People say I’m crazy
Doin’ what I’m doin’
Well, they give me all kinds of warnings
To save me from ruin
When I say that I’m okay,
You know, they look at me kind of strange
“Surely you’re not happy now,
You no longer play the game”
I haven’t given an update on how things are going for me career-wise in a while. Let’s see… last time I wrote about it, I had been a contractor with the Memphis City Schools for a year. They had a permanent position come open, and offered it to me and I took it as of April 16. Not only did the position offer long-term security, but it had great benefits. And of course, society teaches us that there’s nothing more important than finding a safe, secure job with good benefits.
So it looked like I’d be there forever. Interesting ASP.NET projects to work on… the opportunity to learn new technologies like Active Directory and Microsoft SharePoint… great manager who was interested in my professional development… co-workers who I got along with very well.
So, when recruiters and people with jobs to offer would contact me, I’d say, “No thanks, I already have a very good job.” They contacted me quite often by the way, because I still have a resume online and it performs well in Google searches. I’d estimate I get 1-2 calls or e-mails a week about jobs.
In mid-May, I got yet another e-mail, from a local company that builds websites for client businesses. They were experiencing such tremendous growth (partly because they have an excellent sales guy) that they needed to bring another person on full-time, on a contract basis. Would I be interested?, they asked.
No, I told them just as I told the others. Even though I’d make more money with them (as an independent contractor), I’d lose my security and benefits with MCS. Not interested.
The guy replied saying that he understood. “But, there’s one thing you should know. The position is 100% telecommuting, except for occasional meetings with clients. You can work from home, or anywhere where there’s an Internet connection.”
Suddenly I was VERY interested.
You see, as much as I liked the MCS job, it was still the Rat Race in a sense. There were still rules to be followed that I saw no point in having to follow. I had to be there by 8 every morning, take an hour lunch between 11 and 1 when all the restaurants are crowded, and stay there until 4:30-4:45. I’ve worked that schedule for 6 years and have never adjusted to it. From times when I’ve been able to work on my own schedule, I know I’m at my physical and mental best when I go to bed around 2 in the morning and get up at 9:30.
Another thing was, I had to sit in a cubicle all day. I know the kind of environment in which I perform my best, and it isn’t a cubicle. I tend to be sharper mentally when there’s a TV on in the background, or when I can get up and bounce a Nerf basketball around for a few minutes. I also tend to be a lot more productive when I take my laptop to a Wi-Fi enabled coffee shop or restaurant than when I sit at a desk all day.
I also have problems with some of the other rules of the Rat Race. Like, if I want a day off, I have to schedule a vacation day – if I have any to schedule. As a contractor, I can just say, I’m not working today, don’t pay me (as long as I don’t endanger any project deadlines by taking too much time off). I like that better. Why does some corporate or government entity get to determine that 12 days off a year is the right amount for me? Maybe I want to take 6 days off a year. Maybe I want 25. Pay me when I work, don’t pay me when I don’t.
Again, none of this is meant to criticize the City Schools, I enjoyed working there. But these kinds of things are business as usual in most offices, and in my opinion business as usual sucks.
So, anyway, I e-mailed the web guy back, and told him I was interested. We talked on the phone a couple of times, I e-mailed him a portfolio of sites I worked on, and he told me I was hired. My last day with the City Schools was Friday. I start the new gig today.
When I told people I was leaving, reaction was mixed. “But Paul,” some of them said, “You’re going to be giving up your BENEFITS. What are you going to do? You won’t have any health insurance. And you’ll lose out on the City Schools’ retirement plan!” Come on. Please. I can buy my own health insurance. As for retirement, I’ve been self-directing my own IRA through Ameritrade for years. And the thing these people are failing to understand is, HAPPINESS IS A BENEFIT.
One other reason why I took the job – I was worried what I would do if my mother, who lives by herself in Little Rock, got sick. I’m an only child so I’d have to be there. At the City Schools, I’d have to apply for an unpaid leave of absence in order to do that, which technically I’m not even eligible for until I’ve been an employee for a year. And if I missed, say, two weeks of work, that would be two weeks without a paycheck. Whereas, as a telecommuter I can just jump on her Internet connection and keep rolling. That’s a huge burden off my mind.
What this means for the blog: There will be no more lunchtime posts. I know a lot of you have gotten in the habit of checking around noon, 1:00 to see if I’ve put anything up. Now you’re going to have to check 24/7. The posts will be a little more frequent and of higher quality than what I’ve been doing the past couple of weeks. Since it’s Tube Top Month, more posts = good thing.
I’ll probably still hit the Wi-Fi spots I used for lunchtime posting with good regularity – Otherlands, High Point Coffee, the Midtown and Poplar/Prescott Starbucks, Bon Ton Cafe, and the Flying Saucer. In addition, the Majestic, McGuinness, and Blues City Pastry will likely see more of me during the day.
I’m going to to a detailed post at some point about how to get a resume online, how to make sure it has good keywords, and how to make sure Google has seen it. I’ll also post my findings about getting my own health insurance and such. Maybe I’ll make a site all its own for that stuff – “Resources to help you get out of the Rat Race” or something like that. And I’ll be able to add to it over time, without the content getting lost in a sea of old blog posts.
If you see me around town, chances are I’m going to be in a much better mood. I’ll say it again – happiness is a benefit. Outta here for now.
I’m just sittin’ here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go