Happy Saturday!
Today was one of the busiest days of the year...or at least it seemed like it. Being a world famous restaurant in "America's Favorite Place" (as determined by Good Morning America) meant that we are a hotspot for Labor Day vacationers. Like the pros that we are, Jami, Sarah, and I handled things in the information booth despite the crush of the crowd.
Today felt like the end of an era. I have off tomorrow and Labor Day itself is looking to be fairly slow as evidenced by the current number of reservations made. I think the busy summer season ended today for me. I'm alright with that. You may not have picked this up from reading my last 29 blog entries for this month, but August was not a pleasant time at work. I'm looking forward to the lighter crowds and five-day work weeks of September.
I book-ended my day with some alone time out in nature. This morning I woke up early so I decided to take a walk in the woods and on the carriage roads for about an hour. This evening I sat on an Adirondack chair near the water, read a few chapters of The Heart of Christiantiy, and enjoyed the fall-like air and views. It was a day to help remind me that I truly am in an amazing place.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
29 August 2014
Happy Friday!
Today was the calm before the Labor Day storm of tourists.
At the JPH we had a fairly long waitlist but nothing too out of the ordinary. I didn't spend any time out in the parking lot so I don't have any great stories to report. I do have a pretty good waitlist story, though.
While I was adding guests to the waitlist, a man with a confused and angry look on his face came up to the counter and started off our exchange with, "There never used to be a waitlist here!"
I replied, "Well, it is August which is a very busy..." until he cut me off.
"There never used to be a waitlist," the gentleman shot back as he shook his head.
"What time of year do you usually co--..."
"There never used to be a waitlist."
Finally at this point, his wife had had enough and asked if I would add them to the waitlist. I did so, but as I was typing in their information, the gentleman asked me, "Who can I talk to that will care about this?"
Realizing that nothing good was going to come out of this exchange, I diplomatically passed him on to the host and floor manager by giving away their approximate position inside the restaurant.
As he and his wife were heading out, he assured me, "Don't worry, Adam, I know it's not your fault. It's just the new management you work for."
Now, for the record, Edie and Jami, both seasoned JPH info booth veterans, have informed me that the waitlist this year hasn't even been close to the 2-hour waitlists of past seasons. I think Mr. "There never used to be a waitlist" must have a foggy memory or somehow miraculously managed to come at the very few times in August when the demand for tables didn't outweigh the supply of them.
After work and dinner, Ally and I went for a hike up to the ridge of Penobscot. It was a pretty night for a hike. Fortunately, we made it back just in time for God and Fudge Club and before it became scary dark outside.
Today was the calm before the Labor Day storm of tourists.
At the JPH we had a fairly long waitlist but nothing too out of the ordinary. I didn't spend any time out in the parking lot so I don't have any great stories to report. I do have a pretty good waitlist story, though.
While I was adding guests to the waitlist, a man with a confused and angry look on his face came up to the counter and started off our exchange with, "There never used to be a waitlist here!"
I replied, "Well, it is August which is a very busy..." until he cut me off.
"There never used to be a waitlist," the gentleman shot back as he shook his head.
"What time of year do you usually co--..."
"There never used to be a waitlist."
Finally at this point, his wife had had enough and asked if I would add them to the waitlist. I did so, but as I was typing in their information, the gentleman asked me, "Who can I talk to that will care about this?"
Realizing that nothing good was going to come out of this exchange, I diplomatically passed him on to the host and floor manager by giving away their approximate position inside the restaurant.
As he and his wife were heading out, he assured me, "Don't worry, Adam, I know it's not your fault. It's just the new management you work for."
Now, for the record, Edie and Jami, both seasoned JPH info booth veterans, have informed me that the waitlist this year hasn't even been close to the 2-hour waitlists of past seasons. I think Mr. "There never used to be a waitlist" must have a foggy memory or somehow miraculously managed to come at the very few times in August when the demand for tables didn't outweigh the supply of them.
After work and dinner, Ally and I went for a hike up to the ridge of Penobscot. It was a pretty night for a hike. Fortunately, we made it back just in time for God and Fudge Club and before it became scary dark outside.
Rick and I rounded out the roster tonight at GFC (God and Fudge Club). For the morning meeting, no one made it so I started reading a book I picked up at the library used book sale. The book is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. He is a highly regarded author in my circle of United Methodist friends and mentors so I figured it was about time to read some of his work.
Anyway, back to tonight, Rick and I played the "Perspective" cards game in which we choose the card that best represents our beliefs on topics about the nature of God, human nature, the source of spiritual truth, who Jesus was/is, and the meaning and purpose of life. We had similar, but not identical, answers which lead to a really great discussion. Since we didn't have any females with us, the fudge went virtually untouched.
Friday, August 29, 2014
28 August 2014
Happy Thursday!
For about a 30-minute stretch today, the parking lot was better known as the pavement of despair. For whatever reason, motorists were especially upset today about not being able to find open parking spots during the middle of a sunny afternoon in August. Cars were consistently lined up from the main road to the parking lot intersection and all the way around the loop. While things were really chaotic, I had to stay in the intersection to keep traffic flowing and create spaces for pedestrians and buses to get through. In the middle of the busy stretch, I saw the car that had parked illegally in the grass all morning back up and leave. I turned around to resume directing traffic. After a bit, I noticed another car had parked in the illegal space. I caught a glimpse of the owners just as they entered into the mob of people at the main entrance to the restaurant. I didn't pursue them to warn them about the possible ticket because I had much more important things to worry about...like directing traffic in a congested parking lot.
Fast forward an hour to when my favorite law enforcement park ranger, Brian, drove in, stopped, and asked me if everything was going alright. I told him it was, but that we did have several illegally parked cars throughout the parking lot. Brian is pretty good about taking the time to write tickets, so he was all for giving cars illegally parked in the grass a $75 ticket, including the one right in front of the restaurant. As he was finishing up the process for that car, the ladies returned from lunch. Naturally, they were upset about the prospect of a ticket.
The first argument they made was that an "official-looking" person told them they could park there. After Brian questioned them on this--and made sure it wasn't me who told them that--they admitted it was just another guest who had never seen a car ticketed in that spot.
The second argument they made was that they figured since I was only 50 feet away directing traffic, it must mean that it was alright to park in the grass. If I would've warned them, they would never have parked there. I was there to respond to that argument by telling them that my job is not to warn people about getting tickets but to keep traffic flowing safely. In their specific case, warning them was a low priority during the moment I could have. I probably wouldn't have responded to the argument if the person was 20 years younger and had the testosterone level of an angry middle-aged male. I figured based on the age and size of the ladies I wasn't going to find myself in too big of a pickle anytime soon.
Brian, being a reasonable guy, only gave them a written warning and warned them to not park where it is obviously illegal to do so, even if some random person says it is alright. I thought that made a lot of sense.
The point of all this: if you see a grass patch in front of a restaurant that is large enough for your compact car to park in, it that doesn't mean you should do it. Park in a real, designated spot like everyone else needs to.
I'm looking forward to September and the end of the pavement of despair season.
I went into Bar Harbor tonight to get fudge for tomorrow and to hang out with Luke and/or Sabrina. I tracked down Luke at the soccer field in front of the YMCA. We kicked the ball around for a bit until the darkness became "advanced darkness" as Spongebob Squarepants would say. Afterward we walked around town and caught up. I do enjoy having the ladies on the ACMNP team, but it is awfully nice to have another dude out here. Luke's a good guy.
