It's all about the choices you make. I align way more with the author; I'd much rather go home, cook a nice dinner with my girlfriend, and watch The Sopranos than spend another 4 hours staring at some Python script. I'm no Kenneth Reitz, but I'm a pretty good (or at least good enough) Python developer. Occasionally I'll find something I think is interesting enough to spend a night hacking through, but 95% of the time, it's down time when I get home.
I'd totally agree that there's a huge payoff in terms of skill that comes with coding every waking moment, but there's also a cost involved - reading, exercising, grabbing a beer with your friends. I don't think it's taking anything away from coding ubermensches to say that most folks don't do what they do - more power to the Kenneth Reitzes and Armin Ronachers of the world for what they gave up to achieve what they did.
I'd totally agree that there's a huge payoff in terms of skill that comes with coding every waking moment, but there's also a cost involved - reading, exercising, grabbing a beer with your friends. I don't think it's taking anything away from coding ubermensches to say that most folks don't do what they do - more power to the Kenneth Reitzes and Armin Ronachers of the world for what they gave up to achieve what they did.