this morning i’m in the cafeteria gettin some coff-ay and two of the other engineers ask me when i usually leave, and i tell them.. between 5 and 5:30 usually. i come in between 8:30 and 9am usually, so i work 40 to 45 hours a week (i don’t usually take lunch). now during the first couple years i was working in the dot com industry, i would work my 40 hours before wednesday noon sometimes, (no, seriously). and an 80 or 90 hour week was not particularly uncommon. i had some conversations with a friend of mine who’s a very wise man, he was the director of systems engineering at a large company, and he said to me (paraphrased, since it’s been a while) “tom, you can work and work, and there will always be more work, but your daughter and wife are going to grow and change every day – don’t miss it.” so when i took my current job (2 years ago) i told my boss that i wasn’t looking to work 50 or 60 hours a week. don’t get me wrong, when there’s a deadline, i often work late, or weekends, but by and large i do my 9-to-5 and then go home and spend time with my family. i read books and hear people say that they wish they had done it – and so i’m determined not to miss this time in my life. my daughter is 18 months old and every day that i don’t get to see her is awful. why would i possibly want to work an extra couple of hours when i have her at home waiting for me? why would i want to work on saturday when i could be with my wife? stumped? me too. a lot of people might think “but what about your job, if you don’t work extra hard you might get fired etc etc.” i know that. i also know that if i stay true to what is really important, then god will take care of me. in 20 years, i would rather have gone through 10 jobs and spent lots of time with my family, live in a tiny apartment than have the same job, a big house, and not know who they are anymore. you may think i’m being drastic in my portrayal, but you wouldn’t believe how many people i know personally that have lost their families because of work. the aforementioned wise friend is to be much thanked for having been there, and sharing his wisdom with me. i wish that more people could learn from hearing others relate their knowledge, rather than having to piss on the electric fence themselves. cheers :)

—–