I needed one gas bar attendant for this morning, lined up two (speaking to them face-to-face), and got none. Big surprise! I actually did believe that one of them would show up, and got everything set up while wearing sweats and an undershirt. After waiting half an hour (because that's still on time in Gwich'in), calling both of them and getting none, here I am in the gas bar again. Yet, all of the customers are asking my why I'm not trying to be part of the community by showing up at the festival. Of course I have no trouble telling them that they all want me to be open, so they can still buy gas and smokes, but none of them show up for work. Not sure how I can be the only person counted on to open and run the place, and still find time to lounge around at the festival to show that I'm trying to be "part of the community".
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining... I don't mind working the gas bar, and it's not like I wanted desperately to go to the festival anyway, it's just that it would be nice if there was even one person in town that seemed to have a grasp of what it takes to have some responsibility. And again, I shouldn't complain... I haven't seen one fight, I haven't had a single death threat (yet), the weather has been great, and I have access to fresh meat.
Tomorrow the store is closed and the gas bar is only open for five hours. I've lined up to different girls to work the shift together, I guess we'll have to see if at least one of them shows up.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
I've Got Gas
As expected, me, Fran, and Matt (my assistant manager) are the only ones that showed up for work today. Seeing as how so far I am the one that has learned the least in the store, I got relegated to the gas bar. I also knew that this is the place that would make us the most money today. Most people have all of their supplies for the big festival going on, but they still need gas to get back and forth. You can just imagine how much it takes to fill up a Chevy 3/4 ton and five jerry cans at $1.67/litre!
I should be fair though, we did get one cashier at the store, it's just that we're missing an office girl, another cashier, both stock-boys, and a gas bar attendant. On the upside, during the down-time between customers there is internet and cable TV in the gas bar. As a result, I have a chance to catch up on some emails, write this blog, and keep track of our Canadians in the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament. Although, I may have to put up our temporarily closed sign to go and take the dogs out at some point. They are actually right upstairs from where I'm currently sitting, so I can probably get that done in just a few minutes.
I'm just not that excited about the fact that the gas bar is open for 10 hours today, and I don't really expect the second shift girl to show up either. It could be a pretty long day stuck in this little shack! Some of my customers have already cut me off with my chatter, because they actually have places to go and people to see, while I'm just glad to have someone to talk to for a minute. Maybe I'll shut the gas bar down a couple of hours early.
Stay tuned.
I should be fair though, we did get one cashier at the store, it's just that we're missing an office girl, another cashier, both stock-boys, and a gas bar attendant. On the upside, during the down-time between customers there is internet and cable TV in the gas bar. As a result, I have a chance to catch up on some emails, write this blog, and keep track of our Canadians in the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament. Although, I may have to put up our temporarily closed sign to go and take the dogs out at some point. They are actually right upstairs from where I'm currently sitting, so I can probably get that done in just a few minutes.
I'm just not that excited about the fact that the gas bar is open for 10 hours today, and I don't really expect the second shift girl to show up either. It could be a pretty long day stuck in this little shack! Some of my customers have already cut me off with my chatter, because they actually have places to go and people to see, while I'm just glad to have someone to talk to for a minute. Maybe I'll shut the gas bar down a couple of hours early.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Time To Watch TV
It took several days to get it done, but we finally have some satellite TV to watch. It's in my contract that it's a conflict of interest to be selling cable TV, and putting a satellite dish on the hotel. I can see how it might look bad, but unless I was actually selling dishes in my free time, I don't see how it could be conflict of interest. Anyway, I asked the board here if they cared about me getting a dish, and they didn't care at all. We finally got all set up, so now I can finally watch a Blue Jay game.
After making a pretty big three team swap, we saw the debut of the key player of the deal tonight (it's hard to get used to the fact that their home games start at 5:00 up here). Rasmus didn't get anything done, going 0-5 with two strike-outs, but the Jays did go one game over .500 again.
In tribute to Richard Harris, the Bombers also managed to pull out a late win against BC to improve their record to 4-1. It only took five games to get as many wins as they did in an eighteen game season last year.
Tomorrow the big Midway festival kicks off. Let's see how many staff show up, and if the sales come anywhere close to all of the hype that we've heard so far.
Stay tuned.
After making a pretty big three team swap, we saw the debut of the key player of the deal tonight (it's hard to get used to the fact that their home games start at 5:00 up here). Rasmus didn't get anything done, going 0-5 with two strike-outs, but the Jays did go one game over .500 again.
In tribute to Richard Harris, the Bombers also managed to pull out a late win against BC to improve their record to 4-1. It only took five games to get as many wins as they did in an eighteen game season last year.
