Work to live, not live to work

[SimonMac]

Yesterday I took a very pleasant day off, MasterMac had some hospital appointments which meant I had to do school runs with the eldest two, usually I would have WFH and in fact ended up working later than if I was in the office, but instead I decided to forego billing and did a few little odd jobs, had lunch with the wife and then napped after suffering a food coma.

I have always thought of contracting as a lifestyle choice rather than a financial one, I never end one contract and start to look for the next without 2/3 weeks time off between. I don't know how people can look for the next job to start the day after they finish their current, I find it really disrespectful to the client when contracts take calls from agents on site etc.


I have decided to do this more regularly, at least once a month, although next time I will leave the car at home so I can make it a boozy lunch!

[BrilloPad]

I only work to buy more houses. As SurAlan says, business is just a hobby. You only make money via property.

[BrilloPad]

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

[DimPrawn]

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the govt to join a "Common Market".

Impose fishing quotas.
Setup a fisheries quango with remit to sell fishing permits to local fisherman,
Increase standing charges so that non income based taxes are very high, meaning people have to work just to live.
Sell fishing rights to foreign countries to destroy the local fishing industry.
Ban certain fishing techniques so that only the massive corporate fishing fleets meet legal requirements.



FTFY

[BrilloPad]

The businessman offered a suggestion to the govt to join a "Common Market".

Impose fishing quotas.
Setup a fisheries quango with remit to sell fishing permits to local fisherman,
Increase standing charges so that non income based taxes are very high, meaning people have to work just to live.
Sell fishing rights to foreign countries to destroy the local fishing industry.
Ban certain fishing techniques so that only the massive corporate fishing fleets meet legal requirements.



FTFY

I never did understand how we lost the cod war. Nelson must have turned in his grave.

If we leave the EU can we have a rematch? And deploy the nukes.....

[SueEllen]

I never did understand how we lost the cod war. Nelson must have turned in his grave.

If we leave the EU can we have a rematch? And deploy the nukes.....

If you pick on much smaller countries who have no armed forces expect international condemnation.

And no as we will still be in NATO.

[FatLazyContractor]

I work hard all day and workout with the high class ladies all evening.

Does that count?

[DaveB]

I never did understand how we lost the cod war. Nelson must have turned in his grave.

If we leave the EU can we have a rematch? And deploy the nukes.....

Cod wars were nothing to do with the EU.

Iceland threatened to leave NATO and expel US troops stationed there if they didn't get their way. This was at the height of the Cold War with the USSR. The UK caved under pressure from the US and other NATO countries.

[DaveB]

If you pick on much smaller countries who have no armed forces expect international condemnation.

And no as we will still be in NATO.

Actually it was Iceland who were condemned by the international community, the UK received broad support up until Iceland played the NATO card.

[I just need to test it]

So last night I went to the footie with an old schoolmate. He's a self-made man. In his thirties he was running a business he'd built up from a market stall into one with a 10M turnover. He described this as a seven day a week stressfest. At 38 he suffered a stroke and for a good while thought he was done for, though he's recovered pretty well.

His missus has her own health issues and is in a wheelchair now. He's got millions in the bank, mind, so can afford the best healthcare.