Shifty....

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8:07 am - Saturday - 50º F, 75% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the west northwest.......cloudy and drizzly right now, but there is the promise of sun later today and a forecast high of 67º F.

Our first full 8 hour shift at the Yellowstone General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs began at 1:30 pm so we had about 5 hours to run some errands before we reported for work.  First up was our drug testing at the Mammoth Clinic (9:30 am for TLE and 10 am for moi).  We arrived around 9:20 am, signed in and then began our 'wait' in the 'WAITING ROOM'.......as Jerry Seinfeld says....."When it's called a WAITING ROOM there is no way you are not going to WAIT, and WAIT we did.  Finally bout 10:15 am TLE was called to donate a her urine sample, and then it was my turn a few minutes later.  We were out just before 10:30 and on to our next errand.....get a P. O. Box at the Mammoth Hot Springs USPS.....I guess we could have gotten a P. O. Box at the Gardiner, MT USPS, but who doesn't want to have an address that ends in Yellowstone National Park,WY?  We secured our box for a 6 month period, the shortest period available, at a total cost of $30, and were on our way to our next task.....get a YNP employee sticker for our driver's side window to expedite our passage each day through the Roosevelt Gate into YNP.  There is no charge for this, but you must provide a copy of your vehicle registration, insurance, driver's license, and employee ID card, and then fill out a short application form.  It took just a few minutes to secure the coveted employee sticker, and we were on our way back home by 11:30.

On our way home we received a call from our Delaware North HR person advising the Yellowstone RV Park owner wanted us to move our Newell, and trailer to different sites.....he felt we were too big for site 11 and wanted us to put the Newell in site 17, and the trailer in site 18.  She advised us there would be no extra charge for the trailer, which was a relief to us.  The cool thing is we have so much more room now, and the trailer is right next to us, so how could we complain?  We did, however, have to move everything right away, so as soon as we arrived back at the RV park we got busy and had everything moved within 30 minutes.

By this time it was around 12:15 pm, and we wanted to be ready to drive back into YNP for our 1:30 shift time by 12:45 to be sure we were not late.  We were back in the VW at that time and heading for Mammoth Hot Springs......it only took us a little over 10 minutes, and we arrived just before 1 pm.....better early than late, right?

Ready to work!

There are three shifts: 7:15 am to 3:15 pm, 11 am to 7 pm, and 1:45 pm to 9:45 pm.....all three shifts are 8 hours long including a 30 minute lunch break, so that comes out to 7.5 hours of work each day.  We met with our store supervisor and she gave us a tour of the store......all three levels (basement, main floor and upstairs).  'Back stock' is stored in the basement and upstairs areas, with some additional 'back stock' in the back room on the main floor.  They sell basic groceries, beer, wine, hard liquor, fishing licenses, clothing and hundreds of souvenirs.  After our tour TLE headed off to be cross trained at the 'Fountain' where ice cream, hot dogs, pretzels, soft drinks, etc. are sold.  I headed off to be trained as a cashier....I will get my cross training in the mysteries of the Fountain beginning next Wednesday.  Basically I 'shadowed' two of my fellow co-workers for my entire shift.  Watching them use the 'POS' system, which is amazingly intuitive.......completely unlike the 'POS' system we utilized at TVC.  During the course of my shift I was able to see how to completely utilize the system in pretty much every imaginable scenario.  By the end of my shift I felt pretty familiar with the system.  I also assisted customers who needed to have the jewelry and knife display cases opened to more closely examine individual items, and performed what is called 'stock recovery', which simply means straightening up the various product displays throughout the store.  Amazingly, time did seem to pass pretty quickly, and I am sure once I begin actually working a register time will pass even more quickly.

There were ebbs and flows of customers throughout the day as one might expect.  Sometimes we were very, very busy with all three registers going with 3-5 customers lined up at each.  Soon it was 9:30 pm and time to clock out for the day.  I might add one additional positive note about our experience so far with Delaware North......they are very, very professional.  Both TLE and I had our computer usernames, and passwords when we began our shift.......we had been at TVC for almost 7 weeks prior to our departure, and TLE had yet to receive her computer codes.  By Friday morning, prior to our shift, we had both received an email with a link to their employee management system and were able to sign in and view our profiles.....this same link will be used to verify our hours worked, direct deposit status, etc.  Each Friday is payday, so we can expect to receive our first deposits a week from our start date.  Our fellow employees all behave in a very professional manner.....no gossip is tolerated.....no discussion of personal business occurs.  Everyone just works, and has a good time.....no need to say the obvious, but I will anyway.....we are very, very happy in our new circumstance.

We were home just before 10 pm, and in bed shortly after 11 pm....I awoke several times during the night to the pitter pat sounds of rain on our aluminum roof......life is good!

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