Yes. This bullshit you describe was real. I remember having managers in 1998 using Microsoft Project and HUGE plotters that were used for nothing but printing out massive Gantt charts. And, of course, having DAILY meeting when we were behind so that our manager could show with great accuracy how behind we were - and complain he needed more people to manage so he could build his fiefdom.
If you want pacing & support for Nand2Tetris, Coursera has it split into two courses. I've done the first from NAND gates to a working CUP & assembler and can testify it's worthy. Coursera loves to have content sales, so if you're not in a rush you can pick it up for cheap and have their (petty yet ego boosting) certificate of completion to read over one morning with you Cheerios (and then put away in a drawer to be forgotten). Here's the two links:
Don't bother working for a large company. If you haven't seen it already, just watch the movie Office Space (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/) and you can see everything you need to know about doing software at a big company.
That being said, you have to understand that your new job isn't at a "Big company", your new job is at Amazon: a completely different beast. I live in the greater Seattle area and I can tell you there are two types of Amazon workers doing software development - those who quietly work their jobs and never talk to non-Amazon folks about it one way or the other (e.g. "my Amazon job is great! You should work here!" or "My Amazon job is hell"), or people who are Ex-Amazon who have NOTHING good to say about working there (except for the fact that they left the job). Be careful.
I've gotten hired due to LinkedIn exactly once, and it was helpful. However, that's not how I "use" it. LinkedIn's best use is what it was intended for: a professional networking social media space. Here's how I've used it successfully.
Put your resume on LinkedIn. Send connect requests to people you've worked with and who you'd be willing to work with again. Accept connect requests from people you've either worked with or know from professional networking (meet ups, conferences, user groups, open source project collaborators).
Why?
If someone asks for your Resume, you can first point to your LinkedIn profile (less of a pain).
If someone has a job opening, they'll have a way to contact YOU about the opportunity (yes - I've had this happen multiple times).
If someone with a job opening pings you (hiring manager or team member NOT A RECRUITER!) you can "introduce" people and help a former co-worker find a job or contract work (I've done this a couple of times).
From time to time you'll get pings from former co-workers who might not have another way to contact you - It's nice to talk shop over beers.
Summary: LinkedIn lets you keep your professional network separate from your personal network.
As a counter to your anecdote, my last three jobs have come through LinkedIn and I use it as the SOLE platform for anything work-related. I refuse to apply for a job that doesn't ingest my LinkedIn profile information; my resume is just a PDF copy of my LinkedIn profile (which is fully public too); and I tell people to go to my LinkedIn profile because business cards died 20+ years ago.
Never start a business without OPM*.
Also, in too many cases, the term applied should be 'entremanure', as the people in question are full of... You get the idea.
If you think you have an idea worth pursuing, work on it on the side while keeping your "day job". If it takes off, quit your job once you can replace your income with the side work. Also, as a warning - double check your intellectual property agreement with your employer. Some employers will draft them so as to read that ANY idea you come up with (either related to their business or not, just because you work for them) is automagically THEIR intellectual property. Needless to say, this not a good position for your new brilliant start-up to be in.
I highly doubt that could be done profitably. The water infrastructure support alone (increased water usage for showering, laundry, dishwashers) might kill it when you consider the sparse "office" kitchenette on every other floor and centralized shared restrooms (without showers) as they're currently designed. Then of course there's HVAC controls, external/internal wall insulation concerns, noise reduction issues, additional wear & tear on elevators through significantly higher usage... You get the idea.
