Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 75 (Last Day)

 

    Today being my last official work day at Wall Drug, I thought I would forego the happenings of the day and the dog of the day for a time to thank those who I have worked with and met while here.

   First and foremost is my boss Pauline.  I want to thank you Pauline for helping me to learn the ways of moccasins, belts, buckles, and kids clothes.  You are an energetic worker and a tireless worker who cares for your department and frets over your job to make it better.  Other than my friend George, I have not witnessed such a good worker who never seems to run out of energy.  I suppose that is because you are a lot younger than myself.  You have made this job for me rather nice.  You know quite well that I really don't like selling moccasins but you sure did help make the dreaded time go by much faster.  I wish you and your husband Joe well and I pray you will have a great life together.  I hope with all the overtime and the extra working at the Red Rock that you and your husband will see your dream come true of owning your own land and home one day.  Thanks again for being patient with me.  p.s. You still stink at teaching people about the elevator.  (inside joke folks).

  I want to thank Gina in Buckboard for also having patience with me and for letting me bend her ear several times about my wife and sons and grand-kids.  You are a fine example of a worker for others to follow and even though you claim it, you are not nor have ever been the B word.  :)  I wish you and your husband well and I know you have your hands full with Emily and Andrew, but they are fine young people.  I have enjoyed talking to them and seeing them work also.  You take care and please continue to be the people person you are as I have enjoyed working along side you these past months.

  I want to say goodbye to my co-workers.  To Josh, I thank you for the time we spent working together.  You and your wife are great worker examples and I know you will show your kids that example too.  I wish you nothing but the best as you travel and work around the US in your bus.  I pray your kids are home schooled well and this taste of working for a living sticks to them.  I pray also that you and your family find Jesus.  To Dean, you old coot.  Thanks for the laughs and I appreciate your work ethic too.  It has been nice working with you and having a laugh or two.  I wish you good health and continue to be a bright spot in camping.  To Ken (the head of boots), thanks for helping me learn to close the store and get people out so we can go home.  You are a tireless worker keeping the boot section stocked and running well.  I pray for good health for you and your wife.  I also pray that the rest of your season goes well and quickly.  To Ken (my ex Navy Submariner), thanks for sharing your Navy times with me and it is good to see and talk with someone who knew what I did in the Navy and I knew what they did.  You are a great and patient worker.  Keep up the great work and keep your boss Ken happy in boots.  To Stephanie, thanks for working with me in moccasins.  We made a great sales team. ;)  I wish you well in the coming weeks and I pray for your safety on where ever you are headed.  I know you work hard where ever they put you and I know you are an example to those around you.  Keep smiling and don't buy any more shoes.  :)  To those that I have worked with occasionally, Joe, Dan, Pat, Deb, Jean (my break person), Laura, Emily, Ken (yes we had three Kens) and Leigh.  I wish you all good health and safety.  It has been a pleasure working with you all.

   To all of those I have worked with I promised you I will be praying for you and I will.  I will pray that God leads you first and foremost to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, but also for your safety and your health.  I will miss you all my new friends and I know I will be stopping in the future to say hello.

  Finally my evaluation of my time as a Wall Drug employee.  If you have been reading my blog you know right off that I wont be coming back to work here in the future, unless something drastically changes.  The people were fantastic, but the job was not what I would like to be doing during my summer work.  I need a job that is more active than standing at a register selling shoes and waiting on customers.  That does not mean there were not jobs at Wall Drug that fit the bill.  Working in the basement and stocking the floor would have been an active job that I think I would have liked doing.  God put me here this year for a reason and I think that reason is to learn to have patience and self-control.  Pauline said I did an excellent job selling moccasins.  I told her it was because of my philosophy of working as if I was working for the Lord. I try to do this where ever I am at.  Whether it was a Crane for the Navy or taxes for my brother or selling moccasins.  I think Pauline saw the results of that attitude and I am glad it showed.  The other issue I have with Wall Drug employment is their dorm is not really a dorm but a trailer. It was nice having a place to myself but I don't think I want to be in a trailer with other people.  I would end up being the trailer Mom and I don't want to have to be the boss of the trailer to get people to clean and pick up after themselves.  I also think Yellowstone's employee dinning room and meal plan is way better than having to buy and fix my own meals.  I know that while I worked here at Wall that I did not eat as nutritionally as I did in Yellowstone.  Also with Yellowstone being more an active work and eating right I lost weight.  I did not lose weight here in Wall and that is a big negative for working at Wall Drug.  As for things to do in South Dakota versus Yellowstone.  Well there are many things to do in both places, but the hiking is much better in Yellowstone.  South Dakota has many things to do and places to visit, so that was not much of a negative to working here.  I got to see a lot of places that I have never seen before just passing by as a tourist and I got to know the area much better.

