KeithBC wrote:I think that the community we live in may be an exceptional one, but I wonder if others find the same thing. Anyone else busier living the "good life" than they were in the rat race?
I used to do an 80-hour week for a high salary—it would be into six figures today without allowing for promotions. On the croft, I work in excess of 100 hours a week for less than the UK minimum wage. (Actually, less than the UK tax allowance.)
By far the biggest drawback to what I do now is dealing with customers who have the consumer mindset firmly entrenched in their heads. We're required to give them precisely what they want precisely when they want it at prices akin to those of Chinese-made supermarket jeans. Our "failure" to deliver this results in tirades of abuse. It's not all customers, but it is now a majority. It's a necessary evil as we need the income but, while some individuals are great, I loathe customer relations overall.
The other drawback is that I haven't had a holiday in 10 years. A change in scene and workload would be nice every few years.
On the plus side, I don't have to commute to work. I'm my own boss. I don't have inexperienced fast-tracked bosses telling me how to do the job in a totally nonsensical way. I can tell abusive customers to piss off. I work outside. I work with animals. I have no office politics to deal with. I see our children much, much more. Allowing for the seasons and emergencies, I can do the jobs I want when I want. I can do jobs to my standards and if that means taking more time, I can. I don't have to do a less good job because the accountants say a good job is not cost effective. I don't have to go to the city more than once a year.
And best of all I have time to do all sorts of interesting stuff because they're part of the "job". If I want to make a door, I can. If I want to make sausages, I can. If I want to build a wall from rubble and lime mortar, I can. If I want to cook dinner over an open fire, I can. If I want to make prodigious amounts of cider, I can. If I want to dissect a dead chicken, I can. If I want to build improvised structures from logs, poles and rope, I can. If I want to mow the field inefficiently with a scythe, I can. If I want strip down and rebuild a 1950s Lister engine, I can. If I want to delve into pig genetics, I can. If I want to get into soil chemistry, I can. Crofting is a paradise for an inquisitive tinkerer and experimenter.
). And that's in addition to being on the volunteer fire department. I've had to quit one board just to avoid burning out, and I've stopped doing computer consulting because it doesn't pay well enough to be worth the time it takes up.
(thanks)
