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This is exactly what I fear about diving back into software development. The last time I was a full time programmer was in 1990. We had an office, with a few desks and phones, and 2 computers, not networked, and a portable for taking onsite to do support. I was the programmer and field support guy, Scott wrote the manuals, did sales and some support, and the owner showed up on occasion, sometimes with clients in tow for a demo.

It was fully possible to spend hours on a problem with ZERO interruptions, have a lunch break, and they dive back in. I have no idea how anyone can expect productivity and response to calls/email/texts at the same time.

I'm willing to work hard, learn whatever is required, and will route around the fads that keep things more complicated than required... but I need time to think. If you want email twice a day, fine... but no more than that if you value actual productivity.

Things are far worse than they were in 1990, and far better. The documentation that comes with systems is almost non-existent, and you have to Google things instead... but we've gotten used to that.

The hardware is almost infinitely faster, especially on my Optane SSD laptop, but the OS is horribly insecure.

I don't have to use sequentially numbered/dated .ZIP files, instead getting to use GIT / GIT hub and it is glorious. The fact that it all gets backed up for $5/month at Backblaze has saved my bacon more than once.

I'll never internalize the fascination with RUST and immutable strings of Python... but I could live with them.

All I ask is a quiet space, a reasonable set of goals, and someone who can manage me without being cruel.