Jobs...

...today I was offered a nice job.  Salary & benefits, fancy title, nice office, nice staff.  But once again I've turned it down.  Trouble is it's one of those jobs I can do with my eyes closed and right now the Chairman is a friend.  How's he going to feel in six months when I'm bored and argumentative, refusing to work a full five day week till there's more to do?  He'll be pissed off is how he'll feel and I'll lose a good friend.  For money.

And though I need the money, Heaven knows, I think his friendship and occasional ongoing patronage as a client is worth more.  At least till the bills become insurmountable.

The trouble here is that it's hard to be a freelance in UAE.  There's no culture of paying for time or temporary project work by outside individuals.  You hire a company or you hire a staff member.  And it's only very recently that one can get a visa for what amounts to  freelance worker.  Till recently your only choice was to go on someone's payroll short term or go on their visa and lie.  Both of which happen all the time but the law is cracking down more often every week.  I don't fancy the jails here but worse is the subsequent deportation you risk.

So my plan now is to wait for a decent contract to come my way, clear my mounting debts and buy a freelance visa. 

Or find a difficult and challenging job.  Where the owners will give me time to learn and to do quality work.  Not hustle hustle and accept shoddy or half thought through stuff.  Been there - that's worse than the scenario we started with here!