My old coworker sent me a text message on Friday afternoon asking me if I wanted a temporary position doing Web Development work. $60/hour for 8 weeks…up to 10 hours/day. They’ve come to me a few times before asking me if I wanted to go back to the dark side (the working world) and I’ve always declined. This time he actually threw a number at me, so I started doing some number chugging…$60/hour times 10 hours/day times 5 days/week times 8 weeks = $24,000 for eight weeks of work. Pre-tax.
That number sparked my interest, so I called him up on Sunday night. He gave me the lowdown on the position and what he knew about it. He told me to call another old coworker of mine for some more information. So I talked to another old coworker and basically, it’s a web development support position. Temporary. For a contract that’s winding down.
The work shouldn’t be too hard, but it’s been almost 3 years since I’ve last worked a desk job doing IT work. Yeah, almost 3 years of sitting on my ass, answering emails, dealing with affiliate managers on the phone, and occasionally working on the website (boogster.com). Now that I’ve switched from day trading to swing trading, I’ve really been sitting on my ass even more, bored out of my mind, on a lot of days, so I thought about the pros and cons of this opportunity. Pretty good money, temporary, and work that I probably wouldn’t mind doing. And it’ll be something new to break the monotony of the past few years. I don’t really need the money, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt either. The drawbacks would be no golf during the week for 8 weeks, probably sitting in a cubicle for 8 to 10 hours a day…every day…and having to deal with all of the crap that comes my way.
I told them that I’d get back to them within an hour, so I basically had about an hour to decide. I talked to a few people and they all seemed to think that it was a good idea. I ended up agreeing to the 8-week stint. Shortly after, I went to play golf at Laurel Hill. While on the golf course, I definitely started having second thoughts. I hope none of my old coworkers are reading this blog, but just the thought of putting on khakis and a polo shirt every day and sitting in a cubicle working on IT stuff, and not being able to play golf…or take a shit in my own bathroom, just doesn’t seem that exciting to me. I fought so long to get out of the “suit” world and now, just like that, I’m back in again. Dagger.
You might say, how about the money at the end? Well, it’ll be good to pocket that change (I’m not gonna lie), but I’m having a hard time convincing myself whether it’ll be worth it or not. My parents just closed on a vacation condo in Atlantic City (Brigantine), so I have a place to stay whenever I want and before this opportunity came up, I was thinking about going up to AC to play poker for a month. I guess I can still do it, but it’ll have to wait until after the 8-week contract now. I kind feel like a gift was handed to me with this job opportunity and if I don’t take it, then it’ll be stupid on my part. And that’s pretty much what everybody has been telling me. I mean, where else can I make $24k guaranteed in 8 weeks?
I was supposed to start today, but they’re still working on some paper work. Even though I thought about backing out, I’m not gonna do it because I worked with these guys for 6 years in the past and I’ve already committed. I guess after this thing ends, I will know whether it was worth it or not. Who knows, 8 weeks from now, I might look back and say that this was the best decision I’ve ever made. I mean, every experience that I’ve encountered in my life has lead me to where I’m at now. Good and/or bad. This experience will just be another marker in the timeline of my life. I’m prepared for whatever comes ahead.
I guess within the next few days (whenever I start), I’ll be blogging about going back into the working world for the first time in almost three years. F me…that is scary. I’m gonna try my hardest not to tell anyone that I’ll be working with, about this blog or my website. Just because I know that I will most likely be busting on them. Hah.
Alright…onto a little market related shit. I sold 200 shares of my SMN this morning at $29.70 for +$260 or so. These were the remaining 200 shares after my 3 options were excercised. I’m still holding 1000 shares at $33.40. I also sold 500 shares of DUG at $26.65 for -$300 or something like that. Still holding 500 shares. I sold half of my DUG because it’s been grinding at this level for over 5 weeks now. If we go lower, I will buy back lower. If we go higher, then so be it…I’ll be positioned with my 500 shares. I just don’t want to risk of losing another few points on this puppy with a thousand shares. Now, I am comfortable with whatever happens. I’m prepared to hold.
I’ve pretty much unwound most of my positions over the past few weeks. A lot of cash on the sidelines now…just waiting patiently. I really don’t see anything compelling at the moment, so I’ll just wait it out.
That’s about it for now. I’m gonna post my June blog earnings here in a second. Also, I’ve updated my “Total Earnings” spreadsheet, which includes the Black Wednesday numbers. I’ve actually had it up for a few weeks now. I added another account of mine, which kind of pads the numbers. :) After this month, I should be in the positive for the year, I think. Uhh…maybe not. I have to back and rework the numbers for May and June.
Time to go play some golf at Reston National. Maybe the last time that I play for 8 weeks. F me.