This rant was awesome. Please post more like it. I am at the point in my career where I don't really need a manager. I am mature enough to come to work and produce valuable things. Still, managers are required in the corporate world, and they ask you do all sorts of dumb things that add no value, e.g., "pull request reformatting".
I'm sorry to hear about your holiday situation. I assume you have about 20 business day or more per year. One idea: Pre-plan 3-4 holidays at the start of the year. Get them pre-approved by your manager. Also: Ask if you can buy more holidays (give up base salary). Most managers think you are crazy for asking, but few say no. (It required some finess with HR.) If you could get 5-6 weeks of holiday per year, you might be able to put up with more b/s from your manager. It helps me a lot. I try to take a one week holiday every quarter. Also: Ask your partner if you can take a holiday alone. Be upfront and tell them "nothing shady", but you want to go backpacking in India or drive accross New Zealand for two weeks (or whatever). Most partners are supportive if you are making very good money (like you).
That's a great suggestion, thanks for that. Especially if I went for a less demanding and remote-friendly role I'll bet that would work really well to keep a decent work-life balance.
I'm just going to tough it out one more year, and hopefully I can get out of this hamster wheel forever after that. I managed to save about $500k in 4 years, so I should be able to move somewhere normal, buy a house, and live in it with my family while working on a revenue stream
I'm sorry to hear about your holiday situation. I assume you have about 20 business day or more per year. One idea: Pre-plan 3-4 holidays at the start of the year. Get them pre-approved by your manager. Also: Ask if you can buy more holidays (give up base salary). Most managers think you are crazy for asking, but few say no. (It required some finess with HR.) If you could get 5-6 weeks of holiday per year, you might be able to put up with more b/s from your manager. It helps me a lot. I try to take a one week holiday every quarter. Also: Ask your partner if you can take a holiday alone. Be upfront and tell them "nothing shady", but you want to go backpacking in India or drive accross New Zealand for two weeks (or whatever). Most partners are supportive if you are making very good money (like you).