FUN!

Sorry for not posting for awhile. I only had a 1 day weekend last weekend, and was pretty damn grumpy about it. However, today was a damn good day for the most part, and things seem to be looking up.

When I got to work this afternoon, D, who I've been working with all week, didn't show up. Instead, the senior ferry operator, E, came on board. E, for you guys at the county, is like Joe--not my boss, but the guy you go to for coordination, ideas, and direction (Joe, don't flatter yourself. Really.). I've been a bit intimidated by E, he seems gruff and awkward and very very set in his ways. Surprisingly, I had a really great day working with him. He had me take tolls for awhile, since I do need practice coordinating properly loading the boat and quickly taking tolls (more on that later, maybe a whole post on toll taking and boat loading). Then I drove and took tolls the rest of the night, gossiping with him all the while.

He also gave me a lot of tips and showed me how he does stuff. Nothing was drastically different from how the other guys do things, but some things were logical in ways I hadn't thought of. Like, at the end of the night, have a set routine you don't deviate from. That way you'll be on your way home quickly, plus you'll be sure you did everything that needed doing.

At the end of the night, as we were walking up to our cars, he said that he was really pleased with how I was driving, and that I was doing a great job. He also said that I seem to be working hard to learn from my mistakes, which I really do try to do. That made me so happy! I feel like I'm doing well, and this is proof. He also said that he wants me to do most of the rest of my training on the BV--the new boat that's not open. Because of that, he's putting me on morning shift next week, so that he can grab me and have me do 8-4:30 whenever he wants, so I can run down there instead of working on the WL. YAY! I'm excited for that. I'm the only operator who hasn't been down to the BV yet. I can't wait to get my hands on the controls and see what it feels like.

Plus, he said I'm working a morning shift next week--that means I get a 3 day weekend!! The shifts are set. So if you're working D's shift (which I have this week), you work sunday through thursday. morning shift is basically monday through friday. So when you swap, you get a 3 day weekend. it makes up for having a 1 day weekend last week.

Oh! And my night tonight was just made 20gagillion times better. Around 9pm, I look up on the Marion County side, and a funny shaped grey van pulls up, then parks. I'm thinking, "could it be...?" then two women come out and come running down to the ferry. I start hollering. "SNARFY!!!!!" Snarfy (not her real name but I've never called her anything but snarfy) is a knitting pal, hilarious, loving, foul mouthed and wonderful. Gives great hugs. It was so great to see her and her friend. It made my night, and was so unexpected. They rode back and forth a few times, I honked the insanely loud air horn for them, E humored me and drove so I could gossip. It was fun.

The sad point of the night was that my sweet aunt Laurie had to put their wonderful wonderful dog Dodge to sleep today. I'm not a dog person. I never have been. But there are a few dogs I've known that I've loved fiercely, Whisper, Sheba, and Dodge. Dodge was a rescue greyhound, and acted like a very large cat. He looked pained and tortured if you tried to take him for a walk. He wanted to sleep on your lap if he'd fit. He was a wonderful dog.