For about a 30-minute stretch today, the parking lot was better known as the pavement of despair. For whatever reason, motorists were especially upset today about not being able to find open parking spots during the middle of a sunny afternoon in August. Cars were consistently lined up from the main road to the parking lot intersection and all the way around the loop. While things were really chaotic, I had to stay in the intersection to keep traffic flowing and create spaces for pedestrians and buses to get through. In the middle of the busy stretch, I saw the car that had parked illegally in the grass all morning back up and leave. I turned around to resume directing traffic. After a bit, I noticed another car had parked in the illegal space. I caught a glimpse of the owners just as they entered into the mob of people at the main entrance to the restaurant. I didn't pursue them to warn them about the possible ticket because I had much more important things to worry about...like directing traffic in a congested parking lot.
Fast forward an hour to when my favorite law enforcement park ranger, Brian, drove in, stopped, and asked me if everything was going alright. I told him it was, but that we did have several illegally parked cars throughout the parking lot. Brian is pretty good about taking the time to write tickets, so he was all for giving cars illegally parked in the grass a $75 ticket, including the one right in front of the restaurant. As he was finishing up the process for that car, the ladies returned from lunch. Naturally, they were upset about the prospect of a ticket.
The first argument they made was that an "official-looking" person told them they could park there. After Brian questioned them on this--and made sure it wasn't me who told them that--they admitted it was just another guest who had never seen a car ticketed in that spot.
The second argument they made was that they figured since I was only 50 feet away directing traffic, it must mean that it was alright to park in the grass. If I would've warned them, they would never have parked there. I was there to respond to that argument by telling them that my job is not to warn people about getting tickets but to keep traffic flowing safely. In their specific case, warning them was a low priority during the moment I could have. I probably wouldn't have responded to the argument if the person was 20 years younger and had the testosterone level of an angry middle-aged male. I figured based on the age and size of the ladies I wasn't going to find myself in too big of a pickle anytime soon.
Brian, being a reasonable guy, only gave them a written warning and warned them to not park where it is obviously illegal to do so, even if some random person says it is alright. I thought that made a lot of sense.
The point of all this: if you see a grass patch in front of a restaurant that is large enough for your compact car to park in, it that doesn't mean you should do it. Park in a real, designated spot like everyone else needs to.
I'm looking forward to September and the end of the pavement of despair season.
I went into Bar Harbor tonight to get fudge for tomorrow and to hang out with Luke and/or Sabrina. I tracked down Luke at the soccer field in front of the YMCA. We kicked the ball around for a bit until the darkness became "advanced darkness" as Spongebob Squarepants would say. Afterward we walked around town and caught up. I do enjoy having the ladies on the ACMNP team, but it is awfully nice to have another dude out here. Luke's a good guy.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
27 August 2014
Happy Wednesday!
Today was a little bit more exciting than yesterday. We didn’t
start running a waitlist at work until almost 1:00. We then had to bump it all the way
up to 45 minutes at one point. We finally got off the waitlist a few minutes
before dinner service began at 5:00. The travel patterns of our guests seem to
be shifting. I guess folks are sleeping in a lot more.
When things finally slowed down after 5:00 and before we
left for 6:00, Edie and I had a great discussion about how dogs are superior to
cats. We both are in agreement with that. Oddly enough, however, she has only
owned cats. We both thoroughly enjoy the dog friendliness of the Jordan Pond
House. Every day we are able to get our dog fix. Therefore, Buddy the Elf would call every
day out here a good day.
This evening I went on a walk around Jordan Pond. I advise
guests to plan 1:30 to make it around on the 3.2 mile loop. My time today,
including stops for pictures and to watch the beavers swimming just off the
shore, was 1:12. Boom!
26 August 2014
Happy Tuesday!
Nothing too exciting to report about today.
The most unique
aspect of the day was hiking down the Seaside Path to the beach at Seal Harbor.
There I walked around the beach, swatted mosquitoes, and took advantage of the
decent cell reception to call dad. He's doing well back out in Montana. The green bean harvest has begun, and it sounds like he's knee deep in beans.
Overall today was just an ordinary day in an extraordinary place.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
25 August 2014
Happy Monday!
Today was busy but noticeably slower…so that was very good.
