“Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts”    :Magnum P.I.

We were planning on getting a sailboat to live-aboard. It’s something I’d wanted to do since the Navy dust had been shaken off. I always liked being at sea, but wasn’t too keen on the whole military thing. Then last summer we had a chance to go on a vacation and stayed on a small boat on the Chesapeake Bay via AirBnB. We didn’t even leave the dock, but there was something about it. And being around other people who were living aboard at least part of the year that somehow made the whole thing a little more plausible. The other boaters were friendly to the point that even as weekend renters we could see that there was a community lurking beneath the surface.

I distinctly remember saying,  “This wouldn’t be a bad way to live” and getting a mild agreement that suggests ambivalence. By Fall of 2016 there were actual discussions of Leaving New Orleans for the D.C. Area where I could try and get on with GSA for a couple of years to save up money for a boat. As a veteran, my odds seemed pretty good. But then, you know, there was that election you may have heard a little something about and the plan suddenly seemed much less reasonable. Politics aside, a massive hiring freeze was issued. I personally knew people who’d been hired but had to wait for the freeze to be lifted before they could actually start. At the time of this writing, they’re still waiting.

This required a new plan, so Autumn started watching for opportunities that might work given our limited resources (i.e. money). It didn’t take long for her to find a winner. As a family where both incomes are from Entrepreneurs, money is not a constant. But the advantage is that time is more flexible. It is time that is the asset that we’ve earned for ourselves that we’re utilizing, and time makes all the difference.