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April 13, 2008 at 9:32 PM in reply to: What did it cost to take a family to the Carlsbad Flower fields? #186483April 13, 2008 at 9:32 PM in reply to: What did it cost to take a family to the Carlsbad Flower fields? #186486
nostradamus
Participantnostradamus, either you are bragging, or you live like a hermit. Josh
You are 0 and 2 but go ahead and think what you like, I really don’t care.
April 13, 2008 at 9:32 PM in reply to: What did it cost to take a family to the Carlsbad Flower fields? #186493Participantnostradamus, either you are bragging, or you live like a hermit. Josh
You are 0 and 2 but go ahead and think what you like, I really don’t care.
April 13, 2008 at 9:22 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186424ParticipantI would like you to, Nostradamus.
Certainly.
IMO the biggest benefit of consulting is taxes. Before consulting I paid about 1/3 of my salary to income tax. Now I pay 1/5 due to the fact that I can now deduct many things when they are work-related (my home office, supplies, improvements), my cell phone bill, my laptop, insurance, and so on. Of course, 1/5 of a consultant's pay is greater than 1/3 the pay of many employees, but still it's 1/5 so aaaw yeah.
Another benefit is the fact that I am mostly insulated from corporate politics. I don't care much for corporate culture, so I do my work and go. I don't attend company meetings or picnics or any of that stuff and don't want to.
My schedule is my own. I work on deadline. For safe measure I always pad the deadline, like Scotty does on Star Trek (whenever Kirk asked how long it would take to modify the warp drive Scotty always multiplied the time by 4 to account for the unexpected which always occurs). I can work in the middle of the night and sleep all day if I want.
I can take as much time off as I want. I'm not sure that this is a benefit, since every day I take off is one day I can't charge a client for… And since I always do math in my head, I calculate the money I'm losing by not working thus I tend to work a lot; however, I took 6 months off to travel every country in Central America. Also went to Africa (twice, need to go more and see those mapouka dances again). Middle East, China (4 times), Japan (13 times), all of Europe… Eastern is my favorite. I like to take looooong trips so when I get the itch I don't renew my contracts, I just go after my deadline is met and don't sign a new contract till I get back.
I contribute to an IRA which is capped according to IRS regulations. I also contribute to a health savings account, you really really really should do this (thanks Rich and John for recommending this, I owe you guys). Check out http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa
Did I mention the salary? It is what you make it, you have to be competitive of course but you also can make a lot of headway if you are strong in what you do and if you interview well or make a good impression on your clients. On an average year I make about 2x to 3x what I would as an employee.
I don't recommend consulting for the family man, unless your spouse's job provides benefits. Me having my own bills is one thing, you having yours + your family's is another.
I hope this info is useful to you.
April 13, 2008 at 9:22 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186444ParticipantI would like you to, Nostradamus.
Certainly.
IMO the biggest benefit of consulting is taxes. Before consulting I paid about 1/3 of my salary to income tax. Now I pay 1/5 due to the fact that I can now deduct many things when they are work-related (my home office, supplies, improvements), my cell phone bill, my laptop, insurance, and so on. Of course, 1/5 of a consultant's pay is greater than 1/3 the pay of many employees, but still it's 1/5 so aaaw yeah.
Another benefit is the fact that I am mostly insulated from corporate politics. I don't care much for corporate culture, so I do my work and go. I don't attend company meetings or picnics or any of that stuff and don't want to.
My schedule is my own. I work on deadline. For safe measure I always pad the deadline, like Scotty does on Star Trek (whenever Kirk asked how long it would take to modify the warp drive Scotty always multiplied the time by 4 to account for the unexpected which always occurs). I can work in the middle of the night and sleep all day if I want.
I can take as much time off as I want. I'm not sure that this is a benefit, since every day I take off is one day I can't charge a client for… And since I always do math in my head, I calculate the money I'm losing by not working thus I tend to work a lot; however, I took 6 months off to travel every country in Central America. Also went to Africa (twice, need to go more and see those mapouka dances again). Middle East, China (4 times), Japan (13 times), all of Europe… Eastern is my favorite. I like to take looooong trips so when I get the itch I don't renew my contracts, I just go after my deadline is met and don't sign a new contract till I get back.
I contribute to an IRA which is capped according to IRS regulations. I also contribute to a health savings account, you really really really should do this (thanks Rich and John for recommending this, I owe you guys). Check out http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa
Did I mention the salary? It is what you make it, you have to be competitive of course but you also can make a lot of headway if you are strong in what you do and if you interview well or make a good impression on your clients. On an average year I make about 2x to 3x what I would as an employee.
I don't recommend consulting for the family man, unless your spouse's job provides benefits. Me having my own bills is one thing, you having yours + your family's is another.
I hope this info is useful to you.
April 13, 2008 at 9:22 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186478ParticipantI would like you to, Nostradamus.
Certainly.
