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I did it. I went back to Las Vegas to revive my entertainment lighting career with the Union and my employer Encore. I kicked ass. I surprised myself even. I did such a great job I was discriminated, harassed and retaliated against multiple times. Which only turned out to be a blessing.
I have Federal agencies looking into the matter.
It was such an up and down year for me in Vegas last year. I went from being on cloud 9 by getting my career back, leading crews and programming lights to being black balled leading to depressive thoughts then finding a new job outside of Union/Las Vegas as a Lighting programmer back on cloud 9.
Through it all, I found community. Arguably not the healthiest community for various reasons, essentially because well, pirates. I was a part of a fun group of pirates. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum and all with an authentic pirate parrot in all.
Through this community of pirates I was able to have fun and connect with various types of people. It was much needed as I was going through a lot with losing work and dealing with federal agencies as a result. I went from making 5-6 thousand USD a month to 1-2 thousand a month while also being demoted for no reason. My last/ most recent interactions with my union was the final straw and helped determine when I would be on my way back to Oregon.
Jessie Jenkins, you need to clean your car, wash your clothes and shave that spotty beard already. Stop being gross.
With a union like IATSE 720 and their stewards publicly committing libel against their people, who needs union representation?
Thankfully, I embraced the community of people I was surrounded by while living at my friend Nick's house and was able to lean further on the close friends I have been relying upon. Normally, I would keep people at arms length so as to stay out of trouble but knowing what I know about how stress kills and how networking really happens in the Entertainment business I embraced trouble. Fun equals trouble but trouble also equals fun. 😅
The last eight to nine years left me fighting for a job/ career that really didn't deserve someone like myself or anyone who has any kind of moral compass and work ethic. It was extremely isolating to be canceled because of the ability to do one's job efficiently, stand up for others and oneself while being told you are too white by onlookers who feel bad for you. esg scores I tell ya… I suppose allowing Blackrock to buy and monopolize the entire town of Las Vegas (and America for that matter) had negative consequences is an understatement. I can go on but already I have said more about the matter than I intended to on this post…
Because it is all fuching good! I made it back to Oregon for now, I have this kick ass job programming lights traveling around America for a dance company/convention and managed to connect further with people in ways I normally wouldn't.
It's been awhile since I posted. Since I know people are reading and keeping up with me, mostly by people who don't wish well for me, I don't want to leave yall with nothing to talk about. But most importantly as always a majority of everything I post on Hive is for my children to be able to look at and better understand who their father was and is.
I wanted to take time to recognize and give thanks to everyone who crossed paths with me and accepted me for who I am and put up with my crazy judgmental ass in Las Vegas.
Nick aka Crazyogi, you've allowed me into your home several times during this crazy time in my life. You allow me to be part of not only your community but also your family. I cannot thank you enough. You'll always be my brother, brother.
The National Labor Relations Board, for a government agency you have given me hope that there are functional parts and aspects of this government in America that are not so bad.
Scott Heavysege, thanks for having me back in Oregon after leaving for a year. I know it looked like I wasn't coming back and I caused you a lot of stress by not being here and helping you out with stuff like rent and the garden.
Sean Ondo and John Landis, you guys always picked up the phone for me and I cannot express how much your friendship and Brotherhood has meant the world to me over the years while working together and also while not working together.
Connor aka Icarus, you only ever recognized my ability to get things done. You only called on me when you needed anything done. I will never ever forget the respect that you have shown me.
Meli, sigh… you welcomed me into your house and allowed me to trauma dump on you. You also allowed me to bond with your parrot while putting up with my hyper judgmental opinions. There's no way I could have ever kept up with you and the kind of trouble/ fun that you have. Thank you for the fun times. I wish you continued success in moving forward in life past the hard traumas that most people can't even fathom experiencing.
Nana, the world is yours to do however you want with it. It was really awesome hanging out with a 23 year old Beauty such as yourself. Thank you for spending time with me during my depressive spiral.
German, bro I dont even know what to say other than Woooo! Stop over thinking it and know that you are worth it. Thank you for the fun times.
Ellie, thank you for being you and recognizing my love for gardening and nature. I hope you continue to pursue a life of growing plants and mushrooms.
RIP Mr. Matthew Gum. I love you brother. You had my back and you tried your best to fight for me against the injustices that I experienced with Encore aka Blackrock.
The entire Las Vegas dance and rave scene minus the racist security guards downtown, I experienced a lot of love with you all.
Brian Wimmer, bro you took my tough love and ran with it into a now busy work life as a Stagehand. You took my advice and now you are making good money while excelling into a bright career.
John Wilson you are the reason I got this new job programming lights and playing Lighting Designer. You've been a pretty straight up dude and I will always appreciate this opportunity you've given me. Thank you man.
Curly, man oh man. I cannot express to you how cool it was hanging out with you and getting to know you. You allowed me into your home, showed me respect and was nothing but super real. You did not let skin color or any other surface level things get in the way of having some really cool fuching shit go down.
There are so many more people I want to talk about and give thanks to but you know this post is just meant to kind of wrap things up from where I left y'all. I no longer feel the need to fight or to stand up for myself against a group of billionaires who wanted to fire me for no reason. Through it all and mainly because of the people above I am in a great blissful state of mind. I am back in Oregon and I am enjoying life. I see how impactful I can be in other people's lives and how important it is for me just to enjoy life and be me. I know that people care. I know that people are paying attention and people accept me for who I am despite how judgmental I can be.
I look forward to posting more on Hive now that I am back at my computer and in a much more peaceful state of mind in Oregon. I'm not going to school. I'm not trying to document everything that happens to me at work and I have a job now that will allow me to further myself into a career that I was about ready to give up on.
I can look back through everything I've been through especially the last 8 years and see that anything I put my mind to I have successfully manifested / fully realized. I want to try to keep my thoughts simpler and more focused.
