Sept 7

Labor Day 6.30 am

Busy day yesterday. I did well in sales, though it was because people were in a buying mood, not because I'm such a good seller. Also, Chuck turned over a couple of nice sales to me (like Minnetonka moccasins $75 a pair). Am beginning to remember a little more every day so don't foresee any problems learning the stuff. When it slows down a little, I'll get out on the floor more to learn the stock.

Today will be a full 8-hr shift so I expect to hurt a lot. My schedule will settle down in a couple of weeks to 5 days 6-hr shifts. Also, tomorrow the store starts closing at 7pm, so I'll work 1.30-7-30 normally. Uniform shirts are on order for me. Normally, it's t-shirts until you promote up a little but I whined and pleaded so am getting the polo shirts. And they're dark blue, not YELLOW! Yah! Blue or black pants, closed-toe shoes. I have a makeshift nametag right now but will get an official one soon.

Tomorrow I work 4 hours and then have two days off. Boy, do I need them. Of course, I have all sorts of chores to do, like laundry. But I'll have to unhook and drive 30 miles to north Tucson (Marana) to shop -- am out of almost everything -- and then 30 miles back. Chuck said we can work it out so I can go with them sometimes.

You'll notice that this offer came on my 3rd day here. The Crescent City people never made that offer at all, none of them, not the workamper or the locals. Yep, glad to be gone, and so much for California.

I'll be working mostly with Travis, husband (?) of Micah. They have two small kids and live in one of the trailers in the compound. She's small and fast-talking and fast-moving; about 24, used to be a waitress in Virginia City NV. He's tall and skinny and sort of looks like Neil Patrick Harris -- fine-boned and blond; about 25. He flirts with the customers (female). Says Micah has no sense of humor about that sort of thing. I don't know enough about their relationship to have an opinion on whether she has cause.

Kim is tall and fat with large discolored teeth (dark, like rotten). Pleasant. About 30. She's mostly been working out in the convenience store that handles the gas and sundries. I'll learn that, too, eventually. And you get to sit down out there, so it would be a welcome change. Alice, the assistant manager, is local, usually works morning shift (store opens at 7am), is short (5'5" or so), about 50.

There are more people. Some I have met in passing; some I haven't even seen yet. But I'm sure I'll get to know them all.

The Dairy Queen is at one end of the building, with separate management and employees, but owned by Bowlin. Open to our store. We get the employee discount on their food, and I discovered they have a very nice, large salad with grilled chicken, so I have something to eat.

Short story about Bowlin Inc: They had two kinds of stores, Bowlin Travel Plazas (nice Indian stuff) and Stuckeys (schlock) until about 20 years ago when the old man died. The son inherited the Bowlins; the daughter got the Stuckeys. A few years later, the daughter sold out to the son and so now there aren't any more Stuckeys; they're all Bowlin. But this is the store I remember that was a Stuckeys when I lived in Tucson 1972-87.

10.30 pm

This hot weather is kicking my ass. Remember I spent the summer where it never got over 70 deg. Then I drove 1200 miles, into 100 deg plus heat, and started right in working. So I've had no break.

Chuck's been good, though. After the first day of 8 hours, he backed me off to 4.5 hours. Today, though, was an 8-hr day and I had to bail after 4 hrs. Felt funny all day, kind of faintly dizzy. I got something to eat from the DQ and a large cup of ice cream and a big cup of tea. Came into the cool rig (AC on), ate, drank, put ice cream in freezer for later, and then keeled over for about two hours. Got up about 7pm and ate the ice cream about 9. It's late now but still so hot I have the AC on.

We talked about my acclimation problems and he's going to set my schedule for 25 hrs/wk for a while, until I adjust. I think my color, or lack thereof, today kind of scared him -- he was talking about hauling me off to the doctor. So we're going to ease me in a little slower, which will be good.

And we are heading into "fall" (hah!) so we should be dropping into the 90s soon. The monsoon season this year is the 8th driest year on record. Too bad as the rain is both needed and a welcome relief. We've had a couple of thunderboomers since I've been here and they were great. Several more would be even better.

Oh yeah. The company magazine arrived today. The headline read:

It's Fall. Time to Sell the Senior Travelers.

What I want to know is how much to ask for those senior travelers? Are the prices set by age? I mean, is someone who's 70 priced higher or lower than someone who's 80?