Timothy writes:

> PS: I ended up starting my own business(es) instead. Now I have the joy of
> working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, without benefits, for a boss who
> does not pay me most of the time (myself).

It's said that when you own your business, you only have to work half days, 
and it doesn't really matter much which 12-hour stretch you put in each day.

But seriously folks, starting your own business and working "half-days" may 
be your only option. The world is changing, not only for MPE professionals, but 
for all engineering-related tasks. Secure jobs in well-lit cubicles are 
diminishing in number (but obviously not altogether disappearing) and you may as 
well prepare for it. 

Don't let anyone tell you differently: there really is age discrimination in 
anything technology related, not because you're merely getting old, but 
because (i) you cost more relative to your worth than someone younger, and because 
(ii) a kid half your age won't really mind being laid off. When an employer 
hires someone, they not only take on a financial burden but a psychological one 
as well. No one wants to fire anyone, ever. They know the pain that it causes.

The only cure may well be to start your own business. To do that, find 
something that you really enjoy doing, something that you're good at, but most 
importantly something that someone else wants done and would be willing to pay you 
an honest wage for doing -- and it doesn't have to be computer-related 
initially, although it almost certainly will be given a bit of time.

But don't let anyone tell you that starting your own business will be easy. 
Most new businesses fail, not because of a lack of anything so estoteric as a 
lack of a business plan or even enough initial capitalization, but because they 
simply weren't providing a product or service that someone wanted to buy. 
Listen very carefully to what your first customers tell you. Satisfying their 
needs, honestly and with integrity, must become your only goal in life.

I write this with all authority, sounding as if I knew what I was talking 
about, but let me also honestly say, after being in business for 30 years now, 
each new day remains a mystery to me. Conrad Hilton, another New Mexican, once 
said that after 50 years in the hotel business, the only thing that he knew for 
sure about the hotel business was that "you spill a lot less water on the 
bathroom floor when you put the shower curtain inside the tub rather than leave 
it out." I feel exactly the same way. I really don't know what the next day 
will bring. There's absolutely no security in any of this, but it's also part of 
the joy of the process.

Wirt Atmar

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