I'm almost in an exactly same position and was thinking of writing a similar post, as I wanted to check that I wasn't being stupid by not taking a summer contract with no guarantees for the following summer.
I have just under the magic 500hrs on 757, been out of the game for 18months, and my fall back career doesn't pay as much, and is no where near as much fun as flying. My other concern is that the 757 are reducing in numbers every year, and opportunities for a type rated position are getting less
But with a 3 month old baby which I am enjoying, with the risk of being based far from home, and being unemployed once again in November, when there will still be at least over 2m still unemployed, and I’m sure once again it will be a struggle to find a vacancy to stack shelves, and also like last time I was on the doll I was told on 2 occasion I was over qualified to work in a factory. It's not like there are many other jobs to fall back on in general out there.
I have pretty much decided I’m going stay where I am to pay the bills and see what will happen spring 2011. When thing improve eventually managers will realise that pilots need to lead normal lives
Good luck with what ever you decide
Mint