the ridiculousness of academia – where my time is simultaneously worth $100+/hr as a contractor, $40/hr as a teaching assistant, and $0/hr as a PhD student (and without health insurance to boot).

https://www.physics.harvard.edu/event/monday-colloquium-xiaoxing-xi-temple-university

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVXbiJifWzE

There’s no way this is worth it salary-wise. Consider that I’d have to earn $200k for the next 5 years in order to average $100k for 10 years. (how long will the tech bubble last anyway?)

Other things to balance: staying in one place. I’ve never been good at that. The pandemic is helping oddly enough. Most years I move at least once a year…