I kind of asked some specific questions but feel free to use this thread to share your experiences working as a contractor.

The good work for me comes and goes. Just today I got 2 calls for some pretty promising work....it's been at least 6 or 7 months since I've seen anything halfway decent. And now 2 in one day.

The "dry" time seems to be around the holidays, with work picking back up at the beginning of the year. I try not to get contracts that end around November or December and so far it's worked out but I could see how that's not always possible.

Touching on what I wrote above...another problem I have with the recruiting companies is when they call you for a job they are placing, they'll ask the rate your looking for. If I'm telling everyone I want $60/hour and someone else is saying $50/hour. They'll always call the other guy first, they're making more off of him, even if I'm far and away the better person for the position with more experience etc. I'm sure not all do this but I know it happens as I've been told from a couple recruiters who I've formed good relationships with. So I try to keep that information to myself until I absolutely have to give it up.