What I do now

I mentioned recently that, having publicly trashed my previous career, I'd be posting soon about what I do do for work.  The short answer is:  I take care of our second-born.  It is the hardest work I have ever done, I don't get sick days, and no, I'm not made of castiron [sic]:

"What has happened?" the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby-carriage along the sidewalk.

"Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well," replied the man; "and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City."

"Hm!" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?"

"I really do not know" replied the man, with a deep sigh. "Perhaps the women are made of castiron."

- L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz

Deep sigh indeed.  (Not that taking care of GM is without its rewards:  I had a decent nap and a more than decent lunch today, neither of which most offices afford.)  But that's only the short answer.

Since returning to the US I've had at best two days per week to do "other" work.  Previous to GM's birth and for some time thereafter I used these precious hours mostly to think about what it was I might like to do for work.  My goal was, and remains, to settle upon something that holds my attention but which does not drag me out of town on a regular, or at least not a frequent, basis.  Along the way I developed what feels like a sincere and sustained interest in "self tracking," as previously blogged.

Since then I've toyed with a variety of approaches to the self tracking question, none of which shows much promise of becoming a profitable endeavor anytime soon.  And since my interest in these matters, however strong, does not equal my dislike of being involved in commercially focused startups (my last one having ended, in my opinion, unhappily, though not unprofitably, earlier this year--yes, I confess I was effectively employed for part of this year, despite what I said above), I've had to put some thought into what else I might like to do along the way.

I was advised, soon after leaving my former consulting career, not to throw the baby out with the bankwater, and there were things I liked about working with those big dumb FIs, and about the sorts of problems those clients offered (even if they didn't care about the solutions).  This, combined with the paucity of actual jobs (as opposed to consulting gigs) available within a reasonable (by my definition) commute of my home, has turned my attention back in that direction, and I believe I have found a niche that retains most of the interest without (hope hope hope) quite so much of the BS of my previous career, namely "big data" consulting.

Big data.  Sounds kind of cool, doesn't it?  It isn't, very, but it could be one day.  In the proverbial and, I recognize, for me hackneyed nutshell, big data refers to the enormous warehouses full of data that many organizations are and have been collecting for years now.  It refers, too, to the potential insights it is believed those warehoused piles could reveal, if only the data could be massaged correctly, if only we knew how and what to ask.  We don't, but perhaps big data consultants do?  Of course we do.

So I've signed a consulting agreement with a shop that specializes in this sort of work and am pleased to report that I have my first project, an actual paying gig, assisting a software company that, happily enough, is located in Central Europe.  No commuting, good rates, interesting work, and a content area I am intent on exploring anyway (since, after all, self tracking boils down to making big data out of small).  I suppose I shouldn't rush to retitle myself, not until I've seen if this sticks, but it's a good start.  Good, but small:  not full time work this, which leaves some days still for the heavy lifting that raising GM entails.

P.S.  Thanks to Reader #2 for making me promise to include pictures with my posts.