Self employed - safe steady job?

Having made the decision to leave the nice safe world of working for others you sometimes wonder if you have done the right thing. Usually days when there are bills but no work, they always focus attention on the lack of a regular pay cheque. Today was not one of those days. Today in fact was quite the opposite. I went up to my local quilt shop, to drop off some work and to pick up a couple of pieces of fabric I needed. While I was there I got to meet some interesting people who may be able to help me further my business,. It was all very friendly and relaxed though, not an office or conference room in sight.

On the way home I decided to catch up with a friend. This meant I needed to walk past one of those big open plan offices. All these people crammed together at little desks, looking so miserable. Lots of shirts and ties, and 'proper' office clothes. There were a couple of people in one corner who had managed to kick off their shoes, but they didn't look any happier. I watched the people chatting outside, then seeing their faces drop as the break came to an end and they had to go back to their desks. OK they are secure (ish at least) but then so are caged animals. It was both depressing and uplifting. It reassured me that I have made the right decision, I don't want to be caged in an office. I don't want to be doing pointless jobs for people who don't know what they have just asked for but think it might make them money. I certainly don't want to be working silly hours to make someone else into a millionaire.

I love what I do, OK there are days when I wonder where the next months bills will come from. There are days when I need to work 18 hours to get everything done, but at the end of the day I am doing it for my future not for someone I don't even know. People have told me how brave it is to start a business, nope I am just more scared of being stuck in a normal job.

Tagged

Apparently there is a thing going round blogs at the moment where you get tagged and share 5 things you haven't mentioned about yourself on your blog. You then tag 5 more people. It's one of those get to know you better type things, and actually from following the trail back I found some quite interesting blogs, so it has worked for me, and I think them. Nellie tagged me at the weekend so I guess I get to share, and it is surprisingly tricky to know what you might like to know.

1. I live in a small terraced house with two guys. I say house, but really it is now a studio. The front room is where I do most of my work, it is where I am typing this. I built a large desk into the whole of the bay window. I found that too bright, and having run out of wall space there is a row of bookshelves around the windows at the edge of my desk. The back room used to be a dining room but is now filled with a longarm sewing machine. The kitchen has mostly been taken over for dying cloth.
2. I used to make electric guitars. I wanted to learn to play one when I was younger and my parents told me I would have to built one if I wanted one. So I did. After that I went on to design and make more. I have a wall full of guitars behind my longarm. I am better at making them than playing them, mostly because I never put enough hours into my practice.
   
3. I collect Ford Capris, I love them to bits. Just as well as they are getting to the stage in their life when they fall to bits. I think I mentioned the great white having exhaust problems, but it is just one of six. My everyday baby is in need of some welding which will hopefully get done next week and I will be back driving her. Yes I love cars, but especially mine. It is a metallic blue 2 litre S, which I refer to as Kdu. I also have Atcho, my restoration project. I want to bring it back to showroom standard plus. More how Jaguar would have sent it out. This was the driving force for me to learn how to do car interiors.
4. Many years ago I appeared on television unpacking a space craft. My research project was on LDEF, the long duration exposure facility. When the panels arrived at the university the local television station were there to film us unpacking it.
   
5. I love books, I have hundreds of them. I don't think we will ever need insulation on our walls, as hey are covered with books. It shocks people who deliver things, as even the hall is full of books. People often say we should throw them away. Apparently we will never read them again. I know I have read most of them more than once and I know I will read them again, and enjoy doing it. I'll read anything, including cereal packets, squash bottles, anything. The really odd thing is I am dyslexic. Go figure. I do misread many things, but I've learned to see the humor in that, for example how do you ork a cow, it must be possible a lot of companies have coworkers. My spelling stinks, and if two words are the same kind of shape I see them as the same. I've also realised why older books are often easier to read, there is less contrast between discoloured pages and the text.

So there you go five things you didn't know about me, and probably didn't want to. Now I have to tag five more people, Digital eye, Dormouse, Penny, Beverly, and Joyce. As Nellie said on her blog when she tagged me, if this isn't your thing don't worry about it just don't do it, it won't bother me. If it is great, I look forward to hearing more about you.