4 ms·

Quote by Morgan Freeman from Shawshank Redemption. "These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you dep

by gexla 15y ago

Quote by Morgan Freeman from Shawshank Redemption. "These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized." I wonder if that's what's happening to people these days. They go through the institution of education through their youth, and then the institution of higher education. When they graduate they go through the institution of the job search and sending out resumes. People are told this is how things work all their lives. They saw their parents doing it and now they are doing the same thing. When the process starts to break down, they don't know what to do. In some cases people are shackled by the institution of home ownership (unable to move to the jobs.) As others are saying, contacts are highly important. My level is success is dependent on the size of my virtual rolodex. People need to get around the institution. Personally, I'm a freelancer living in a foreign country. Currently I'm living in a cozy house costing me less than $200 per month (third world tropical paradise!) I can move anywhere and work from anywhere. I get jobs, salaries, contracts and one-off quickies in the same industry and they are all the same to me. The only difference is in the payment model. I think everyone needs to start thinking like this. Don't be an employee looking for a job, be a business making the same sorts of decisions the other businesses are. You are offering a service and you need to be mobile in offerings and locations to survive.

grannyg00se 15y ago
Completely off topic, but you brought it up so I'm going to ask: How did you manage an entire house in paradise for $200 per month? Do you have access to decent food, in relative safety, and have a good reliable internet connection?
- gexla 15y ago
  I'm living in the Philippines. I feel very safe here. It's Asia, so the market for food here isn't as wide as the market for food in the U.S. For example, there are Germans here who have setup their own shops for food which I have never seen and has little demand from the locals. You will never see that sort of food in the grocery stores. The Philippines isn't known for it's food like Thailand is. Certainly food is a big part of happiness in life, but I'm happy here for the most part. There are some things I miss but there are American resto's which do a pretty good job of bridging the gap. In the largest cities here, you can find pretty much anything. My internet connection is reliable enough. I do have plans in place for problems which occasionally pop up, but my area is stable enough that it hosts a lot of BPO's (call centers.) Housing is relatively cheap here. The standards are also lower, but if you have lived in Asia for a while then you get used to the differences. I could get a nicer house for a lot more money but I'm content where I'm at and the price is right.
pstuart 15y ago
And how do your kids feel about this lifestyle?
- gexla 15y ago
  I don't have kids. My girlfriend has kids and they are locals. So they love it. ;)
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - pstuart 15y ago
    I was being snarky and trying to make a point -- that it appears to be a young person's sport that would not work for many in the world like myself: married, mortgaged, middle-aged, multiplied, minivan'd. edit: I wish I could do what your doing. In the meantime, I shall persevere in creating my solo startup in my "free time".
georgieporgie 15y ago
Personally, I'm a freelancer living in a foreign country. When I see this, I always ask: what technologies do you work with?
- gexla 15y ago
  Specifically, I'm a freelance web developer. Because of possible brownouts and internet outages I try to stay as mobile and flexible as possible. I want to even be able to pop into an internet cafe to get work done if needed. Of course I have my own systems, but I may not always be able to plug in to a power source with a laptop. OS: I build my work environment on Windows because if I need to grab a computer on the fly then it will be Windows. Storage: For "on the go" I have a USB stick with everything I need on it. Apps: On the drive I use portable apps because the package gives me access a lot of apps which have already been setup for portable usage without me having to research how to do this with all of them. Truecrypt: I have everything except for the Truecrypt exe file stored in a Truecrypt file which I mount as a drive letter I know won't typically be used. This keeps allows for my portable apps to be associated with a drive letter without having to change a bunch of config files (if needed.) Of course the encryption means that I don't have to worry about losing my USB stick. Super Flexible File Synchronizer: Also setup as portable and the only paid app that I use. This keeps my files synched between my USB stick, my Strongspace.com space and my other work stations. This also allows me to use the faster IO of local drives when I don't need to use the USB stick. It's easier to use on Windows than Rsync. SCM: Msysgit portable. Editor: Vim. IM / Voice: Skype Portable. Terminal: Putty Dev server: Accelerator from Joyent which runs Solaris. This is where all my development ends up. I don't do development locally unless I really have to (Xampp etc.) That's pretty much it. I try to keep it as simple and lean as possible. This makes syncs more bearable and I can copy my whole setup to other systems without taking up too much room. For example, a developer friend of mine has an office here decked out with workstations and he setup a space for me. I just use one of his stations and I copied my Truecrypt file to local storage. Then I fire up my sync app and fire away. If it gets accidentally deleted, no harm done. I love the idea of being able to pack my workstation anywhere I go. It goes along with the idea of travelling light so that I can stay highly mobile.
  - 15y ago

