Had lunch today, or I should say, brunch, with some great folks from my Inmate Trust Fund days. Man, the stories they can tell. Love them to death but I am sooooo glad to be out of that whole mess. Looking forward to getting out of here in a few days.

Packers are coming on Wednesday, then the movers are scheduled for Thursday. Moving everything that isn't going with me into storage for the duration. Found a pretty reasonable place that even gave me a military discount for being retired Army Reserve. I thought that was nice of them.

Been looking at everything I can find on the internet about my new employer, Xanterra, Inc. This is the company that runs much of the concessions inside many of our National Parks. In Yellowstone they mainly run the lodging and activities, while another company, Delaware North, runs the general stores and such. I'm sure I'll learn more as I go.

There seem to be two different schools of thought on working as a seasonal employee, either it is absolutely the best thing ever, or it's the worst thing ever. I've not really found much in between. My thoughts on this are that the people in the middle didn't have any strong feelings either way, or at least not strong enough to cause them to go blog on the internet about their experience. There are forums and blogs by current and past employees and they run the gamut. They complain about the company, the hours, the pay, the food, the accommodations, and just about anything else you can imagine. Other, on the other hand, can't say enough good about the entire experience and only throw in little side notes about how the food could be better, or the dorms could be more roomy, etc.

Many, it seems, have never been in the Army. Nuff said.

You're in frickin' Yellowstone National Park for crying out loud!! Shut up!!!

Anyway, while I do hope that I find no reason to eat my words on this, it looks like it is going to be fantastic. If everything goes as planned, I'll have the Jeep, and the motorcycle, and my trailer full of junk with me, so I should be in good shape. I have to go buy some clothes though, as my particular area wears "business casual" attire, with blue jeans being acceptable on the weekends. Hey, I needed to update my wardrobe anyway, from between either a uniform, or jeans and a t-shirt, so this is a good thing.

All in all, it looks like life is taking an upturn.

Well, some time has now passed since my grandson passed away, and with time the pain eases. While still just a little bit in shock over it, I, as well as others, must move on and continue living till we're not.

With that in mind, I recently got a call from the folks at Yellowstone National Park and had to take a typing test. It was an online test and I still don't know what the exact requirements were, but I passed. After that there was a phone interview and at the end of the interview I was hired to work in the phone reservations section, which takes reservations over the phone for lodging and activities within the park. It seem I will be sitting before a computer, within a cubicle, talking to people over the phone. A lot. It is possible to have a schedule of 4 10 hour shifts, with three days off, which would be a great schedule to have. Then I would have 3 days each week in order to explore, hike, camp, fish, ride my motorcycle, ride the mountain roads in my Jeep, and Geocache to my hearts content.

I have yet to find the fly in this ointment. Yes, the lodging for employees is a dormitory setup, with roommates and shared bathroom facilities, but I've been there before while in the military. Not a deal killer. The meals are served in the employee dining facility, three meals a day, small deduction from your pay for the room and board. The pay is just a little more than minimum wage, but you can make more the better you do and the more you train to do more aspects of the job, so there's that. But it looks like there is little to no downside to this setup. I am to report in April and work till maybe the end of September, but there are full time year round jobs to be had if you can get one. Have to wait and see about that.

On top of everything else, the owner of my current residence is happy for me and willing to let me out of my lease early, with no damage done. Granted, he's keeping my security deposit, and I'm leaving a brand new washer and dryer, as well as a brand new refrigerator, to make up for breaking the lease, so I'd say we are all coming out ahead. In fact, I can't see how this could be going any better at this point. In one week and a few days, I'll be in the wind.

I'll have two and a half months to wander around before I have to report to work. Time enough to spend some time just relaxing and doing nothing, or something, or whatever I want to do.

I'm off to hunt for motorcycle trailers tomorrow, wish me luck!

Mac

Just when you think that it's safe to go back in the water.........

It has been a few weeks since I last posted something up, which means there was all kinds of time for everything to go completely, and overwhelmingly wrong....

And so it did.

But the thing that topped it all, and made everything else that went wrong completely meaningless, was the death of my Grandson, Grayson Lee McKinney, after only nine days alive.

Nothing else matters.

My letter to him:

Hello Grayson Lee McKinney, this is your Grandpa. I have the distinct pleasure to be the daddy of your wonderful mother. I saw the pictures of you right after you were born and I must say, you were one handsome boy. I couldn't make the trip to see you right away, but you and I were supposed to meet tomorrow for the first time. You were born into quite the family grandson. We are quite the diverse and crazy lot. From the pictures I saw of you, with the expressions you were already showing on that little face of yours, you would have fit right in.

I am sure sorry now that things kept me from coming up sooner, but I figured we had a long time to get to know each other. But it looks like God needed you elsewhere and you can't argue with God, so here we are. It sounds like you were a trooper and hung in there as long as you could, but being so tiny and young, you could only fight for so long.

I would have loved to have met you my little one, it would have thrilled me no end to have held you and celebrate your birth. There is no greater joy in a grandfathers life than to make a grandchild smile and laugh. Oh yeah, and to buy you really noisy toys to aggravate your parents with. I was sure looking forward to that.

Well little Grayson, I'm sure God already has you on assignment as an Angel to help someone who really needs it somewhere. We will think of you often and pray for all those who suffer such a loss as we have had. Our loss is heavens gain.

Take care little angel, we will never forget you.

All our love forever,

Grandpa

 

My poem for him:

 

Baby Lee and Me.
I feel drunk,
Tho no wine has passed my lip.
I feel pummeled,
Tho no fist has struck me yet.
I feel lost,
Tho there is nowhere I'm bound.
I feel helpless,
Tho there is caring all around....

I know that I will meet you in that good old "by-n-by",
That old time country singers say in songs that make us cry.
I know that I will shake your hand and pat you on the head,
And tell you of the many things I wish I could have said.

Being Grandpa now is really all that's left for me to do,
I really truly wish I could have been there just for you.
My life is winding down now as it's very plain to see,
But yours was just beginning and there was so, so much to be.

All the little things that go on through a grandsons head,
Will you be a policeman, or maybe a fireman dressed in red?
Maybe you'd be a doctor or a television star,
Or be a famous driver in a real fast motor car.

Ah, I guess we'll never know now what you might have gone and done,
For God had plans for you elsewhere my tiny cute grandson.
You have a task with angel wings that now needs to go on.
And someone waits for angels breath to bring them a new dawn.

Keep an eye on your mother baby, she wants to make you proud.
Your brother and your sister, too, in prayer their heads are bowed.
We all know you'll be watching us from an angels fluffy cloud,
And with a family oh so large you'll be watching quite a crowd.

I think that I will always think of you as baby Lee,
Grayson sounds too serious for all the fun there'd be,
If you and I had had the chance to just get out and see,
Just how much laughter that exists for baby Lee and me.

(Written for my Grandson, Grayson Lee McKinney. Born December 19, 2013, Died December 27, 2013.)