   That is about all for my last entry.  I want to thank my wife Cathy for again keeping the home front going while I am out here.  I miss her very much and wish that she would come out on an adventure with me one year.  Tomorrow I will be taking a slow trek home.  I plan on first heading to Cody Wyoming and then to the mountains to get all this moccasin selling out of my system.  Then onto Yellowstone to visit the store and my friends there.  I also plan on getting my application started for next year if I can.  Then I will head to the Tetons to say hello to those great mountains.  Then onto Idaho Falls then south to Utah and then God willing to Silverton Colorado to say hello to other friends.  Then say goodbye to the mountains then home.  Please say a prayer for my travels and thanks again for reading my blog.  I hope in the future the blog will help anyone who maybe thinks about working at Wall Drug.  

  Some pictures of my last day.

My Break Room

Watched over my department

Yes we have a Zoltar machine

They make fudge here everyday

A very nice store on my hallway

Dean hard at work in camping

My friends in the pharmacy

Dean and Josh ready for Covid protection

The real Dean and Josh

Deb in camping

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 74

   Woke up at 5AM again today. I don't know why I cant seem to sleep past 5AM but I decided to get up and get showered and do my laundry.  The laundromat is 24 hour and I needed to get my clothes done for the last time as I head home via a circuitous route Saturday. I got my laundry started around 6AM and was done around 7AM.  I decided to get breakfast at the local Subway.  They open at 7AM so that was convenient.  I took the breakfast back to the trailer and ate.  Then I put the clothes in the bins that I use when traveling west for the summer.  I got things organized so I can get stuff loaded into the truck Friday night and then head out early Saturday.  After all that was done I cleaned the toilet and the shower.  I am trying to make sure everything is ready for inspection Friday.  If my inspection is OK then I get my $100 deposit back which will be used as my travel money home.  I then took a nap until I got ready to head to work around 10:30.

  I walked to work with my umbrella, as the weather has been hot and then chances of rain in the evening.  I got to work to find Pauline dealing with a rather large lady trying on moccasins. I could tell this lady was testing Pauline's patience, as there already was 4 boxes of moccasins next to her that she must have tried on.  I got behind the counter and waved at Pauline as she was climbing the ladder to retrieve another moccasin box.  She looked at me and gave me one of those looks that said "Why me!"  I have had that look several times while working here, but you just have to get through it.  After Pauline finished with the lady I checked her out at the register.  Thank goodness she bought a pair of moccasins after what she put Pauline through.  Pauline approached me and said she brought in a cake for our last day working together.  The picture is below of my piece.  She also gave me a card that was signed by all my my co-workers in the departments adjoining ours.  I read each of the entries that my friends wrote and I was choked up. Like I said from the beginning, I may not like the job that much but the people have been great to work around.  It was also my co-worker Dean's 73 birthday.  We all wished him a happy birthday with a card we signed yesterday.  Dean is a great guy and a funny guy also.  After all the cake and celebration and such we got back to work.  It was pretty steady all day until Pauline went to her second job.  Then business really slowed down, but Pauline left me with inventorying  and pricing about 200 kids socks.  So that took about two hours to do, but it killed much of the evening and before I knew it it was closing time.  After we closed our tills Stephanie came over and gave me a hug goodbye as she would be off tomorrow.  I also bid goodbye to Jean and a few others in the store, as they would be off tomorrow too.  I have made a lot of friends here and that is one of the benefits of summer work.  I know I plan on stopping by in the future and I am sure I will be welcome back anytime.

  That is about it.  I have to get up early tomorrow to begin my last day.  Take care everyone and stay well.

My goodbye card

The cake was excellent

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 73

    For some reason I woke up at 5:08 AM today and could not get back to sleep.  So I decided to clean the trailer a day earlier than I wanted to.  I got the place vacuumed and the fridge cleaned and the microwave cleaned.  I will same the bathroom for tomorrow, but it should not take too long anyway.  After all the cleaning I got breakfast and showered, then I took a nap.  :)  I looked at the weather forecast and decided to take my umbrella today.  As there was an heat advisory and a red flag warning  condition.  It seems when those two happen then storms come in the evening.  The temperature today reached 102 degrees in Wall and 107 degrees in Wasta a few miles down the road.  The red flag warning went off on my phone warning people not to do too much outside and the humidity level was going to be below 10 percent.  Which brings about the potential for a fire caused by lightening in the evening.  The wind blowing would send any fires around the area pretty quickly too.  

