Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 61 (Day Off)

   Nothing exciting today.  First day off means laundry and grocery shopping in Rapid City.  I have been looking around for a local barber to get a trim, but have not found one open without taking reservations.  I am trying to count how many potential meals I have left in the fridge so that I don't have any food hanging around when I leave in two weeks.  I can take some dry goods with me, but I want to make sure I eat all I have stocked and then maybe on the last few days I will eat at Wall Drug using my worker discount.  I picked up a couple of steaks from the local meat market and that should do me until for the rest of my stay.  I got my laundry done and headed to Rapid City.  I wanted to check in with Best Buy in Rapid to see about a new cell phone for Cathy and I. Wanting to get a new 5G unlocked phone and looking at Samsung.  It seems the new trend is to make the phones bigger.  Cathy is OK with that but I really don't want a bigger phone as I put mine in my pocket and I don't need it sticking out.  I want to get a 5G phone so we are at least positioned to use the new technology when it becomes available in Linton and elsewhere.

   After looking over Best Buy I decided to check out the Rapid City mall.  It was generally what I expected of a mall nowadays.  As there were very few people, but we were all wearing masks, and there were several stores closed.  The mall was doing what our mall in Terre Haute is trying and that is bringing in new type stores to fill the space of those anchor stores that left.  The had an antique place and flea market place and a nostalgic toy place. It was fairly interesting to walk around and I did get plenty of steps in while there.  I don't know what malls will be doing in the future as those big stores are leaving in droves it seems.  So the mall of the future will have to figure out something else for the space they have need to rent out.  I am sure there will be some out of the box thinking to get people to come to malls in the future. 

   I hope to get a walk in around Wall tonight, but we are expecting rain later.  We will see as rain comes and goes here fairly quickly.  On my drive to and from Rapid City I did notice that the fields of sunflowers are starting to come up.  When those fields mature the yellow flowers make for some very pretty things to look at in the ever large expanse of land around here.  So much yellow it makes your eyes hurt.  It is also interesting how the flowers follow the sun.  They are facing you on one drive and then later that day they are facing the other way.  Ain't nature interesting.

   Well that is about all for today.  Tomorrow I think I will head into Pierre and do a 5 mile hike along the Missouri river for some exercise.  Take care and stay safe.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 60

   Yeah I made it to Day 60 and it is TGIF for me.  I only have 11 more work days left selling moccasins and practicing patience and self control.  :)  Today was my evening shift and I was able to sleep in today.  Yesterday when I got off I could not reach Cathy via the cell phone.  I texted and messaged her several times.  I finally called Shiann and she was nice enough to go check on her.  I guess T-Mobile had a power outage and all was well.  I was glad and I really appreciate Shiann doing this.  I guess I over reacted, but it was just this week that one of our workers could not reach his father via cell phone.  Her got worried and asked a neighbor to check on him and he was found to have died.  Please say a prayer my co-worker and his family. 

   I walked into work, as the day was very nice after yesterdays rain.  I found Pauline very busy and jumped right into selling moccasins to several people.  Pauline said it was very busy this morning and just like Murphy's law would be enacted.  We received 171 moccasins from Minnetonka in 6 boxes.  The boxes were delivered to our area, which made the area cramped.  After getting the tourists taken care of I went about retrieving the invoice listing from the boxes and started to ensure that all were delivered OK.  I then waited until Pauline could be free enough time to get me the prices of each shoe. After around 1PM business eased off enough for Pauline to get the prices to me and I went to work pricing the shoes and then placing them in their appropriate place in our department.  Pauline was happy that the shipment arrived as she ordered these 171 2 weeks ago and has already sent another order in for more for next week.  She wants to make sure she has enough stock to cover Sturgis rally week.  We already received our schedules for next week and they are doubling the number of workers in the boot area next week to 4 people.  We will still only have 2 until Pauline gets a warehouse day, then we get three in our department.  Sturgis is a big money making time for the store and it will be my first time in the area during the rally.  I try to avoid this area and the surrounding 100 miles while the rally is going on.  Too many motorcycles and too costly to stay anywhere during this time.  We will see if the virus keeps the numbers down.

