-=> Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 13-May-2015 13:21 <=-

 NB>> Volunteering might serve the purpose of social interaction just fine...
 NB>> possibly even better than an entry-level job... especially if the job in
 NB>> your field gives you enough hours and pay to make it possible... :)
 DAG> Yeah I've done a couple of shifts at Free Geek here, which kind of
 DAG> ensures that I'll have things in common with the people that I'm
 DAG> meeting.  I'm setting up another one right now, since the last one
 DAG> didn't work out due to rescheduling that had to take place. 

That sounds like a good fit.  :)

 DAG> I was looking into some rehabilitation groups through the VA, too,
 DAG> but after an introductory session there, I think I'll just leave that
 DAG> to the people that need it a whole lot more. 

Those can have a focus that isn't necessarily what you need... although
that might be a possibility for socializing if you thought your input
might be helpful to others, even if you don't think you really need it.

 DAG> Regardless, with the hours
 DAG> going up on the contract work I should be able to have the liberty to
 DAG> choose what I'm doing fairly easily at this point. :) 

And that is a good thing... :)  Promising, too... :)

 NB>> I hear you.  Similar happening here, where there are so many people
 NB>> trying for even those jobs that it's by no means guaranteed that just
 NB>> because someone wants to work that they can get a job...
 DAG> There's only one other area where I spent a decent amount of time
 DAG> that had this kind of labor situation.  Well, actually it was a whole
 DAG> lot worse.  I was there for around 6 months and never did get any
 DAG> employment at all.  I don't know if the stats that I heard were correct
 DAG> but it was allegedly around 28% at that recession peak (before they
 DAG> started fudging the numbers) then.  It was in Yuma, AZ, as I've
 DAG> mentioned before, and people were fighting tooth & nail to hold onto
 DAG> fast food jobs or whatever else they could get.  In a situation like
 DAG> that I'm guessing that management gets pretty used to getting whatever
 DAG> they want, much like here.  It's all kind of foreign to me, when I'm
 DAG> used to a location where I can walk out and start searching and usually
 DAG> land something in less than a month or even two weeks.  They treat
 DAG> their people a lot better in that area, too, at least at the
 DAG> entry-level tier. 

True...  the dynamic changes some when one HAS to keep the job... vs
when one can walk and find something better...

 NB>> Definitely sounds promising... :)   Hope it truly pans out well...  :)
 DAG> Things are still looking promising on the contract labor front.  I'm
 DAG> getting held up a little bit by things outside of my control, but I'm
 DAG> chomping at the bit and the work is there to be done.  I've got high
 DAG> hopes.  :)  *thinks helplessly of the Pink Floyd song*

Or the Sinatra song... high apple-pie in the Sky-y-y-y hopes   
Whoops there goes another rubbertree plant... ;)   Things should work
out just fine... :)

 DAG>> I'll find something to do for the social situations.  I did have a
 DAG>> good date day before yesterday here.  :)
 NB>> :)
 DAG> Had a second one that went well yesterday, too!  Taking everything
 DAG> nice & slow, too.  Not going to get involved in a situation that's
 DAG> going to tear me up again if I can help it.  :)

Good for you.  :)

ttyl        neb

... I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.

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