[PrincessB]

“Are You Better Off Now Than You Were 4 Years Ago?”

The only reason I am "better off" is that my car has managed to run well (Ford) and I quit spending as much in restaurants and on stuff. In the past two years I have taken on an additional duty and I LOVE the work. Outside of the poorly run unit at my company, I pretty much need to wait for someone else to retire or die to get the full time positions. And then I am competing with the good people in the poorly run unit. Prior to 2009, there was usually one of these positions open quarterly in my company and between the local "competitors" there was always one of these positions open.

[Nowhere Man]

The only reason I am "better off" is that my car has managed to run well (Ford) and I quit spending as much in restaurants and on stuff. In the past two years I have taken on an additional duty and I LOVE the work. Outside of the poorly run unit at my company, I pretty much need to wait for someone else to retire or die to get the full time positions. And then I am competing with the good people in the poorly run unit. Prior to 2009, there was usually one of these positions open quarterly in my company and between the local "competitors" there was always one of these positions open.

I'm not better off myself, maybe one exception. We had to cut back ourselves and I'm trying to pay off some debts down and get rid of them. There are nights I eat soup for dinner. I was better off in 2008. My exception, I did get a newer car, a 1999 Blazer, although my father had to help me a lot on that one. AS in some cases, it is better to bide some time in your job and wait until something bett4er comes along. I'm looking for a better job myself, at least I'm working so I'm not panicking, but it is very hard out there and we are generally doing better than most of the country here in the Pittsburgh area. We took our hits but we are oe of the few areas doing relatively OK.