Journey vs. Destination

One of the most difficult things about being a contractor is not having a job. I recently finished a contract, it was only five months but there was a high learning curve and a ton of drama. I got a bit burnt out. Oh, and it didn’t pay well (mmm… stock, the monopoly money of Silicon Valley).

After it ended, I gave myself two weeks of downtime, plus one week of being at a conference. I’d spend those two weeks catching up on personal projects, preparing for my conference talks, and generally unwinding. At the conference, I’ll probably meet a few people, one will lead to a contract.

My first day of being off, a friend I haven’t spoken to in a year, maybe two, emailed to ask if I was still contracting and had any availability. We scheduled a meeting to chat, but by the time the meeting happened, it looked like the company was going to try to fix their bugs in hardware. Whew!

I managed to write my conference presentation, release boards, do a little maintenance work for a lingering client, get tax info prepped for the accountant meeting, work on the podcast, and buy a new sofa. Then a friend landed in the hospital so I visited, she was discharged (yay!), and I offered to look in on her while she’s at home alone (even work from her place since I can). I also sent out email to lots of work-friends letting them know about the conference (and my plan to search for a contract in a week or two).

On the first day of my second week off, a recent client asked for help right now. But I have to work on my conference prep. And I finally crossed enough chores off my to-do list that I can do some fun things. Plus, I have to finish the maintenance work for the other company; it’s probably only a few hours but it needs finishing.

On the other hand, what they want isn’t very hard for me. And they pay well, usually even on time. The project they want is somewhat interesting but not amazing new stuff. Worse, it is the sort of thing that is difficult to tell when it is completed (it is analysis, not code). I know I should say no but it is very difficult to turn down to paying work.

When I was full time, I never wanted to take another job while I was on vacation. The idea is ridiculous. Of course, with full time work, I knew where I was going back to, it wasn’t nebulous and uncertain.

I should end with words about staying strong, being happy to take the time to find a good fit, not taking the first thing available, being patient, noting that it has worked out ok in the past.  Bah humbug.

I’m not taking the job because I don’t want the short term pressure associated with it. That’s enough. For now.