Prospective buyers are on the guise that you're desperate for the money therefore offer you 50% less. They expect you to climb mountains to satisfy their schedule. Then they ghost you.

Good luck mate. Hope it works out. Here’s a suggestion that might be showing my age a bit Print off an A4 sheet of what you’re selling. Go down to the uni and the technical colleges and shove it on the noticeboard. Lots of law students or any uni student on a budget would like machines like that That method of selling is probably out of date these days but it might help you out. You never know. Maybe Advertise it through the student guild….???

Ooof, never had problems like this.

That guy may not have a car, but not your problem. You need to set out your rules on Marketplace (Marketplace is the go to platform) - price not negotiable, cash only etc. Don't get into time wasting discussions, tell them there's been a lot of interest and the price is fixed.

For the guy that wanted you to get on the train to meet him you should have agreed and then not shown up.

Can you talk more about the car and show it as well. thank you.

Welcome back! Have been looking out for your videos. Happy New Year🎉

I feel like it's better to just drop it all off at Goodwill instead of dealing with low ballers on Craigslist/Marketplace, I'd rather them deal with the crap than me waste my time and money.

Good to see you back man. Some nice equipment there.

I wondered what happened to you. I love the suntanned feet mate! Having trouble selling old tech.... there's a reason computer equipment is no longer a capex item in a business. It's all opex now, 100% depreciation on purchase. You have to find a way to describe your old computer equipment so it seems like a good thing to buy. The people that know it's good probably have it already and aren't buying or have already sold it themselves. Folk interested in your hifi equipment ditto...or they're dead. Tech toys are a hard sell. They're discretionary purchases. Scammers? Just broke tyre kickers. Sell it for whatever you can. $1 is $1 more than you'll have holding on to it. You'll be selling it by the kg if you wait. Old tech is, well, it's old. You bought new fruits for a reason, didn't you? Depressing I know. I've got a shed full of old tech. The leaky roof and termites are helping entropy along. Cars are easier to divest. They're always needed. Glad you're back "on the air". Good luck with your yard sale. 🖖

I’ve started my new KZbin channel on retirement subjects like this 😊

Bingo bongo

Hope all is well with you.

What's a 'super'?

I've been very keen on real estate for a long while now and from what little I know you have to be careful about those homes. The sales contract often contains requirements about how much you need to spend to get the property fixed up as well as high property taxes and all kinds of other fees. There are also sometimes time limits on when the work needs to be completed by so read the fine print.

EAP is a heavily regulated industry that is entirely independent of HR. No psychologist or counsellor in EAP even has the names of managers in any of the businesses for whom they provide counselling services. No counsellor has any personal interest in dobbing on you. So that is not how your manager found out about your grievances. It sounds like you disclosed everything to an HR person who tried to fix things.

The same basic programming principles don't change. New frameworks and libraries may be added but they still feed off those fundamentals. If you can write and understand a basic program in C++, you can easily pick up other languages.

OMG you've had a diverse career. Those are wild-looking plants, to a European. I guess all the local birds & insects love them though. 400 mile round-trip drive , hope the roads were good

fascinating further details on your career path. Mine started with pencilled-in Cobol code sheets/punch cards for old ICL mainframes (a UK computer maker back then) in early 80s, state-funded training course. Looking back on Cobol, people say stuff like "the worst thing about having Cobol skills is you might be asked to use them" 😞

Hi Jeff, did you ever consider putting the : "Coding Test Failure" (Confused Lad with the Bow Tie) on your T-shirt collections ? I think one of my Favorite Images of your Great Videos ! (LOL !) Brilliant ! Jim Canada

For a video idea, maybe you could make a little example of where using C code beats C#. Thus showing why it might be wise to listen to the old guy with experience instead of the new guy who only knows what he was taught.

The constant relearning of tech (programming) is why I got out of development and into Business Analysis and IT Management. As I got older I didn't want to keep re-inventing myself as a developer. I got lucky that I was able to stay in my chosen career for 40 years doing different jobs. I got out at 65 and am now retired.

I like the back. I think the logo on the front isn't prominent enough. More so in the white background. Have you tried a black background? I think that may catch more attention.

Excellent - really like these down memory lane of the tech world from workers perspective.

Wow! I really like the shirt . 🎉

The pink colour combo with green works. But to be honest modelling t shirt in the bathroom doesn't help the look.

I really want to just get out of programming. I always felt like a bit of a hacker anyways, which to me was always funner. Now my bosses are building their own non functioning crap with copilot or whatever. I feel old...

Love your channel. Just keep trying new things. You might also be inspiring others 😊

I understand your wife is from overseas. Assuming it is one of the less expensive countries like eastern Europe or Latin America or sea , have you considered moving there.? At least once your super kicks in? My wife is from SEA, i am close to 50 and in tech. I know if i lose my job it might be hard to find something that pays as much, so we have SEA as our backup retirement plan

Any adult with responsibilities has to think about supporting a family, mortgage and car payments. So at times you just got to go with the bird in hand rather than wait for the one in the bush that never comes. You did the right thing not waiting.

I am turning 50 in about a month. I have been testing the market by applying to jobs here and there but havent had any interview. So i guess when my job ends i will be struggling to get hired at 50. I am thinking of doing a diploma in immigration advice, get licensed and use it as a backup career. Cant think of anything else at this stage 😢

what about javascript and PHP (front and back)?

You've had an interesting career path and working life. When I started out as a software developer in my early 20s, one of the first things I noticed was that there was no developer over 40 in any of the workplaces I worked. Made me realise I had to plan for a career of at most 20 years.

I'm finding out late (but not too late fortunately) that if you're lucky enough to have a job, you had better focus on living frugally, paying off debt and building up that nest egg. No going out. No vacations. I've got enough saved now. But I wish I had started earlier. It would've saved me so much pain these last few years.