Tomorrow the big Midway festival kicks off. Let's see how many staff show up, and if the sales come anywhere close to all of the hype that we've heard so far.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Off To The Pole
My Chinese tourists happened to show up at 12:30am. Then they weren't happy with the rooms, and two of them wanted to stay at the house across town with my assistant manager. Then they thought that they would threaten me with not coming back on Friday on their way back down. To their surprise, I was very glad to quickly grab the clip-board and erase their names for Friday. This is our biggest weekend of the year. I can easily put two strangers in the same room, charge them each full price for the room, and still have them be very happy to have a place to stay. The last thing that I need on this weekend is a bunch of snooty tourists on their way to the north pole, thinking that I need to cater to them.
Their vehicles had a bunch of Chinese writing on the door, and I would assume that the English that was below it, was a direct translation. Otherwise, that slogan needed some work. It read: "From driving car, culture observes Canada and the North Pole". They left a bunch of clothes and other items in their rooms, but I sure hope that they don't expect to come back. I put all of their stuff into garbage bags, and cancelled their reservations. Friday night - first come, first serve. Hope their cars are comfy for sleeping.
Not that you asked, but hilariously... I was getting more hits over the last six weeks when I wasn't writing, than I have for the last few days that I'm back.
Stay tuned.
Their vehicles had a bunch of Chinese writing on the door, and I would assume that the English that was below it, was a direct translation. Otherwise, that slogan needed some work. It read: "From driving car, culture observes Canada and the North Pole". They left a bunch of clothes and other items in their rooms, but I sure hope that they don't expect to come back. I put all of their stuff into garbage bags, and cancelled their reservations. Friday night - first come, first serve. Hope their cars are comfy for sleeping.
Not that you asked, but hilariously... I was getting more hits over the last six weeks when I wasn't writing, than I have for the last few days that I'm back.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Half-way To Midway
There's a small lake on the Dempster Highway, about half way between here and the Yukon border. Hence the name, Midway Lake.
Here's a shot of our spacious living/dining room. The door in the back, leads to a tiny balcony (just barely big enough to stand on and turn around), but it is nice to be able to step outside and check the weather out prior to going out. It's actually our fire exit, and has a fold-up ladder that we would have to hang off the balcony and climb down, in the event of a fire that's blocking our one real door.
All we've been hearing about since we got here was the big Midway event taking place on the August long weekend. We've increased orders, placed sales items, and rearranged our days off, knowing that none of our staff will show up for the weekend (since they'll all be at the event). Sales have already been picking up, but I'm just going to be glad when it's over.
There's supposed to be a big tour showing up here tonight, with eleven guests for the hotel. I already got some existing guests to share rooms, and one other guy to try to find other lodgings for the night, in order to make room. It's already nine thirty, and nobody has shown up yet. At least the ferry closes at eleven thirty, so that nobody can show up after midnight.
Stay tuned.
All we've been hearing about since we got here was the big Midway event taking place on the August long weekend. We've increased orders, placed sales items, and rearranged our days off, knowing that none of our staff will show up for the weekend (since they'll all be at the event). Sales have already been picking up, but I'm just going to be glad when it's over.
There's supposed to be a big tour showing up here tonight, with eleven guests for the hotel. I already got some existing guests to share rooms, and one other guy to try to find other lodgings for the night, in order to make room. It's already nine thirty, and nobody has shown up yet. At least the ferry closes at eleven thirty, so that nobody can show up after midnight.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Rock The Gas Bar
Are the Bombers for real? The 3-1 start looks pretty good on them, especially after only winning four games all of last season.
This is where we live. Just to the right off the picture would be the gas bar if we had wide angled it, and the open door in the front is the access to pay for the gas. The octagonal building was set up as a heritage centre, with the attached hotel sticking out of the back. The heritage centre was upstairs, with a restaurant and the gas bar downstairs. The heritage centre was only open for about three years, and with nobody coming, they closed it down. The restaurant has since closed down as well. Then we converted that upstairs into a spacious one bedroom apartment, that is fairly new, and most of the facilities modern. There's even a chair lift to get up the stairs. It doesn't work, and there are nineteen steps, so there are times that I look at the lift longingly, and wondering why I'm using my own legs like a sucker.
Anyway, I had been telling myself that I needed to get some experience in the gas bar one of these days, and sure enough, today nobody showed up to work. I knew that the Bomber game was going to be on TV in the afternoon, the gas bar isn't that busy, and there's a TV in there. I bought a satellite dish in Inuvik yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to set it up yet. As the cable supplier, I get my cable for free, but it's not very good channel selection. We do, however, get TSN. So, I got some much needed experience, while following the game. I was a little worried in the first half, but they really turned it around in the second half, and then found a way to close it out. That, of course, is the major difference from last year to this. Last year they played well enough to be close but behind, this year it's close but in front. Good teams find a way to win the close games.
Stay tuned.
