From: smith@ur-guh.com (Russ Smith)
Subject: Making $6000/month, once per year.
Reply-To: e3urcs@fnma.COM
Organization: Ur-Guh Complex Inc.
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 15:05:11 GMT

To make $6000 in a month, net, requires about $38/hour for an 8 hour
day.

$38/hour is a ho-hum-to-okay wage for an hourly techie contractor,
especially one who purports to have a PhD in math (the existence of
which may be better hidden than revealed). Since the total desired
income for the year is $6000 one doesn't have to earn tax money except
for Social Security (without SS $35 would do). By decreasing your rate
you greatly improve your chances of finding work.

An 8 hour day 'cause that's what the client wants.

Period.

You want to work something other than that then you probably also cut
out, say, 90% of your potential money sources. Working in a field on
something -you- like probably cuts out about 99% of the potential
money sources.  Neither of these two remaining sets is totally
contained in the other but by doing what -you- want and not what the
client wants you reduce your potential money sources to a -very- small
number. Thus you need to firmly decide on whether this bump in the
curve of your life's path is worth a bump in your philosophical
outlook on that path or not.

If not, you are statistically guaranteed a lengthy search (which
should be included in the time one counts as "work for a month
for $6000" unless one considers the search an enjoyable non-work
pasttime).

If yes, read on.

To minimize your own footwork (and thus not impact the one month total
time to be dedicated to this distasteful necessity) you use bodyshops
to find your work for you. Use as many as you can find in the paper.
Write up your resume to match their needs, not your own. Indeed, tell
them that you can do ANYTHING that they suggest they need (and, given
some of the words you've written in your posts as well as the
capabilities of some of the contractors I've seen during some
assignments, you should be able to more than adequately perform any
such work for the required length of time). Agree to any work of -any-
length of time as long as it meets your $6000 target in income.

Work until said income, corrected for taxes and any other involuntary
deductions, is attained.

Then quit.

Cross off that client for 5-10 years and that bodyshop for at least a
month or two (clients remember, bodyshops salivate at selling bodies).
If you've been flexible and not totally reduced your potential money
sources "to the limit", then there should be plenty more bodyshops and
potential clients left.

Next year, do the same thing.

This technique should work just fine for quite a number of years,
certainly until your philosophical outlook on life changes.

                                 :-|

You also may want to contact the Free Software Foundation (right there
in your town, at your school, and in your lab).  Though these folks
don't have -your- philosophy they are sufficiently non-mainstream in
many ways that they may have the right connections to indirectly point
you toward clients fitting -your- needs.  [actually, this is probably
a much better "solution" than the semi-facetious one given above --
"networking" is one of the very best ways to get interesting work].

Good luck in your search,

Russ <Smith@ur-guh.com>

Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc