A fork() in the road

So I fired my employers last Friday; and boy do I feel great! :-D

Hmmm, that makes things sound more adversarial than they actually were. I'd actually given my notice some 3 months ago and the parting was as amicable as these things usually are. Lots of good-lucks and fare-thee-wells and such. No fireworks or artillery or bridges set ablaze, thank God. That stuff can be quite unpleasant.

Anyway. I've decided to head out on my own as an independent consultant/ contractor/ freelancer/ what have you. I tried to tread down this path some 2 years ago as well, but things didn't turn out too well then. I'm better prepared now, or at least, I hope I am :-)

So why the big change? Well, de jure, there's been no change at all! For the last year and a half, partly for tax reasons, I've been a 'consultant' anyway. So my official designation hasn't changed at all. Of course, de facto, there's all kinds of good stuff now. I've managed to shed one of the most irritating aspects of working in Mumbai; the commute. I used to spend around 1:30 hours each way, every day just to get to and from the office. That's out now and I have an extra 3 hours everyday to myself now, even if I continue to spend the normal 9 hours at work as I used to. And there's the other difference. I have a slightly unique style of working when I'm programming. I work in bursts of intense activity, with long breaks in the middle. The average work-place can't really accommodate such a style, preferring employees to work at a steady pace through out the day. So I used to end up frustratingly trapped in the office for several unproductive hours everyday. No more of that now! :-)

I like change too, so working on a myriad of different projects for different people seems very exciting... and once things get going, I'm hoping it'll be a lot more lucrative than being a wage-slave.

So I'm going to give it 2-3 months. Let's see how things work out in that time. Here's wishing me some much needed luck! :-D