Actually, it's not all that expensive. I'm fairly cheap -- have had some
beautiful rows with Adam about that -- but here are some other reasons:
* The Chancellor's Fellowship is actually, to my surprise, 100% tax-free. So
my take-home salary, after summers fulltime, is about what it was at W3C/MIT.
(as opposed to a TA or RA, which are fee-for-service and hence income).
* Consulting does improve the top-line. The money taken in from writing and
speaking adds up to ~$150 a week. That's all gravy. MCI put a lot in the bank,
too.
* Traveling is actually profitable. Typical US per diem is $46/day, and that
funds most VOIDpost adventures.
* Housing is noise: $450 or so for a room and 10BaseT IP tone.
* The Bonneville is the major expense, at ~1000 miles/month, but it's mainly a
sunk cost (paid for out of sw money from undergrad)
* I admit, there's no college debt. That was the one plus of Caltech.
* I don't spend money on anything besides entertainment. No furniture, no
CD/book binges, no food in the refrigerator.
* Most of all, there isn't anyone in my life to spend it on. To say nothing of
the almost 600,000 miles languishing at UA.
Volunteers?
Rohit "Liquid" Khare