Decision time

Well, I have a choice between two programmers.

One guy fell off the face of the earth (would have given it to him otherwise) and the lead I had was too expensive, they wanted to charge me agency prices.  Which is fine, it's their business, but I already told them I had a small budget and I probably couldn't afford them.  I think he knew I would probably turn it down, but he was doing his due diligence, etc.

For the record, I would MUCH rather hire Canadian/American, because the economies are so bad here, but no one wants to work for the equivalent of minimum wage in the programming industry, not that I blame them.  They should get paid well for their work.  But I was willing to take someone on who had some experience, but wanted more for a lower price.  You know, win-win?

I have to be honest, I'm willing to pay someone $25~ an hour to program, and I can't find someone willing to do it in my city or near where I live.  Huh?  How does that make sense? This isn't a hard project.  In fact, in programming terms, I'm positive it's like basic math for me.  I've looked up some of the coding you would have to do for some of the things I want, and 'I' could do it.  But I actually want to pay someone else to do it and I can't find anyone.  This, in my mind, is crazy.

So my choice is currently between two offshore contractors, and both are equally good choices, in my mind.  They both have game creating experience, they both have fairly solid portfolios, and they both have fair prices in my mind.  (Actually, I just did the math, they're both charging me the same at the upfront quote, which is around $25, go figure.)

What I'll do now is an in-depth interview, and see who changes their mind.  Then I'll pick.

Deadline for the programmer is Nov. 15, so I still have a couple days in case I change my mind, or unless I somehow stumble on one before then.  Sigh.