   Not too much else happened today.  The place was fairly busy, but the tourists for the most part behaved themselves.  Tomorrow is my day off and you know that means laundry and a trip to the meat market.  I also will be calling a local barber and see if I can get my hair cut.  I am beginning to look rather shaggy in the back. I hope you who are reading this are doing fine and I hope you stay well. 

Dog of the Day

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 59

   Well today was a lesson in patience with tourist customers for sure.  I would like to see the following rules enacted, or at least followed by those reading this:

1. No more than one kid at a time with two parents.  I have seen where parents deciding on shoes cannot handle more than one kid at a time.
2. Stop asking a child under the age of 5 if they like the shoes.  For Pete's sake just choose the shoe for them and move on.  Quit being a best friend and decide what shoe they will have to take.
3. If you buy your 10 year old kid $100 cowboy boots, then you are required to show a certificate that indicates you did have your head examined and was proven competent.  If not then I hope your yard sale gets a good price for those in about 6 months.
   
4. If your kid does not want to try on the shoes, don't force them.  They will just make their foot go limp and testing any shoe will be an impossibility.
5. Wash your kids, and your, feet regularly.  Stinky feet is rather nasty and spoils my lunch.
   
6. Stop rewarding bad behavior.  Feel free to spank the kid in public for causing damage to display items and shoes.  I will even lend a fly swatter you can use to smack their little rear ends.
7. If you are in a shoe store more than 15 minutes then you have failed as a decision maker.  Go away and come back when you can make up your cotton picking mind up and stop wasting people's time.
8. The shoe store is not the place to let Granny rest with the grand-kids so she can reminisce about how many moccasins she had when she we a little girl.  If you want to hear stories go home and tell them around the campfire and stop taking up my time and space.
9. Stop telling me the shoes are expensive.  I know what the shoes cost and I really don't care.
10. Be honest about your feet.  Look down and don't kid yourself that you have small feet.  They are fat and wide feet.  Your not 25 years old any more and your definitely not 120 pounds either.  Stop trying on 4 pairs of shoes, each larger than the last, and be surprised that your feet are large.  This goes also for guys and their belt sizes.  Come on guys your fat.  You have surpassed 40 inches and you need to go to the proper size right off without trying on belts you know good and well you out grew 65 pounds ago.
11. If you come into a shoe department and the person working asked if you need help with any sizes, then take them up on their offer.  Stop rifling through the boxes on the shelves and say I am just looking.  The styles are in front of you.  There is no reason to go through the boxes randomly.  Stop being a moron and take the help and quit messing up the inventory.
    

  I am glad I got that off my chest tonight because through the Holy Spirit I am practicing patience every day while working here.  As Kramer would say on Seinfeld, "Serenity Now! Serenity Now!".  Thanks for reading and stay safe.  I am going to pray and meditate to wash the poison of this day from my mind and body.  :)

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 58

   Slept in again today.  I guess I enjoy reading late into the night.  The Clive Cussler book I am reading is pretty good.  The morning was very nice but my phone went off and indicated a flash flood warning for the next two days.  It looks like we will be getting some rain for a couple of days straight and then the temps will be in the 70's for my days off.  I will look forward to that, but in the mean time I walked to work as it was a nice morning. 

