I'm a free man. On Friday I cut all my ties to The Man and took a a pay cut larger than the median income in the United States, so it is something of a mixed bag. If I came in with a bang, I went out with a whimper. Four years. For four years I toiled away in the bowels of management consulting without ever really knowing why. But on Friday that all came to an end. I gave up my computer and I gave up my corporate credit card. What hurts most is giving up the people. In the four years I have worked for The Man I made many friends. Chances are I will not stay in touch with a quarter of them. That is just the way things go and it would be folly to convince yourself otherwise.