racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I almost avoided the call yesterday, as I’d been avoiding calls from people not on my phone’s contact list lately (I think readers took my Stalk Me! feature on ForeverGeek much too seriously; and I think I might still owe some people money ). Fortunately for me–and my caller, perhaps–I texted to say I was busy and could only receive SMS. My correspondent texted back, and she turned out to be Ms. Monique Lachica, news desk editor for one of the country’s largest networks, ABS-CBN. They were looking for someone to interview for a fathers’ day special, and stumbled upon my blog. They thought I would be the ideal one, due to my, umm, alternative lifestyle/set-up.

The Work-At-Home Dad

No, I’m not gay, you blockhead! I’m a dad and I work from home. Now that’s not very common for guys, especially men my age. While everyone else is climbing up corporate ladders with some multinational company or bank, I chose to, well, build my own ladders. While many of my classmates are finishing their postgraduate studies here or abroad, I’ve put a hold on my own (much like Sergey Brinn and Larry Page?). Why? I chose to pursue a career and a business that would allow me to be closer to my family.

So I left the full-time corporate grind many moons back, and I now work from anywhere I can connect to the ‘net. It’s a remote-working / telecommuting arrangement of sorts, which also gives me room to be more creative (for me it’s difficult to create when in a very very stressful and pressured environment). Then, of course there are the great projects (Go-Ogle, Isulong SEOPH and other great stuff I’m doing with great people)–some of which I earn from, others I do for fun or because of passion!

Plus, I earn a heck of a lot more.

I remember my own dad tried a similar set-up when I was a bit younger, but things did not turn out to be as good as what I’m experiencing now. Things were different back then–businesses and enterprises were not as connected as they are today, so management and coordination were more difficult. And I deal with knowledge and content, and not bulky, concrete stuff that was fashionable back then, which can be very, very expensive and very, very risky. Anyway, I credit it to a bit of luck that I’m doing what I’m doing now (and of course, mostly to effort on my part and that of my colleagues, correspondents, and partners).

The Interview

So back to the interview, the good fellows over at ABS-CBN thought of interviewing a dad who stayed at home to take care of the kids while also making a living at the same time. You see, staying at home to attend to domestic matters is a very difficult and daunting task–ask any housewife homemaker about that and I doubt they’ll give a different answer. I’m not too good at it at times, actually, and that’s where shared responsibility comes in handy. Add to that the need to work and earn, and you’ve got yourself an interesting situation, which I get to pull off well, nonetheless.

When? Where?

I’ve still to meet with my interviewer, Mr. Willard Cheng, who works the field for ABS-CBN’s various news programmes. We’re set to talk this evening at one of my safehouses in Quezon City (he’ll be blindfolded and led to walk in circles before reaching me–just a standard measure I ask my visitors to undergo, to guard against stalkers. Really.).

So I hope you catch the programme later tonight. If you’re in the Philippines, the interview will be aired on Insider, which usually comes out about 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. on Channel 2. If you’re abroad, it would likely be telecast also on TFC (likely a delayed telecast).

As for me, I’m pretty nervous!

Update: Insider is set to air about 11:30 p.m. tonight. There’s a trend for news programmes being pushed later into the evening because of the evening telenovelas (and these days there’s no definite schedule for shows)! Talk about prime time.

Update: An online copy of the video may be viewed here.