I am not looking forward to being the adoption unit come April 1st. Granted, it'll probably look good on my resume, handling the entire unit by myself because they are dragging their feet on hiring new workers. My work load is going to double in size with new cases, and double with what I have to do with the ones I already have (is that quadruple then?). With them not giving raises, I will not ever make more money here, even though after six months, caseworkers are supposed to get paid more since they go from the caseworker 1 to the casework 2 position. I saw yesterday that another county is hiring caseworkers for the caseworker 2 position (which is what my job title is now) for $10,000 more than what my county pays. What I make now, with all the traveling I do (especially with the ever rising gas prices) barely covers gas, bills, etc. The only weeks I ever make money off my job are the weeks the travel reimbursement goes into the pay checks. It's unbelievable to me that I could work closer to home and do the exact same job and get paid that much more for it.

I want out of here sooo bad. I have vacation time I really can't use because I'm a) too busy to actually take a day off and b) there's no one to cover my cases for a couple days (although, being the worker with the most seniority, I get first pick at days off). I will never get paid more. Having a job where I sit at a desk made me gain weight, which I don't like.

I am finished venting about my job. Thank you for listening.