I've been away for a while, and just saw that this thread is back again, having been refreshed just a couple of weeks ago on Feb 17. I was horrified to learn that Pauline has remained unemployed all this time, but then felt much better after learning that the interview from hell may actually have led to a "consultancy," which might well be better than a regular "job" ~ if, that is, it provides health insurance.

Among the many things I lost to Katrina was my technical-writing job of 11+ years. I didn't enjoy it very much, and I am glad to be collecting unemployment at the moment, while using all my energy to rehab my house. However, I'm a little nervous about not having health insurance coverage. I don't have any immediate medical problems, but I am 58 years old, and I went through two expensive health crises not too long ago ~ kidney stones in '03, cancer in '04.

My ex-employer kept me on their health insurance for a few months after I had left, as long as they could, but when they could no longer carry me, my only option for health coverage was COBRA ~ at over eleven hundred dollars per month! No way ~ I'm rolling the dice and betting I don't get sick again until I'm ready to go back to work.

I figure the best I can hope for when I reenter the job market might be a low-level job with a big corporation, like maybe Home Depot or Lowe's (businesses I'm patronizing pretty regularly these days) or even, God forbid, McDonald's or Wal*Mart. The level of pay almost doesn't matter, as long as decent health insurance is available. Six and a half more years and I will turn 65 and qualify for Medicare, and then I'll have much better options. I'll probably never be able to afford complete retirement, but it'll be better when I'm able to accept employment at a wider range of jobs, including freelance and small-biz situations where insurance benefits are unavailable.

By the way, anyone reading this who is ambitious, young and strong, and/or creative and entrepreneurial: There is a lot of opportunity in New Orleans right now in the fields of construction, renovation, real-estate speculation, etc. It's impossible to describe, even to comprehend, just how much everything here is up for grabs. Nobody knows what will happen next, least of all anyone in government. There has to be a port city here at the mouth of the Mississippi, and New Orleans will definitely be reborn in some shape or form. Some people ~ those who make the right guesses and who have the wherewithal to gamble on a few risky investments ~ are going to get rich, and they'll each carry a number of associates and employees along on their coattails. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a winner with whom to catch a ride...