At What Cost

I have this new friend that I made a few weeks ago. He lives in
Chicago and is in town this week again. We have been going out this
week and having a blast. He keeps telling me to come visit him in
Chicago and I can stay at his place to keep my costs down. I'm
definitely going to take him up on his offer and visit Chicago
sometime in the next couple of months. Of course, he already has his
girlfriend's friends lined up for me to go out with while I'm there.
I don't know how well that will go over, but hey I'm an easy going
kind of guy.

Anyway, an important aspect of our conversations lately surround the
fact of starting a small consulting business together. We would only
do weekend work on the side and keep our normal jobs for the rest of
the week. The pay would be extremely good, but the catch would be the
traveling. We would be doing the on-site consulting to businesses all
over the country. He currently travels to other cities every week and
I would be doing the same. I would have to fly out on Friday evening
and return back the following Sunday. And the dates would not be
guaranteed either, so I would have to juggle my schedule with my
daughter.

So, the question remains... At what cost is this new business venture
worth regarding the quality time I spend with my daughter. I could
really, really use the increase in finances right now. I did not
truly understand how much of my ex-girlfriends finances I depended on
for daily living. At the same time, I very much value my daughter's
well being and I enjoy the amount of quality time we get to spend
together. This is not an easy decision to make. I will have to give
this a whole lot of thought.