   Pauline was actively getting the inventory straightened out and was glad to have me come in.  I told her where else would I go.  She laughed and pointed at the 170 belts I needed to price tag and put up.  So I got to work while she headed upstairs to get more stock priced and brought down.  I have learned over the past month to not bother her when she is upstairs and just let her work.  So when my break time came and went I just let he work until her lunch time.  I then called her and reminded her that it was her lunch time.  She said she was sorry to have forgotten my break time, but I told her I would take a break when she came back from lunch.  One of the benefits of not having management looking over our shoulders is we can adjust our schedules to ensure the work gets done and the breaks can be done when we can.  I finished up the belts, they were all bison belts by the way. Pauline order a few more than normal because historically the Sturgis folks buy a lot of belts.  After the belts were done I went to work on a box of belt buckles that came in.  Pricing them and putting them on the shelves.  Pauline worked on putting in another moccasin order to replace those that we have sold in the past few days.  Last week order has still not arrived and she is worried it wont get here before Sturgis.  After the order was placed she told me that as of now we had sold over 800 pairs of moccasins for the month of July.  She said that last year in July they only sold 614 pairs of moccasins.  I think the store is doing well for a virus year and tourists seem to have money to spend.  I also told her it was all me as I am the only difference in the moccasin department from last year.  She laughed and told me I still was not getting a raise.  Man what does a guy have to do to prove himself around here?  :)

  Other than some nice dogs for the day, see pictures below, there as one strange couple that came through.  The wife was video taping her husband while he did ventriloquist routines around areas of Wall Drug.  See picture below.  I was too busy to hear his routine, but several others in the hallway watched him and her as they performed.  The store did not pay him.  It just seemed it was his way of logging the vacation from the dummy's perspective.  Interesting, but very strange.  Well enjoy the pictures and stay well all. 

A pretty dog, but did not like people approaching his owner.

Dog of the Day. 
This little guy was very tired and sleepy
in the back pack of his owner.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 57

  Pay day, at least for those that don't have direct deposit.  I get my money on Friday with direct deposit. I got to sleep in today and it felt great as I was up late reading a Clive Cussler book.  This one is about the original characters of Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.  The adventures are great and their mix of history and action is very good.  Speaking of history, I have been hooked on "The History Guy" on Youtube.  Since I only have internet here and no antennae or cable, I have been watching YouTube shows.  The History Guy is a great way to brush up on your history and things you might not have know.  Give a listen as I don't think you will be disappointed in his episodes. Most are fairly short 10 to 15 minute history lessons.  I am sure you will find something you did not know and something interesting.

  I walked into work today with the weather being pretty good, but I could tell it was going to get warmer later.  I got to work and went to pick up my check stub first.  Then I put my lunch in the break room fridge.  I have noticed we are getting more new employees because there are more people using the break room. I have met a couple of new people lately too.  Today I got to work with a new lady by the name of Pat.  She was being used in Buckboard for the first time and I helped train her on closing the store today.  So I guess I have learned a little since being here to be able to train someone else.  :)

   I got to work to a frazzled Pauline.  She had stock to inventory, price and put up and had a lot of business since she opened the store at 8:30.  I asked her what I could to to help ease her burden and she got me going on marking and stocking the belts. I priced a lot of new wallets also.  I got her to go upstairs in the stock room and not to worry about the floor, as I assured her I could handle the customers.  The store was fairly busy today and had a few interesting customers.  One rather effeminate guy from India was demanding to know why certain shoes are in the women section and not the guys section.  I told him they have different sizes and he still demanded to know why they were called woman's shoes.  I finally had enough and told him if he wanted to try them on then tell me a size and I will try to find them for him.  That shut him up and he left my area.  Then another guy from India, I guess it was India tourist day, wanted to know where the visitor center was. I asked him which visitor center and he said the Badlands National Park visitor center.  I told him then that would be in the Badlands National Park.  He then argued with me and siad he knew Wall Drug had a Badlands Visitor Center.  I politely told him no they don't.  He walked off in a huff.  Tourists!

  Working the evening shift means closing the store and one of the real pains is telling the tourist that you are closing.  Some tourists take it in stride and others consider closing the store a slap in their face.  Tonight a woman, and mother, did not like me telling her that the mall area closes at 7:30.  She fired back that the signs said we were closing at 8PM.  I told her the mall closes at 7:30, but the rest of Wall Drug stays open until 8PM.  She then fired back "We busted our butt to get here and you are closing."  Then walked off with her family.  The father watched the whole thing and just hung his head like a whipped dog and followed his wife to the other stores.  I really don't like telling people we are closing but I have to start clearing the tourists out of our area or else we will be there all night and Wall Drug does not like to pay overtime.  :)  Tourists!