   Work today was pretty busy.  Pauline had a warehouse day and I got to work with Josh for the day.  Pauline needed the warehouse day and she was pretty swamped with items arriving that needed her attention.  Josh and I priced and put away several items that arrived today and yesterday.  Josh processed the cowboy ropes.  We sell a lot of new cowboy ropes. The professional rodeo kind.  As well as used professional ropes.  The new ropes are around 50 bucks and the used ropes are around 15 bucks.  A rancher can trade in 5 used ropes and get a new rope.  I had belts and wallets to process today.  Josh and I managed to get Pauline caught up OK and she only had a few kid items left to inventory when Josh left at 5PM.  Business was very steady today as we sold a lot of belts and moccasins today.  I think the Sturgis season for the store will be a good one.

  Not much else happened today. Tourists were well behaved, but I think the heat dulled them a lot.  Nothing like riding a motorcycle in 100 degrees with a 25 MPH wind in your face.  They are glad Wall Drug gives out free ice water.  :)  The dog of the day is interesting as I have never seen this breed, or heard of it, before.  The dogs coming through the store today were very hot and panting quite a bit.  Take care you all and be kind and stay safe.

Dog of the Day a Spinone Italiano

 

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 72

   Tuesday morning and only 3 more days of work, after this day anyway.  The day started well, after a good nights sleep.  I finished my last waffle breakfast.  My food supplies are dwindling down as I had planned.  Soon I will be eating at the Cafe for meals as I do not want to have any food left to throw away. 

  The walk to work was pretty good and the motorcycle noises were evident that Sturgis folks are still coming and going.  I got into work to find that the moccasins Pauline ordered last week were delivered and that yesterday's inventory was three quarters done.  So I had plenty of work to do today to keep me busy.  If the tourists were not keeping me busy enough.  The store was pretty busy and we sold a lot of moccasins and belts today.  Pauline was her usual worry self.  She worries that we are not selling enough inventory and then she worries that she can't get enough inventory in to sell.  I am doing my best to keep her focused on the positives.  She is a good worker and manages the department well.  Rick the store owner came by today and complimented her on the kids section that she oversees.  I sometimes tag and put up stuff in the kids section, but it is mainly Pauline's area and she does a great job keeping it stocked.  We sell a lot of kids cowboy hats and ropes and cow girl outfits.  

   Not too much interesting happened today.  The motorcycle tourists were well behaved and still dressing rather interesting. I had to clean up where a dog peed on the floor today, but I had no issues with that as I like having dogs around the store.  They make my day for sure.  Several of my co-workers have kidding me about my last day being Friday.  I take it all in stride.  Some of the workers are very tired, as the schedules are usually more than 40 hours a week for some.  So I can understand them wanting to leave with me.  I told Pauline that I do hope the store rewards their regular yearly employees with a bonus or something, as they have been putting in 6 and 7 days a week to pick up the slack from being down workers.  I told her I would email her and ask later this year if they did.  She does not know if they will but I think it would be right to do this and good for morale.

  That is all for the day.  Storming now and will be storming for the next couple of days.  Take care everyone and stay well.  Got a great video from my son Jacob today.  He got re-baptized.  I am proud of the christian man he has become and how he leads his family.  Be kind and be well.

Dog of the day.  Would not hold still and wanted to play and be petted.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 71

    Today was a late shift day and I managed to get through an official Monday.  I was able to sleep in and get some added rest, which was nice.  The day was pleasant and as I walked in I could tell the place was full of Sturgis motorcycle customers.  When I walked into the store Pauline was frazzled.  There was a lot of customers and it seems there was also 5 boxes of inventory delivered.  I talked to Pauline for a little to get an idea on what direction the day was to go.  She indicated customers first, then inventory put up.  I worked on the customers while she tried to sort out what inventory was priority to get on the shelves.  It seems belts won, followed closely by kids apparel. We have been having a "Belt-Palooza" in sales.  The motorcycle type loves to buy good quality belts.  We sold several woman's belts the past two days that I have never sold in the last two months.  The were $91 belts with a lot of sparkly items attached.  I thought they looked rather gaudy, but it seems the motorcycle momma loves gaudy and sparkly.  The customers were very well behaved but there were a few who liked to ask for discounts.  Wall Drug does not give any discounts to anyone other than family.  A few customers tried their best to see if I could discount a belt or two.  Can't blame them for trying.  We also have a theft today.  It seems a lady came in and pocketed some socks.  Gina spotted her and tried to spot her before she exited the store, but our area is right next to the outside doors.  That she easily made it to the sidewalk and was gone.  I also found an empty wallet box in our area. Indicating someone took the wallet out of the box and pocketed it and left.  Theft happens all the time and I wish Wall would do a better job monitoring the video feed, but I don't think anyone is manning that post.

