It's Been a Long Time...

Hello,

I know it has been quite awhile since I have posted something...

It has been quite a roller coaster ride for me in my personal life.

This post I'll explain some of whats been happening the last several months, not much to do with blacksmithing or knife making just my life so you can stop here if that doesn't interest you.

As a lot of you know I was working for an electric car start-up. At the end of 2017 we got an investor that was going to put our car and company into production and make it.

they pledged a $2 billion investment over the next three years. Early 2018 we received the first installment and everything started moving right along. Around August of 2018 we requested the next installment, it was ahead of schedule but the money was needed to finish out the manufacturing facility and get us into production by December.

The investor agreed and said they would send the next installment.

It never came, instead we received a lawsuit. with no additional funding coming in the company had to cut 20% of the work force, immediately following that the investor froze all company assets, including the payroll account. with no money for Salaries the company was forced to furlough another 75% of the company and those that remained would have their salaries dropped to minimum wage. So as of November 1st, I was furloughed, told that they hoped to call people back January 2nd. Which then moved to February and eventually the first week of March....

This was rough news, many people just quit as opposed to the furlough and went off to competing companies. I was fortunate that my previous company, Space X had i guess heard about the furloughs and contacted me about coming back as a contractor for a three month contract. I felt lucky, that three month contract should cover the furloughed time pretty well.

I accepted, though letting them know that when I was called back I would return, they said no problem. So several weeks went by, the new year came and then on Friday, the 11th we were told that there was a meeting with all the contractor in 20 minutes... and to bring all our stuff...

I knew what this was, apparently Space X made the decision to cut 10% of it's work force. Contractors were first to go... So now half way through my three month contract I was again out of work...

During all this time I did try to continue to work on some knives but it was difficult to find any motivation to do such...

A couple more weeks passed and as I started running out of money again I made the decision to start driving for Uber. So, February 1st I did just that, my first day only taking a few rides to get the feel for it. and now I've been driving for just over a week, It's not easy, you don't make that greatest money but, it is money coming in...

Right now the latest word about recall is first week of March. I plan to continue to drive Uber till then and hope for the best. We shall see what happens, as of right now I'm not sure that I will be able to keep my shop. rent is paid for February but that's it I believe...

I have had talks with my wife about me just going to Hawaii, to start clearing and working on our land. But this comes with another set of difficulties. Down sizing our foot print in SoCal, finding my wife a place to stay she can afford on her salary alone. But also means leaving my kids which will be difficult...

I know all this will work out in the end and I am staying hopeful. It's the struggles in life that define who we are and I know I will be better off after all this but getting through it and the uncertainty is still rough.

I hope everyone is doing well and I did not intend for this to be a downer blog post.

So I leave you with best wishes and I will be back with a more positive update next time!

Take Care!

Jason