Tracy;

At one point I was going to get my Cert for Novell Networking. I was just developing software at that point, as a consultant. The network at the place where I worked would go down and the Network guy would pull 36-48 hour gigs until it was back up and running. I had one element to go for the Cert and said, “Forget it”!

The song “I owe my soul to the Company Store”! comes to mind. Tennessee Earnie Ford, where are you today? Yes we know.

Another sore point to me is this. Buying a house in the San Francisco Bay Area is difficult and new home owners have about a $4000 a month payment for a 1200 foot fixer up'er. So many people live in areas like Stockton, which is about 100 miles from Santa Clara (Intel, etc.). They started a commuter train from Stockton to Santa Clara. It starts around 4 AM and gets to the end at around 6:30. Then it leaves at around 6 PM and gets to Stockton at 8:30 PM. So you are working you’re a** off for the sake of being a happy home owner. Little time for dinner, sleeping, the family or yourself. One day you come home only to find a note; “Honey, I have taken the kids to live with my mother. I am filing for divorce Monday”.

The end result is that the lawyer will get a good piece of change for the required transactions from sale of your house and now you have to find a new place to live. Yes, this is the life!

This is not a joke. We have several people working here that live and commute from Northern Sacramento – about 150 miles one way. I met a guy from Jackson, California who commutes every day about 150 miles to the Bay Area. I told him, “You are crazy”! He said, “Yes, but you have not seen my house”! I do not need to. To each his/her own.

Tom



>He probably won't be able to without changing his field also. In my previous job in addition to being the primary developer, I was also the C2 Information Assurance Security Manager and the Network Manager. Talk about nights and weekend! Sheesh! Now I am only a developer here and I only help occasionally with the clients network troubles when the techs need it. I work (on average) 40 hours a week in the office and 20 at home. Big change! :0)
>Tracy
>
>>>Exactly! I changed jobs after 7 years so I could be home evenings (mostly on average anyway) to be with my daughter while she is still young enough to enjoy having me around! Even with all of my pet peeves since, the tradeoff was DEFINITELY worth it.
>>>Tracy
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>>Tracy;
>>
>>Our son and daughter grew up so fast I cannot believe it! 23 and 21. Seems like five minutes. I think being with your family is important. A balanced life and all that.
>>
>>Our Priest was telling us about a business executive who is a member of our Church who said he wanted to spend more time with his family. He wanted to reduce his work week from 80 hours to 60. I wish him luck. Seems we have some choices we can make in life. People make choices and do not consider the consequences until it is too late. Gee – “I did it for the family”. What family?
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>>Tom