   I got several items put on the shelves and managed to get through some inventory, but Pauline and I have a lot to go through tomorrow.  Plus we area also getting in a shipment of moccasins that will need to be inventoried, priced and put on the shelves.  So I guess I will be doing that tomorrow when I get in.  That is about all for today.  Stay safe and I have only 4 more working days left.  Yes!  Be kind and pray for one another.

Dog of the Day, a nice sheep dog

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 70

   Well today starts my last week of work at Wall Drug.  Not that I am looking forward to leaving the moccasin paridise, but I am looking forward to leaving the moccasin paradise.  I had an early shift today and got up around 6:30AM to eat breakfast and checked email.  The day was great for a walk into work.  The temperatures started nice and was going to get into the low 90's by the end of the day.  I opened the store and got a surprise when I put the change in the register.  I broke open a roll of dimes and found a 1943 Liberty silver dime.  Yes a lucky day for sure.  It did not take long after opening to start to see the parade of Sturgis motorcycle tourists come in.  Folks I can only say you would not believe the manner of dress of the motorcycle women and girls.  It makes me shake my head and one 80 year old woman about made me lose my breakfast.  They are polite people and all but they are very rough around the edges for sure.  Thank goodness a group of Mennonites came through to break of the parade of indecency.  :)  

  The funny customer of the day had to be a guy who was trying on several belts.  I saw him out of the corner of my eye and he would grab a belt and slip it on and then shake his head and try another.  He saw me looking at him and he asked "Do these belts run short?"  I told him "I don't think it is the belts."  He laughed and went on to try a few more.  It amazes me how men lie to themselves about these waist size and thus their belt size.  I will ask Pauline about putting a permanent tape measure in the belt section so guys and gals can actually see where they need to start buying a belt. 

   Business was pretty brisk and around 10AM Dan came in to help me, as he had the second shift.  It stayed busy until around 2PM and then it slowed to a crawl.  I guess the cyclist were traveling to Sturgis and not visiting Wall.  We sold many many belts and I even went to the stock room and brought some of the more popular ones down to the floor for sale.  Pauline was right in thinking the Sturgis crowd was a belt buying group.  I also sold many belts today to those that forgot theirs when they packed or their belt broke while riding their motorcycles.

  Today a friend of mine from my old working division came into the store.  Because they were in a hurry they did not come and visit me.  They did eat at the store cafe but I am sure they experienced long lines and crowds and that made them want to leave rather quickly.  The first 2 weeks of August are not a good time to be visiting this area because of the motorcycle rally.  I read yesterday a USA Today article concerning the motorcycle rally.  They claimed over 250,000 people were in the area for the rally.  They also claimed, and I have seen it first hand, that social distancing and mask wearing was not happening. They detailed how it was a struggle for the area to decide on having the rally or not.  I am glad I did not have to make that decision.  There are many businesses that plan 350 days a year for the 14 of the rally.  Some businesses exists only because of the income from the rally.

   That is about all for this day and tomorrow I shift to late shift for 4 days and then day shift on my last day.  You all take care and stay well.  Be kind and pray for each other.

p.s.  No dogs came through the store today for me to photo.  So I will put our dog Sammy here as he is a good dog.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 69 (Day Off)

  My last day off for my Wall Drug employment.  Tomorrow I start my last six days of employment and then the next day I am a free man.  :)  When I woke up I was thinking about the Badlands that are directly behind where I live.  I always see them in the distance and they had one large hill that kept calling me to climb.  So I decided after breakfast to head out there and climb the hill and explore the mini Badland area. There was a road behind my trailer that lead to the Badland area.  It passed by the Wall sewer treatment lakes and then headed toward the Badland area.  I walked about a mile before I took a left and tried to spy a good path up to the top of the hill.  By my estimate it was a 700 foot climb.  I noticed that there were bike trails around me and my eyes followed them toward the hill. It seems that this area was popular with mountain bikers and their path helped me figure out a way to the top.  After several minutes and a couple of rest stops I found myself on top of the largest hill.  The one thing about climbing the Badlands type hills is that climbing is fairly easy.  The ground is very sold and easy to climb, but if the ground is wet it would be very difficult.  I had my high top hiking shoes on and it made the going easy, both up and down.  Once I was on top I got to see beyond the major hill and what was there.  I never have seen that area before because the hill facing my trailer blocked the view.  It looked like a great place to hike some more, so I set about trying to find a way down on the back side of the hill.  Unfortunately the mountain bikers never ventured on this side, so I had to make my way down on my own.  After a couple of bad choices, I found a spot that would allow me to climb down onto the back side of the hill.  I was glad I did climb down as there was some pretty interesting places to wander around.  I found several nice rocks that I will be taking home and I also scared up a very pretty fox from it's den hole.  I tried to get a picture of it but it ran away to quickly.  Once I was down I tried to walk around to see many places in the lower area.  I am sure many years ago that area once held a lot of water, but now was a dry lake bed, with an occasional filling when it rained hard or had a lot of snow.  The rocks that were on the bottom were very interesting and the way they were scattered around indicated that water moved them over the years.  After walking around I had to look up several times a the hill I came down to get my bearings.  I could imagine it would be so easy to get lost in the real Badlands if all you did was walk around the lower areas.  It takes a high loft to see where you need to go for sure.  After about another mile of walking I decided to head back to the road.  The trail I took led me to where there was a lot of junk strewn around.  I guess in the long past Wall used the area as a junk yard.  Several items were in the area between me and the road that I had to go around.  A junk car, lawn mower, cans, bottles, etc..  Eventually I got back to the road and headed back to the trailer to take a shower and get cleaned up. I am glad I did the hike as the place was pretty interesting and the climbing was fun.  Although I was disappointed I did not find any rattle snakes.  There are warnings everywhere about the venomous snakes, but I have yet to see one in person.  I was hoping to get a rattle for the grand-kids.  :)  That is about all the highlights for today.  I am looking forward to my last 6 days of selling shoes and getting out of here.  :)  Take care everyone and stay safe.  Pray for those that are sick or have lost someone recently.  God hears them all.

The road leading to the mini Badlands behind my trailer.

The hill I climbed, this just off the road.

The view from the top of the hill looking to where I climbed down.

The den where the fox came out of.

The area where I climbed down.  Very interesting.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 68 (Day Off)

    Was able to sleep in a little, but since this is my first day off I had to get up for laundry.  When I got to the laundromat there was actually others in there.  This is the first time that has happened since I have been going on Friday.  I think Sturgis crowd is really packing into Wall.  You can't go 5 minutes around here without the rumble of a motorcycle going by.  I have also observed that the motorcyclist don't know how to use their turn signals either.  But I digress, after laundry was done I headed for Rapid City just to walk around the place and get about three items I would need for supplies until I left.  Driving there I noticed about 5 vehicles on the side of the road at various areas.  Motorcycles, campers, cars, etc.  All were broken down or actively being looked at.  Seems Sturgis also brings out engine trouble too.  I got to Rapid City and parked in town as I wanted to walk around town and look at some of the shops and such.  Just to get some exercise and to see what was for sale.  The most interesting place I stopped at was Pawnseum.  I stopped by there initially to see the clocks it had in the window but found out it was a very elaborate pawn shop and a museum.  Below is a picture of one of the items on display. It also had a very nice display of a large gold nugget that was found by a prospector doing some placer mining.  The largest nugget ever found in the Black Hills placer mining.  The miner who found it sure looked like one of those old miners.  They had a very large selection of clocks and a very nice repair business going for them. They also had a large number of items that were for sale that were pawned.  It was an interesting store for sure.

  I walked around town for a couple of hours and saw a lot of shops and such.  Rapid City downtown also has a large amount of homeless and many times you would see people with signs asking for money.  The downtown also seemed to have a few shelters, which probably contributed to the fact that there were many beggars around.  But I never felt not safe in the town and in fact the sidewalk restaurants and wine bars were doing a great business.  The center of town had a nice park area where concerts and such were done.  In fact they were setting up for a concert when I passed through the area.  The below picture is a fountain area in the corner of the concert area.

  I had lunch at Culver's and picked up my supplies at Target then headed back to Wall.  On the way back I noticed the traffic on the other side of the interstate seemed to be congested and that was not normal for South Dakota.  Traveling a few more miles I found out why.  It seems there was an accident that shut down I-90 West.  It looked like several motorcycles or motorcycles and campers were involved in an accident.  The police were on the scene and traffic was crawling past the accident site.  I pray no one was seriously hurt.  

   I got back to the trailer and rested for a while before going on a 3 mile walk to work of lunch.  That is about it for today.  I think I will hike up a small bad land hill behind where I live tomorrow and then do some cleaning of the trailer.   Stay safe everyone and stay well.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 67

  TGIF.  Got to sleep in today as I switched with Pauline and was working her late shift.  Before I walked into work I called the Stacy, the trailer inspector, to get a date for inspecting my trailer before I leave.  If I pass the inspection then I get my deposit back and I am on my way.  If not I have some cleaning to do, but I really don't expect the latter as I have been keeping it pretty clean.  She said she will inspect it next Friday while I am working and get the paperwork filled out.  She said she will leave my deposit money if the place checks out OK.  I thanked her and headed to work. 

