Is it me???

So maybe its just me. I thought I would post and get input, and see what my friends have to say about it. I have been on this contract since 11/04. When it started, I knew my duties would only be working on incoming calls, mostly warranty repair work for Dell, HP, and IBM. Some Apple stuff, but not a huge load. After about a month, I realized they needed someone good with apple hardware. I volunteered my services, working on warranty machines, non warranty, doing hardware diagnostics and repairs. I was still working incoming calls, but had a good routine, and while it was hectic, I enjoyed the fast pace.

One of the first issues was being told to not get overtime. So I clocked my 40 hours. However, I was still catching incoming after hours calls, and really, being a nice guy glad to have a job, I did not charge them for the extra time I was putting in. Really it was only an hour or 2 every week or so. No big deal.

So now I am working the desk, working on machines, and carrying a pager. I have a boss who really does not do much of anything, and so I get most of the calls, questioned about laptops that are taking longer than normal, and all of the after hours calls. All the while she is boasting how she demanded extra pay for carrying the pager.

Last month I was told they wanted to bring me on fulltime. Yay! Of course, there would have to be adjustments, since the money I was getting as a contractor was not in their budget, but if I was willing to take all the calls, be on pager all the time, and take my bosses position so she could be a program manager. Ok I was already doing all of that, so sure.

2 weeks ago, while working on a laptop, I put a screw in the wrong location, and managed to fry the motherboard, which is going to cost around 900 to fix. I was told that I could no longer work on the apple products. I was a liability. In truth, I think the mistake has been made by hundreds of techs, hundreds of times, but I was popped.

I am still waiting to be full time. Still clocking hourly pay, with nothing for the amount of overtime I put in. For example, a server dies at 5 am, I am at the office at 6:15, and only bill from 7:30-4:30. I left yesterday at 4:20 instead of 4:30, mainly because I cut my lunch short to get back here for another server issue. I was called at 4:30 while on the road, and told I just “did not understand my hours, and that I was not to leave early. I explained my justification for leaving, and was told, in essence, so what. I also explained that any calls that would come in would be caught, since I am paged on every voicemail. Not to mention the fact that Monday, I had a server issue around 5, and did not really complete it until 2 hours later. They just want me here until 4:30, and that is that. I am thinking that I am being taken advantage of, and don’t know if I am or not. Maybe I am bitching about nothing, and should just shut up and deal with the things that I cannot change. There are hundreds still looking or work in the IT field, and I should be thankful that someday, I will get a full time position. What do you think?