I stayed out in the parking lot for 2 hours and then made the call that the
parking lot will survive without me. In accordance with my hypothesis, it did.
Over the last few months, one of the biggest needs I have identified in the parking
lot is to clear the intersection when the Island Explorer shuttle buses need to
leave the stop and continue on their routes. The task simply involves making an
X with my arms so approaching cars stop before they drive into the middle of
the intersection, stop, let all of their passengers get out, and then continue
driving past the conveniently located designated unloading zone on the way to
finding a parking spot. If you ever think it is a good idea to unload your passengers in the middle of an intersection where buses need to leave, realize that is a terrible idea. Don't do that, or else parking attendant Adam will have to tell you to move along.
After work I went for a bike ride. I wanted to verify the advice I've been telling bikers about the route from Jordan Pond to Bubble Pond to Eagle Lake and back. I've run that route a few times, but biking is a pretty different experience. I will continue to advise the route with the caveat that it is not flat and thus is not suitable for complaining children.
Today was "Christmas in the Park." We had a dorm party this evening complete with a "Yankee Swap", lots of cookies, a turkey dinner, and beverages. I'm not quite sure how I felt about the "Christmas" party. There was no mention of the Christ part of Christmas so it felt like the celebration was incomplete. We were celebrating American traditions and not the coming of the Savior of the world (small wonder none of the Eastern Europeans in the dorm joined in the party). In other words, I felt like the party missed the point of Christmas.
24 August 2014
Happy Sunday!
Small crowds at the services but high quality worship times. At Blackwoods it was just Miles (plus the dogs) and a newlywed couple who are ACMNP alumni. They even brought us donuts to go along with the wisdom and encouragement they imparted on us.
At Seawall only Doug and Anita joined Sabrina, Ally, and I. Luke is travelling back from a wedding in New York this weekend. Anyway, Doug and Anita are newly retired. We ended up not doing any formal worship service with them. Rather, we sang a few songs and then had a prayer time. Anita made the comment that as newly retired folks on a long vacation, they are a lot like us as newly graduated college students. The only difference: "We have money."
The original plan fell through for the afternoon, so hopped on a 2-hour nature cruise instead. It felt pretty great to be on a boat once again.
At the sunset service we had two families. Plus, we finally had a clear and gorgeous sunset. The attendees and the setting made the service very pleasant.
Small crowds at the services but high quality worship times. At Blackwoods it was just Miles (plus the dogs) and a newlywed couple who are ACMNP alumni. They even brought us donuts to go along with the wisdom and encouragement they imparted on us.
At Seawall only Doug and Anita joined Sabrina, Ally, and I. Luke is travelling back from a wedding in New York this weekend. Anyway, Doug and Anita are newly retired. We ended up not doing any formal worship service with them. Rather, we sang a few songs and then had a prayer time. Anita made the comment that as newly retired folks on a long vacation, they are a lot like us as newly graduated college students. The only difference: "We have money."
The original plan fell through for the afternoon, so hopped on a 2-hour nature cruise instead. It felt pretty great to be on a boat once again.
At the sunset service we had two families. Plus, we finally had a clear and gorgeous sunset. The attendees and the setting made the service very pleasant.
Monday, August 25, 2014
23 August 2014
Happy Saturday!
Work was a little stressful today. One of the managers joined us all morning at the information booth to train us in the new procedures and protocols. To say the least, we were all a little confused by what was going on. There were a lot of, "Wait, what?!" moments. All of the changes make sense and are good ideas, but Jami, Sarah, and I provided quick feedback on how to actually implement them in real-life situations.
