I love engineering. I have put in a solid 40 years of work, including a short stint as a self employed consultant and product designer. About 2 years ago, after taking a deep look at our retirement savings and investments, my wife and I decided to retire. Almost immediately, we went to work in the yard and in the home, taking on all of the projects that we had put off while working. It was a lot of hard work, but still quite fun. Shortly into this process, my son told us that he got a promotion and was moving to Texas. The fact that our first Grandchild was moving really got us thinking. It was not too long after their move that we learned that they were expecting another. That sealed the deal, we were moving too. So, we added a few little projects to our remodeling, like a new kitchen, new bathroom, hardwood floors, and other various repairs to our already growing list of projects. Within three months we put up a for sale sign and started looking for a house in Texas. Soon it was goodbye California, hello Texas.
After arriving in Texas (actually a little sooner than that) I got on UpWorks and started looking for consulting work. I got a couple of bites and as soon as I settled in at our new home, I went to work on my new projects. Now, I have four clients that have provided me with continuing work, plus several others that I have done one-and-done projects for. Throughout the consulting, I continued to work as my wife's construction crew, building garden beds and adjusting the landscaping to match our style. From working in the hot sun, and then coming in to cool down, I find myself back on the computer, banging away on my clients projects. The combination of hard labor and then hard work is very enjoyable. I find that I get to build a lot of different things, but I don't end up doing anywhere as much of product support or legacy projects as I once did. Yeah!
I look forward to continuing down this path as long as possible, as it is by far the healthiest life style that I have experienced in a long time. Play, hard work and engineering!
Thanks for listening/reading.
Gene
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