I'll call them Bradley and Rivka. They are the parents of a guy I know in the local community (I'll call him Ben), and the live in a remote area on the outskirts of Portland, up in the hills. Bradley is somewhat secretive about his home, so I won't be more specific than that. I will just call their place the Undisclosed Location.
They are lifelong homesteaders, now both in their 70s. She has published a couple of books of memoirs of their life in rural Idaho. He is an entrepreneur and owns a number of businesses connected with the aviation industry.
They contacted me looking for someone to live on-site and help out. Basically someone to do the physical tasks they're no longer able to do, provide some level of maintenance and security, and to be on hand should one of them have an urgent medical matter. I hesitated at first (conventional wisdom cautions against taking jobs with family and/or friends), but with my situation being what it is, I decided to give it consideration. Plus, if it goes well, it would be a good entry on my resume and references. So today I took a drive up to the Undisclosed Location.
The view is stunning. If I were to take the job, I'd be living on-site, sleeping at the neighboring house (which Bradley also owns). He told me I'd be free to take a day job in the city and commute (the drive is a little tricky, but not impossible), or he might be able to find me daytime work in his business - he says he employs a number of admin and IT staff.
I told him I'd have to take some time to think about it. I'll need to get some more specifics on compensation, duties, expectations, etc. But it could be an interesting change of pace - and a chance to save a little money, and perhaps get away from the city for a while.
