imalolz

Dear HN parents,

With the current situation, our entire region is under strict lockdown.

Both my spouse and I are now working from home, and since there's no school and people are discouraged from going outdoors we have to find solutions to keep our kids - aged 3rd grade & kindergarten - occupied throughout the day.

We're really trying hard not to have them watch TV or use tablet/phone/computer all the time; we bought plenty of arts and crafts and the teachers emailed some worksheets and assignments, but it's VERY difficult for them to be so socially isolated, constantly indoors, without their friends and teachers, and sitting down and working through take home tasks all day just doesn't work. Both sides are frustrated and with good cause.

We find that we're constantly giving up and letting them use screens since we need some time to get work done (meetings, calls, writing docs and code, etc). Afterwards we feel terrible, saying we have to come up with a solution. I thought about starting my workday after they go to sleep (9PM), but that doesn't scale well unless I sleep 2 hrs/night. I realize this is a new reality for many people, and we have to adjust.

How are you dealing with this situation - keeping your kids engaged, doing something positive and still making time to work?

I mostly browse the actual site and don't use 3rd party apps to read HN. More often then not, when a particularly long thread has run its course and turned into a flame-war or moot debate, I find myself scrolling away (sometimes for a while) to get to the next root comment.

I realize this isn't news to anyone, and I'm probably not the first to bring this up, but it'd certainly be convenient to be able to fold a block of comments and move on to the next with a click (much like, err, Reddit).

Just saying.

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EDIT - I can see this feature has been discussed before: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=fold+comment

I'm sure many of you faced this situation before, but this is a first for me.

I've been assigned to mentor a new intern, for whom I have great hopes - This kid is sharp, a quick learner and has a bright future ahead.

My mentoring/teaching experience is limited to having been a TA in college, taught some courses, tutored some students and all that. Originally I majored in engineering, but got into programming after picking it up along the way. I still learn new things every day. Overall I have about 5-6 years of actual work experience in misc topics - web dev, databases, systems/ops eng., etc. I don't consider myself an expert on any of these.

So, I'm looking for advice, tips, shared experience on mentoring a new employee/intern from the good people who read this site. Common gotchas, things to avoid, things to emphasize, etc. Thanks!

I'm a software developer living and working abroad. I'm not an American citizen, but have lived in the U.S. for a better part of a decade as a student and obtained an advanced engineering degree from a top school while there.

Recently I've been thinking of applying for jobs in the US - the incredible variety of both startups and established companies seem like great places to learn and build oneself as a professional.

Probably relevant - I don't have a work VISA or a green card (I did apply for one), and I'm married + baby. I have several questions:

1. Where to start? This is a vague question, I know, but I'm looking for input from someone who'd be considering non-resident applicants: the checklist I should follow, planning ahead, etc.

2. Am I being realistic? I mean, as far as interviewing goes, this won't be simple to either side, even if I'm considered as a valid applicant.

3. Any other advice that's relevant to myself and others who might be thinking about or in the midst of doing just this?

Thanks!

I have a really comfortable web development job, albeit not very exciting, at a medium sized software company. That's why, like most people who probably read this and similar sites, I try to evolve professionally in my free time - read technical books, blogs, pick up languages, etc. I consider myself good at my job, and average compared to the industry. I constantly run into articles where people praise their co-workers, regale on how exciting their job is and how much they learn every day... I find that almost everyone I work with (company of +50 people) just comes to work to punch a ticket, go home, repeat. This is not an "old" company (avg. age <35), yet people are satisfied with what they picked up so far, and don't feel the need to grow as a professional. When I mention things like github, Erlang or HN, for example, I get vague stares - nobody's heard of them. I understand people have families and non-work related hobbies (I do too - a lot), but for me coming to work just to pass 8-10 daily hours in closing bugs, adding features and resolving tickets is just dull. Yeah, I get it, that's what work is all about. Don't get me wrong - these guys are good in what they do (mostly C/C++ Devs), but I've got nothing to learn from them, nothing interesting to chat about (I don't consider diaper changing talks exciting) and I keep fighting through the day to make work interesting by coming up with new solutions to old problems (a cliché, I know, but this is really what I do). Even my team members/boss who do web-development aren't different than the rest (a bit worse, actually). On the plus side, the salary and benefits where I work are great. I have a baby on the way and an unemployed wife, so I can't really afford to be cavalier on job search at the moment. Maybe I'm just selling out, and this is definitely a vent post, but does anyone here feels the same at their current job, and if so - what do you do? Also, I live and work outside the US, if it makes a difference.