After two days of driving I arrived at Wall South Dakota on the afternoon of May 29th. I headed right to the Wall Drug store and called HR to get my welcome packet and get assigned a dorm room. Because of the Corona Virus the place is closed and the HR people have to meet me outside. They plan on opening Monday June 1st. After exchanging hellos, I climbed back into my truck and opened the packet that gave me the directions to the dorm. Well my first surprise was that the map to the dorm showed several dorm locations. My second surprise was that the dorm was not really a dorm as I had been used to. It seems Wall Drug has bought property all around Wall over the years and has put small houses and trailers on the property to be used as housing for their staff and temporary workers. A pretty smart move I think. After an initial issue with where I was to be staying, HR sent me to the correct dorm/trailer. I have included a picture of the dorm below. It is a two bedroom, one bath trailer with a nice living room. Wall Drug includes high speed internet, which they are working on getting fixed and a large flat screen TV to stream to. The kitchen is stocked with utensils and two refrigerators. During non-virus season, this trailer would house 3 workers. I have been assured by HR that I will have it to myself for the length of my contract. Which is a good thing because of the virus issue. The trailer is only a ten minute walk to the store, which is what I will be doing because once the store opens up parking will be at a premium.
HR told me to take the weekend to get settled in and to report for paper work processing and work on Monday June 1st at 10:30. Initially I will be assigned to the shoe/boot area as a cashier. I am not looking forward to standing on my feet for hours on end. As I really liked moving around in the grocery store at Yellowstone. We will see how my knees hold out.
I had their maintenance man come by to fix the front door lock and had a nice discussion with him. He has worked for Wall Drug for 20 years and has some good insights into the store. I asked him if they will be opening all the store departments and restaurant. He said he thinks so but it really depends on if they can get help and keep them. He said half of their camper workers did not show up due to the virus and several foreign workers will not be showing up due to transportation into US issues. So he thinks I will be working long hours and possibly overtime. We shall see.
Well that is about all for today. I will be traveling to Rapid City, which is 50 minutes away, and do some shopping. I have already picked up grocery items but need to really concentrate on getting healthy food into the kitchen. I am hoping to lose weight while working here, but that will depend a lot on my preparing healthy meals and avoiding a lot of processed food. Thanks for reading and keep me in your prayers as I try to be Jesus to all those I meet.
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