Changing my profession

It's strange to think that you can spend the majority of your working years doing the same thing, only to be pushed into a career change while the economy is at its worst. This current economy is making a lot of people rethink their lives and what makes them happy and what makes them a living.

The current economic situation has taken me from working in the computer industry, to working in the food service industry. I can't say that it didn't crossed my mind back in December/January. I was thinking about my future and had thought about going to culinary school, but instead I started my MCSE training. No one knew that it was the wrong decision.

I started out in 1993 by working for a custom computer company. They hired me to admin their BBS (BBS is like a forum - before the Internet) and I ended up building computers. This started my love for the computer world and working in it. I've spent the last 15 years in that business and have seen many changes, but have never seen the job market fall apart like it is currently doing.

So why hot dogs? Why not! I've always loved to eat hot dogs and really wanted to fly to Chicago or New York so I could buy one from a cart. I can usually got to my favorite hot dog place in Austin and eat 3 or 4. The wife doesn't like when I do that, but she doesn't mind if I make them at home.

So how does one start a hot dog business? Good question. We are still working thru all the bugs. We have the cart and a couple of the vendors lined up but need to get everything else worked out. I've received tons of advice from fellow vendors, friends, and other restaurateurs.

So, this is the short version of how I went from computer tech to hot dog vendor. I really don't want this to be a temporary stop between computer jobs, but a permanent career for me. We are starting with 1 cart and hopefully can expand as we go on. I'll post my progress and thoughts as I go thru the process.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, well wishes, or thoughts...please send me a note.