part 1 and 2 of the series.
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This is an update on the post I wrote last week. While I thought at least a handful of people might dig it, I was shocked how popular it turned out to be.
My resignation letter was politely written, and I had a very nice conversation with my boss. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone that thought I was going to be crude about it while sticking it to the man. The phrase f*** you money is certainly evocative, but the only important aspect of it is leverage. Frugality and fortune have joined to make it so I can call my own shots and exert a great deal of control over my environment. The situation I was working under was getting worse and worse as the organization was operating under a culture of fear. It takes a great philosopher to not allow the crap to roll downhill, and my boss was no great philosopher. No matter. I'm a big believer in the saying "the best revenge is living well." I did what I could to make the transition work, with a renewed burst of energetic productivity and many kind words were exchanged between families I worked with and myself. I don't regret that I took the job. Instead, I am glad I have found a good exit point.
An odd, unplanned opportunity came my way the very first day of me moving to so-called barista FIRE (I'm not in love with the term, but when in Rome. . . ). I was called about working as a "studio teacher" on the set of a motion picture. Apparently, if you have childhood actors, you need a certified teacher on set. After agreeing, I woke up at 3AM so I could drink coffee and shake off grogginess and drove down 45 minutes to a rural location that truly looked like an archetypal horror film setting. For what it's worth the movie is called What Josiah Saw, and it has an actor who was in Arrested Development and the guy who played John Conner in Terminator 3 and Yellow Bastard in Sin City. I had no interaction with either of these people, just the kids who are used for flashbacks. I'm not sure if I am going to get a credit in the movie or in IMDB -- but if I do, I have already played a ton of 7-Degrees of Kevin Bacon using actors in the movie to get myself to other celebrities.
In my downtime that first day, I read Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. I think this quote from the book applies:
"Peculiar travel suggestion are dancing lessons from God" pg 63.
I feel like I am on a wacky Todd Sanchez adventure. If I was working my job still, I wouldn't be able to do this, and I wouldn't get any of these stories. Also somewhat importantly, I now won't appear to be a bum during holiday meals.
But this is the only time I plan on being a studio teacher. One time seems to be a minimum effective dose. I am basically "on call" for this week and the next two. Each time I do it forces me to borrow the car and get up wicked early. I don't like screwing around with my sleep, and I find it to be nice to avoid doing bullshit on consecutive days.
I don't know when my next update here will be, maybe in a year, maybe never (I do plan on publishing on my own site on Wednesdays. I guess I might as well start this Wednesday . . . tomorrow). Here are my other projects for the near term (some of which I might be paid for):
- Go through a friend of my wife to do seasonal tax preparation work.
- Finish a "cutting" of Macbeth so that a friend of mine can produce it as a high school play.
- Record lectures where I show how I can teach (say AP Euro, or things on literature). The goal is to eventually have some tutoring sessions be on ideas, rhetoric, or Great Books curriculum, not just the test-prep arms race
- Read stacks of children's books so that I catch my wife on Goodreads, and beat her yearly total just this once. (Right now she's up 149 to 121).
- Do my homework, receive my mentorship, and then start my tutoring business -- I'm willing to do test prep, while supplies (open slots on days I want to work) last.
- practice sharpening blades and tools, such as wood planes. It's the next "self-reliance" skill I want to acquire.
In my worst case scenario, where none of the financial ventures work and I never tutor a kid beyond the one I already have lined up, I will be able to pay my bills simply through being a substitute teacher 3 days a week when there is school, and then drawing down 1.7% of my portfolio to cover breaks and summer.
I will probably work at least part time as long as work is a thing I can do. I'm pretty sure that the era of automation will through us out of work and/or kill all us but billionaires. But, hey, I'm a doomer.
I have a lot of walks to go on and a lot of days to enjoy. I have the minimum effective dose of work figured out, and plans to increase my means within the next few years. If that fails, and I need the money, I teach in a public school again.
I have a lot of things to create and not a lot of time to waste.
But a walk during a perfect hour is never a waste. The real shame is how many perfect hours happen to fall during people's working hours.