  That is about all for the day.  Stay well all and try to be kind to those working in whatever capacity you find them.  Thanks for reading.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 56

  Up early today as I had an early shift.  I will be watching the sermon from LFCC when I get home tonight after work.  I watched a little of Gerry Thomas and Kevin Francis YouTube lessons on how to reach others for Christ.  I recommend this YouTube video set to all those who want to learn more about reaching others for Christ.

   After a hearty sausage biscuit for breakfast, I walked to work on this very pleasant morning.  I got to work at the same time as the owner of the store, Rick Hustead.  I said hi to him and he responded asking me how I was doing.  I told him it was my Monday but I was doing well.  He went about his business and I went about mine.  Rick is a very busy owner for sure.  I think he puts in about 12 hours a day here at the store.  You can see him visiting several departments during the day and also spending time in the Cafe making food for the customers.  He definitely has Wall Drug in his blood and that is what a person needs who will be owning and running this store.  His daughter Sarah is learning each day and growing to be a better manager, as I have heard from several employees.  I imaging Sarah will be taking over the Wall Drug store from Rick when Rick decides to call it a day and retire.  But for now Rick has enough energy for sure to oversee the store daily.

   I got into the moccasins department and found out that Pauline did not get her scheduled warehouse day.  As a person ended up sick in another department and they pulled one of her workers over to that department to work.  So the place had a lot of boxes of hats and several printed labels scattered around.  I was able to get some of the price labels on the correct hats, but several of them I had no clue.  So the bulk of the stock will have to wait until tomorrow when Pauline get back to work.  I am sure she will have plenty for me to do when I get in on my late shift.

   There was not really much interesting happening today but one thing came up that I got in a little trouble about.  The store is divided into departments.  Moccasins, belts, boots, buckboard, souvenirs, etc..  As I travel through the souvenir department I see a sign that states "If you purchase more than $50 you will receive a tote bag."  Well today I had a lady spend $160 in my department.  I had to put the items in a large plastic bag.  Now the plastic bags we use in our area are OK but they are not very sturdy and if over filled they split easily and even the handles break easily also.  She told asked me if I had a tote or something to use as they were having to fly back and needed something more substantial to carry the items.  I told her to take her receipt to the souvenir area and show them you spent more than $50 and they should give you a tote to carry the items in.  They thanked me and I left for my break shortly after.  When I came back from my break I found out that souvenir department called and said that we were not supposed to send anyone to their department that spent money in ours to receive a tote bag.  I worked with Dan today and he told me this and I could not believe my ears.  I said "You mean to tell me that they would not give them a bag that costs the store around a $1 for spending $160 in another department?"  Dan said basically yes.  I looked at Gina and she confirmed that the totes are for only spending money in souvenirs.  She also said she agreed with me that they should have helped the customer out as they spent way more money than $50.  I told Dan that they were lucky I was on break because as a temporary worker ,who is not afraid of speaking up when their is stupidity in their business dealings, I would have gave them a big piece of my mind.  I cannot believe that they head of the departments are so split that they cant see what is good for the store and that is making a customer happy.  Especially one who spent $160.  Totally ridiculous and I will definitely bring that up in my out interview when I leave.

  Will be having a nice hamburger and mashed potatoes for dinner and then maybe a short walk if the temperature stays nice.  Take care all and sorry there is not Dog for the Day today.  We only had one come through the store and it was not special enough.  Stay well.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 55 (Day Off)

  Slept in and had breakfast late.  Headed to the Badlands around 10AM, as I was hoping to get there and walk around before the heat arrived.  The temps were supposed to hit 97 degrees today. 

   Got to the Badlands and did some exploring.  Below I have attached many pictures and videos of the trip in.  I was surprised to see that the Badlands had a bison herd, but you had to access that area via a dirt road.  Which kept a lot of tourists off it.  I was able to see many prong horn sheep today and a lot of bison from a distance.  Although I did catch one close to the road.

