Jobless in Las Vegas

The title might lead you to think it is a new hit song for the latest Elvis movie out or even the latest horror film since unemployment is hoovering around 13% in Las Vegas but really it has been our life for the past week. Barry lost his job this past week because his company closed. Truly it is the story of Las Vegas right now. I know my blog doesn't get a lot of traffic but I think people who actually care about us enough check it here and there. So I just wanted to ask if you happen to know of someone looking for a great employee or someone who has a lot of connections, we would love it if you pass his name along or give it to Barry to search out. So you might be asking what exactly can he do? I would like to change the question to what exactly can he not do:) Alas, I am his wife and know he is capable of greatness. But for the real world here is a little run down.

He was the Controller/IT Manager of his last company who dealt with heavy civil construction. In the past he was also a finance manager for a mortgage company which at the time was the largest privately held mortgage bank in Nevada. He does have a bachelor degree is finance and all but a thesis done for a masters in economics. So basically he can run all the finances, forecasting, and modeling for just about any company. He can also build computers and built all the computers and servers for his last company plus he can figure out almost any computer program thanks to his job of writing computer software he had through college. He is a farm boy at heart and jokes, “John Henry may have been born with a hammer in is hand but I was born with a shovel.” He says it jokingly but it is pretty much the truth.  He has been shoveling from a young age on his family farm.  About two months ago, we participated in a service project at Cold Creek where we planted “Native Plants” (which I pretty much think were weeds) in the desert. In our time out there 120 “weeds” were planted among our group of 12 people. Ninety-five of them were planted by Barry himself. Everyone was in awe how quick he could dig through the desert dirt which is not easy digging. So he is not afraid to get his hands dirty and shovel his guts out if needs be. He is a hard worker, extremely attentive to detail, and loyal beyond measure.

Although we love Las Vegas and our home, we are in great position to leave if an opportunity presents itself somewhere else. We are not underwater on our house and could sell it quickly.  So if it is something out of city or state we are definitely open to it.

If you are wondering about us, we will be just fine for a while. We have a little money in savings and our garden is promising fresh food. Along with our food storage we are sitting okay for now. Actually, I made some boysenberry jam last night.  We just need some good leads or opportunites.

 

Here are some other promising sites in our garden.

Lettuce and Spinach

 Tomatos

 Potatoes

 Green Beans

 Garlic and Onions

 Corn

Peppers

 Artichokes and Herbs I forgot to take a picture of.