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To: Jon Koplik who wrote (123319)	8/19/2002 10:47:08 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Respond to of 152472

Part 2 : WSJ -- For Telecom Workers, Burst Of Bubble Takes Heavy Toll. The party itself was much tamer this year. Guests were asked to bring potluck dishes, and the biggest attraction was a big tent Mr. Dugan designed himself to save money. Mr. Maxham attends job workshops run by various churches in the area. As every week passes, he notices more and more of the unemployed coming. Lisa Miller, the executive director of Career/HiTech Connection, the biggest workshop in the area, makes it her mission to keep spirits high. "You will find a job," Ms. Miller told the crowd packing the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church one recent Tuesday night as she explained the importance of networking. But as the telecom crisis deepens, Mr. Maxham becomes less convinced there are even jobs to be had. He sat with a grim look one recent night as job openings were called off, none of them for engineers. As Mr. Maxham's savings account dwindles to under $10,000, things are getting very shaky. He now buys only food that is on sale, looks for the cheapest gas and has put off replacing his wife's 10-year-old car. He won't go to a food bank because he says they give away too much meat, which he doesn't like. Repairs are going undone. Recently, Mr. Maxham set out with sealant to repair some leaks on his roof. If he doesn't find any work by September, he says that money will "get very tight." It already has. Penny Maxham says that she is trying to ignore a toothache because the couple has no dental coverage. She quit her job a couple of years ago to fulfill a dream of getting a Ph.D. in neuroscience, but she is considering going back to work. Once there was a time when Mr. Maxham vowed never to leave engineering. His father was an engineer, and his three grown children are engineers. But a month ago, Mr. Maxham's unemployment benefits ran out, and he is reconsidering. He recently applied to teach physics at a community college. A friend recently asked him to help install some computers in cars. He is open to anything because he really needs the money. "It's frustrating," says Mr. Maxham, who in his 30 years as an engineer earned seven patents. An eighth just arrived in the mail last week. "I just enjoyed being an engineer so much. I was born like that and I passed it along to my children. ... But maybe I will become a teacher, just like my dad did in the Depression." Write to Rebecca Blumenstein at rebecca.blumenstein@wsj.com Updated August 19, 2002 Copyright © 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved