10 - 20 January 1999
Reno, NV
There has been very little of note happening with me during this period. It is still job-hunting time and that is discouraging. The interview with Circus-Circus went fairly well from my standpoint but they told me on the 14th that another candidate had been selected. The casino that Accountants Inc. was going to talk to was Peppermill. They had an ad in the paper for a Controller, Accounting Supervisor and a Sr. Accountant; I asked my rep at Accountants Inc if the Accounting Department had a neutron bomb go off in it. She got back to me around the 12th and said that they wanted someone with more casino experience. Picked up two more contacts from the State Unemployment office that I have sent applications and resumes to. Also, have signed up with Accountemps, another employment agency, that have some positions available. Applied for a Finance Manager position with a NGO that assists in retraining and job placements; it would be a great job because of its location if nothing else - about four blocks from home. Also, made application with Washoe County for two different accounting levels; one of them requires a test that I may be called to take sometime after 1 February.
The shooters, or I should say the alleged shooters, have been arrested. One is a local guy and the other two are US Marines from Southern California that were home for leave during Christmas when the shootings occurred. The local courts are trying to get them returned from Marine jails to stand trial here. The interesting thing about their situation is they are subject to military justice and could be locked up longer by a military court than if they are returned to face charges here. Very interesting!
We have moved back to winter after about 3 weeks of almost spring, at least spring for Northern Nevada. A series of storms hit the Sierra Mountains starting Saturday of Martin Luther King weekend and continued through today, Wednesday the 20th, with total snowfall in some areas reaching 6 feet. The ski resorts were very happy because this was the first snow since the 19th of December, the towns on both sides of the mountains were happy because these winter storms give us our drinking water. Only a trace of snow here in the Truckee Meadows but we did get 2-3 days of light rain and some strong winds.
Only other thing of note was an incident that happened one afternoon when I got on the bus. As I was sitting down a woman across the aisle from me said, "You have come back from the Peace Corps." I did not recognize her but as we talked I knew that she knew me from Harrah's. When I asked her where she worked she said that she was in Cleaning and then I recognized her as the cleaning lady on our floor when I was working at Harrah's. I probable did not say more that a dozen words to her during that time but she knew, and remembered, that I had gone to the Peace Corps. It was a very good feeling to have someone recognize me and comment on my going to serve. It reminded me of the great feeling that I got when I came through customs in Miami from London and upon showing the Customs Officer my Peace Corps Passport he said simply "Welcome Home".