I will be unemployed by June 13th. I can hardly wait (I currently am working a crappy retail/sales job at a not-too-local mall). In theory, my current job allows plenty of riding time, since it's less than 30 hours a week, but the schedule is not conducive to riding at regular times, or times I would like to ride.

I'm not expecting a huge jump in training time, nor am I very concerned about making ends meet, since I will be re-employed three weeks later, with much better pay in a city with significantly lower housing costs. I am truly one of the lucky ones.

I am reasonably well experienced in two different fields but for 10 months now I have been unable to find work in either of them. I am currently doing work I dislike, its difficult, mindless work (directional drilling; basically boring holes under highways and the like) It pays the bills, with a little bit to spare (mercifully).

The bitter part now is we don't have much work, and I could find myself with nothing any day now. We have about 2 days worth of work right now, not exactly job security.

This last year is the toughest time I have ever seen and as a result I have dedicated myself to my training and my body is responding to it beyond all my expectations.

Without cycling I would be in a room with rubber walls and doors that only open from the outside, it is my escape...my sanctuary, I am averaging 210 miles/week now with 13,000 feet of climbing.

nope- I've been reading too many of pcad's posts... and yes, I freely admit that I do talk to myself on occasion.

I am really encouraged by everyone that has found cycling to be a refuge. I feel guilty about riding my bike when I feel like I should be doing more productive things... but somehow running & swimming don't cause me that problem at all.

Ive been tired from work so being tired has effected bikeing ;not working is something ive never done;[wife and I

<raises hand>

Anyone need IT (Sales Engineer / Tech Lead) people in DC?

I've been riding a lot though, so that's good.. then again, I just started.

CONTINUE;wife and I have never drawn uninployment I think the reason is we liked the work we did./Kenneth

Hi Kronik//I would think some one who was an enginer of selling wouldnt be without a job long,here in Maine paper companies /L.L.Bean/ Tourism/ woud be my first looks//but work always came looking for me./Kenneth

10/4 RideCO/ Hello; most that is being written here is inspirering but my hats off to you mister/Kenneth

Just a suggestion ... you can use the Edit feature to fix your posts, like in this situation if you happen to hit Submit before you are ready.

THANKS Machka/;I wondered if there wasnt a way//Ill see if I can figure how./Kenneth

My semester finished up April 22 (non-traditional student). I have been looking for a summer job, but no luck yet. I have a decent chance at a summer job at USAir in the engineering department, but the background check is taking forever.

Been off since January with a serious recurrence of the radiculopathy in my back / legs.

Riding has been very therapeutic and is keeping me off the hard drugs and keep me a semblance of shape but other than this, my physical activity has been pretty limited.

unemployed for 6 years now, and that's after being cut from IT industry in 2001 needing to take a survival job with 1/5 the pay. So then I decide to go back to school while my wife has exceptional success with her career. Degrees in networking technology/computer forensics and a OpsMgt degree from ASU, I'm still unemployed one year efter graduation. Its just not worth going back to work making just enough to cover child care and missing out on the joy of parenthood. Yeah that's right, wages have been cut to ridiculous levels in all three of my fields. Do not worry, mommy works 6am-3pm and from home two days a week, she gets to spend plenty of time with them too. Would the extra income and piece of mind that comes with it be nice? You bet. But for now we are just fine. And yes, I ride plenty;tue & thur nighter and sat & sun morn.

Btw, my two oldest are in the pool as I type this with the baby sitting in my lap filling her diaper with a fury.

At the bottom of your posts there should be the words: "report this post to a moderator", "edit", "reply with quote" "quick reply" and "reply".

Type your post, submit ... notice something you want to change ... click "edit" and the composing screen will come up again, make your change, and submit. It's a very nice feature.

Has anyone here considered going the temp route? I've been in school on and off for the past 4.5 years, but when I have not been in school, I have worked as a temp.

When I first arrived here in Alberta in December, I wasn't scheduled to start school till September, so I signed up with 3 temp agencies. Temp agencies take people with a whole range of skills. Mine tend to be more office-related so I went through testing at all three agencies to rate my skill level with the Microsoft Office products and my typing speed.

