I've been following this site for about a year and would like to officially introduce myself (hello).
I live in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn and work in IT for a financial company. I started my career as a receptionist and fell into programming. That morphed into management/business analysis. Here I am, three continents and a few years later, working on Wall St in a role I can't quite explain to people I meet in bars. I wanted to attend the ERE NYC meet-up, but felt I couldn't as I'd never posted here and as the last one was hosted in someone's home it might not be that "open" etc, hence the intro (I'll be at the next one).
I'm not quite sure about how ERE fits into my life (for me it would be ER as I'm 39) as I have no burning desire to do anything in particular with my time like everyone else here seems to, but I've had a general feeling of discontent for a few years that I haven't been able to pin down.
Finding this site has given me focus and helped solidify previously abstract ideas about how I want to live my life. Since finding Jacob's site I have been working hard at simplifying my life and breaking the "earning/consuming mindlessly" cycle that somehow became my life. I think that, mostly, I just want the freedom to have control over the decisions I make, which the ERE philosophy seems to give people.
My hobby is metalsmithing and I sell my work on the side. I am also fairly handy and am teaching myself upholstery and basic wood repair/finishing using furniture I find around my neighborhood. I started running in November '10 and completed my first marathon in Nov '11. So I guess I spent my time working, hitting stuff with hammers, picking up trash and running.
