[laveur]

I've been a software engineer for nearly 20 years now, and you know what I do when I hav the time? I blow glass. Honestly I enjoyed writing code much more when I was a teen and in college in my free time, but now that I do it 40 hours a week I need something else. Sure I have some programming projects I do outside of work. But they are needed for something else I help run. Besides now that I'm nearly 40, I have a house and family to look after. I barely have time to take care of those with my full time job.

[brandall10]

About 15 years ago I noticed most devs w/ an online presence invariably had a side hobby they were quite passionate about - more often than not it was photography w/ thousands of photos on Flikr, esp. for those who spoke at conferences and traveled a bit.

Found some article discussing the phenomena of those engaged in knowledge work having a hobby like this, acting as a relief valve when things get too intense - whether up-skilling in knowledge or pushing through a slog of a project, or perhaps they're in a somewhat Kafkaesque situation in regards to political structures at work/academia to avoid burnout situations.