Being a contractor has some advantages.  You get paid hourly, and usually make more per hour than your Full-time cubicle neighbor.  You usually don’t get grief for sick days or vacation because, well, they don’t have to pay you for them, and when you work overtime, you actually get paid for it.  It’s a great equation : hours at desk = money in bank.

It does have some down sides.  For one – lack of paid vacation or sick time does show up pretty prominently if you’re not at that desk.  For another, even though it’s fairly rare, you do meet the occasional person who thinks of contractors as second class citizens.

I’ve been told to take a week off and that, in a week, they may or may not know whether they want me back.   It all depends on the budget; we’re losing a large chunk of ours and we’re not sure there’s space left in the remaining budget to support me.

I suppose I should be grateful for the “we might want you back” aspect of the thing, but on the other hand it’s really frustrating to be sitting at home trying to decide if I should be filing for unemployment or not.

I’m also not sure if this is just an attempt to get me to leave without being told to.  My boss seems to have an issue with employee dismissals – she prefers to be elsewhere when they happen.  She was “out of town” Friday, much like she was “out of town” the last time someone got a call from an HR person telling them, thanks, but don’t come in anymore.

grouse, grouse, rant, rant