The Bosses also keep saying very nice things about my performance. They had time to pore over the "info kits" I'd put together for the two business divisions while on the plane, and were quite complimentary about my writing and how I'd presented the company. I strongly suspect that I'll be given an offer sheet for a "real job" (hell, my bio's already up on the new company web site) before the end of the month, and (given all the good news) they should be in a position to "pay me what I'm worth". However, I'm still holding my breath and keeping all digits crossed (which makes it a bitch to type, let me tell ya), but not counting on anything, as I don't want to be emotionally eviscerated by Bad Things Coming From Left Field (which could very well the title of my life story so far).
That said, this is beginning to look like being in the Right Place at the Right Time with the Right Skills ... so I'm at least contemplating that things might be getting better in the not-too-distant future.