Perpetual Ruminations

Friday

Happy Independence Day to everyone who celebrates the Fourth of July. Today was also my first day back to work after three days off. It was kind of slow today, but still busy enough to keep us both working. It's kind of surprising how many people were out shopping instead of out having fun. Especially since it was a pretty nice day, and there was a lot of activities going on all over. It's kind of funny, guests come through and make similar comments like, "You have to work on the Fourth? That's not right." Or, "It's not right to make people work on the Fourth."

I don't bother to tell them, I wouldn't have to work if people like them were not out shopping and buying building materials. Not that it bother's me to work on the Fourth of July or any other holiday, or that stores and businesses are even open on holidays. I believe in free enterprise and the right of owners to be open for business any day they want, as well as any time. Besides, it's the shoppers who set the days and times businesses are open. If there are not enough shoppers, stores will not stay open.

I don't mind working on holidays, and I imagine a lot of people just don't have anything to do on holidays. It's sad, but it just seems to be true. With all the things going on, it seems odd to see a man, woman, and their children out shopping at Menards. There is so much for to do, fun things going on all over. But, if they want to shop for building materials, or if someone would rather work on their house than to attend the parades and car shows, that's their choice.

If it was mine, I would likely be uptown looking at the different things going on, or maybe out at the lake enjoying the sunshine and sandy beaches, not to mention the gals running around in bikinis. But, it just turned out that it was our day to work, and I didn't have any intention of switching things around just to try and get the day off. Besides, it's difficult to do with the double coverage we need to provide Friday through Monday.

I can handle working and having my three days off in the middle of the week, there is still lots of things to enjoy, and the crowds aren't around to spoil it. I would have enjoyed seeing the fireworks this evening, but it just did not work out. We had planned on going back into town to watch them, but it started raining and storming right when we got off work. So, not knowing how long it would rain, we went to Papa Murphy's  for take home and bake pizza.

Besides being so wet and the chance of the fireworks cancelling, we are both very tired, and have to be up early for work tomorrow. I have to be to work by five, and Rhonda comes in at ten. On top of being very tired and needing to be in bed early tonight, there is the dogs. Hannah has not been around fireworks before, living most of her existence in the pound until we adopted her. Hyko is doing better with the banging outside, but he is easily frightened by the sound of the bigger fireworks. So, if we went back into town, they would have to stay home. With all the stuff going off all over, they would be terrified.

So, we changed our mind and stayed home, and enjoyed pizza and a movie. The dogs are right here staying close but doing well as the booming echos around us, and we get an opportunity to see how they do. Maybe next year we will have the day off and can enjoy the holiday, sleep in the next day, and know the dogs are doing fine. For this year, it's work today, tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, then we get three days off again.

After that, I don't know what will happen. We will be short on help and should still get two days off a week, but we will not get the same days off. That will make it hard to do much, and we will have to be up everyday in time for one or the other to go in to work and open. But, hopefully we find someone who is willing to work, is dependable, and can do a good job. Then, we will be back to our days off together and ready to go out and enjoy the summer.