It's really good advice to wait until you find the person who is right for you before you hop into a relationsip or some other big life change because you think that you have to go through it the same way everyone else does in order to be happy or "successful". I know of way too many people who ended up in miserable marriages thanks to that type of thinking. Honestly, I was ready to cheer reading your last entry! Way cool! With time you should be able to build up enough positive referrences so you won't have to worry about your old employers. Actually this is where the dreaded police background check can work in your favor, since you are clean as a whistle. They can't claim anything really bad about you and haveit unsubstantiated. So, WAY TO GO, ZEN!!!