>>>>>>>I don't like to lurk anonymously, so I thought I'd say hi and I hope to be able to contribute to the discussions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Jen,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Welcome aboard! I'm sure you'll find this forum quite helpful.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>SET PLUG ON
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Have you checked out VFUG yet?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>SET PLUG OFF (s)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If I can give you any advice it would be this: "Ignore tom".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>(RBG)
>>>>>
>>>>>Scot
>>>>>
>>>>>Just by looking at the title & seeing your name I knew there would be trouble here....
>>>>>
>>>>>Seems to me people who say things like that are themselves the one who should be ignored.... (g)
>>>>>
>>>>>Jen -- if you can put up with Scot then I think you will find VFUG extremely useful. (BG)
>>>>>
>>>>>Tom
>>>>
>>>>I'm a great believer in UGs (real or virtual). I was on the committee of the UK dBASE UG for aa couple of years before I came to the US. I ran the developers SIG. I was an independent developer at the time. Now I've got a child to support I prefer to have a boss, the paychecks are smaller but more evenly spaced through the year.
>>>>
>>>>When I get up to speed on VFP I hope to be able to contribute. It's what makes the world go round.
>>>
>>>Jen
>>>
>>>By the time you calculate the number of hours you put in, the number you don't get paid for, the benifets you don't get, it is no wonder why 2 collegues of mine just recently went from independent to a 'real job'. TBQH, I think I would make more & work less (in the long run) if I too got a 'real job'. Oh well...
>>>
>>>Tom
>>It's even worse in the UK with the tax structure -- 17.5% Value added tax on all goods & services. It sucks. I spent more time doing my books than I did programming some weeks. Then there's all that time spent looking for the nextjob...
>>
>>It was fun though & I'd like to go back to it one day.
>
>Jen
>
>And I'd like to take a vacation some day... (s)
>
>Tom

Vacation? What's a vacation? :-) After half a day programming 'for free' because I messed up a form with a mover and had to re-write it from scratch and half a day spent doing corporate income tax (due Mar. 15 here) I'd KILL for some time without a client nagging me. I just don't think I could cope with actually being at a desk at a specific time each day, though.

Barbara