Marcia, I'm guessing that owning your own company keeps you employed most days

Then you would be guessing wrong. Fortunately, Andy is an expert SQL Server developer and DBA and his skills are a lot more in demand than mine are. There are .NET programmers standing on street corners wearing signs "Will program for food". My last contract ended on Auguat 26th and I have interviewed for 3 contracts this month - waiting to hear the results of the interview I had last Wednesday.

I've been unemployed since Oct '09 and, believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying.

Unemployed for 2 years? Wow! That is a long time - especially in the state that has been responsible for most of the job creation since the recession hit. Have you only been applying for programming jobs? Have you, like Mike Beane did, turned down job offers because you felt the hourly rate was not high enough? Have you considered taking any other jobs such as bartending or waitressing just so you could pay the bills? I am not accusing you of anything - I am just curious. I know that if I were unemployed for over 6 months and couldn't find a programming job, I would start looking at other things. As a matter of fact, mid 2007 through mid 2008, I was terribly underemployed - I had less than 5 hours of work a week. So I was matriculated at the University of Akron and took a semester long course in ASP.NET. Have you taken any courses during the past 2 years to extend your skill set and make yourself more marketable?

By the way, is it mooching when it's money you've paid into the system?

It is if you have taken out more than you have put in....