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20040506 Thursday May 06, 2004

Being an independent sucks Richard Monson-Haefel seems to hate being an independent consultant. Personally, I love it - but I've only been doing it for 3 years. He's been independent for 5. I hope when my 5 year anniversary rolls around - I'm not looking for a full-time gig. But you never know. One of the things that I see a lot of independent consultants doing wrong is traveling. Traveling sucks - plain and simple. Being away from your family in the name of a higher hourly rate seems stupid. Then again, I've been fortunate enough to always find work in Denver - half of it where I'm working from home. I do realize that a lot of independents don't live in a tech-rich town like Denver, but why don't you move! Actually, the only reason we're still in Denver over West Palm or San Diego is because the contracts keep flowing. If they dry up - yeah, we'll probably be moving closer to the ocean. But if we move and I'm traveling for gigs - what's the point? I guess Julie's happiness (she loves the ocean) plays a part, eh? ;-)

I traveled a lot in March and April, but I don't plan on doing too many more stints like that. I guess June-July might be a bit rough with JavaOne and OsCon, but after that - I hope to stay put. We'll see - let's hope I get lucky enough to continue finding local contracts. Posted in General at May 06 2004, 05:39:01 PM MDT 4 Comments

Glad I'm not in Vegas Posts like this make me glad I'm not in Vegas for the TheServerSide Symposium. Sure it'd be fun to see a bunch of great speakers and hang out some smart folks - but the lack of sleep would kill a lot of that enthusiasm. I think Vegas is a great place for a bachelor party but not for a conference. At a bachelor party, you're expected to be a vegetable the next day - but at a conference...

To make matters worse, I'd be the guy that was up until 8 a.m. gambling and boozing like a madman. Glad I'm not in Vegas - I'd be like a kid in a candy store.

The real reason I'm not in Vegas? My mom is flying in tonight for the weekend. It is Mother's Day weekend after all.

FYI: Blogs covering the Symposium. Posted in General at May 06 2004, 09:05:53 AM MDT Add a Comment