  I also fond two more missile silo areas as I traveled through the lands around the Badlands.  That makes about 5 or 6 I have seen being used by farmers for storage after they were decommissioned.

  I will be fixing another steak dinner for tonight and then will go for another walk when the heat comes down.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos of my day.  Take care and stay well.  I will be on day shift tomorrow before I switch over to evening shift on Monday.  This is also payday weekend.  Yeah.  As for my budget after this paycheck I am now in the black and should be in the black until I get home.  So Cathy should be happy I am not losing money on this summer job.  :)

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 54 (Day Off)

   Pretty dull day.  Breakfast, laundry, meat shopping at Wall Meat Processing, then Rapid City for groceries.  The day was very hot and later in the afternoon there was a severe thunderstorm that rolled through.  I had an excellent steak dinner and a salad.  Then took a 4.5 mile walk to work off the dinner.  I went out to look for the comet but it was too overcast in that direction.  Then read for awhile and went to bed.  Like I said pretty boring.  Tomorrow I will be going to see the other half of the Badlands that I left off last week.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 53

   Was able to sleep in today as I took Pauline's late shift so she could work the day shift and then work her second job.  She is a busy person for sure.  After breakfast I noticed that the temperature was going to be pretty high today.  It was 9AM and already 85 degrees.  The day would top out at 102 according to a tourist that came through.  The walk to work at 10:30 was pretty warm, but I was able to sit in the employee lounge and cool off before clocking into work.  I clocked in and talked to Pauline about her day so far.  She said it was pretty light on business, but we had a lot of kid stock to price and put up, so having little business helps.  I then went about waiting on customers and she worked on her inventory and orders for belts and moccasins.  She said that her belt sales rep told her he would be able to get some of the belts shipped by the end of the month, but the rest wont be able to be sent until the end of August.  Pauline did not like to hear that, as she said she knows the Sturgis crowd will be belt buying, but there is nothing she can do about it as the virus has caused back logs in full filling orders.  She also said that we have sold around 170 moccasins since last week and that figure is well above last years sales.  I told her that it was all because of my excellent selling ability.  :)  She said she placed her order for more shoes, but they may be 2 to 3 weeks before the order will arrive. 

   There was not too much going on today in the store.  The only bright spot was that I sold my very first horse hair belt to a man who rewarded himself with an anniversary present, approved by his wife. The belt totaled $106 dollars after taxes.  Pretty expensive belt but a very pretty and reliable belt that should last the man quite some time.  So now all I have left to sell, that I have not sold one yet, is an ostrich belt and a bone belt.  I also sold a pair of $122 Italian leather boots to a girl today, which is the very first time I have sold a pair of those too.  A pretty good day for unusual items selling I would say.

  That is about it for my Friday.  Tomorrow I will do my normal routine of breakfast, laundry, grocery shopping, and then a 5 mile walk around the town for exercise.  Only 16 more working days, 21 actual days, until I am free of moccasins.  But then whose counting.  I hope everyone is doing well and I got a good report on my sister-in-law's PET scan today.  She still needs prayer but there was praises to the Lord in the report.  Stay safe everyone and be well.

Dog of the Day.  Half German Shepherd half Beagle.  He was a well behaved and friendly dog.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 52

   Got up with the sun today.  Unfortunately the sun comes up at 5:30AM here.  I need to cut down on the tea before bed.  :) I had a nice breakfast and got ready for the day.  The weather report said it would be hot and windy today. The weather report was right.  It was pleasant to walk to work but coming home at 5PM, it was rather warm.  But as always the good news is there was no humidity and the wind was blowing.  So I did not melt trying to get back to the trailer.

  Work today was the busiest it has been since I got here.  We sold approximately 50 moccasins today.  Once family came in and bought 11 pairs of moccasins for a total of $513.00.  Pauline was amazed at how many we were selling. I don't know why but shoes were going out the door faster than I could bring them down from the upper level to stock. I will be interesting to hear how many we sold this past week. 

