So that's where I am. I have watched Conan O'Brien's commencement speech at Dartmouth many times recently and one thing pops out to me. He says during the speech about how losing everything had made him appreciate what's really important. He'd had one of the most rewarding years of his life after he lost what he'd worked his entire career the achieve. And in the last 6 months I've lost almost everything I thought was important. My car, my MacBook, my laptop, both my iPhones, and many of the various widgets I'd been accumulating since I came to Vegas. But despite this I'm still alive, the sun continues to rise, and every day people continue to live their lives. I have learned a few very important things during my time in purgatory. First and foremost, there are more important things to life than the latest tech gadget. I cannot measure my happiness through what version of iOS I am running. Second, I am not an employee. I have spent the last decade learning this one, and the journey that led me to this could fill several posts, but what cemented it for me was an interview. I'd been trying to break into the tech industry for a long time and when I made the connection, the owner of the business asked me the most important question I have encountered in my entire life. She asked me "where do you see yourself in 7 years?" I naturally said that I thought I'd be a business owner(since that was the truth). I would work very hard for her while I was there, but ultimately, I wanted to work for myself. That wasn't the correct answer. She wanted an employee. Someone who would work for her for the next 20 years. I desperately tried to backtrack but the window had closed. Before she cut me off she said the thing that has echoed ever since "I want to take a few days and really think about what you want. Then get back to me." So I did. And I came through the other side with an epiphany. It's not that I wanted to create a business and deal with payroll and drama and workman's comp etc, etc, etc. I wanted to have an income where I worked for myself. I wanted to be able to pay my bills using my own skills, and ultimately create a passive income. My ultimate goal is to have more money everyday when I wake up than when I go to bed. Until then, I worked to be able to start my "business". Having said that, I have become tired of going out and putting on the smile and trying to get someone to take a chance on me. I will never be an employee. I can be a worker bee if the situation calls for it, but I'll always be looking for the exit.
Finally, I have had a "why didn't I think of that sooner?" moment. I live about a mile and a half from the largest tourist destination by area on earth. Every year the equivalent of every man, woman and child in Canada come from all over the planet to the Las Vegas Strip. They spend close to $15 billion every year. For most people this means that the Strip is a great place to apply for a job. And until recently, that was true. Now, the fact is that the meteoric unemployment level combined with the fact that the Strip's revenues are down mean that for the most part the casinos are not hiring. But there's a vibrant culture outside the hotels. On the sidewalks, there are scores of street performers and buskers making a great income(as an aside, I didn't realize how well they did until I was walking from one side to the other when I saw a person with a 5 gallon bucket FULL of cash. I was slack jawed. Outside the poker room, I'd never seen that much cash at one time in person. It had to be over a $1,000 in $1's and $5's.) For most people it would be something neat to watch. But I have something most people don't. Since I was 17, I have been yo-yoing. I have thousands and thousands of hours of practice and I can perform well enough to have people tip me. It's happened before(I haven't done it in 6 years, but I have made money yo-yoing) and I am VERY confident it will happen again. I can walk to the strip, I own everything I need to begin, and best of all, the weather is changing. Winter is coming. Most people who live here for any decent amount of time acclimate and get very cold once the temperature sinks below about 70ºF. I don't. I feel fine in those temperatures and ones much less than them. Best of all, street performing is well protected by court precedent, and the police know it. So the odds are very good that I won't be harassed. Of course, nothing's certain but I think unless I hit someone(something I've never done) I should be ok. When I started, we lived in a VERY cramped apartment and I had to practice in an area about 2 feet across. So I am very used to confined spaces. And I won't be trying anything high risk while I'm out there. After all, no one wants to watch someone wind a string or work out a knot.
There's me in a nutshell. Big changes have come and bigger changes on the way. For the first time in a LONG time I can say this with confidence: I'm goin' up! $$ :)
