Re: work times & accommodation @tokyo, WAS: Re: [tlug] Embedded linux dev wanting to find work in Tokyo.. Seeking advice.

[jim grisanzio <Jim.Grisanzio@example.com>]

Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> jim grisanzio writes:
>
>  > This is really sad. But I know quite a few people in the U.S. who have 
>  > worked themselves to death in one way or another (mostly in New York 
>  > where I used to live), so the Japanese don't have a corner on the 
>  > stupidity market with their 100 hour work weeks.
>
> True in a sense, but I don't think you understand Japan or the
> Japanese very well yet; it's not a matter of stupidity, here.
>   

It's not that it's a matter of stupidity /here/. It's stupid 
/everywhere/. :) It's no less dumb in the U.S. or wherever else. If work 
is so unbalanced as to cause suicide or heart disease or stroke or 
broken families or alcoholism or injury than it's clearly not 
sustainable. I speak from a fair amount of experience in this. I worked 
myself right into the hospital and almost died as a result. I was 22. It 
took almost five years to recover. Fortunately, I'm much smarter now and 
can rationally and proudly reject the systems that lead such horrible 
experiences. Not fully understanding Japan is a completely separate issue.

Personally, I'm interested finding more efficient ways to work so I can 
increase the value of my work while reducing the hours I work. To me 
this is basic engineering and project management. Why would you produce 
a system any other way? Why would you build an engine that is so 
inefficient that it has to work so hard that it eventually kills itself?

Jim
--
http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/