   When I got to work there were items that came in that needed priced and stored, so I got busy doing that until around 10:30 when we started getting slammed with moccasins customers.  Pauline came in around 11AM and went to work in the kids section and the belts.  She and I worked a lot of moccasin selling today and teamed up quite well to ensure everyone was being served.

   I made Pauline's hero list today, well at least one hero and one not hero.  A guy came to my register to purchase a belt.  I took the belt and as I was looking it over he seemed to distract me with a question that really was not important.  My spidey senses started to tingle.  I went through the usual routine of removing the belts hook that holds it on the shelves and then I take off the price tag that is adhered to the button on the back of the belt.  You see the price tags are held onto each belt by one of the snaps that hold the belt's buckle on.  All our belts can have their buckle removed easily be unsnapping two snaps on the belt.  One of those snaps holds the price tag and style of the belt.  Well when I took the belt form the guy I immediately noticed he was buying on of out $98 Bison belts.  They are very nice belts but a little pricey. When I took the price tag off I noticed it was for a Justin belt and $32.98.  I looked at him and told him this whole thing was wrong.  The wrong tag is on this belt.  He looked a little flustered, but I came around the counter and told him to follow me.  I took him to the section of Justin belts for $32.98 and showed him the belt that the tag represented.  I then took him to the Bison belt section and showed him the same belt he was buying and the price.  He looked at me and stuttered a little and said something about finding the belt in this section.  I asked him if he wanted the $98 belt and he said yes.  So I took him back to the cash register and rang it up as it should be.  He paid by credit card and left.  I then went and looked for the Justin belt that should be missing a tag.  Sure enough I found it several sections down from where it should have been with the price tag off.  I then searched for the original Bison tag that he replaced with the Justin tag and could not find it anywhere.  I am assuming he pocketed it.  I related the incident with Pauline and showed her the evidence of what he tried to do.  She congratulated me for stopping the theft and will have management review the video to see if he was a local guy. 

  So I made Pauline's hero list but it was not to last as a kid came into our area and stole a wallet before I could approach him.  I kept watching him and was going to see if he needed help, just to make sure he knew I was around, but before I could approach him a family came in and asked me for help with a moccasin size. I went to them and helped.  My attention was gone for only about 20 seconds and when I looked for the kid he was gone.  I am sure he took advantage of the distraction to just ease out the door with the wallet he had in his hand when I saw him.  So my theft stopping was only 50 percent today.

  That is about it for today.  I will have something exciting for dinner (grape nuts) and get to bed early.  I switched with Pauline tomorrow and will be working her evening shift, as she has to work her second job tomorrow.  So I get to sleep in. Yeah and it is my Friday tomorrow, so double yeah.  Take care everyone and stay well.  16 more work days left until I can forget about moccasins for the rest of my life.  :)  Enjoy the Dog of the Day.

Dog of the Day

A full size schnauzer

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 51

   Had a good night sleep and had a good sausage biscuit breakfast.  I made the biscuits the night before so I would not have to get up early.  The day was nice and the morning walk to work was very nice as well.  I got into work at 8:30 and the place was a mess. Pauline must have gotten busy after I left yesterday because the inventory of belts I priced were still laying on the seats and the boxes of wallets and money clips was still not processed.  The carpet was a mess also.  So I started in getting the belts in order and put those that needed stocked in our store up and then I took the rest upstairs into storage for later.  Pauline came in an hour early, as she got permission from the boss to do so.  She said it was very busy last night and she could not get much done because of helping customers.  About 10:30 we got 6 more boxes of inventory in.  They contained moccasins that needed priced and logged in and then put on shelves.  Pauline also got in several boxes of kids items.  So Pauline and I spent the day getting inventory priced and put up.  She spent most of the day trying to get the kids section fixed up and I spent the day waiting on customers and trying to get the moccasins priced and put up.  By 5PM Pauline and I had a handle on about 75 percent of the stuff that was delivered in the last two days.  She said she will work on some tonight if the business is slow.  I am sure I will be working on some of it tomorrow.  After doing this stuff all day I will reiterate that Wall Drug's inventory system is way behind times.  Labor intensive and totally a waste of hourly time when modern technology can do so much for them.  I will not miss having to go through boxes of stuff while trying to dodge customers in such a small area.  Let alone having to stack items for inventory in the same small area. 

