Friday I was presented an offer. Sat down in a meeting room with a member of the Human Resources staff, and he went over the paperwork with me, first presenting me with an offer of employment. The rate of pay is equivalent to what I was making as a contractor, but since the company sponsors most of the benefits (instead of the full amount coming out of my pockets like it does now), my overall net earnings will be more. So it's like a raise.

I told him I'd take the letter home and think about it over the weekend. Talked in generalizations about it with my coworkers, and loudly they expressed that I should've signed it on the spot. "Well, if the pay's OK, if the position's OK, if there's no wiggle room for haggling over pay or benefits, then why the hell haven't you signed it already!?" So I signed. Beats the hell out of unemployment.

Assuming the rest of my background check passes without a hitch — and I don't foresee any problems — then my first day as a permanent employee will be July 6th. I'll have 95% of my benefits covered, which includes health, dental, and vision. Yeah, dental and vision. The company's not matching 401(k) at this moment, so I probably won't contribute. But I instantly get ten days of paid sick leave, and I accumulate vacation time, 15 days a year. The vacation time is prorated for the first calendar year of employment, which means I'll accumulate only 8 days this year, 7 of which I'm required to spend during the holiday closure, so it looks like a proper vacation will have to wait until next summer.

Otherwise, it's more of the same. Same tasks, same manager, same job. My running joke is, "Hey, congratulations! You're hired! Now get back to work!" Only difference is that I'm an actual employee now. A fully-recognized human, not a capital expense.