Another day, another disclosure
June 26th, 2006
After a weekend of Northern Californian sybaritism (Tiburon, San Francisco, & Napa) with Jessi (of WhipperSnaPR fame), I'm back in the office for my 20th to last day of work.
Two important things happened today. First, I had a call with the president of a company in Boston that I interviewed for a job at a little over a week ago. (Obviously getting a job would be antithetical to my plan of starting my own company, but you gotta cover your bases, right?) She'll be calling me back tomorrow afternoon and I'm 95% certain that she'll be making me an offer that's higher than my current (and soon to be ending) salary. The question remains of whether I will take it. Certainly there is an appeal to the steady income of a regular job (not to mention benefits), but it's not really what I want. Unless they make me an offer significantly better than the one I'm expecting (which is unlikely as they're a non-profit) I plan on turning them down, but it's definitely nice to know that my skills are in demand and that people think they're worth money. Makes me a little more confident going into business for myself.
The other thing that happened was that my manager sent out an email to the entire US team (six offices) telling them that not only am I moving to Boston, I'm leaving the company; something I've been both looking forward to and somewhat apprehensive about. It definitely makes the whole thing seem more real now that everyone knows at least part of what's going on. I've had a lot of people wishing me good luck which, like the (potential) job offer, makes me a feel a lot better about this whole thing. One thing that I've found since I first made the decision to do this has been that every single person I've told has been very supportive. There's always the initial 'you're kidding, right?', or 'you realize how crazy this sounds?', but once they realize that I've actually thought things through, that I actually want to do this, and that I intend to do it right, they pretty much always say they think it's a great idea. Maybe they're just being polite, but I like to think it's got more to do with people recognizing that I'm following my dreams and wanting to support it on principle (and maybe even live it vicariously). I suppose I should start referring people to this blog...
T-25 days and counting.
comment by Todd
on Monday, June 26th 2006 at 11:38 p.m.
Too weird. I'm also moving to Boston from the Bay Area next month. My significant other has a job, but I'm quitting without one -- probably to go into business for my self as a self-employed freelancer. I also take BART to work, by the way, just to pile on the coincidences. And my parents live in New Mexico. And we're planning to drive through Minnesota and Illinois on our way to Boston. I'll keep reading your blog to see how your move goes. By the way, the moving web site you were thinking of is called www.uship.com. Another helpful moving web site is www.movingscam.com. Good luck!
comment by Josh
on Tuesday, June 27th 2006 at 10:23 a.m.
Ha, that's insane. Good luck with your move! What sort of freelancing do you plan on doing?
Thanks for the links, I'm checking them out now.
comment by Todd
on Tuesday, June 27th 2006 at 3:23 p.m.
Freelance journalism. I'm a reporter in San Francisco.
comment by Josh
on Tuesday, June 27th 2006 at 5:05 p.m.
Cool. I've always loved the idea of freelance writing. Seems like it would give you a lot of freedom to do what you enjoy, more than just about any other job I can think of. Travel writing, in particular, has always appealed to me.