   Anne-Jo came by today with the following sign for us to put up:

   I have been hearing about change issues happening around the US.  So I figured we would be affected at some time.  So does anyone want to buy my 4 quarters for $2?  I just wonder when that will start happening.  :)

  I did have a chance to show Jesus to a customer today.  A lady came in that looked a little unstable.  When she came to the moccasins area she asked about some shoes.  She then said she had issues retaining water in her feet.  I helped her find some shoes and she related to me that she was in an accident that took her husband's life.  She also suffered a mini stroke because of the accident. She asked if I could find her a plain belt and I went and got one for her, but it turned out to be not the right size.  I then retrieved several others that she tried on and we found one that worked.  She tried on the moccasins and they worked for her swollen feet.  She thanked me several times for helping her and I asked her name.  She told me her name was Lady D. I then asked her if I could say a prayer for her.  I took her hand, yeah I now the virus stuff, but I felt she could use a nice hand holding.  I prayed for her health and her walk and for God to keep her safe.  She was very touched and that made my day go a lot better.  So please for all that are reading this.  Say a prayer for Lady D, God knows who she is and what she needs.  She has a tough road ahead of her and feels very lost without her husband by her side.

  That is about all for today.  Stay safe all and pray for each other. 

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 50

  Well I had trouble getting up early after a late shift, but I did it.  I am so proud of my drive to be a good moccasin salesman. :)  Grape Nuts for breakfast, because at my age you just need some roughage. I grabbed the umbrella and walked into work.  I don't mind walking to work as it gives me a time to call Cathy and talk about the day ahead.  I also call her after work on my walk back to the trailer.  I found out today that it was hair cutting day for our dog Gracie.  So for the Dog of the Day it is a nicely coiffed Gracie.  I miss taking Gracie to the church for exercise and I know Karen misses seeing her at the church.

  Work was fairly busy but not overly so.  Pauline arrived at 11AM and so did 8 boxes of inventory for us to go through and process.  We had 40 shoes to process, 180 belts to price mark, and several wallets and money clips to process.  I worked on all of it until 5PM and still had about 1/3 left to process.  Inventory does make the day go faster.

   We had a tour bus come in today.  It was a Turner Coach out of Terre Haute.  I got to talk to a couple from Terre Haute and they even knew my brother Linc.  It seems the tour was heading to several South Dakota spots and then into Wyoming for Devils Tower.  Then they would head back to Indiana.  Most seemed rather pleased to be able to get out and see the west.  They indicated the tour bus was practicing social distancing in that the bus was not completely full and the passengers were spaced out in the seats.  It was good to see a tour bus come through and interesting it was one I know about.

   We have a break room at work where we have to eat our lunches and that has a refrigerator to put our lunches in.  Well the fridge went out and I had to use the fridge in the Cafe to store my lunch.  It was the first time I was ever in the Cafe behind the counter.  They were sure busy there, but the fresh made donuts smelled great.  As a veteran I am allowed a free donut a day, but I have yet to try one.  I may try a couple on my last week working here.  You never know.  Well that is about all for the day.  Take care and thanks for reading.  Stay well.

p.s. 19 more days of selling moccasins and 26 more days until I leave.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 49

   Was able to sleep in today for a little while.  I got up to watch my church's YouTube broadcast.  Archie did a great job and the band payed well.  As always it is good to see my church family.  I had a late breakfast and prepared a light lunch for work.  I grabbed my umbrella from the truck, as it has been raining off and on all morning.  I walked into work with some sprinkling happening but it quit before I reached work.  I clocked in and worked with Stephanie today, as Pauline has Sundays off.  Stephanie said it was very busy when she opened up the store but it was only steady when I got there.  Pauline left me a note and instructions on some inventory work I needed to do.  So I worked upstairs in the stock room for a couple of hours getting belts, suspenders, belt buckles, and wallets brought down to the shelves for sale.

