Well Blow Me Down...
That's darn-near what happened today! There are incredibly high winds out right now; The wind-speed indicator is saying we has sustained winds of roughly 50kmh, but I know that the gusts are much higher. There's also a wind-warning in effect, with winds expected to reach 100kmh (62mph) tomorrow! Yikes! Even now, Calgary is getting hit with heavy wet snow, and the mid-to-northern sections of Saskachewan are under snowfall warnings as well! Here in the the south, we have the high-wind warnings, and dust-storm warnings. I'm not at all surprised about that, since at work today I got a face-full of grit several times! You have to stand with your back to the wind, try not to get blown over, and still serve the customer. Thankfully, we didn't get a lot of customers during the worst of the winds this afternoon. It calmed down a little in the evening, but now it's picking up again.
At work today, Gloria got called into the manager's office and was given some sort of lecture because someone seems to have been complaining that she's spending most of her time cleaning the store and stocking the shelves/coolers. I don't know who the complainer is (though I have an idea) but I fail to see the problem. Gloria helps run the till, and she will help pump gas if we get really busy. Yes, she does spend a lot of time cleaning the store and doing stocking, but that stuff has to be done anyway! She likes to do it, and she's good at it, and no-one else really likes doing it. So again, where's the problem?! She's happily doing the work that no-one else wants to do, yet someone seems to think that isn't good enough. Gads, it seems that it doesn't matter if you're dealing with a huge corporation like the former Nortel, or a little small-town gas-station/convenince-store, there's always going to be politics. :P
When we got home and I checked on the horses, one of the wind-break walls that I have set up in the boys' paddock actually got pushed in by the wind! It effectively locked Dirk inside the shelter, while locking PoohBear and Charles outside! Fortunately, there's a second shelted in the paddock so they were not exposed to the high winds. I moved the wall back into position, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it moved again by morning. It's too dark and windy to brace it now, but come morning I'll have to make a brace out of a section of 2x4 to keep it from moving again.
I got a double-header customer for Iron Pony today! A local fellow whom I had met at an auction (the one where I bought my swather, and other machinery) called me up to see if I was still in the small-engine business. At the time I had met him, I had just started Iron Pony so I didn't have any business cards yet. I did have cards for Wildhorse Bowling though, so I wrote my name and number on the card for him. I've made a habit of always having business cards with me when I go to auctions and such, because you never know who you'll meet, or where you might have an opportunity to drum up a little extra business; This being a prime example! He had a small tow-behind mower with a 10.6hp Briggs & Stratton engine that just won't start, and a "Chuckwagon" 2wd utility vehicle with a Honda engine that's got some major issues. I told him I wasn't certified with Honda yet, but I could certainly have a look at it and see what I could figure out, and he was good with that.
Yesterday the Kidling and I finally finished rebuilding Nash's dog-house. There was a dog-house here on the farm when we bought it, but it was poorly assembled, and basically falling apart. We were able to salvage it, and rebuilt it on a solid foundation using a wooden pallet for the base to keep it off the ground, wrapped around with a 2x8 for added support. A plywood sheet combined with a section of low-shag carpet makes a nice floor, and in the winter we'll add an electric "pet-warmer" mat. All it needs now is a coat of paint, and it will look great!
Yesterday evening was my Initiation into the Elks Lodge. It was pretty lack-lustre, given how small the Lodge has become. Basically, "Welcome to the Elks, you're now an official Member" followed by a round of congratulations from the attending members. There was supposed to be an oath taken, but other Lodge Business pre-empted that, so we'll do that next time. Jack tells me that in the "Old Days" there was more of a light-hazing ritual involving a goat, and an electric chair... Ummmm... Yeah... I'm kinda glad that's gone by the wayside... %)
I got my pay-stub today (we get paid on Friday) and compared to the last cheque, it's rather dissappointing. I'm only making $11.12 an hour, whereas I had been making over $17 an hour as a driver. I've only got 40 regular hours, plus 8 hours OT, so the cheque is rather small. Once I start getting full-time hours it will get better, but it's a difference of over $6 an hour. That's more than $12k a year for full-time hours. Still, it's a start, and I keep reminding myself this is a stepping-stone, not a career. I know that there are a lot of folks Stateside looking for work that would be quite happy making $11.12 an hour, so I guess I should count my blessings.