<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16681" name=GENERATOR><o:SmartTagType name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PersonName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType> <STYLE>  </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue bgColor=white> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Jim,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's not just the independent technician friends earning twice as much.  It's pretty much everyone I know.  I've been quite surprised over the years to find out how many really simple professions there are out there that out earn what F/T CAUTs make by a long shot.  But yes, it was depressing to know that other technicians, and I've done it myself, were earning by Tuesday afternoon what I made all week at the school.  It isn't just that your friends are doing it.  It is that you can too, and you're being handcuffed from being able to.  It's that the school requires a higher standard than you'll ever need to apply in 95% of your private work and they are convinced they're supposed to pay less than half for that more advanced knowledge and ability.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And it isn't just the money.  It's the time, too.  It wasn't just MY life I felt like I was throwing down the toilet, it was also stealing life from my wonderful wife and children, and negatively affecting my spiritual relationship as well.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's upside down and it's depressing.  Depression was killing me and I had to get out.  Even though I left the "job security" and benefits, I have felt like I have been freed from some sort of slavery.  We've got some work to do to build the business, but I haven't missed the university obligation for one minute.  I thought I might (miss it), but I just have not. In fact, the biggest piano event of the year is going on this week (Southeastern Piano Festival with Olga Kern as guest artist) and I'm actually relieved to not have to be involved with it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The irony is that since I've left, the school has been paying double (actually, almost 3 times the daily take home amount) for another technician to come in to do the work and he doesn't even have to organize the work.  It is all set up and ready for him when he gets there.  I emailed them I would have been happy to have worked for twice my salary.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jeff</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=jim_busby@byu.edu href="mailto:jim_busby@byu.edu">Jim Busby</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 12, 2008 1:29 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CAUT] Position Opening at the University of South Carolina</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jeff,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I thought there for a moment that you were talking about the position here… (Very similar, overall.)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">It’s hard to stay motivated when your independent technician friends are making twice what you are. Benefits and job security in an uncertain economy are sometimes all that keeps me here. Besides the friendship with the people around me. With your skills you should easily make much more, with much less stress. Yep, CAUT life isn’t necessarily the “life of Riley”. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Thanks for the info. Makes me feel like I’m not alone.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Regards,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jim Busby<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>