And, I am back from Vancouver, living the life as a consultant here in California. Being a consultant and working from home means many things to many people; as of this very moment, it means that I’m here in a wireless cafe splitting time between doing engineering work, being an editor/blogger for the start-up, and debating whether I want to leave the cafe to take a lunch break, because that would mean losing my table located conveniently next to a power outlet.
But working at a cafe, skipping important meals of my day, is better than my alternative: sitting at home and having my parents invite themselves over since not working in an office means that I’m not really working.
A couple of months ago I gave my notice at Yahoo! because, among other things, I needed a life change-up. Well, a life change-up is what I got: I quit smoking. There’s a very real chance I might be relocating to Canada. I’m cramming Ruby on Rails like a Japanese 3 year old studying for his Kindergarten exams. I have a shiny hipster MacBook. Sure, my personal life might be suffering a bit because of my annoying habit of being obsessed with work stuff, but at the very least I have something productive to obsess over. (As a small tangent, Ariel has gone through this before and talks about some of these issues on her own blog.)
Every once in a while if I let myself, I get these OMGWTF moments, and while I know it comes from a variety of sources – nicotene cravings, the fear of the unknown, stuff like that – this is merely a side effect of what I’ve wanted all along: a change. This is what I’ve asked for. And if things don’t work as expected, I figure it out then. I try to keep reminding myself that every day.
PS: As a side note, I was at the ceremony in Vancouver when they unveiled the countdown clock to the Olympic games and the counter-protest that ensued. For the record: Canadian protesters can’t hold a CANDLE to American protesters. THREE people arrested, because someone screams the word “FUCK” into the microphone? THAT’S IT? Christ almighty, Berkeley protesters would have at least brought Israeli & Palestinian flags and posters of unborn fetuses (Not related to the Olympics? Who Cares?), some television camera-friendly slogans and some red paint to represent the spilled blood of the First Nation. Lame, lame, lame.