It was about this time last year when I got a call informing me that (redacted) could no longer use me as an independent contractor. I had worked for the person breaking this news to me for years and while he acknowledged I did good work and that he had asked to keep me on; the decision was made above him. It seems some things I had written did not sit well with the person controlling the purse strings. With that I was out of a job that I enjoyed and no longer working for someone I admired and working with people I was always happy to spend time with.