Eastern time zone, eh? Are you open to the possibility of a job in either Durham, NC or Chicago, IL? A job that could involve the need to travel up to 50% of the time? If something like that could work for you, email me a resume, my dayjob employer (Open Software Integrators) could very well be interested.

Otherwise, my only real advice is: start an open source project, or at least a side-project of some sort, even if it's closed/proprietary. Use the fashionable / cutting-edge stuff, even if you might not otherwise feel the need. Use it as a platform to learn the stuff you think you're lacking. Side projects / OSS work do "count* with (at least some) companies. And the kind of companies who do "count" that stuff are probably the more attractive ones to work for anyway.

Unfortunately, that is more of a "long game" strategy, and doesn't do much to help you in the short-term.