Nicely written....

I am paranoid about taking fulltime contracts, to the point where I won't guarantee any client more than 30 hours a week because I'm so afraid of becoming over-dependent on a single deal which will end eventually.

Again, VERY nicely written. I'd like to see this expanded into a full-size article....

>Musings at the end of a contract ...
>
>Well, it's transition time again, as my current full-time contract ends three weeks from now. It was a nice run, primarily baby-sitting and eventually burying an old FP UNIX billing app, with some new development thrown in to break the boredom.
>
>I signed on for 6 months and stayed for 18. The end was expected, so I didn't collapse into a sobbing heap, but still ...
>
>This one lasted long enough to build a few good in-depth relationships with co-workers, although we all knew it wasn't permanent. I'm glad I overcame the temptation to separateness and didn't use my temporary status as a cheap excuse for superficiality, but still ...
>
>There are other contracts hovering at the horizon (a short one likely to begin just as this one ends), but all seemingly distant and uncertain. There are other creative ideas floating around my brain related to web marketing, writing and music. Another customer is soon to move his business, which will
>produce steady work for a few weeks, but still ...
>
>I reassure myself that most previous transitions have led to exciting new challenges, and that I am better off today than 4, 8 or 13 years ago. I can already feel the sense of adventure rising and the sky's-the-limit optimism surging, but still ...
>
>I know the routine pretty well by now, as do many of you. The next three weeks will consist of project wrap-ups, final documentation and checklists for the next sitter, clean-out of the strangely empty desk (I guess that's how I kept my foot out the door), a lunch with friends, and final goodbyes that we'll insist won't be final.
>
>I wonder if I'll find myself the last day emulating Bill Clinton. He greased the wheels of his departure by saying repeatedly throughout the day, "We did a lot of good".
>
>It's time to go hunting again. I hear that web-footed foxes are on the increase these days. :-)