What a week it has been and sometimes not in a good way. For the past couple of weeks a severe cold has been infecting the employees in the store. I caught it this week and I really could not take any time off because we were short grocery workers. You see Scott had to leave because his mother died. Then we were supposed to get an extra grocery worker this week, but the guy never showed up. We had four delivery trucks to unload this week and that meant that it would just be the three of us having to unload and inventory the items, at the same time we have to keep the store shelves stocked. Right when the largest truck arrived and was being unloaded Jack, our 86 year old grocery worker, took sick. So it ended up just being Ron and I getting the stuff unloaded and inventoried and trying to keep the store shelves from being drained. We are getting busier and busier and keeping the drinks and groceries stocked takes a lot of work. I worked the entire day, but after work I went to bed at 7PM. I was drained by the cold and felt beat up by all the work Ron and I had to do. All I had to look forward to the next day was that more inventory needed to be moved and inventoried. So all I can say is it was a very tough week and I came to some conclusions about this summer job. One is that the company cannot seem to get workers who want to work temporary jobs. So the stress level and work is getting pretty tough. I don't see how Jack is making it through the week and he is 22 years older than I am. Second thing I am realizing is that this will be my last year working here for the summer. At 64 years old I really do not need the stress and aggravation that this job is causing. Ron is doing the best he can and we work the best we can, but the days are getting more trying and the positives of being in the park are getting diminished. We will see how things go as summer progresses, but we have not even hit the high tourist numbers yet. Which means the truckloads will get larger and come more than just once a week. We are not the only company that is having issues, as the companies that delivery goods to us are having worker issues also. We are also seeing supply line issues with stock we request. Items are either not available or out of stock.
This week we also had another employee ask to leave. The young man decided one day to inform his boss that as he said, "I just don't feel like working today." The store manager has had issues with the young man in the past, so basically she told them the company then does not feel like housing you or feeding you. The park rangers were called and the young man was told a van would take him and his personal items to West Yellowstone. Later that day he was loaded up and driven out of the park. He has no car and from what I hear no money either. I also think he had not common sense in thinking you can jsut do nothing and nothing would ever happen to him. On a personal observation, the dorm now does not seem to have the weed smell since he has been gone. I cannot imagine how individuals don't look at the consequences to their choices. So far we have had two employees asked to leave and neither one of them had any plan B. Sad very sad indeed.
For all of you worried about our pet Pine Marten, well it is still with us and jumped out of the shelves this week to say hello to Rhonda, a floor manager in the store. It leaves that store by the grocery dock to get a drink and then comes back in the store to find some better things to eat.
On my day off I left the park and the crowds to just drive and relax. As I was exiting the park at West Yellowstone, there was a line of cars four lanes wide and about a half mile long trying to get into the park. Below are some pictures from my day off. I love Idaho Falls and the place is very relaxing to visit.
I put in 74,105 steps in the store this week. That is around 34.6 miles of walking. Too bad my watch does not track how much I lifted during the week, because my back is sure counting. :)
Thanks for reading and thanks for the prayers for my really stressful week. Take care and stay well.
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