[Boar-Ral]

I have been reading through this thread and you guys and gals have dream jobs compared to me. I am currently the IT Supervisor for a large manufacturing company, but don't let the title mislead you. I do not supervise anything, and I would hardly describe anything I work with as "technology." Most of it is 10-year old hand-me-down hardware. The IT Department is the last thing on the owners' minds, and we rarely see money coming into the department. We are the people that others come to when something breaks, so we are rarely looked at in a positive light. Furthermore, the owners' priorities are reflected in my salary, which was scraping along entry-level three years ago and after two years with no raise, it is now lower than entry-level.

I would give almost anything to work somewhere where my work can be appreciated and the department given the finances it requires. I'm not talking $10,000 PCs, but just a $500 PC to give a new employee instead of having to scrape together a rebuilt Pentium 166 to give someone. Every morning I dread going to work, I slip deeper into depression with each day here, but I screwed up. In university, I was entering my final year, but took a job offer that looked promising. Two years later, the company went bankrupt, and I was left with almost no experience and no university degree. And now I cannot return to school, because I am barely making ends meet where I am working now. I am still paying off my first student loan, seven years later. Me and my wife have one 10-month old daughter and three weeks ago, had our second daughter. (She is in the hospital because she was born premature, but should be coming home this week.)

At this point, I am even looking at different careers. I am willing to do anything to support me and my family. It doesn't need to be glamorous. Those who know my situation keep asking me why I don't sell the Hummer. They wouldn't understand. Apart from my family, the Hummer is the only thing that I have "accomplished" that I can be truly proud of. When I drive it, even if it is just around the block, I can forget all those things, just for awhile. It is the only thing other than family that makes me feel good about myself.

I do not want to sound desparate, but truly, I am. If anyone is interested in hiring me, I wouldn't mind hearing from you. I have three years of university education towards a Bachelor of Science in Computing Science, and 14 years for formal computing science work experience. I have sent out nearly 80 resumes in the past two years in hopes of new work, but without a university degree, most won't even request an interview.

I'm sorry to bring down this thread. That was not my intent. But, it describes my work, and I just went on from there.