   Pauline was not very busy when I got there and the day proved that to be the case.  Only a few times did we have more than one person looking for shoes at a time.  The belts sold well today and Pauline said that is usually the case during Sturgis rally week.  I did manage to sell a $93 bone belt today.  My very first.  Now I only have an Ostrich belt to sell to cover all types. 

  We did have an interesting sale in the kid's section.  A couple bought a $29.95 cowboy hat for their kid and then asked to have it shipped home.  Nothing else but the cowboy hat.  So tell me the logic in buying a $29.95 cowboy hat and paying $30 to have it shipped.  I have seen a lot of interesting decisions since I have been here, so that did not phase me one bit.  The bikers today were very interesting but I have one observation about them.  Most biker guys that come in the store are very over weight.  So if a person should ever get into a fight with one of them they should just jog away.  I am sure most would be grabbing their hearts after about 5 minutes of running.  :)  Seriously though they all seem to behave well and they spend a lot of cash for sure.

  That is about all for today and tomorrow starts my days off.  Laundry and shopping.  Take care and enjoy the dogs of the day pictures.  I can't believe how many backpacks with animals there was in the store today.  Still my favorite was the Golden Retriever.  Stay kind.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 66

     Another day shift and I did not sleep very well last night.  Woke up several times and dreams were about drowning in paperwork.  So as I expected I was pretty tired around 3PM.  But I digress.  The walk into work was very nice but the day was going to get a little warm when I walked back to the trailer.  I got to work and opened the store up.  Business was very slow, so time passed by slowly also.  Around 9:30AM a mother and her daughter came in to buy a pair of moccasins.  I found them a pair that they wanted and the daughter tried them on.  She said they were ok but the left shoe lace was loose and asked if I would tie it for them.  I thought this was a strange request, but I soon found out that you have to tie moccasins a certain way and I did not know how to do it.  So I found another pair the same size and they bought them.  After they left I asked Gina what this moccasin tying business was all about.  She said she could not tie one either and had to resort to YouTube to figure it out.  I looked at the video How to tie a moccasin and I could not figure it out.  So I guess I will leave here with one thing I need to learn.  Gina said she had no luck tying one to look like the factory did it either.  Since I never owned any moccasins I would never had guessed it was a different bow tie.  I think if I did not have another pair of the same size, the mother would have not bought the moccasins at all because of the bow tie issue.

   The pet of the day is something unusual.  A person brought in their emotional support pet, a pig.  It was well behaved and even sat on command.  Below is the picture and that is one strange emotional support pet.

   Today HR rep Laura came and got me to present me with my exit package.  I guess I am getting closer to leaving as now I have a package of things I need to do before leaving.  The biggest thing is that I need to call the trailer inspector and get an appointment to have the trailer inspected next week so I can get my deposit back.  I also have some paperwork to fill out for tax purposes and I have to have my uniform stuff turned in.  They gave me a check list that I will go over and some places for everyone to sign.  I am getting closer folks to finally giving up my carrier as a moccasin salesman.

   That is about it for today.  The only other thing is we are seeing many bikers come into the store.  They are sure a rough looking bunch, both men and women, but they are generally well behaved and definitely like paying in cash for their items.  The store sure makes a lot of money off of those attending the Sturgis motorcycle rally.   I hope those who are reading this are doing well.  Stay safe and stay kind.

Real pets of the day.
Two very well behaved Schnauzers.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 65

  Today was another day shift and that meant up early.  I have got to stop staying up and reading, but Clive Cussler's books are very addictive.  :)  After a Grape Nuts breakfast I walked into work.  The day looked overcast so I brought my umbrella, but really did not need it.  The morning was very slow and very boring.  Not much going but I can tell the Sturgis motorcycle rally folks are starting to come in.  You talk about rough looking and the guys are even worse.  :)  Seriously I can tell the bikers from the regular tourists for sure.  Mainly their face tans and there massive use of leather clothes.  Also another thing I noticed was that about 75 percent of my transactions today was done with cash.  That is also unusual but it seems the biker group does not use credit cards much.  I asked Gina about this and she said for the last few days she noticed also that more cash transactions were happening.  Interesting.

  Around 10:30 we got in a shipment of around 120 belts to process.  Pauline got in at 11AM and went to work on the pricing for me and then I went to work on getting them in inventory.  Dan in Buckboard helped me with them and between the two of us we got them taken care of rather quickly. Pauline had management meetings and sales rep meetings today, so I basically ran the department by myself.  It was not very busy, which was good for me.  One of the nice things about the bikers is that I can tell where most of them are from because a lot of them wear vests with the state name on them.  I talked to a group of Indiana bikers from Michigan City Indiana today.  That is about it for today.  Only 8 more working days left until I am free of selling shoes.  :)  Take care you all and be kind to one another.

