HELP! HELP!

[SamIam]

Well, this is an interesting twist. The guy (all him Joe) who posted about the job has e-mailed me to ask if I would consider working only for expenses the first couple of weeks until he can get a job that would allow him to pay people a regular wage. I would get a bonus in addition to back pay for work I'd already done.

On the one hand, I'm like whatever - I planned a big trip into the mountains in September, anyway; and if someone wants to pay my expenses that's fine with me.

But there's a hell of lot of work to get done - 300 recreational sites have to be surveyed by the end of September, and for some reason, you can't work on weekends. That's 10 + sites a day or 5+ if Joe helps out - but if he does get a job, it will all fall to me and whomever he can hire at the last minute.

I suspect that what Joe did was sign a contract with the Forest Service to survey how much use various spots get, if people like certain camping areas, etc. Those contracts can be fairly lucrative, but if you don't cross every t and dot every i, many times you don't get paid.

So, I'm wondering since I'll be up there wandering around anyway, should I work with Joe and get some gas money and see if something better finally evolves? Or, since Joe obviously has some financial and organizational difficulties, should I just blow the dude off?