{"id":231,"date":"2009-05-22T03:22:01","date_gmt":"2009-05-22T07:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/example.org\/downsizing-is-not-the-end"},"modified":"2009-05-22T03:22:01","modified_gmt":"2009-05-22T07:22:01","slug":"downsizing-is-not-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/?p=231","title":{"rendered":"Life after downsizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I started blogging in 2003, I had the opportunity to capture our family transition from corporate life to the self-employed afterlife. It was an interesting experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"August-Palmyra\"<\/a>
\nA few years ago, while trying to effect changes at Sun Microsystems, I thought to myslf that there had to be more to life than endless meetings and glacial progress on programs of doubtful longevity.<\/p>\n

It would have been helpful if a voice from the heavens had called out, “Take your family and flee this place, for it is cursed!”<\/em>
\nBut, nothing so fortunate occurred. <\/p>\n

I had to go through this same
\nscenario many more times before the decision to leave high tech showbiz
\nfinally percolated into my consciousness. <\/p>\n

I began a search for other opportunities, but failed to find any that
\nmatched my expectations. I began writing a novel, but kept on with my
\nday job which provided all the satisfaction that goes with herding cats
\nand training water to run uphill.<\/p>\n

The novel seemed to be going well and I could almost envision a life as
\na writer if I could solve the problems of finding an editor, an agent
\nand a publisher, etc. <\/p>\n

The increasing agony of the day job was
\nmercifully cut short when some executives finally looked at the bottom line and
\ndecided that the way to profitability was to reduce the workforce. <\/p>\n

Since Silicon Valley employment was following the example of the
\nTitanic, we decided to live where skies were blue and where we couldn’t
\nhear the freeway system. After searching the internet, we decided on
\nCharlottesville, Virginia, where we could enjoy country life and the
\nadvantages of a university town. <\/p>\n

Lake Monticello, near Thomas Jefferson’s mansion of the same name,
\noffered wooded privacy and high speed internet access. We felt this was
\nthe best of both worlds and immediately bought a house. We moved here
\nmore than a year ago and have never regretted it. Living here required
\nmajor changes in my career choices, but these changes have brought new
\nopportunities and interesting challenges for the future. <\/p>\n

When I grill steaks for supper and watch a herd of deer feeding down by
\nthe stream, I can barely remember my past existence at Sun or before.
\nMy attention is entirely in the present and future. Life is good. I
\nwill do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Click on image to enlarge<\/sup><\/font><\/p>\n

This was written in late 2003 and we have since moved to Floyd, Virginia, which provides an even better environment for the lifestyle we have adopted since leaving corporate life.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I started blogging in 2003, I had the opportunity to capture our family transition from corporate life to the self-employed afterlife. It was an interesting experience. A few years ago, while trying to effect changes at Sun Microsystems, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1768,1797],"tags":[512,513,510,511,509],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3R4iK-3J","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}