[rescue] Re: Unemployment on the Rescue List

[Shannon]

On Fri, Sep 26, 2003 at 11:15:51AM -0500, nimitz at ns1.nimitzbrood.com wrote:

> >On Fri, Sep 26, 2003 at 09:33.07AM -0500, Shannon wrote:
> >> The problem for a lot of us is that is the only skill we have that will
> >> pay the bills.
> 
> 
> No offense but I've been doing I/T work for about a decade and a half and
> I'm finding a way to move on.  Don't let skills be a stopper for you.
> There's always a way.  For instance if you live in CA there is better
> funding, from what I hear, for you to go back to school for something else.
> In my case the county job training people are helping me find funding for
> things "in a growth industry".

Even free training costs you money.  

Retraining me in anything substantial will take 6-months to a year,
which is time I don't have.

It's called a catch-22.

There are actually plenty of IT jobs, but the HR departments suck, and
too many of them require a security clearance.

On the bright side, the number of calls I am getting now from recruiters
and IT shops is increasing.

Several companies that went to India are now regretting the decision.
One company found their costs have skyrocketed due to problems in
dealing with the foreign workers, and the decrease in quality of work.

Several of us are circling like vultures due to rumors that they are
going to kick the offshore people out soon.

I'd love to see this become a trend.

> Keep looking - there are always solutions.  

No, actually there aren't always solutions. No is sometimes true.
Sometimes you can't. There really are monsters.

> Pair up with someone 

Heh... my expenses are lower alone. I am more willing to run lean than
anyone I know. Even when I am making good money I'm like that. That's
the only reason I'm not on the street now.

It's hard to get roommates to save money. Most people don't think too
far ahead I've found.

> or get a renter on the sly. 

I can't parse that about sly renting.

> Rescue and sell used equipment on E-pay, not the best solution in the
> world but it's workable.

Most of us around here are already freelancing. The eBay sales have been
sporadic at best for all of us, with a buddy of mine making out the
best. He bought a set of Crays, and sold the HIPPI cards in one of them
for more than the whole lot cost him.

It takes money to do the buy/sell thing too.

I have about $250 in my eBay war-chest right now.

I suppose I have made enough this year to pay the phone bill, so that's
at least something.

3-5 years ago around here, you could make your living doing freelancing,
and several people quit their job altogether. But for the last 2 years,
its just been really dry. Consultants/freelancers are one of the first
things businesses around here cut back on in hard times.

Several of us are working on some plans, and have even bid together
on contracts.  Just no luck so far.

The thinking is that bidding together on jobs, even if it isn't enough
work for the whole group, will give us a greater chance against the well
entrenched old-guard contractors.

Another effort is trying to convince timid businesses that they need to
be moving in bad times, not sitting still. There is work out there if
we could just get the owners to stop cowering and start doing business.
Of course, I understand the "batten down the hatches" mentality, but it
rarely works long-term.

> Three to a house isn't all that bad if the house is big enough. It may
> hurt but you _can_ run less computers and reduce your electric bill
> and conserve more. I have to do that now.

I have a Sun SS5 and a PC running. Turning off the SS5 means running the
PC harder, which uses more power.

I'd actually *increase* power consumption by getting rid of a computer.

Besides, according to the meter, they only eat about $10-20 a month.

> I'm thinking there's your extra money - do re-wiring work for businesses.

Yeah, I might make enough to pay my bail after I'm arrested for doing
work without a license! :)

A friend of mine got his HVAC license last year. He knows he's losing
his job soon, so he spent the money on training while he was working.

He'll start out as an apprentice, and that will pay half of his
expenses. He still hasn't figured out how to pay the rest. The idea is
to try and get them to bump up his "rank" as fast as possible, before he
runs out of money.

Hell of a plan!

I've always wanted to learn about electrical systems, so I've looked
into becoming an apprentice. It won't pay the bills for me, but it
might keep me afloat until something better comes along.

> Offer to set up their I/T backbone again for a small fee.

Some of us have been looking into that, but the people are in such dire
straits, most of the work so far has been done for free. I've done some
of that myself this year. They clients just don't have any money, so its
mostly a matter of keeping in touch, networking, and having some work to
put on the resume for the idle times.

As far as IT backbones and the like goes, most are simply without power,
so they don't need any work like that. The rest of physical damage that
will require weeks or months of work before they start working on a
backbone, server, etc.

We are, of course, circling like vultures.

> It's the one things that keeps me from offing myself on a regular
> basis - 

How can you off yourself more than once?





-- 
UNIX/Perl/C/Pizza__________________________________shannon at widomaker.com