I wonder if publishing my stories or selling a screenplay will feel or making any kind of money from my writing will feel as good as my corporate sucesses, four of which are listed below. And all of this achieved in a short 8 years of full time employment. I can't imagine what other successes I would have had if only I had started working fulltime earlier in my life.

1. 1992 - 1996 - my job at the insurance company where I got a 15% plus raise every year and a promotion, not to mention year end bonuses, stock options, cash awards, etc. Not bad for my second full time job.

2. 1997 - interviewed at a startup in a company located in Silicon Valley North and was offered a signing bonus in cash to join the company. God, I felt like a professional athlete when this happened. How cool is that when a company offers you cash on top of your salary to sign up with them.

3. Dec 1998 - interviewed at a transportation company in SF and at the end of the interview, my future boss says "name my price for my salary". Shocking! It's the kind of thing you dream of and when it happened I freaked and then low self esteem and integrity kicked and I lowballed myself. Next time I'll know better. Still, it was worth it just to hear that statement. Plus I had a corner cube with a view of downtown SF, Pac Bell Park and my own conference table with chairs.

4. fall 2000 - at my current job, I finally have every corporate drone's dream, my own office with a view of a stream and trees. There is nothing like having your own office and being able to shut the door so you can have private phone calls, play your tunes and listen to the radio.