I’m Barry Thomas.  I’m a retired bank manager.  Not a very glamorous, or fulfilling job.  Mostly just dealing with people at their worst who, like me now, have hit a run of bad luck, and need money to move forward.

I’m divorced with no children.  My ex-wife got the house, and half of my pension. She was having an affair with my best friend which means I lost my wife, my house, and my friend all in one foul swoop.  They got married eventually, but it didn’t last; she probably got his house as well. Bitch!

I now live in a small one-bedroom apartment in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Santa Fe’s okay if you don’t mind the tourists, but it is expensive.  It’s cold in the winter which I don’t particularly care for.

I don’t really have any marketable skills, but I am a hard worker. I have a few friends, acquaintances really, at the social club where I go to play Bridge 3 times a week, but I’m not close to anybody.  I get lonely, but I tell myself to suck it up.

I replied to the ad out of some desperation.  My life is miserable, to be perfectly honest, and I need to do something different, challenging even, in order to give it any meaning. I hope I get accepted.