Anyway, I had been telling myself that I needed to get some experience in the gas bar one of these days, and sure enough, today nobody showed up to work. I knew that the Bomber game was going to be on TV in the afternoon, the gas bar isn't that busy, and there's a TV in there. I bought a satellite dish in Inuvik yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to set it up yet. As the cable supplier, I get my cable for free, but it's not very good channel selection. We do, however, get TSN. So, I got some much needed experience, while following the game. I was a little worried in the first half, but they really turned it around in the second half, and then found a way to close it out. That, of course, is the major difference from last year to this. Last year they played well enough to be close but behind, this year it's close but in front. Good teams find a way to win the close games.
Stay tuned.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Fresh Meat
Today, I had a few things to get done, so I took my first trip to Inuvik along the Dempster Highway. Wikipedia states that the distance from Fort McPherson to Inuvik is 122Kms. Well, that must be by air, because the road signs and my odometer told me that it was more like 185Kms. And, it's not like you're going 100Km/hr and you're there in less than two hours. While some sections are OK, there is lots of washboard, traffic, and SO MUCH DUST!. Oh... and did I forget to mention the ferry?
The sides of the road are littered with these purple flowers. I'm not sure what they are, but they have a fairly strong scent, and grow everywhere.
The ferry can take as little as 10 minutes (if your timing is perfect), but if you got there just as the ferry is leaving, it will be at least 20 minutes. Guess what happened when I got there? Yes, the ferry was just pulling out. There's nothing you can do about it, since there really is no schedule. There is a small town a few hundred yards up the river that has no access to the highway, so the ferry goes from the highway to the town, over to the other side of the river, and then back. So, the ferry just keeps making it's three cornered stops all day long, and leaves as soon as it's loaded.
Inuvik was way bigger than I expected, and had a main street that was lined with stores. The Northmart was huge, and was very much like a Wallmart. Best of all... FRESH MEAT! I'm definitely going to be making some regular stops there, if for no other reason than to keep the freezer full of stuff that's actually edible. As if I wasn't having enough trouble keeping my weight down up here as it is, so now if I actually start enjoying my food, I could be in for a battle.
Stay tuned.
The ferry can take as little as 10 minutes (if your timing is perfect), but if you got there just as the ferry is leaving, it will be at least 20 minutes. Guess what happened when I got there? Yes, the ferry was just pulling out. There's nothing you can do about it, since there really is no schedule. There is a small town a few hundred yards up the river that has no access to the highway, so the ferry goes from the highway to the town, over to the other side of the river, and then back. So, the ferry just keeps making it's three cornered stops all day long, and leaves as soon as it's loaded.
Inuvik was way bigger than I expected, and had a main street that was lined with stores. The Northmart was huge, and was very much like a Wallmart. Best of all... FRESH MEAT! I'm definitely going to be making some regular stops there, if for no other reason than to keep the freezer full of stuff that's actually edible. As if I wasn't having enough trouble keeping my weight down up here as it is, so now if I actually start enjoying my food, I could be in for a battle.
Stay tuned.
Welcome Back
So, what's new? Ya, not much new here either. Since the last blog, we quit, got new jobs, and moved 4,000 Kms across the country. You know... same old same old.
We moved to Fort McPherson, North West Territories. It's well above the arctic circle, pretty far north, and right close to the Yukon. This mountain is actually in the Yukon. We went for a short drive south along the Dempster Highway, where we're just 85 Kms from the border. There's a ferry across the mighty Mackenzie River if you're coming down from Inuvik, and another ferry across the Peel River if you're heading towards Dawson City. And if you're catching that... yes, you can drive here. You take the Yukon Highway north west from Edmonton until you get to Dawson City, then turn back north east on the Dempster Highway towards Inuvik. 122 Kms before you get to the end of the highway, there's Fort McPherson. There are about 800 people, with forests all the way around, and the Richardson Mountains (sort of the northern extension of the Rockies) to the west.
As an aside - did you know that by volume, the Mackenzie River is the third largest river in the world? It's true - Amazon, Nile, Mackenzie. It's also the longest river in Canada, and the second longest river in North America. Pretty good for our little northern creek that nobody ever goes to check out.
Now I can proudly say that we've been to Nunavik, Nunavut, North West Territories, and Yukon (one of those isn't even an official territory yet, but it will be). We're only missing Newfoundland and Labrador to complete the set of every province and territory.
There's more...
Stay tuned.
As an aside - did you know that by volume, the Mackenzie River is the third largest river in the world? It's true - Amazon, Nile, Mackenzie. It's also the longest river in Canada, and the second longest river in North America. Pretty good for our little northern creek that nobody ever goes to check out.
Now I can proudly say that we've been to Nunavik, Nunavut, North West Territories, and Yukon (one of those isn't even an official territory yet, but it will be). We're only missing Newfoundland and Labrador to complete the set of every province and territory.
There's more...
Stay tuned.
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