My Work

I am self-employed.

Of course that’s not what I say when people ask me what I do for a living-I think it sounds a bit arrogant.  I would usually just say something about engineering or project management or something generic like that.  I guess it really depends on the situation and who I am speaking with. 

There are many differences between being self-employed and employed.  I always question if my quitting a perfectly good 8-to-5 job was a good move. 

My company has been running since 2002 or so.  It was purely a moonlighting gig while I worked in the corporate world.  I worked into the wee hours of the morning almost everyday but the pay was well worth it.  I was always tired but I was young so who cares about sleep?

In late 2006, the side work picked up and the office moral at the day gig was dropping like a rock.  To further complicate things, Kandice was almost 2 years old and I took her to Baachan’s (Grandma’s) house everyday for day care.  My nightly sleep was getting even shorter and I started to feel my age.  Quitting my normal job was not too difficult a decision.

Since focusing on the business, we had just over a year until we found out Satomi had breast cancer.  In retrospect, that was a pretty good time and stress was low.  After the breast cancer, everything changed.

There are many advantages to being self-employed but with Satomi sick and my Parent’s leaving, I am focused on the negative.

I don’t get paid unless I am working.  With our lives becoming so complicated, I just can’t work as much as I once did and the time I do spend in the office isn’t as productive as normal.  My billable hours are half what they were last year-That’s a huge hit.

Work used to be my refuge from the struggles of our daily life.  Now the stuggles from my daily life reaches everywhere.