IMO the biggest benefit of consulting is taxes. Before consulting I paid about 1/3 of my salary to income tax. Now I pay 1/5 due to the fact that I can now deduct many things when they are work-related (my home office, supplies, improvements), my cell phone bill, my laptop, insurance, and so on. Of course, 1/5 of a consultant's pay is greater than 1/3 the pay of many employees, but still it's 1/5 so aaaw yeah.
Another benefit is the fact that I am mostly insulated from corporate politics. I don't care much for corporate culture, so I do my work and go. I don't attend company meetings or picnics or any of that stuff and don't want to.
My schedule is my own. I work on deadline. For safe measure I always pad the deadline, like Scotty does on Star Trek (whenever Kirk asked how long it would take to modify the warp drive Scotty always multiplied the time by 4 to account for the unexpected which always occurs). I can work in the middle of the night and sleep all day if I want.
I can take as much time off as I want. I'm not sure that this is a benefit, since every day I take off is one day I can't charge a client for… And since I always do math in my head, I calculate the money I'm losing by not working thus I tend to work a lot; however, I took 6 months off to travel every country in Central America. Also went to Africa (twice, need to go more and see those mapouka dances again). Middle East, China (4 times), Japan (13 times), all of Europe… Eastern is my favorite. I like to take looooong trips so when I get the itch I don't renew my contracts, I just go after my deadline is met and don't sign a new contract till I get back.
I contribute to an IRA which is capped according to IRS regulations. I also contribute to a health savings account, you really really really should do this (thanks Rich and John for recommending this, I owe you guys). Check out http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa
Did I mention the salary? It is what you make it, you have to be competitive of course but you also can make a lot of headway if you are strong in what you do and if you interview well or make a good impression on your clients. On an average year I make about 2x to 3x what I would as an employee.
I don't recommend consulting for the family man, unless your spouse's job provides benefits. Me having my own bills is one thing, you having yours + your family's is another.
I hope this info is useful to you.
April 13, 2008 at 9:22 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186482ParticipantI would like you to, Nostradamus.
Certainly.
IMO the biggest benefit of consulting is taxes. Before consulting I paid about 1/3 of my salary to income tax. Now I pay 1/5 due to the fact that I can now deduct many things when they are work-related (my home office, supplies, improvements), my cell phone bill, my laptop, insurance, and so on. Of course, 1/5 of a consultant's pay is greater than 1/3 the pay of many employees, but still it's 1/5 so aaaw yeah.
Another benefit is the fact that I am mostly insulated from corporate politics. I don't care much for corporate culture, so I do my work and go. I don't attend company meetings or picnics or any of that stuff and don't want to.
My schedule is my own. I work on deadline. For safe measure I always pad the deadline, like Scotty does on Star Trek (whenever Kirk asked how long it would take to modify the warp drive Scotty always multiplied the time by 4 to account for the unexpected which always occurs). I can work in the middle of the night and sleep all day if I want.
I can take as much time off as I want. I'm not sure that this is a benefit, since every day I take off is one day I can't charge a client for… And since I always do math in my head, I calculate the money I'm losing by not working thus I tend to work a lot; however, I took 6 months off to travel every country in Central America. Also went to Africa (twice, need to go more and see those mapouka dances again). Middle East, China (4 times), Japan (13 times), all of Europe… Eastern is my favorite. I like to take looooong trips so when I get the itch I don't renew my contracts, I just go after my deadline is met and don't sign a new contract till I get back.
I contribute to an IRA which is capped according to IRS regulations. I also contribute to a health savings account, you really really really should do this (thanks Rich and John for recommending this, I owe you guys). Check out http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa
Did I mention the salary? It is what you make it, you have to be competitive of course but you also can make a lot of headway if you are strong in what you do and if you interview well or make a good impression on your clients. On an average year I make about 2x to 3x what I would as an employee.
I don't recommend consulting for the family man, unless your spouse's job provides benefits. Me having my own bills is one thing, you having yours + your family's is another.
I hope this info is useful to you.
April 13, 2008 at 9:22 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186485ParticipantI would like you to, Nostradamus.
Certainly.
IMO the biggest benefit of consulting is taxes. Before consulting I paid about 1/3 of my salary to income tax. Now I pay 1/5 due to the fact that I can now deduct many things when they are work-related (my home office, supplies, improvements), my cell phone bill, my laptop, insurance, and so on. Of course, 1/5 of a consultant's pay is greater than 1/3 the pay of many employees, but still it's 1/5 so aaaw yeah.
Another benefit is the fact that I am mostly insulated from corporate politics. I don't care much for corporate culture, so I do my work and go. I don't attend company meetings or picnics or any of that stuff and don't want to.
My schedule is my own. I work on deadline. For safe measure I always pad the deadline, like Scotty does on Star Trek (whenever Kirk asked how long it would take to modify the warp drive Scotty always multiplied the time by 4 to account for the unexpected which always occurs). I can work in the middle of the night and sleep all day if I want.
