Life aboard a Spaceship

For a significant amount of time, I have felt that the life of a Software Engineer or a related profession in the US is akin to an astronaut aboard a spaceship.

We drive to work as a routine (take scheduled space walks), do not wander around the city (limit ourselves to the confines of the tether), engage in perfunctory talk with native workers (say Hi to the fellow cosmonaut on board Mir/ISS), perform regular, predictable, monotonous, tasks (check the solar panels, repair obsolete, moribund gadgets), appear to be involved in a highly technical environment "We just upgraded to 10g and our procedures broke" (OK! the spaceship *is* a technically challenging environment!), come back home and browse DVDs etc (seal the latches and de-pressurize the suit).. You get the hint..

The drudgery of this life is broken by unusual burst of activity, predictably around long weekends. (Hey, the new Soyuz module docks in 3 weeks!) More often than not, it is a case of too little, too late. Only the most artistic and athletic ones break the humdrum through painting, dancing, tennis, squash... the works. Rest are left to fend off their demons with nothing but a 40:1 rupee:dollar rate, the NRI tag, alcohol and high speed Internet access.

I don't see this changing. People will move on, newer astronauts will take over, software services will continue to be profitable and the orbiting tin can will chug along...