Ouch! I'm sorry you twisted your ankle and hurt your knee and wrist! Joint injuries are no fun! I hope that if your body is telling you that you need sleep, you can find the time to get it. Sometimes there are definitely advantages to slow work periods

I want your friend to call you! Even if you aren't as interested in the position, it would be nice to get the scoop... and hear that everything is now going smoothly for your friend, no sick pets or family. And, really, it's not like getting in touch with the woman is going to make *that* much difference. She either has a position for you or she doesn't or she hasn't had time to make one yet. Maybe things might move along more quickly if you nudge, but not nudging probably isn't going to hurt.

I talked with my friend. She encouraged me to counter offer with continuing the contract. She thinks they will accept. I started to write the email and just feel really awkward about it - she is the one who wanted me to be an employee and maybe I should have pushed her more forcefully on that before she dug up the employment contract? I don't want to make her look bad.

I worry that I am being too crazy about this. I could be turning down a just about livable salary for part time work... but there are just SO MANY red flags with these people. I do NOT want to be their employee. I barely want to be their contractor!

The contract does say that I will continue at an hourly rate after the salaried 24 hours, so it's not as bad as it could have been -- and the hourly rate is the right one. I checked.

I've spent about three hours drafting this counter offer. I wish I was getting paid for all the mental energy I have wasted on this! Or that I could just stop wasting it!

I am worried that my friend is going to get sick of me, too. She still sounds like she really wants me to work there, but I worry that I disappointed her with my reaction to this offer. I worry that I am splitting hairs. She told me to send my counter offer and that she would tell the guy I would report to that it was up to him to deal with it. Does that mean something?

And did I give too many confusing signals? I think the more I went down this path, the more I realized that I do not want full time work with these people.

I just noticed the job title, too -- it's an introductory level job title, half of which refers to something that's completely outside of my field. Ack, no more of this tonight. Thank you for confirming that all these warning signs aren't just me. I reread some of this thread earlier today and could not believe how 'right on' a lot of these perceptions were from the beginning.