I can take as much time off as I want. I'm not sure that this is a benefit, since every day I take off is one day I can't charge a client for… And since I always do math in my head, I calculate the money I'm losing by not working thus I tend to work a lot; however, I took 6 months off to travel every country in Central America. Also went to Africa (twice, need to go more and see those mapouka dances again). Middle East, China (4 times), Japan (13 times), all of Europe… Eastern is my favorite. I like to take looooong trips so when I get the itch I don't renew my contracts, I just go after my deadline is met and don't sign a new contract till I get back.
I contribute to an IRA which is capped according to IRS regulations. I also contribute to a health savings account, you really really really should do this (thanks Rich and John for recommending this, I owe you guys). Check out http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa
Did I mention the salary? It is what you make it, you have to be competitive of course but you also can make a lot of headway if you are strong in what you do and if you interview well or make a good impression on your clients. On an average year I make about 2x to 3x what I would as an employee.
I don't recommend consulting for the family man, unless your spouse's job provides benefits. Me having my own bills is one thing, you having yours + your family's is another.
I hope this info is useful to you.
April 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186406ParticipantGood luck flu! When do you get notified?
About competing with younger versions of yourself: yes, it is good to have an exit strategy. Still, having experience and knowing SoC design flow from “cradle to grave” allows me to see things from a global perspective that many younger versions of me do not. In addition I know 3 spoken languages and about 15 coded languages (perl, verilog, vhdl, csh, tcl, c, assembly, you name it)… newbies can’t touch that.
The bigger threat to me is foreign PhD’s who work longer hours, complain much less, and make 1/3 of what a similarly educated American would demand; however there are always communication issues and political issues which may shut down the availability of such workers.
April 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186428ParticipantGood luck flu! When do you get notified?
About competing with younger versions of yourself: yes, it is good to have an exit strategy. Still, having experience and knowing SoC design flow from “cradle to grave” allows me to see things from a global perspective that many younger versions of me do not. In addition I know 3 spoken languages and about 15 coded languages (perl, verilog, vhdl, csh, tcl, c, assembly, you name it)… newbies can’t touch that.
The bigger threat to me is foreign PhD’s who work longer hours, complain much less, and make 1/3 of what a similarly educated American would demand; however there are always communication issues and political issues which may shut down the availability of such workers.
April 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186458ParticipantGood luck flu! When do you get notified?
About competing with younger versions of yourself: yes, it is good to have an exit strategy. Still, having experience and knowing SoC design flow from “cradle to grave” allows me to see things from a global perspective that many younger versions of me do not. In addition I know 3 spoken languages and about 15 coded languages (perl, verilog, vhdl, csh, tcl, c, assembly, you name it)… newbies can’t touch that.
The bigger threat to me is foreign PhD’s who work longer hours, complain much less, and make 1/3 of what a similarly educated American would demand; however there are always communication issues and political issues which may shut down the availability of such workers.
April 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186461ParticipantGood luck flu! When do you get notified?
About competing with younger versions of yourself: yes, it is good to have an exit strategy. Still, having experience and knowing SoC design flow from “cradle to grave” allows me to see things from a global perspective that many younger versions of me do not. In addition I know 3 spoken languages and about 15 coded languages (perl, verilog, vhdl, csh, tcl, c, assembly, you name it)… newbies can’t touch that.
The bigger threat to me is foreign PhD’s who work longer hours, complain much less, and make 1/3 of what a similarly educated American would demand; however there are always communication issues and political issues which may shut down the availability of such workers.
April 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM in reply to: Small raise, adjusted for inflation, making less than last year #186466ParticipantGood luck flu! When do you get notified?
About competing with younger versions of yourself: yes, it is good to have an exit strategy. Still, having experience and knowing SoC design flow from “cradle to grave” allows me to see things from a global perspective that many younger versions of me do not. In addition I know 3 spoken languages and about 15 coded languages (perl, verilog, vhdl, csh, tcl, c, assembly, you name it)… newbies can’t touch that.
The bigger threat to me is foreign PhD’s who work longer hours, complain much less, and make 1/3 of what a similarly educated American would demand; however there are always communication issues and political issues which may shut down the availability of such workers.
ParticipantI met a very nice Michelle at the beach today. You should name your baby Michelle.
I also like the name Laura, pronounced correctly with the U clearly annunciated like La-oo-ra not Lora. You should name your baby Laura.
My all-time favorite name for a girl is startlingly close to the Elle someone posted. I'm a big Ella Fitzgerald fan, if someday I have a child (inshallah) who is a girl there's a good chance she will be called Ella. You should not name your baby Ella.
ParticipantI met a very nice Michelle at the beach today. You should name your baby Michelle.
I also like the name Laura, pronounced correctly with the U clearly annunciated like La-oo-ra not Lora. You should name your baby Laura.
My all-time favorite name for a girl is startlingly close to the Elle someone posted. I'm a big Ella Fitzgerald fan, if someday I have a child (inshallah) who is a girl there's a good chance she will be called Ella. You should not name your baby Ella.
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