Dog of the Day.

One of the signs our store sells.
Since I have a Schnauzer I thought it was cute.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 64

   Second day of work this week and it was a day shift.  Up early for a Special K breakfast and then walked into work.  It was almost chilly this morning as the temperature was around 62 degrees, but very pleasant to walk.  I got to work and really did not have much today in the way of straightening up, as I closed the store yesterday and did most of the stuff.  I guess I will have to stop doing so much closing if I was going to open the store the next day.  I did manage to get a few things done to prepare the store for the day and to keep myself busy as there was not much business early in the morning.  Around 9AM Gina next door got called into Rick Hustead's office.  I figured it was something important as Rick does not usually call department managers off their shift to come and meet.  Right before Pauline arrived at 11AM we got a delivery of 150 moccasins and 170 belts.  So I had plenty to do the rest of the day for sure.  Pauline got the prices to me and I went to work pricing and stocking the items.  While I was doing this Gina met with Pauline and filler her in on the meeting.  Later as I was working on the belts Pauline told me about the meeting.  Well it seems that our departments, Kids, Buckboard, moccasins, camping, boots, and belts were doing exceptionally well.  Our sales numbers were well ahead of last year and Rick was very happy about that the virus did not affect the store as bad as he feared.  This was very good and it made Pauline's day for sure.  She told me also that we ended up selling around 850 moccasins in July.  That is 220 more than we sold in July last year.  I asked Pauline if she ever heard of the adventures of Joseph in the Bible.  She said she did not remember his story.  Well I said I am your Joseph for this year. I told her that where ever Joseph was placed that placed prospered.  Whether in Potiphar's house or in prison or in charge of Egypt's resources.  She laughed at this, but Gina knew the story and she liked the comparison.  I told them we will see how you do when I leave and I told them I would drop by next year and see if the sales are down. 

   Today I met two boys, pictured below, who were carrying a toaster.  I asked them why were they carrying a toaster around and they told me it was their fathers.  You see some people take items like dolls and such and when they get to places of interest they take pictures of the item at those locations.  These two decided that it would be neat to take their fathers chrome toaster with them on their trip out west.  They would get stickers put on the toaster and take pictures and videos of the toaster at the places where they were at.  So they brought it in the store to get a Wall Drug sticker and to get a picture or two of the toaster with some of Wall Drug in the background.  They also told me their father did not know they took the toaster.  At least until he tried to use it after they were gone.  So when they get back this well traveled toaster will have many stickers on it and some great pictures to back it up.  I told them that I thought that was an excellent idea and they let me snap a picture of them.  This made my day.

  On a sad note I don't know if it is the Sturgis crowd or not, but yesterday and today I had a few customers wearing t-shirts with the F*** word emblazoned on them in some phrase or saying.  The wearers were men and women.  What has this world come to where someone can think I will slip this shirt on and proudly wear it where there are kids?  This just makes me sad, very sad.  I pointed one out to Gina and she agreed that there was no place for people wearing shirts like that in public.  All I can say is if this was my business I would be asking them to vacate the premises and if they asked why I would say that kids don't need to see an R rated t-shirt while family shopping.

   That is about all for today.  I did meet someone who works for the Air Force in DC who knew of Crane.  We had a nice talk about the Navy and working for the government.  We had plenty of dogs come through today but I was only able to the below for a Dog of the Day.  Take care and stay well and please say a prayer for Harold Padgett's family as they will be laying him to rest this week.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 63

   Today I worked evening shift and nothing really happened that is blog worthy.  So I will be telling you about a friend of mine who just passed away.  One of the things about summer work that bothers me is when someone special in my life passes away while I am gone.  It happened with John Griggs and it happened today with my friend Harold Padgett.  Harold and his wife Irene attended our church for many years.  When I preached occasionally at our church Harold and Irene always went out of their way to tell me how well I did.  When I first started preaching it was kind words like that that really helped me along.  Several years ago I took over a Men's Breakfast Bible study on Saturdays.  It was a time for men to get together to have a nice breakfast and get into the word of God before starting their Saturday to-do lists.  Harold came to the Bible study for several years and I got to know him as a Christian brother and a friend.  After the Men's Breakfast ended its run some 12 years or so, I kept in touch with Harold and Irene.  Just making sure they were OK and a few times I took Harold to appointments with doctors.  During that time I was able to talk to him about his life and I found out we had golf in common.  I don't think Harold could have made it to 92 years old unless he played golf.  That walking exercise was what I think kept him young and he loved to play with the other seniors in the summer league.  Harold was a standup guy and loved the Lord and his wife so very much.  I always enjoyed our time together and though he never spoke up often during our Bible studies, when he did he showed a lot of wisdom.  I recently called Irene and chatted with her about Harold and her.  Harold could not hear very well over the phone as his hearing was really bad the last few years, but Irene would always relay my concerns about him and she always told me how happy she was that I would check on them.  I have been praying for them for several years and I know we cannot beat time, but there are times I wish I could be able to talk to Harold over a breakfast again.  He was a gentle man and I will miss him.  I will be praying for Irene and her family and I know I will stop and see her when I get home.  My heart breaks but I know where Harold is right now and I know he is made perfect through Jesus Christ.  Rest in Peace my friend.

