Life on the Road for a Consulting Programmer

One weekday night about seven oclock, while I was (of course) still working my normal ten- hour billable day at my clients office, I got a phone call.

It was safe to talk because my cube mate had already gone home as had the other programmers in the surrounding cubes that were within hearing. The call was from a trusted business associate, who was offering me the possibility of a new consulting job. He said the job was a mere 60 or so miles away from my home, so I could commute to work rather than staying in a motel (as I was presently doing), that it paid more, and it was a long- term gig. It was very exciting work, he said, and the people were very nice, I would have a private office, and he was sure that, with my unbelievable skills and experience, I could handle it.

He was just a little vague about exactly what the consulting job entailed, but he said they really needed a person of my caliber right away, and did I want to start as soon as I could extricate myself from my current client? Ignoring the signals he was sending about how tough the job was, I said Yes.

So I bade fond farewell to the beautiful babbling waterfall in the lobby in the clients modern building and to my buddies and headed for my new exciting opportunity, anticipating soundly sleeping at home every work night. I was to sleep at home every night, but not exactly very soundly for some time.