A smack in the face...

Some of you know about my current job dilemna...I was offered (officially) a position as a library technician at a correctional facility in south east Colorado on Tuesday. This followed an informal offer from the regional librarian. I was all set to take the offer when the business manager for the contract employer called on Tuesday. However, that all went south when she quoted my salary. Let me back up a bit and explain...when I interviewed for this position a few weeks ago, I was told by the regional librarian that I would get a raise in my salary since I had two years of DOC experience. I was thrilled because I knew that I couldn't raise two kids on what I made before. Even with a raise, I'd be cutting it close every month. So, imagine my surprise, when I find out that the contrct employer is going to offer me the EXACT SAME salary that I made when I resigned! WTH?! I was furious, of course. After I had cooled down some, I did some serious number crunching & sure enough, there's no way that I can make it off of that pathetic salary. Long story short, I'm going to decline the offer some time today. I am really bummed 'cause I was looking forward to going back to work (yes,in a prison) and working with one of my good friends. But, maybe this is happeningfor a reason??