Winds of Change

Last week I turned in my notice. On December 2nd, I am giving myself the opportunity to try something new. That gives me a couple of weeks to figure out what that might be. I'll spare you the details. I had been preparing for this move for months now, even refinancing the house to free up about a thousand dollars a month in cash flow, and purchasing an apartment building to provide extra cash flow. That won't come close to replacing the $80,000 a year impact that my job has on the family, but we'll manage. I may even try my hand at being a stay-at-home dad for awhile. The kids are 6, and nearly-5 and nearly 2 now.

So doing the rough math-- $1000 in improved cash flow from re-financing, $750 cash from the apartment building, $1000/mo savings from daycare... and we're at nearly 1/3 of my present net income. It'll be a stretch, but we'll manage until something comes along. Something always comes along.

Last night was tremendously windy. We had nearly 12 hours of winds gusting past 55 mphs. About 1:30 am, Jane and I were awaken by banging on the side of the house. The banging was constant and wouldn't allow any further sleep. So I got dressed, put on my warmest coat, and stepped out into the dark wind tunnel to remove a branch that had fallen on the house. After that, I couldn't get back to sleep. I just lay there, listinging to the roaring wind, reassuring myself that I'm doing the right thing for my mental health, that we'll be ok. Things always work out for us. I just need to have faith.

New doors are already starting to open. I hired some programmers in India to work on an idea that I have for a email encryption product. They seem like good people, very smart. If they can deliver on budget, and if I apply my Microsoft-honed marketing skills, I'm hopeful that I might be able to develop it into a new revenue stream.

I've been exploring the internet lately, and found videos.google.com, where anyone can post a video of virtually anything. Browsing the site randomly, I quickly came to the conclusion that we need to start issuing licenses to own a video camera. Google apparently wants to become the king of crap home video. But then I found this video someone made from inside Hurricane Wilma. It helped me put our high winds last night into some perspective.

Have a blessed day, and be sure to hug your spouse and kids tonight.

Diet update: up to 180 -- slipping a bit, up about 5 lbs. Need to keep a watch on the weight. I think the stress has been getting to me a bit.