New job

I started my new job yesterday. Sorry I didn't post an update but when I got home I was exhausted. I'd only gotten 3 hours of sleep Sunday night. It was so hot I couldn't get comfortable. It's a miracle that I didn't fall asleep at my desk.

The job is great. I like what they have me doing but I'm beginning to question my decision to take this position. I don't work for the company. I work for the agency who was contracted to fill the position. I've never done contracting before and if the economy wasn't this bad I wouldn't be doing it now. I've always only looked for permanent positions and I don't know anyone who has been contracted for more than a few months before either being hired by the company or let go. The guy upstairs did a 3 month contract and at the end of his 3 months he was unemployed again. My friends husband was hired for a 6 month contract and in his 5th month he was hired perm. THAT was what I was expecting to happen here.

Yesterday I found out that 90% of the people working for this company are contracted employees. They just keep renewing their contracts. One guy has been there almost 6 years on contract. At first I thought "that's great!" then on the way home I realized some stuff. Contract work isn't all that great.


The company is closed for the week between Christmas and New Years. I wont be working because they're closed. I also wont be getting paid because I'm not working. There are zero holidays, zero sick days, zero PTO days. If I'm hired by the company they have 12 holidays and a full week in December but since I'm working for the agency I get nothing and this company doesn't ever hire anybody.

What happens if (God forbid) I get sick? Swine Flu is a global pandemic. What if I (God forbid) catch it and have to miss a week of work? I cant afford to not get paid. My back still isn't fixed. What if I need more surgery down the road? Who pays my rent, food and bills while I'm in the hospital? And then there's the health insurance.

I took this job hoping to be hired perm at the end of my 6 months. I didn't think much about the insurance. I was offered health insurance but the agency doesn't offer family coverage. They only offer coverage for the employee and I have to pay 25% of the premium. When I got laid off from my last job I applied for NJ Family care. It's a state sponsored HMO for low income people without health insurance. 3 kids and my unemployment check qualified me as low income so my kids were approved, but you have to re qualify every year. If they renew my contract my kids will lose their insurance. I make too much money to stay on the familycare and the agency doesn't offer coverage for them. What happens then?

I have to think about these things. I cant afford not to. Sure the pay is good but it's not SO good that I'll be able to bank half of my paycheck in case of emergency. It's not SO good that I can afford personal health insurance for my kids. It's not like I can put them on their fathers plan. He's spent the past 15 years working off the books to avoid child support so you know the jerk doesn't have a health plan at his job. 129k in arrears. Every time I think about it my blood boils.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I wish my life wasn't always this hard.

I learned a few other things too. I learned that my pain level is in direct proportion to my appetite. The more pain I am in, the more food I need to eat. I hurt my back pretty bad on Saturday. I was walking the dog and bent down to pick up after her. I must've twisted in a bad way or something because I was in excruciating pain all day Saturday and on Sunday. Then, walking around at work on Monday made it worse. I was too tired to eat yesterday but OMG did I need food on Sunday. I figured it was what my body needed so I indulged that need but I tried to make the foods that I ate healthy. I didn't dive into a cheesecake but boy did I want to!