I've talked to her, and she's definitely been helpful. Another friend of mine who does exclusively relief work has been purely amazing, with advice on both the veterinary and the independent contractor ends.

I've talked around, and set my price around the low-middle end of the spectrum, since I'm both a fairly new grad and new to relief work, but it's still definitely within the range of reasonability and more than enough for me to live on if I get steady work.

Right now, given the dearth of good full-time jobs available that are both to my liking and in my area, it looks like I may be doing this for a while....