Three Weeks
In those three weeks I’ve been working on some truly interesting projects and learning a ton. I’ve been working with other people’s code that borders on pure poetry and some code that appears to be an implementation of “Ruby on Rails”.
In just three weeks I’ve worked in multiple languages with several technologies I hadn’t touched before. I’ve even found and used a respectable PHP ORM.
More importantly, I’ve gotten a crash course in the contracting business from some smart people that have been doing this for years. I’m also playing “Do The Hustle” on a perpetual loop, thanks Obie.
Doing this for just three weeks of course means I’m still absolutely horrible at the sales process but, it’s a start.
No Plan
So far, I’m loving the contracting thing and I want desperately to make my living doing this for a while. The problem is, I didn’t plan this.
I planned on sticking with JamLab and seeing that through. I planned on a successful launch and supporting a truly awesome product. I planned on getting a steady paycheck and health insurance.
I have all the usual responsibilities of someone my age. I have a wife, a daughter, a mortgage, etc. All these people and things generally want to eat and/or get paid on a pretty regular basis.
Had I planned this and had all the research done and proof that I could handle my responsibilities consistently I wouldn’t be so nervous. I’m fine now but what about tomorrow? The day after?
Is there really that much work for a good developer but horrible sales guy?
My Dilemma
I got a job offer today. Not a great one and not a horrible one. I would still get to use Ruby, which is great, and the work looks interesting. The project manager jobs strike me as having the potential of being one of those perpetual crunch time environments though. Really, this post isn’t about this job though, others will come, it’s more about full-time v. contractor.
It would pay the bills though and, I’m assuming, on a pretty regular basis. I just honestly don’t know what to do.
Three weeks ago it was easy, I was a cog in a wheel and didn’t know what I was missing out on. Now I’ve got a taste and I do like it.
So all ten of you that read my blog, tell me what to do. Help me map out my future. Direct me on how to balance my happiness.
Or just post lolcat images, that’s fine too.