I wish I had something more encouraging to say than “hang in there.”

To quote Jimi Hendrix, “Keep on pushing, straight ahead”.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I lost it for a bit this afternoon.

The holidays are coming up and I am a bit of a materialist so I enjoy the whole giving and getting of gifts at Christmas and it’s unlikely I’ll be able to afford that at this point. I’m grateful that I’ll be able to spend time with my family during the holidays and it’s probably somewhat shallow of me that I put so much importance on being able to exchange presents, but that’s who I am. My wife doesn’t completely understand it and I’m trying to be less materialistic, but it’s a tough habit to break.

Hey were all broke so at least that’s a family thing we have in common.  $15,000 is about $5,000 less then what I make and I work 40 plus hours a week.

Les,
Have you tried looking at the jobs on this site: http://tln.lib.mi.us/jobs/
They are library jobs in SE Michigan (and sometimes other parts of Michigan). Many of the jobs are for various clerks which do not require a Master of Library Science but they still pay reasonably well. The Southfield public library has a Library Technical Clerk II position open right now that you could probably do in your sleep. Technically they want a Library Technical Assistant’s degree (a two year degree, but don’t ask me where you’d get one, I had never even heard of the thing until I read this job posting) but with your extensive technical background you should have no problem convincing them that you have more than enough skills and experience to do the job extremely well.