Waiting for the budget

What happens to me in terms of my job will mostly depend on what is going to happen with the State Budget. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Governor Brewer is holding out for a tax increase when such a move would deprive our economy of precious dollars that are needed for the economy to rebound. I have been doing some posts on my Facebook page so some of you who happen to float by this blog will be able to see some of my posts if I know you.

It was a nice June as the temperatures were in the 90s for at least three weeks, but now the heat is on and thus our three-month torture session here in the desert. Hopefully once the state budget is sorted out, me and my family can head up to Payson or some other cool place on the Mongollon Rim.

I'm still here

It's been almost two months since my last blog entry and nothing much has changed. My job is still here as I wait on what happens on the budget. I just sent an application for work to Colorado Springs while my hopes to go to Ogden, UT are now history as they did not select me after my early interview in early April. We'll see what the Lord has for me.

Retirements

I am still at the Arizona State Library Archives and Public Records due to the fact that there have been layoffs and retirements over the past few months. A good co-worker of mine Louise Muir worked here for 42 years and just had her last day yesterday. I am grateful for her advice and wisdom in the two years that I have been here.

We are having another goodbye for Michele Reily who will be going to Houston in a few weeks. She gave me instruction on putting up metadata in a program. I am hopeful that I will see her down the road.

Old motels

I am taking a break from the employment situation to talk about the old motels that I stayed at when I was a kid. thanks to Google Street View. I am able to view street scenes of small towns like Lordsburg, NM and Van Horn, TX and check to see if those old motels are still around.

Sadly, I can say for certain that the old Seven Kay Motel in Van Horn has been torn down while the old Best Western American Motor Inn is still around, but it seems to be a shell of its old self. The Flying W Lodge in Ozona is still around, but it has been taken over by Travelodge chain.

I think that it is sad that in today's cookie cutter world that the old motels are falling by the wayside and falling into disrepair.

Another repreive

Retirements from some of the library staff is giving me new life in my library work here. Now that I am almost back to full-time, I can have Joseph finish his Kindergarten here with no problems and that my look for work will not be as frantic. It is my guess that my stay here will be until June 30 or thereabouts as the uncertain budget situation will cast a shadow over the library at that time.

With that in mind, I am hoping to get a library position in Casa Grande, Henderson, NV or somewhere in South Texas.

A reprieve

I am now still on half-time, but through the generosity of a fellow church member, I will be able to stay until the end of April. At least my son Joseph will finish most of Kindergarten without missing much and I can stay here where I can be reached by various libraries that I applied for.

The job hunt is a big waiting game and it grates on me a bit, but I must put my trust in God and HE will sustain me.

Half-time (and we're not talking football)

The continuing decline in the Arizona State Library Archives and Public Records is accelerating now that I have been placed on half-time along with several co-workers. I can hold out for a little more than a month, but it looks as if it will come to an end for all of us regardless by the end of the fiscal year.

I am going to take my family to Texas to explore my options as I now have a bunch of applications turned in for libraries across the Lone State State. I only hoped that the half-time would have occurred in May which would have let my Joseph complete Kindergarten here.

Arizona setting?

Well folks, it looks as if my time here in Arizona might be coming to an end. We had a division meeting at the library where our division director told us that the furloughs we have been taking for the last month won't meet the budget shortfall that has arisen.

I am hoping that the layoffs will not occur until the end of May so that my son Joseph can finish Kindergarten and then we can head out to Texas where some of my brothers live. I have been applying for library jobs throughout the state so keep me in prayer. I am getting a little tired now of moving around the country which I have been doing since I was a boy. I am 46 now so i hope I will only do a few more moves before I settle down.

Sad news on the job front

Well folks, it looks as if my days at the Arizona State Library Archives and Public Records are coming to an end. The budget cutbacks have had a devastating effect on the library budget and with a larger deficit to close next fiscal year, the library where I work may not exist.

I love the Grand Canyon State and I don't wish to leave, but I have to go where I can support my family.

I am looking to explore options so keep me in your prayers.

Snowy DC trip

Well, I was off to DC this past week where they caught their first significant snowfall of the season. I was able to meet with a few congressmen and explore the museums that DC had to offer plus visiting my favorite place The Library of Congress where I obtained my researcher's card. Nice trip!!

Getting ready to go to DC

Well, just letting you know that I am going to Washington next week to see a man that I used to work for, Tom McClintock. He had a tough race against his opponent last November and won by 1,800 votes out of about 400,000 cast. Here's hoping for a great career in DC.

I am still reading Our Country by Michael Barone and it is pretty deep with about 470 pages out of 670 read. It has given me an understanding of Mr. Barone as well as the basic political history from 1930 to 1990 when this book was published. I would like to aspire to be in the Barone mold as I love to do research and have a library background.

I will try to get to the book on Eugene McCarthy next.

Change of books

I have left off reading the biography of Eugene McCarthy and started to read a fine book by Michael Barone called "Our Country: The Shaping of American." It really is comprehensive in terms of tracing the political development of our country from 1930 to 1990. I will resume my Gene McCarthy book soon.

It's a new year!!

So the new year has come and I am getting used to the new blogboard that I am wrting on. Obama just announced that he will try to pass a massive stimulus package that some Democrat Senators are having second thoughts on. We have enough debt already and what a bad example by trying to get the economy running agian by going into more debt.

Books I am reading now:

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It changed America by David Hajdu

Next books up:
Eugene McCarthy and the Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism by Dominc Sandbrook

Pat Harrison: The New Deal Years