I know this is encroaching slightly on another subject but since you talk about being an FI to build hours, some airlines appear to be of the opinion that they would rather employ a low hour with current IR than the slightly higher hour instructor.
Just something else to bear in mind.
I personally reckon (or maybe just hope) that aviation will start to pick up again about half way through 2010. So maybe 2009 would be a good year to either work hard and save money or go off and travel the world (if you can afford it).