'Twas The Season

The last couple weeks have been busy. And fun! I picked up a 2-week gig at a place called BlackJack Fireworks in Vancouver. That's Washington, not Canada. *lol*
Unlike SoCal, fireworks are legal here in Washington State, but only for a short period of time. It's called "fireworks season." The store is only open for 7 days each year leading up to and including July 4th. The first week of the job was spent price-marking cases upon cases of fireworks and putting them back in their cases to be placed on the shelves later. I was amazed at the variety of explosives under one roof! And they had cool and funny names: One Bad Mother-In-Law, Migraine, Green Heaven, Armageddon, Girl Power, Pip Squeak, Taste The Rainbow, Purplicious, Stars And Stripes, Makin' Thunder, That's Your Problem, Luna Chick, Chicken On A Chain, One Bad Axe, 9 Lives, Pacific Crab, Morning Glory, Anger Management, Sassy Sally, Killer Bees, Hard And Heavy, Twitter Glitter, and The Chosen One...just to name a few. *lol*
Once the store opened, the dudes were in the store helping customers and stocking shelves whilst the ladies were at the cash registers. On opening day I was helping bag/box customers' orders, but the next day through closing on the last day, I was on a register that took credit/debit only. As it got closer to the 4th, the store got busier and busier...I was in my element! Customer after customer, hour after hour. It was awesome! Some of the girls couldn't hack it, so they quit. I was loving it so much that I didn't mind working beyond my scheduled shifts. In fact, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th were so crazy that I racked up 41 hours in those 3 days alone!! YEAH!!! *lol*
I met a lot of really cool people, and it was kind of bittersweet saying good-bye on the last night. I am keeping in touch with some of the girls on Facebook, and one of them has even made a group for us called "Blackjack Groupies"! I love it!
The thing I like most about having the job at all  is that I now have "credibility" in Washington as far as my resume and filling out other job applications: I did my job extremely well, and the managers liked me, so I feel like BlackJack could be a sort of gateway to a permanent, full-time job. In fact, I have an interview Thursday morning at La Center Marketplace, which is a little mini-mart at the Chevron just up the road. It's got the usual mini-mart items, as well as produce and a little deli. One of the coolest things about this place is that if I get the job, I'll be able to ride my bike there...weather permitting, of course. *lol*