He was a Navy verteran

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Day 62 (Day Off)

   I got up semi early as I wanted to get on the road to Pierre South Dakota.  I wanted to say good bye to the Missouri River, as I wont be passing by it on the way home this time.  Pierre has a very nice park next to the river called Griffith Park.  The park has plenty of things for families to do.  There is a Frisbee golf course, picnic areas, a baseball diamond, lake beach access and a marina to put a boat in as well as rent some watercraft.  There is also a 6 mile trail called the Lewis & Clark Trail that borders the river.  It was this trail I wanted hike.

   After a nice Special K breakfast I headed out to Pierre.  The day was nice and only going to get into the low eighties as a high.  Yes the wind will be blowing too.  The drive to Pierre took me through some very active farm land.  The sunflower crops were in full bloom and looking very pretty.  The farmers were in the fields bringing in the wheat crop.  The crops do look good for sure.  Today I saw more motorcycles on the road heading the opposite direction than me.  I think Sturgis motorcycle rally will be bringing in quite a few over the next two weeks.  The only issue I see if that they like to travel in packs.  So when I see in front of me one passing a slower moving vehicle, the others in the pack also try to pass.  The problem is that one or two may pass OK, but the third or fourth cycle that tries to pass is in my lane for a little too long.  I don't hesitate to lay on my horn and remind them that there are others on the road who don't want to get killed.  I think Sturgis is going to make driving around a little interesting for sure.  Also don't get me started on the 80 plus year old motorcycle drivers that are out here too.  

   I got to Pierre around 11AM, 10AM Wall time as I lose an hour going there.  I fond the park's parking area pretty much empty.  I pulled into a nice space under a tree for some shade.  I then let the tail gate down and changed into my hiking shoes and put on a backpack with some water.  After locking things up I headed down the riverside trail.  They have signs all the way so you don't get lost.  The first part of the trail takes you between the park and the river.  So I got to see a lot of things that they have for those wishing to use the park.  After leaving the park you enter residential areas where houses are on one side and the river on the other.  I would not mind having a riverside house with a nice deck to watch the river go by.  I wonder what winter is like here by the river.  I imagine it gets pretty cold.  After leaving the residential area you enter another park containing a ball field and then past it you enter an area where campers can park for the night.  There was a couple of those huge Prevost type motor homes.  I would have liked to see what they looked like inside.  After the camping area you come to the marina.  There was a lot of activity there with boats going into the river and out of the river.  After the marina there was a boat repair and maintenance facility. Pretty handy for helping keep those boats in shape.  After all this the trail then heads into the woods bordering the river for the next three and half miles.  The walk through the woods was interesting as the pictures below show how it bordered the river.  The only drawback of the trail was that it also went by Pierre's sewer treatment plant.  Boy did that place make the trail smell ripe. The trail also went by a dog park and then a golf course and finally it ended at another camp ground and river boat access.  So from the start of the trail by my truck it was around 5.1 miles.  After some water and foot massage, I headed back the way I came.  I only saw 3 other people on the trail, as I think most people bicycle the trail and only real diehards walk it.  :)  The total hike was around 10.28 miles according to my Samsung watch.  It is pretty accurate as it uses GPS to track my progress. I can tell you this though, when I got back to the truck I sat on the tail gate and rested as my feet were tired.  This is the longest hike I have done since arriving here.  I hope my legs get some rest overnight and have no ill effects tomorrow during my evening shift.

  After the hike I went to McDonald's and come a light lunch and like it has been for a while, ate it im my truck while driving back to the trailer.  The drive back was uneventful other than hitting a ton of bees and grasshoppers. When I arrived at Wall I went to the local gas station and cleaned my wind windshield.  Getting to the trailer I got my clothes changed and then took a nice 2 hour nap.  I was bushed.  That is about it.  I will be back to work tomorrow for a late shift.  I will probably sleep in for sure.  Take care and stay well.