Monday, March 29, 2010

Big News

Justin mentioned in the last post that we *may* have some big news to share. Indeed we do.

After much deliberation, number crunching and researching I have decided to resign from my job. I gave them my notice today. It was a very difficult decision, but in the end it was something I had to do.

Jigsaw Indexing has taken off in ways I could never have imagined, and now I am essentially working two full time jobs. It's been a stress on every aspect of my life, including my health. I just couldn't do it anymore.

We sorted out money, health insurance, and all of the other important things before making the final decision. Something had to give and when it came down to it, it was either taking on far less indexing jobs or leaving the library. It has been a great place to work (I'll never forget how excited I was to start there!), but the time has come to move on.

One of the greatest things about leaving is the incredible freedom we will have and I'm still getting used to this fact. I've decided I don't want to come up with too many assumptions on how this new life will be, but that is certain - there will be a greater amount of freedom granted to both Justin and I (and we'll get more than 1 day off together each week, which will be nice too).

I am looking forward to this new adventure in life. I am happy, sad and scared, but downright excited for this new life of ours to begin, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us.

And just to show you all how busy I've been...

A stack of pages from SOME of the books indexed over the past month or two...PHEW. Moonlighting is hard work.

Wish me luck!

15 comments:

  1. Thanks Mel. It's fairly terrifying, but I am looking forward to working for myself 100% of the time.

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  2. This is great news - and while a bit of a risk, a very good thing. You may have to get a bigger boat to accommodate the paper!! Best of luck you ex-librarian...!

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  3. Nicely done! I am sure you will be very happy with your decision. Now go work on the boat! :)

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  4. Congratulations. This will be a big change, but one for the better. Good luck!

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  5. Congrats guys, welcome to the world of the self employed!

    Now the trick is to still have a life as the business slowly takes over your entire existence... it's a fun ride either way though, my first year was a blast :)

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  6. I thought you were pregnant and that was the news.....welcome to the world of self employment.....

    http://cruisingwetpaint.blogspot.com

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  7. Thank you thank you!


    Tim - Thanks. A risk indeed. It's fairly scary to go from something so secure to freelancing, but that's part of the reasoning behind staying with Madrigal - she's ours! Also, I've decided that I would still like to be called a librarian. You can call me the "word librarian" now.

    Jim - Thanks. I still have a month left at the library though, so I'm still making Justin do all the dirty boat work!

    Bill - Thanks so much. Are you new on our blog?

    Chris and Cate - Thanks! I had a hard lesson in learning how to say NO this week, so I am hoping that lesson carries me through my time as a freelancer. It's an important one to learn, I think.

    Johna: Thanks! Are you self employed? I figured people would think I was pregnant - that's why I wasted no time in posting what the news was.

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  8. I am.......Commercial Painting Contractor.....I work more now, but I did not want to tell you that.....

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  9. Great news indeed. Congratulations, and wishing you much success as you enter this new chapter of your life. To freedom!

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  10. My name is David Higgs. I just found your blog today and noted you have a Ericson sailboat. I also read you will be moving to Thayer's Landing this summer.

    I own an 27' Ericson 72 sailboat which I dock at the boat yard right next to and up river from Thayer's Landing.

    Welcome!

    I have been boating on this waterfront since I was knee high to my grandfather starting back in 1955.

    I purchased my Ericson last year, so I am one year new to sailing. I plan to put my Ericson back in the water within the next two weeks and then bring in a crane and re-step her mast about a week later.

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  11. Johna - I'm currently working 37 hours a week at the library, commuting 15 hours a week, and indexing 20-30 hours a week on top of that. Added all together, that's roughly 75-80 hours a week that I'm devoting to work stuff. If I ever get to a point where I'm doing that much work with indexing, then I'll start hiring people to do work for me!

    MV Mai Thai - To Freedom indeed!

    David - I'd be interested to hear your view on how the boating has changed in this area over the years, as I'm sure it has!

    You must be excited to get your boat back in the water! We've had our Ericson for two years now and she's treated us very well. What kind of engine does yours have?

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  12. My 27' Ericson has a old gas atomic four engine, fresh water cooled. The atomic gave me good service last year.

    I have a number of woodworking project I want to do on my Ericson this spring/summer. Luckily, I have access to a fully equip wooden boat building working shop on site.

    Once I get the bottom of my Ericson painted and the good old atomic running, it will not take me long to put her in the water. Then the woodworking starts....

    David

    I have a few electrical wire changes I am going to make on the Mast. A few days of work, then I bring a crane in and re-step the mast. I am looking forward to sailing by mid-May.

    David Higgs

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  13. David,
    We have an A4 as well, except ours is still raw water cooled. I'd be interested in seeing how your fresh water system is set up. I'd love to make the conversion sometime.

    Having a woodworking facility is priceless! I'm sure we'll see you there plenty.

    cheers,
    Justin

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  14. My A4 was converted to fresh water cooling before I purchased the boat. If you don't know about Moyermarine [http://www.moyermarine.com/], they sell A4 parts, including a fresh water cooling kit for the A4.

    If you have not done it, I suggest you add a fresh water intake to your A4 raw water pick up line. In this way, you can flush your A4 with fresh water when you get back to the dock. I added this fresh water system to flush out the raw water side of my A4.

    David

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