Sometimes I Wonder If I Did The Right Thing.....

.....then I realize I just had gas.

Okay, seriously. I do wonder if I've done the right thing. I looked at the news today, and saw some depressing economic news. For those of you not familiar with the Truckee Meadows, the northeastern part of the area holds the City of Sparks, and just off I-80 east of the Sparks Marina (which is what you get when a construction project literally becomes a sinkhole, and you decide to make the best of it) is a large new mall-type project known simply as Legends. The first few shops of the Legends complex opened up a few months ago, and the remainder will open this summer. Yesterday, there was a job fair to start the hiring process for what's expected to be around 700 retail, security, and other rather menial jobs at the other tenants of the complex. The job fair, which was hosted by the John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino & Hotel (Author's note: There are several 'Nugget' casinos in the Reno-Tahoe-Carson area, with some differentiated by the names of the individual owners), expected about 3,000 people to attend the fair.

5,000 was the last estimate from the Reno Gazette-Journal. My sources suggest that number may be somewhat conservative, but think about it: Five thousand people applying for seven hundred jobs. The odds aren't good, the job-seekers having less than a one-in-seven chance of getting hired. Factor in that most of the merchants setting up shop in Legends take applications online, the odds are probably more like 1:9 or 1:10.

Well, I'm still waiting on calls from jobs I've applied for online, so I have hope. And just a little bit of time on my side. I still won't go back to Atlantis, no way, no how. Cockbreath McPothead has to be canned before I do that. I'm not about to worry just yet. And hopefully my boss from my courier route will pay me today, and my transmission holds out long enough that I can get to Chico on Saturday to see Stolen Babies. I'd all but talked myself out of it, saying I can't afford it. Joy and I skipped the debut of our good buddy Jeremy Orris with his new band I Dekay last night for that very same reason. But the Babies haven't come within 400 miles of Reno in 18 months, and I get the feeling that Saturday may be their last live show for a while, as they get ready to record their next album. I really don't want to miss out on that. I'll just have to talk myself back into it, and hope for the best.

Now, it's back to CareerBuilder......