Going solo or taking a year off

posted by Jeff | Wednesday, March 31, 2004, 8:58 AM | comments: 3
There was an interesting little piece on MSN the other day about taking time off to do, well, whatever. I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do that, on my own terms. Now that I've been laid-off a number of times, not working isn't nearly as scary as it used to be.

That article was a little more geared toward people who have no alternate income to sustain themselves. That's not really me. I've got a little money coming in from my freelance consulting and my sites, so I won't starve. It's looking positive that I'll have a book contract soon, and the publisher's marketing people think it could be huge. I'm looking into coaching high school volleyball again as well (I coach the more interesting, more competitive junior Olympic ball now, as organized under USA Volleyball). Bottom line is that I'll have lots to do, and it will mostly be things I like to do.

There is of course the risk that I'll have negative cash flow, for who knows how long. The upside of this though is that .NET jobs are plentiful in my area, and at some point later in the year, having a book to your credit might not make you rich, but it's a nice touch that few developers have on their resume.

All told, I think there are a lot of opportunities, I just have to accept that living the J-Pizzie lifestyle will be a bit less extravagant than perhaps I'm used to, for the time being.


Comments

freeze

March 31, 2004, 4:26 PM # "I just have to accept that living the J-Pizzie lifestyle will be a bit less extravagant than perhaps I'm used to, for the time being."

Does that mean you'll be switching from the platinum necklaces to the gold? Or will you buy 7 DVDs a month, instead of the budget of 20?

I need to take a six-month leave from work and jumpstart my porn film, Chocolate Thunder. Seriously BTW, I totally reshifted my script. I'm a mess. I want to it to be funny, but it's turning serious. Oh well, what can you do!?!

Stephanie

March 31, 2004, 5:40 PM # Chocolate Thunder? Haha! Are we talking hetero porn here or what? Sounds more like a man-on-man flick to me. ;)

CPLady

March 31, 2004, 8:04 PM # Y'know, after Gordon lost both his parents and his job, he did exactly that...decided to use the inheritence money and strike out on his own. Problem was he didn't have enough motivation to get any of his ideas off the ground. It wasn't until the money ran out and the economy tanked that he began looking for a job., so we had a pretty hellish couple of years.

Still, it was something he needed to do, and I supported him, if only because of the realization that life can be cut off so suddenly, so why not take the opportunities when they come?


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