I was going to suggest IT work for a city/county govt or school district less pay, better hours, and usually better long term benefits

There was a listing for the local county government IT department. He did apply. I do not believe they responded at all, let alone get called in for an interview. I had the feeling that somebody's aunt's cousin's friend had the job in his or her pocket already and they were just posting the ad to make it look like they followed protocol.

What does he want to do?

I don't think he is clear on that. The rec for "What Color Is My Parachute" sounds like a good idea. I'll see if I can find it in the library.

Thanks, everyone.

There are some legitimate work-from-home companies, WS. For example, this company [link] hires people with call center experience to do call center work from home. Even if he doesn't like the work per se, he could be away from the toxic environment and commute while he figures out something else.

Seconding Ginger's suggestion. I had a friend who worked for that company during a time period when she couldn't drive and she said it was a good experience. With the holidays coming up, a number of companies are increasing staff on their customer service lines so the timing might be right and since all of the interviewing and testing is online, Daniel could apply whenever he feels up to it.

WS, I have no good work advice for Daniel but best of luck to him.

If I had known what a pain in the ass it was going to be when I decided to hyphenate my name, I probably wouldn't have done it. I swear most people look at my like I am speaking an alien language when I give them my new name.

I get that too sj. It doesn't help in my case that all my names, including the two last names, are variant spellings.

Most people look at me like I'm speaking an alien language when I give them the name I was born with.

My daily whine: If my ears aren't better by the morning, I'm going back to the doctor, even though I can't imagine what she can do this side of a tiny dynamite charge.

I get that too sj. It doesn't help in my case that all my names, including the two last names, are variant spellings.

Both last names are very common, easy to spell, and short which was one of the reasons I decided to hyphenate them.

Our names are short, they are just odd spellings.

It's been years. I just spell my name out to people. Often.

I automatically spell my current last name. If I don't, people tend to replace one or more of the Ts with Ls. My maiden name was a whole different deal. 14 letters, 2 hyphens, and 2 capital letters (not 3) means mass confusion.

Sometimes people ask me if it's the Scottish spelling or the Swedish. I'm not sure if they're not thinking, or they're just not caring. However when the Swedish chick asked me, I had to give her a "Really?" Her answer was "Oh, I forgot..."

Which is just weird.

I wonder if my mother, with double-barrelled Scottish names, gets asked that. But I can't spell her maiden name anyway. Mac vs Mc gets me about every time. So I never use it as a password personal question.