamy" in that old Savage Garden song. It took an ex who was (I think) physically faithful (at that point) while completely dismantling my faith in humanity to figure that one out.
Though that's usually easier said than done. Communicating openly and honestly is something that a lot of couples think they do, but it's hard to tell the difference between a partner that isn't communicative (or was once communicative, but stopped), and a partner that has nothing to communicate. It's trusting communicativeness to self-perpetuate. In an ideal relationship we could have faith in such implicit self-perpetuation, but humans aren't always perfect, and having an explicit and expected opportunity to communicate new expectations (in the OP's case, via a (perhaps deliberately ridiculous) contract negotiation) might be all it takes to keep communication on track. If it keeps them happy, then good for them!
If you're experiencing any sort of pain, do not attempt to power through it. It's your body trying to tell you something's wrong. Step away from the keyboard and get some rest.
Especially when the author could actually do an apple-to-apples comparison. The shoe organizer that cost $18 at Google (with shipping) is $16 at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001M2D9D0
Free shipping on both products puts it at $13.24 on Google [1] and $16.17 on Amazon [2]. But yes, my post could have been much more objective and scientific.
Give Alaska back the vast majority of its land and resources (something like 80-90% of the land is outright owned by the Feds, and they restrict access to vast amounts of state land, using environmental reasons as the excuse) which are owned or controlled by the federal government and we'd be self-sufficient in a heartbeat, even if we aren't already.
I seriously doubt your characterization of our Federal subsidies. Just as one example, Hawaii gets more interstate highway funds then we do, and we're responsible for the Alcan highway, one of the largest highways in the nation. Hawaii, as you might notice, has no interstate highways. We aren't heavily subsidized, as we have more than enough revenue from the oil leases on the North Slope.
If every state was left to its own devices (just a thought experiment here), Alaska would be one of the best situated due to is vast resources, active port (air cargo in particular uses Anchorage's facilities in huge amounts), and economic stability.
"If you live in Cambridge and neighboring communities, you can order online and get any book delivered the same day by an eco-friendly Metroped “pedal-truck,” or a bicycle, as I like to call them. Beat that Amazon."
Here's how: any book, ever published, in 60 seconds or less. Kindle.
Reason: "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!". You will need energy to produce fuels, and you have to put more energy in than the fuels will be able to produce. So, unless you already have an energy source that is cheaper than fossil fuels, this one will not be, either.
Also, I am not a chemist, but chances are that it will take time to make this invention useful, if it is possible as all. I do not think enzymes are as chemically stable as platinum, and hydrogen is quite reactive. Worse, if you pick the obvious stuff (water) as source for your hydrogen, you also end up with oxygen. That, too, is quite reactive.
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Being the engineer on-call when the website/service/app is down and the company is losing $xMM/minute while you debug the problem is the very definition of stress.
Some companies like Google cordon this responsibility off to SREs. While Amazon has started developing a similar job family, the burden of supporting critical services still largely falls to software engineers.
While software engineering is certainly not the worst job from a stress perspective, my experience (particularly with operations at Amazon) is far from the zen-like state the author describes. It can also be pretty exciting.