Last year, Governor Sandoval laid off 1,600 teachers here in Clark County.  It was done entirely by seniority.  Since I now teach middle school, I was on the chopping block.  It was all brinksmanship, he hired almost all of us back, but usually in a different school, teaching a different grade, or a different class (classes).  I was first stressed out by the fact I went months stressing about whether or not I'd get a position.  Then, I was stressed about the offer they made me.  I don't want to go into it, but I just couldn't accept it.  I decided to get my credentials to teach high school.  I'd be bullet proof to lay offs and it's what I prefer.  It's going to take months to do.  In the meantime, I need to get paid.  Subbing didn't appeal to me either.  To be honest, the last couple years haven't been my best as a teacher.  Middle school isn't for me and I had a lot of crazy, stressful shit going on in my life.  It took a lot of joy out of the job for me and mostly left the stress, the unrelenting workload, and the paperwork.  I'm working 55 hours a week now and it's a treat compared to being a teacher.


I started driving a cab.  I haven't been doing it that long, but I'm killing at it.  It looks like I might do a little better financially doing it too.  Isn't that a bitch?  You work hard to get your degree, work really hard at a job that's critically important to society, and you can almost make as much as a cab driver.


My first two days, I was one of the top bookers.  Here in Vegas, you get 1/2 of what you charge on the meter and all of your tips.  You're responsible for your own gas though.  Today, I booked $350 in fares and got $75 in tips.  After gas that's $230.  That's not bad gross pay.  More than I made as a teacher.  Not bad for a Monday.


My mother bought me a concealed carry handgun and demanded I get my permit (she read that cab drivers have a 60 time greater risk for on the job violence than cops).  There's a gun store (called "The Gun Store") that teaches the 9 hour class for free.  She got me a polymer .357 magnum (the cylinder it metal so it doesn't explode when the magnum shell goes off).





Other pocket pistols like 9 mm or .380 make these cute little pops.  A .357 magnum through a 2" barrel is apocalyptic.  If you and I were in a car and I fired this pistol into the floor, we'd both have bloody noses and permanent hearing loss.


I got an inside the waistband holster that clips under my belt and clips onto it so you don't occasionally pull the whole holster out when you try to take it out.  Only the abbreviated grip pokes out of my pants, right next to my right hip.  Unless you lay hands on me, you'd never know it's there.


I've been shooting it a lot.  inside ten yards it's freakishly accurate.  Fifteen yards I can put reliable hits on target, but not a lot of bullseyes.  At twenty five yards, I'll have an occasional miss.  It's a sweet gun.