   Not too much unusual happened today.  I got to talk to a couple of motorcycle riders from Indiana today.  They had jackets on declaring "bikers for Jesus".  They were very nice and came from around Crawfordsville.  I hope they were serious about Jesus because both guys looked like they were in their 70's.  I just are wary of 70 plus year old motorcycle riders.  Especially around the Sturgis crowd that will be showing up in a couple of weeks.

   The Dog for the Day is not a very pretty dog, but I chose her because she was 16 years old.  You can tell it for sure.  That is one mighty old dog.  I pray I can last that long in human years. :)  That is about all for my Monday.  Take care and stay well.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 48 (Day Off)

  Had too much tea yesterday and did not sleep well.  So I got up a little late.  After an oatmeal breakfast I got the computer out and researched small towns for me to visit today.  I decided to go visit the town of Interior South Dakota.  I set out around 9:30 and to my surprise google maps sent me to I90 and then off an exit earlier than I expected.  The exit lead me to a gravel farm road.  The road was very well taken care of and the speed limit was 50MPH.  So I trusted Google and followed the directions.  The drive was great and I got to see quite a bit of cattle land.  I also saw several herds of long horn steer.  I also noticed I was heading into the Badlands through the cattle ranches.  There was no signs indicating I was on the wrong road or anything, so I continued on.  I then saw a sign indicating I was entering the Badlands National Park and several warnings not to take any rocks or fossils, but there was no gate to pass through.  Then I approached the intersection of the Badlands Loop road.  Google maps indicated I follow the loop road for a few miles.  So I did.  To my surprise the town was accessible through the national park without paying an entrance fee. Interesting.  Below are my pictures from the town.  The town has a lot of history and a lot of pride.  The town still had a middle school, with around 50 students.  I stopped at the general store and talked to a lady working there.  She was the boss of the store, the post office head (which was in the store), a home owner in Interior, and also a ranchers wife, with a large ranch not too far down the road.  Talk about jack of all trades.  She was pleasant and filled me in on the town. 

 

   After visiting Interior and taking a few pictures, I headed into the Badlands for some hiking and climbing.  The one thing the Badlands has is plenty of places to hike and to climb.  The views are incredible and the place has a lot of history and science digs.  The Badlands is still producing a lot of fossils for examination.  I failed to mention that after 104 degrees yesterday, today was a pleasant 85 degrees with a nice cool 30MPH breeze.  Did I ever mention that the wind is always blowing?  :)  So the day was great for hiking and climbing.  There was a lot of tourists in the park today and they were also enjoying the great weather.

  I went on what I hoped was a 3 mile hike, but around mile 1 I felt my body tell me to get back to the parking area and the bathrooms.  Lets just say I made it back to the restrooms in time but it was close.  I prayed on the way back that one I could make it and two that the bathroom was empty.  I got to the trailhead area and made a beeline for the bathroom.  They were single use ones and I managed to beat a family that was also making a beeline for the same bathroom.  I could hear the mother tell her daughter to just hold it and think of something else, as the bathroom was in use.  I felt for the little girl but not bad enough to give up my place.  :)  Thank you Lord for small answered prayers.  :) I know TMI, but sometime while hiking you have to overcome some trials.  After the small hike I drove down the raod and climbed a lot of rocks to get some good ledge videos and some great Badlands pictures.  I hope you enjoy them all.  Tomorrow I go back to work on late shift, then Monday I switch to day shift.  20 more days of selling moccasins and then I will be a free man.  :)  Today I had a lunch/dinner of the last steak I bought from Wall Processing.  A nice sirloin.  It was very good indeed.  I will definitely get one or two more steaks from them before I leave, but I will have to start to plan to get all my food eaten before I leave.  I will be able to take some dry foods, but not anything refrigerated.  So I will definitely have to plan meals in a week or so to ensure I don't have to leave much behind.  Take care and stay well.  Pray for the country and your neighbors.

My hiking trail