Comments on: A useful hobby ain’t no hobby

By: mandarine » Blog Archive » Giving you fives

mandarine » Blog Archive » Giving you fives — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:55:45 +0000

[…] mankind, but now I have decided to keep my fun (and mildly harmless) job, and save the world on my free time, like most superpeople […]

By: mandarine » Blog Archive » Sunrise on the hilltop, with my son.

mandarine » Blog Archive » Sunrise on the hilltop, with my son. — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:03:27 +0000

[…] moments I cherish About working part-time A recent article on life […]

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 09:37:31 +0000

You are definitely right, but then under your definition, my main job would qualify as a hobby (i.e. I enjoy it very much and I often do more than strictly needed). I certainly would not want my employer to discover that I consider my job as a hobby

By: healingmagichands

healingmagichands — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 05:21:48 +0000

I don’t totally agree with you that something you do that is useful can not be a hobby. Just because you grow your vegetables and eat them does not mean your gardening is not a hobby. I believe that hobby is something that you do that you love. Yes, gardening brings a benefit. I don’t really know about where you live, but I am sure that you could find good fresh food to eat that was not junk food without having a garden. I have vegetable and flower gardens here. I find they take a lot of time, and I could just go to the store and buy vegetables. By the time I count the value of the time spent in the garden, my produce is pretty darned expensive. But I keep growing because I love the process just as much as the product. That makes it more than just a job, it is a hobby as well. But perhaps my definition of hobby is not as strict as yours.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:40:29 +0000

Congratulations Benoit. To be more accurate, the exact spot is Tregastel, the name of the squarish rock in the background is ‘le dÃ©’ (the dice). You have won the special prize — just give me a couple of days to figure out what it is
I confirm that the psychological step is a bit hard, but I have not taken the giant’s leap of quitting my job altogether (yet ?). As for the right choice, I am convinced it is right for me and my family, but I cannot tell about others.

By: Benoit

Benoit — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:21:19 +0000

Interesting analysis.
To be fair you should add some extra hours commuting - even if they can be considered as ‘not lost’ time.

What I find interesting is that you came to the conclusion that you were trying to reach the life style that so many people are willing to quit… but nevertheless, it is really challenging life that you have chosen, and quite attractive indeed. Congratulations!
Do you confirm that the first step is the hardest (psycho) and then all events may combine together so that you can only be more and more convinced of having done ‘the right choice’… but that must be a terrifying experience to be the only ones to have made the right choice.

concerning the special prize, I vote for northern brittany rocky shores, in the vicinity of Roscof. this is called in french the ‘cote de granite rose’…

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 05:24:23 +0000

Maria: I managed the pay-cut part gradually, starting by not choosing the best-paid field (aerospace attracts so many fine engineer, no need to pay them, right ? whereas banking is so boring you have to pay guys millions — at least that’s what I pretend to believe). Then I chose part-time bit-by-bit: by converting my yearly bonus in vacation (this is pretty much painless), then by choosing 90% part-time (I computed that with the raises I had got, it was just a matter of going back 3 to 4 years in time, no big deal). I’ll probably go to 80% sooner or later, or telecommute when my boss is ready.

Lorelle: I am afraid the prize I am mentioning will not cover the expenses of going to Brittany, especially if you have to walk the so many miles of seashore. But yes, for one who likes marine landscapes, Brittany and Corsica are probably the two finest spots France has on display.

By: Lorelle

Lorelle — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 22:50:16 +0000

As usual, excellent. I’m enthralled with your analysis of how much time you have, free and otherwise. What a brilliant way to look at it, and a good point about how you spend it.

As a note, the “alt” tag in images doesn’t show in Firefox browsers, though it still has to be there. A “title” tag, which you can add if you add these manually, will appear in Firefox. Just a strange quirk in the program I find troublesome, but I will not go back to IE.
And great challenge by the way. Northern Brittany is on my list of wannagoes-but-haven’ts. You got me itching again!

By: Maria

Maria — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 21:37:45 +0000

Well, this explains your response to my notion of heaven.

Like you, I once also made the decision to seek a more personally fulfilling life, and this meant taking a huge pay cut. I don’t regret it for a minute: I now work doing what I love, and somehow things have worked out to let me freelance and be master and commander of my own time. I don’t need to be filthy rich… Much prefer to be happy and make a living doing what I love.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:38:59 +0000

If you let the mouse linger over the the picture, you should see ‘Brittany rocks’: I took this picture in late august while on vacation in Northern Brittany. Except for the weather, Brittany rocked.

I will have a special prize for the reader who can pinpoint the exact spot.