For my 6000th post, Please allow me to say that job hunting and unemployment really SUCK!

[TexasTowelie]

6. I'm in a similar position.

While I'm younger (46) and don't have a family it does suck. Prior to being unemployed, I worked for a company and made contributions that added MILLIONS to the bottom line. When my former boss was transferred into my department, the reputation was that she was assigned to projects that were destined to fail. While working for her, it also became apparent that she had a grudge against men. My department had four men and eight women and she managed to run off the other three guys before me. In addition, my immediate manager was demoted and placed under so much stress that she had a stroke at the age of 48.

I actually believe that most employers want to hire mediocre employees these days so that they don't have to offer decent pay so they can skim money off the top for the upper echelon. Good luck to you--you definitely have more incentive to keep trying than I do. At times the frustration is deep enough that I want to give up, but I keep plugging away hoping that something good will come along.