What an utterly ridiculous question, one that could only come from the mind of an indoctrinated theist.
Why do theists have children when there's at least a 50% chance they'll burn in hell for eternity? Wouldn't it be safer just to not have kids and not take the chance?
I don't believe in an afterlife of any kind, so I raise my children to be good people and make the most of the one life they have.
Sound like software development might be a good opportunity for your dad to put his analytical skills to good use in his retirement. I'd suggest finding an existing open source project that relates to a field that he has particular interest in. That might be something related to his career or other interests throughout his life. Choosing a project that has an innate interest to him is more likely to be "sticky" and would make learning the new technologies and systems more achievable. By far the best place to start would be on Github of course, scan through the projects on there for something that jumps out and is looking for contribution.
Good communication, both ways. As an engineer, you'll be faced with situations where you have to explain something highly technical to someone not so technical, and more likely more often, understand what someone non-technical is asking for. Being able to interpret non-technical requirements into technical requirements is a really valuable skill.
I wouldn't stress it too much. It used to be that a lots of places on your work history was frowned upon, but in my experience as a hirer, it's not such a big deal these days. It shouldn't affect your hireability in the future in any measurable way.
Yep, I'm the same. At my last company they tried many times to get me to take a big monitor "like everyone else", but I feel more effective on a single MacBook Pro with multiple desktops and the awesome trackpad.
Why do theists have children when there's at least a 50% chance they'll burn in hell for eternity? Wouldn't it be safer just to not have kids and not take the chance?
I don't believe in an afterlife of any kind, so I raise my children to be good people and make the most of the one life they have.