Typical public service giving everyone an exam to get a job, then totally unsuitable people get the jobs. You must be very clever.

What's with the Star of David in the thumbnail?

Do you have peers who chose a different career path and came out much better? Most of my friends in their 50s , even 40s,who were in IT have had to switch to something else. On the other hand those in Education and Healthcare havent had too. Bankers mostly had to retire by 50 but they had earned enough to retire comfortably had they invested well.

Thanks for your insight of your career. I feel that you've missed the original topic on why you don't settle for any job. Basically in my view, I agree that you don't take anything unless you're absolutely broke; because you'll lose the time and flexibility in finding what you're after.

I'm a tad bit younger than you but still remember doing the same kind of things, programming my own games, especially text adventure games were so much fun. Those times were really good for software people.

yep, web dev kinda sucks the life out of you, but not as much as having to justify your existence to breathe every time to a potential new employer, that is the worst.

You have had a very interesting career. ❤

You should be proud that you were in the top group to qualify for that initial training at age 20. You should also be proud about how successful you were at learning new programming languages and adapting to an ever-changing field. You'll be feeling much better when you get your "Super," which I assume is the equivalent of the USA's Social Security. Can you take just any available job to earn some cash until you get your "Super"? I don't understand the Australian system, but there's a saying here that it doesn't matter what you do to make a living because "it all comes from the same Mint." Count your blessings and recognize your achievements. I'd like to add that in the USA health care is the area least likely to discriminate by age. Older doctors are revered, and that attitude colors the approach to supporting staff. Might there be a role for you there (even if part time) in your country?

Didn't go to uni....... you must have matriculated, smart enough to get a Commonwealth scholarship.

Interesting narrative about your journey as a software developer. I would say you are not alone. As an electrical engineer self trained in software, my first work experiences were in c, c++ and MFC. However, I found that as c++ was gaining steam, some managers were very cautious about its adoption, saying it was 'too new etc'. Yet, the power of classes, inheritance, and OO was quite apparent. So it was sometimes the case that management was kind of stuck in using an older methodology, and if a person worked there, they were not being exposed at all to something newer. Essentially, sometimes, management can stop a programmer's natural healthy learning curve, and when the gig ends, that programmer find themselves without the proper industrial skills.

You still had a bit of work during your career. Surely you saved quite abit for retirement. What about super? Did you contribute much to your super?

Will your situation improve when you get to state pension age (67 ?) Quite a gap to bridge, mind you. It sounds like it imposes some intrusive stuff re: assets etc.

The entirety of life sucks. This world is a hell where people are punished for existing

Not bad. The lion kingdom made a 400 sq ft flat work for its entire career.

Never would have thought you were over 60!! Guessed 53 at the most. Years ago, you could easily lie about your age, but now with a tap a button, someone can easily determine your age and make presumptions. Here in the USA, especially in the south and southwest, they need teachers badly, but the pay is subpar, the work conditions can be horrid, and the health insurance sucks. At the very least, as an older worker, I have a steady pittance in the aforementioned field. Large companies would not even take a second look at me, and I have been told I look no more than 40 versus the 57 years that I am. I try to spend each day thinking about Jesus and his disciples, and the suffering they went through to maintain my sanity, along with daily exercise. At my workplace, 99 percent of students do not eat their bagged breakfast, so I load up on food items like: milk, apples, graham crackers, yogurt, and cereal bars. (Defraying food costs??). All those bagged lunches go into the trash anyway and staff is encouraged to load up 🤣 I think and pray 🙏 regularly, use sleep aids (ie, Melatonin and Valerian Root) so I feel less exhausted each day. Know of teachers that drink heavily (I rarely will have a glass of Cabernet) and purchase merchandise from the multiple dispensaries to cope. I have done the latter via gummies, and have passed out and slept like a log (also escaping the world temporarily being oblivious) but fortunately I hate the after effects too much to where I have virtually no desire to consume them daily. Even prayed to God, about saving me from getting hooked. The aforementioned can get pricey and I value physical health. Will sometimes binge watch Wojak on you tube, because I feel like the main character goes through what I go through, even though he represents more of the millennial generation versus my Generation X self. Great videos you make, awesome 👏

On a positive note, while being in my 40's and employed in film all my life, from day one I was worried about aging out of the industry and being replaced by young minds. I knew that all the people are saw around were in their 20's, except the managers. There wasn't a single person in their 50's or 60's or anywhere close to retirement. To me that indicated, that people didn't stick around and that I would have to eventually be replaced by someone younger. But then something amazing happened. Smartphones emerged on the market and turned everyone into zombies. So many people started getting hired and fired within weeks, for not being able to do work. Constantly swiping, like addicts looking for a vein. People became half as skilled and twice as arrogant. Despite film schools still pumping out the same volume of students each semester, it's been a while since I've seen one enter the industry and stick around. Kids have become near-unemployable. As a result, I'm still working and doing way better than in my youth. Not because I got better. My younger brain was more efficient, and could code at the speed of thought. I also taught myself programming. Also made games in MS-DOS days, built autonomous robots etc. Does any of it matter with employers? As you say it does not. I have 2 diplomas, and in my working life I haven't had to show them even once to anyone. Nobody ever asked what education I had. Interviews were more about judging the character. If they like you as a person - they'll hire you, and if you come across as an a-hole, then no amount of skill will make up for it. But with that being said, I've seen older coworkers get pushed out, if someone younger did their job better. I've seen people get fired for being old, even though no one was allowed to focus on that fact, because that would've been considered discrimination. Much easier to invent an excuse, even if everyone else knows the truth.