Replace those first two panels with sneaky napping and this is perfect

This is the one

Better to stay put, accept slightly less money for another year and look at it again when I’ve got the time and energy to cope with it.

but Watch Out

Seriously, though, this is hitting the nail on the head. That dangling carrot of job security can be so exploitative when there’s so many unknowns (many of them confidence-based in a dev’s situation). I’ve heard that little evil voice (recently) telling me “yeah, you could probably go back to physical labor when you can’t find any more work as a dev. you’ll do okay out there”

I work hard for my company. But paying me raises to deal with inflation? Rewarding my efforts and loyalty? Why bother when they can just hold out and pay my identical wage to someone greener and less jaded in a couple short years?

I mean, I would prefer to stay at the same place than hopping around, but I’ve never gotten a raise that pays as good as a new job at a different company

/* 2006-10-31: The default prefix used to be “sqlite_”. But then Mcafee started using SQLite in their anti-virus product and it started putting files with the “sqlite” name in the c:/temp folder. This annoyed many windows users. Those users would then do a Google search for “sqlite”, find the telephone numbers of the developers and call to wake them up at night and complain. For this reason, the default name prefix is changed to be “sqlite” spelled backwards. So the temp files are still identified, but anybody smart enough to figure out the code is also likely smart enough to know that calling the developer will not help get rid of the file. */

As someone who has lived this scenario, I feel comfortable concluding there isn’t any escape. If you fail, the problem will still be there later. If you succeed, you have now become an expert on the problem and we be called upon to handle it again later when it manifests in a different way

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here