This post is for those who want to understand the context of this blog. This will give you some background on what I am about and why this is here.
I'm a native Californian from Santa Barbara, which is about 100 miles west of Los Angeles on the coast. I work as an IT professional, mostly in the financial industry.
In August 1999 I quit my job I had held at the bank for 12 years. I was tied of the place. It was no longer fun and I could see that it was never going to be fun again. I decided it was time to strike out on my own. So I started contracting.
In November 1999 I was 36 years old and my wife and I separated after 6 years of marriage. The last three years had been difficult, and then it finally collapsed. The financial pressure and uncertainty of my career decision to quit my job was the final straw for Claire. She needed security. I needed to take a chance to succeed.
So I started IT contracting. I spent a lot of time out of town, working up in the SF Bay Area, down in Los Angeles. While doing this I was trying to support my home, reconcile or come to divorce terms with Claire, pay off massive debts that we had acquired during marriage. 2000 and 2001 here very stressfully for me. I didn't have the time, energy, or the motivation to exercise, rest, or eat right. My health suffered.
By July 2001 it had all become too much. The final straw was when I lost my home. Claire and I had rented a beautiful little old house in Montecito outside of Santa Barbara. It was an awesome place and I have never lived in a house that I enjoyed more. It was my little sanctuary.
The owner of the house told me that he sold the land to a B-grade Hollywood movie star who was going to rip it up and put in a McMansion. I had until October 31 to move out. The bulldozers where starting November 1.
I had been paying only $2150 USD a month for the house. It was small, only 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. But it was a steal for that price. Similar houses rent for over $4000 a month. I could afford that smaller rent, albeit it was difficult at times.
Now I was faced with find a new place to live. Small houses were going for $3500 a month. Crappy apartments started at $2500 a month. I had to think about the two cats that still lived with me. No place would let me have cats.
I found that even though I was making ok money, it was slipping through my fingers. Trying to maintain a life on the road, and my life back in Santa Barbara was too much. I knew that if I didn't make a drastic change, I would going to be dead of a heart attack in 12 months.
To top this off, my current contract was ending in August. I had no other significant work lined up for after that. So I started looking for new contracts.
No comments:
Post a Comment