Thank you all for responding. So the consensus seems to be that I have to find a purely telecommuting permanent full-time job. I would love to work from home all the time and I have been looking for jobs that specifically mention telecommuting, but even around Seattle there aren't that many (which can be very frustrating considering this is the 21st century). I'm a programmer, so most of my work can be done anywhere. Many of these jobs I've worked on were not picky about whether I worked 9-5 or 8-4 or any other combination, as long as I did my 8 hours (which I always did, even from home) and the contract does not mention the time of day I need to be working. I've always been told I do my job well, but they all eventually start mentioning that they want me in the office more and more until the work environment becomes hostile. I have the technology to do teleconferencing so meetings aren't a problem, but I guess bosses are still sort of old fashioned and prefer face-to-face things. All of these problems make my wife feel she's responsible for me losing my jobs. Many times she can barely get out of bed, and she has slipped and hurt herself a few times when I wasn't around.
Any recommendations as to where I can find telecommuting work easier especially for programming/IT work? I've tried Monster (which didn't help), Careerbuilder, Craig's List (which is helpful), and plain old stomping the pavement (or websites) of direct companies. I agree that contract work is part of the problem, but I've even had permanent jobs give me problems even though the technology was all there. I cannot seem to convince these managers that it is in their best interest to do more telecommuting work.