Then, I got a call from a friend of mine who is working to find me work, with a short training opportunity for my old company. It's nice to make them pay through the nose for my services. Somehow, I feel like I should have left them years ago, with the idea that if they had any assignments for me that they could pay a contract rate for me. It would have saved them lots of time and me lots of aggravation, and given me the chance to build a consulting practice on my own.
If you get a chance and are so inclined, there's a great book out there by Dan Pink, who was a speechwriter for Al Gore. Called Free Agent Nation: The Future Of Working For Yourself, it discusses how more people are starting to opt for self-employment, networking with one another to get things done, and how many of the things that have been mainstays of life in the United States (employer paid health benefits, Social Security, etc.) are beginning to show their age and becoming less appropriate as a result. It's an interesting analysis regardless of your political leanings, well written and food for thought as we move forward. He also has a website, freeagentnation.com where he publishes many of his articles. He's a great writer, and has a lot of great ideas.