My optimism about finding another job in construction within a few months after getting laid off last March turned out to be badly misplaced. It's been nine months and counting and I have yet to find a job - I haven't even landed an interview after sending out maybe a hundred or so resumes. I've personally talked to the top project managers on some of the major heavy civil projects in the area (Metro extension, Virginia HOT lanes), but have come up empty. It's a terrible job market right now, plain and simple.

I spent about two and a half months during the summer helping a friend do some renovation and home improvement work on his house for some pretty decent CUT (Cash Under the Table). However, the contractor he hired to do the work was forced upon him by his father in-law and turned out to be a thief, a liar, and a lunatic; I hated the guy with a passion and felt like quitting on numerous occasions, but my friend's a great guy, his wife had just given birth to their second child, and it would have been a real shit move to just up and walk away amidst so much chaos.