When this comes up,


The answer is "a hard bargain." Just baffle the hell out of them because that's so far from the shallow question they're asking. That's quite flip; an even better answer would be "a happy life." Live your life and make your choices so you can say that.

This is not an either/or deal. Do your best with small jobs and do your best with large jobs. You don't find happiness by deciding in advance what niche you're going to expand into, only to find you've instead painted yourself into it. Make yourself available for hang and bangs in between larger jobs; or vice versa if that's how you want to see it.

Meanwhile, as we are contemplating whether we should do only one of two proposed choices, here's this from the thread on working with venture capitalists:

This made me laugh out loud, made the wife laugh too!

Then I thought of Julie and am happy to see she busted your nards.

Nt
Dont get me wrong. I love Seattle... however it can be a little pretentious at times / especially with all the high paid tech workers cropping up. Last year Seattle issued 65000 drivers licences to new people from out of state. Mostly from silicone valley.

I was somewhat a materialistic douche when I was younger... but when u become an old tart you realise how matngs don't bring happiness or respect. I always dreamy of being a wealthy old tart with the mansion and Bentley but now I'm thrilled to have a few good friends a son who loves me good health and a roof over my head. I commute by bus because our traffic is so bad... and every morning I transfer buses downtown.. I see how the street people live and it is heartbreaking... I don't need much but to see those people is humbling and puts things into perspective for me.

You shouldn't let people like that bother you. Money and things do not equal happiness.

A new expensive car is not all that. Something you enjoy is a better investment in happiness. A restored 60's muscle car, or a classic like a Falcon can be better... but you need to choose something you're passionate about and enjoy. It may not even be a car. For example I love my Pinball machines, and because others can tell I genuinely enjoy them, that comes across in a positive light.

What matters is that you're enjoying yourself. If you're getting that done, you won't care so much what others think of you!

It's not shallow to be happy that you are well rewarded if you really have worked hard for it, and delivered good value for it. And it is certainly possible to look at money as a means, not an end. And it can be the means to some very useful, enjoyable, and even helpful things if you keep it in perspective.

I know that money can't buy happiness, but as someone who has lived with the reality of having very little money for a long time, I can tell you that it can buy relief from many worries, worries that shave years off of the walls of your heart on an ongoing basis.

You can of course allow the acquisition of money to cause you as much or more compensatory worries of its own, but you don't have to. If you get it legitimately and honestly, the old fashioned way, and know how to spend it (i.e. not always on yourself and for personal enjoyment not conspicuous consumption), it can be a source of immense satisfaction.

I agree fully with Dean Roddey. I hope my posting didn't come off as anti-money. I like the way my Grandmother put it, "You can be happy rich or poor, but it's a lot easier to be happy rich!"

It was wise and did not in any way sound anti-money. Many times people misinterpret a statement of a positive about one thing as being a statement of a negative about another thing. I got that you were being positive about happiness and life.


This is not well understood. It is not only not shallow, it should be held as sacred. "The pursuit of happiness" did not make it into the Declaration of Independence because the founders were party boys, but because they were serious men intent on being treated fairly and treating others fairly. (Heck, the entire Declaration of Independence is a lesson in treating others fairly: it describes the situation, lists the offenses, and declares independence.)

It is a moral imperative to be happy. Happy people make people around them happy. Happy people get things done. Happy people make more happy people.

If you don't think we owe it to the world to be as happy as we can, ask the child of an unhappy depressed mother if he/she wishes she were happier. Then name one happy terrorist.

This may sound like pap of the lowest order, but if you think about it... I'll bet Mr. Stanley is making more people in his life happy now than when he was chasing money. I'll bet this is true for all of us.

Find and read "Happiness Is A Serious Problem." It's an eye opener.

My guess is that you meant to say Silicon Valley. Wafers are made of Silicon. Actresses and Models are made of Silicone, hence the Silicone Valley also goes by the name Hollywood. :-)

For me it's a business...I like getting paid and being able to pay my bills as well as invest so I can get to the point where I get to choose to work.

I do consider myself fortunate at this point (I've tried to leave the industry many times; had a few decent offers the last time around), but after being in business over 11 years, and finally having the benefit of a strong economy and a large book of repeat clients, I've very excited about the future and am finally realizing this is what I'm meant to be doing.

I get the most joy out of doing great smaller systems (10-20k) media rooms where we're in and out in a day or so and in turn I can afford to add a few extra touches and/or surprises for the client that they were not expecting; making the experience that much better for them. A little IR controlled dimmer, a custom iPad holder or a basic rack trimmed out to look clean even though it wasn't in 'their' budget.

My ego says give me the 6 figure projects, so we don't have to work as hard...but the reality is unless it's the 'right' 6 figure project it's just not worth the hassle or risk.

The Silicone Valley is the sternum.

Found while at lunch:

From reddit,

Today I Learned that Don McLean was asked to explain what the song 'American Pie' meant. He responded with, "It means I'll never have to work again."

Last edited by Ernie Gilman on March 27, 2015 06:54.

That is AWESOME!! You always want the luxury of never HAVING to work again.

I still get a kick out of the big jobs, I just ordered a couple 100k of product yesterday for a project. But I also get a kick out of the smaller Sonos type projects as well.

At the end of the day I enjoy what I do, but it is not who I am. I rarely post anything about work in the "what I did today" thread anymore. Snowboarding, hiking, mountain bike riding, and sitting on the deck watching the river go by are way more important to me at this stage of my life.

As long as I am in a position to ride on Saturday I don't really care what I had to do M-F to put me in that position.

I think he was referring to Van Nuys.

You haven't been to Van Nuys for quite a while, I'd say. Think Canoga Park, and even that has been on the way out for a few years.