Bless you and your family! The economy IS recovering. Networking is basic communication; communication is commerce; and commerce unites everyone in a market and creates prosperity. We Americans do business better and more efficiently than anyone in world history. Your skillset is valuable to this effort, and your resolve will bring great rewards to you and your family. Why not? This is America, dammit!!! Hang in there ... I know a LOT of folks in the high tech bidness and everything is looking up. The recession was in July 00 - August 01, and everyone who's out pounding the sidewalk understands that. The WTC attack just delayed the rebirth for 6 months or so. We're out of the rapids, believe me.
We shouldn't be here in the first place. An incredibly greedy and dishonest dotcom scam was perpetrated on American workers and investors by a elite cadre of pump and dump IPO houses, 401K fund managers and (IMO) disreputable business executives. Most were supporters of Bill Clinton, if I recall. The attack on Microsoft by the Clinton Justice Department was the payoff for all the support the Hambrechts and Adobes and blah blah gave Bubba in his 96 re-election. The destruction of NASDAQ can be EXACTLY traced to the day that Joel Klein and that idiot senile judge ruled against Microsoft. EXACTLY. Look it up. NASDAQ was at or around 4200 at the time. Jim Barksdale and Scott MacNeally can kiss my ass.
re post #22: brilliant.