[ravenstine]

This is why, in retrospect, I miss my days as a junior engineer.

When I was a junior, there was plenty of room to learn and screw things up without much risk. I had plenty of opportunities to write brand new software for any which purpose, and the possibility of advancement was really exciting.

The longer my career went on, the more my job became about fixing crap, fighting brittle tests, and trying to squeeze enough information out of the org so I could actually get my job done properly. Now that I'm a senior engineer making above the average income for the role, the only advancement left for me is to become a lead or staff engineer, neither of which I am at all suited for. In either case, it would be more of the same.

I'd have more to say, but I've got to hop on a pair programming call with someone. :)