Etobian,

Perhaps you missed my response to M Berger:

I received a year's salary continuance from the company that I was
downsized from.

Let's do the math:
-- A year's salary continuance from my old job
-- A new (better paying) job 6 months later (can you say
"double-dipping"?)
-- 2 computers
-- $50 bucks

In the end, not only did I end up with 2 free computers, but I made
more money that year than any year in my life and my new job pays
better than the old.

I was forced into making the career change that so many people think
about but are frozen by fear from doing. There's a saying about making
a major change that goes something like this: "Before a change can be
made, the pain of staying has to be greater than the pain of leaving."
That's why many people remain in dead-end jobs or careers they really
don't enjoy. The pain/fear of being unemployed for any length of time
or failing at the new career keeps people locked into an unhappy, but
safe, situation. That's exactly where I was. As I look back, I am very
grateful for those 6 months of (fully paid) unemployment. I was forced
to look inside and decide what I really wanted to do for the rest of my
life and then go out and make it happen.

And on top of it all, I ended up with 2 free computer systems!

The Etobian wrote:
On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 11:15:15 -0600, M Berger wrote:

Wow... how lucky. You were unemployed for six months but you got
2 computers and $ 50 out of it!

That might have eased the pain of being unemployed, but I would rather
have been employed for the six months and paid for the cost of the
computer (less the rebate, of course).