Within a few weeks, I had a contract for a good paying job with a good company. That particular company rarely hires people directly ... they hire through a temp agency, and then after a number of years with the company, people can apply for permanent positions. So you'll rarely see ads in the newspaper or online for jobs with that company ... you've got to sign up with one of the two temp agencies that do the hiring for them to find out about jobs out there. And that company is not unique in that hiring method ... another company I did an internship with in Manitoba did the same thing. In the building where I worked, I think 90% of the employees were temps.

I started school, and the next summer, I decided I wanted to work with a different company so when I let my temp agents know that I was available, I told them I didn't want to work for the previous company again ... I wanted some variety. A day or two after my final exams, I was working for a very posh architectural firm in town ... that was a different experience for me ... but a good one.

The next time I needed work, I wanted to return to the first company and told my temp agents that ... and a few days after I was finished my semester, I was back working for that company again. I've been back there another time after that, and managed to arrange to work there part-time while I was in school ...... and was even offered a job again this summer, but I'm moving so I couldn't take it.

I love working for temp agencies. Once you've established yourself with them, you just fire off an updated resume and give them the dates you're available ... and they find a job for you. Plus you can decide when you want to work ... I have pretty consistantly taken 3 weeks to a month off in August over the past few years so I can travel and cycle ... and that's OK with them. I leave with no hard feeling because that's when my contract is up ... and I'm welcome back if something comes up again.

Even though I am finished school now and could attempt to get a full-time permanent position, I will definitely be considering continuing the temp route in some way or another. I just like the freedom and variety it provides.

I've applied for a few temp jobs, but still meeting the usual resistance.

You don't need anything that's been in storage for a year, much less five.

I'm self employed so when work is slow, as it's been lately, it means more saddle time for me.

No ... it's more complicated that you realize. You wouldn't understand unless you were in the situation ... but essentially, I've been living a very temporary life while I've been in school, living in furnished places, using other people's stuff. So I have to look at the stuff I put into storage, my own stuff, and think whether I used it in the 6 months prior to putting it in storage, and whether Rowan and I will want it as we set up our own home and embark on our life together.

If I had just put it all into storage because I had duplicates or something, of course I wouldn't need it and would just get rid of it, but that's not the case here.

I hope you're not suggesting that people drawing unemployment must not like their work enough.

I have recently got forced Fridays off (w/out pay... obviously)

Still have a job, and get to ride more. I'll take it!

Have no fear people! I went back to finish my bachelor's degree in 2007 and was unemployed from May 2007- December 2007. Just keep finding leads and sending resumes. I must have sent at least 100 resumes with cover letters before getting an interview. If you keep looking the work will come.

I've been unemployed since the end of February because my contract expired. I thought it would be great since I moved back up to the Bay Area and I love the weather up there. The weekend before I left for NorCal, I injured my knee and been activity-less since March. My knee is 80% recovered and I started riding again. Anyone know any good trails in San Jose? I also need to find a job. Been sending out resumes but no responses.

I just graduated college with a BS degree in geology, just in time for the natural gas drilling boom to end here in western Colorado.

What can a pigeon do that a geologist can't?
Make a deposit on a new car.
<insert other unemployed geologist jokes here>

I got a minor in GIS also and maybe I can find some sort of work in that field. I was a GIS intern for the BLM for the past year, but it ended when I graduated.

I may have some support work this summer with the BLM forest fire division, but it has been rainy so no fires.

Financial aid was very generous during my time in college, so I'm not panicked about finding work right away.

My mom has been visiting me the past couple of weeks so I haven't ridden much.

We are getting gear together to do a supported bike tour with several friends in southern Utah. It's a do it yourself supported tour with several people and a couple of vehicles.

i was let go (from a job where i cycled a lot), so my cycling has declined a good amount. don't have any cash coming in so my future project has come to a complete halt. it sucks. steady income was nice. now on the search... AGAIN!