Start of Third Year

It was tough to plan anything on the morning of our first day back to work for our third year here. The anticipation and concern over whether or not we would remember how everything was done was a distraction. So, Josie did some laundry and I puttered around the rig doing some miscellaneous activities to keep busy.

The worry and concern was unnecessary. After a couple transactions, we each were back into the swing of the front desk duties and handling all of the responsibilities for guest check-ins, reports, reservations and paperwork. We worked with Harvey - a veteran in the business and a long time returning front desk employee. He was terrific and was working a double shift due to the short handed problem that our manager has this year. He felt comfortable enough with us, and we were able to continue the second half of our shift working alone. Our manager has another problem with the scheduling now, as one of the long term employees quit yesterday over an issue with her boyfriend who was fired from a position working in the lodge saloon as a bartender. That's another story.

The biggest surprise for us was to discover how busy the lodge is now, and how busy this summer will be. We had a real problem reserving a room for George and Cheryl's planned trip here in late July. The extra buses that have been scheduled this year have taken many of the type rooms we needed to reserve. We did get the reservation done, and in one of the better rooms at a nice discount. More on that as we get closer to their visit. We also would like to see Patty and her family visit us this summer, so we will have to work on making that happen.

With the scheduling problems facing our manager, we will most likely have to work some extra time which is OK with us. There are already some new employees this year, so she will be challenged. As is the case in most businesses, overtime is avoided where possible.

It will definitely be an interesting year in 2014. We are looking forward to enjoying all the activities again and are looking forward to establishing new relationships at the lodge. Cheers to the new season in Jackson Hole!!