by gexla 15y ago

grannyg00se 15y ago

Completely off topic, but you brought it up so I'm going to ask: How did you manage an entire house in paradise for $200 per month? Do you have access to decent food, in relative safety, and have a good reliable internet connection?

gexla 15y ago
I'm living in the Philippines. I feel very safe here. It's Asia, so the market for food here isn't as wide as the market for food in the U.S. For example, there are Germans here who have setup their own shops for food which I have never seen and has little demand from the locals. You will never see that sort of food in the grocery stores. The Philippines isn't known for it's food like Thailand is. Certainly food is a big part of happiness in life, but I'm happy here for the most part. There are some things I miss but there are American resto's which do a pretty good job of bridging the gap. In the largest cities here, you can find pretty much anything. My internet connection is reliable enough. I do have plans in place for problems which occasionally pop up, but my area is stable enough that it hosts a lot of BPO's (call centers.) Housing is relatively cheap here. The standards are also lower, but if you have lived in Asia for a while then you get used to the differences. I could get a nicer house for a lot more money but I'm content where I'm at and the price is right.

pstuart 15y ago

And how do your kids feel about this lifestyle?

gexla 15y ago
I don't have kids. My girlfriend has kids and they are locals. So they love it. ;)
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- pstuart 15y ago
  I was being snarky and trying to make a point -- that it appears to be a young person's sport that would not work for many in the world like myself: married, mortgaged, middle-aged, multiplied, minivan'd. edit: I wish I could do what your doing. In the meantime, I shall persevere in creating my solo startup in my "free time".

georgieporgie 15y ago

Personally, I'm a freelancer living in a foreign country. When I see this, I always ask: what technologies do you work with?

gexla 15y ago
Specifically, I'm a freelance web developer. Because of possible brownouts and internet outages I try to stay as mobile and flexible as possible. I want to even be able to pop into an internet cafe to get work done if needed. Of course I have my own systems, but I may not always be able to plug in to a power source with a laptop. OS: I build my work environment on Windows because if I need to grab a computer on the fly then it will be Windows. Storage: For "on the go" I have a USB stick with everything I need on it. Apps: On the drive I use portable apps because the package gives me access a lot of apps which have already been setup for portable usage without me having to research how to do this with all of them. Truecrypt: I have everything except for the Truecrypt exe file stored in a Truecrypt file which I mount as a drive letter I know won't typically be used. This keeps allows for my portable apps to be associated with a drive letter without having to change a bunch of config files (if needed.) Of course the encryption means that I don't have to worry about losing my USB stick. Super Flexible File Synchronizer: Also setup as portable and the only paid app that I use. This keeps my files synched between my USB stick, my Strongspace.com space and my other work stations. This also allows me to use the faster IO of local drives when I don't need to use the USB stick. It's easier to use on Windows than Rsync. SCM: Msysgit portable. Editor: Vim. IM / Voice: Skype Portable. Terminal: Putty Dev server: Accelerator from Joyent which runs Solaris. This is where all my development ends up. I don't do development locally unless I really have to (Xampp etc.) That's pretty much it. I try to keep it as simple and lean as possible. This makes syncs more bearable and I can copy my whole setup to other systems without taking up too much room. For example, a developer friend of mine has an office here decked out with workstations and he setup a space for me. I just use one of his stations and I copied my Truecrypt file to local storage. Then I fire up my sync app and fire away. If it gets accidentally deleted, no harm done. I love the idea of being able to pack my workstation anywhere I go. It goes along with the idea of travelling light so that I can stay highly mobile.
- 15y ago