6-12-06 (Tuesday): Today was a much better work day than yesterday. The boss lady didn’t come in until late, and I had time to make the coffee, put out the signs, read all the notes from the previous day, listen to the phone messages and make a couple of reservations before she came in. I felt more relaxed because I wasn’t being watched, and I didn’t make any mistakes! I even got a “well done” from the boss. When Jean (the second shift workamper) came on, we went over some things together, which also helped. She’s made some of the same mistakes as me and had some of the same questions. We also realized that some of the instructions in the various sources are contradictory and/or confusing. We’re not going to point this out to anyone, but we feel better knowing that we’re not stupid—parts of the job are confusing for newcomers! It's kind of funny, I was unsure how I felt about Jean when we first started. Now I like her a lot.

Wiley and I got off work at 2:00, and Wiley really wanted to go fishing. It was a beautiful day—warm and sunny—and I just wanted to sit and read a book and relax. So he headed off to wet a line and I headed for the bluff to read and watch the ocean. It was so-o-o relaxing! I watched a sailboat head from the far left of my view around Indian Island Lighthouse all the way off to the furthest right I could see. The lobster pots were bobbing gently in the swells and the water made a gentle plopping sound on the rocks. The chipmunks were busy digging something up from the leaf litter and scurrying over to plant it in the rock wall at my back. I kept losing track of my book and finding myself gazing out to sea in a reverie. Delightful!

On the way back to the camper, an old black dog started following me. We don’t allow dogs loose in the campground (liability problem), so I walked around trying to find her owner. No luck. So I found her tag and called her owner. The goofball was working at a commercial facility ½ mile down the road and hadn’t realized the dog had wandered away!! Either the poor thing had walked down Rt. 1, which is extremely busy, or she’d cut through the woods, crossed the creek (which is swollen and running very fast), and wandered through the tick-infested woods. He said he’d come get her in a half hour, so I tied her up, gave her some water, and watched over her so she wouldn’t bark and disturb the other campers. Poor thing got very attached to me. Every time I got up, she got up, and she whimpered pitifully if I left her. The owner finally showed up almost an hour later. I told him that was about to call the pound because we just couldn’t have a stray dog wandering around the campsite. He was very apologetic and said he’d keep her tied up in the future if he took her to a jobsite.

Tomorrow is the last work day for this week. Next week we work the afternoon shift. I’m not only enjoying a 6-hour work day, but I’ve got no commute! You can’t beat that!

Here's a better picture of lupine than I posted the other day. It's in bloom everywhere!