I went off to work this morning and Bob never even stirred. He had gotten up 3 a.m. the day before, went fishing all day and didn’t go to sleep last night until nine or ten. He is one tired pup.
I took my book with me, as usual, to read during the lulls and when everything is running smoothly and I’m not needed to direct traffic or help with boat lines.
I had a feeling it was going to be a busy day so I thought it best to go in a little early. I arrived at the ramp at 6:30 a.m. and found Matt, one of the dock worker’s there holding down the fort. Seems when he arrived at 5:40 the ramp lot was already filled then and he had already started shuttling boaters from the remote lot.
My first trip over to the remote lot I took notice of three cars and a charter bus parked in the truck/trailer lot that I knew for sure I was going to fill today. I hightailed it to the head boats to see if the cars belonged to any of the fisherman. Nope. I did find out the fisherman were on the charter bus and that the bus driver was around somewhere. Matt went back to the ramp to cover that and I went in search of the bus driver. It took me only a few minutes to track him down and then I had to find a place for this huge bus. I found a piece of state ground that wasn’t being used and made an executive decision to place the bus there. It could be moved later if need be.
Back to the ramp and there were no less than ten boats waiting to be launched. Thankfully, it all went smoothly.
The major rush seemed to be over and the rest of the day it was just one after the other with small intervals in between. If I made one trip to the remote lot and back I made a hundred.
My new friend Spencer showed up and put his boat in but had to wait for a friend of his. He found his old friend, who he hadn’t seen in seven years (or so) via Facebook. He was in the area and they agreed to meet in the marina and spend the day out on the Bay catching up while drowning worms.
Spencer explained that he and Ed were close friends but when Ed moved to this area from Pennsylvania, of course they each went their separate ways and lost touch.
I took this picture for them.
They were like little kids, so excited to be spending the day and going fishing and renewing a great friendship. It made me happy just to watch them.
I watched them as they boated out of sight.
Once they were out of sight my attention was on the tasks at hand. Matt had to get to his regular job at the gas dock so I was on my own.
I didn’t stop from that point on. I was in constant motion, helping with boat lines, directing traffic, answering questions, parking trucks/trailers in the remote lot and shuttling the drivers back. Constant. Motion.
At eleven clock I called Bob to get a feeling on how he was doing. He sounded tired. I made the decision then that he should stay home and I would work his shift too. Now my reasons for this were twofold. Reason number one, when Bob is tired, as he is now, Bob gets cranky and with as crazy as this day was I just didn’t want him to have to deal with this. to have to deal with his cranky butt for the next two days. Reason number two, I was making money hand over fist! I keep this little, clear, plastic cup in my golf cart in which I place a few dollars in the morning. When I give the boaters a ride back from the remote lot they are so thankful the didn’t have to walk, they tip me. I’m sure that little cup sitting there with the dollar bills showing is a bit of an incentive and that’s okay with me! When I get a five, which is not all that unusual, I make sure that one shows!
Let me clarify something here. The state frowns on tipping. Snookie doesn’t care what the state frowns on. I used to refuse the tips and Bob still does because of this last sentence on our paperwork explaining our job.
Do not accept tips.
I was going along with this but then I’ve seen money change hands more than once here and I thought there was no way I’m passing this up anymore. I talked to a few of the folks here and it seems if its offered, its taken. So now I’m taking too. Gladly, with a big smile and a sincere thank you.
My afternoon, which is way busier than the mornings, ran pretty smoothly. I had a few that didn’t want to follow my directions but I stood my ground ramp and didn’t let them get away with undermining me. All it takes for one to do things their way and the whole operation runs amuck.
By five I was down to two truck/trailer combos in the remote lot and about a half dozen in the ramp lot. It was time to call it a day.
I truly understand now what the phrase run ragged really means. I was exhausted when I got home. Needless to say I was in bed and asleep by nine.
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