The hardest change is no longer offering "reservations" but "priority seating." The concept is simple: once guests with "priority seating" check in during their specified time, they go to the top of the waitlist if we have one going that day. That's the way it was with "reservations" but guests thought that having a reservation meant they could walk in the door and right to a waiting table. It doesn't work like that. The change in terminology is great, but trying to tell a caller that we don't offer "reservations" but rather "priority seating" for a small portion of the restaurant is hard enough. It gets really tricky when their requested time is filled, and we have to explain how their options are either to come in at their preferred time and get on the waitlist or come in during a free priority seating time so they will go to the top of the waitlist when they, and everyone in their party, checks in. I had a lot of confused looks when I tried to explain that to guests making a "priority seating request" (not a reservation) in person. I can only imagine the looks people have when I try to explain the process over the phone.
After work I had to take go for a hike. I headed up to the South Bubble, which is the tall mountain on the north end of Jordan Pond (the one on the right in the picture below). On the walk up the pond shore, I even saw two different beavers. That was pretty neat. From the top I practiced my sermon/talk/message for tomorrow and had a pretty awesome prayer session. The view wasn't too bad from up there either.
Work was a little stressful today. One of the managers joined us all morning at the information booth to train us in the new procedures and protocols. To say the least, we were all a little confused by what was going on. There were a lot of, "Wait, what?!" moments. All of the changes make sense and are good ideas, but Jami, Sarah, and I provided quick feedback on how to actually implement them in real-life situations.
The hardest change is no longer offering "reservations" but "priority seating." The concept is simple: once guests with "priority seating" check in during their specified time, they go to the top of the waitlist if we have one going that day. That's the way it was with "reservations" but guests thought that having a reservation meant they could walk in the door and right to a waiting table. It doesn't work like that. The change in terminology is great, but trying to tell a caller that we don't offer "reservations" but rather "priority seating" for a small portion of the restaurant is hard enough. It gets really tricky when their requested time is filled, and we have to explain how their options are either to come in at their preferred time and get on the waitlist or come in during a free priority seating time so they will go to the top of the waitlist when they, and everyone in their party, checks in. I had a lot of confused looks when I tried to explain that to guests making a "priority seating request" (not a reservation) in person. I can only imagine the looks people have when I try to explain the process over the phone.
After work I had to take go for a hike. I headed up to the South Bubble, which is the tall mountain on the north end of Jordan Pond (the one on the right in the picture below). On the walk up the pond shore, I even saw two different beavers. That was pretty neat. From the top I practiced my sermon/talk/message for tomorrow and had a pretty awesome prayer session. The view wasn't too bad from up there either.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
22 August 2014
Happy Friday!
God and Fudge this morning turned into Adam and God time. No one made it, which turned out great because I forgot the fudge back at the dorm anyway. I finished up my sermon/message/talk for this Sunday and read through it a few times. I also read a few more chapters in Spiritual Leadership. So this morning was time well spent.
Not much at work today. Just normal stuff I guess.
During the evening God and Fudge meeting we had a good crowd of four of us. We had a really great discussion about John 3:1-21. We touched on some really deep theological discussions. Still don't have a regular cast of characters that come each week, but each week a new character comes into the picture. I suppose it's not my place to decide if that is a good or bad thing, it just is what it is. God uses the opportunity for holy purposes and not Adam's agenda.
God and Fudge this morning turned into Adam and God time. No one made it, which turned out great because I forgot the fudge back at the dorm anyway. I finished up my sermon/message/talk for this Sunday and read through it a few times. I also read a few more chapters in Spiritual Leadership. So this morning was time well spent.
Not much at work today. Just normal stuff I guess.
During the evening God and Fudge meeting we had a good crowd of four of us. We had a really great discussion about John 3:1-21. We touched on some really deep theological discussions. Still don't have a regular cast of characters that come each week, but each week a new character comes into the picture. I suppose it's not my place to decide if that is a good or bad thing, it just is what it is. God uses the opportunity for holy purposes and not Adam's agenda.
21 August 2014
Happy Thursday!
Fairly normal day today at work. The parking lot was busy, but that is still to be expected this time of August. I employed Jami's strategy of standing at the four-way intersection and waving cars out of the parking lot and back to the main road after they had made an unsuccessful loop around the lot. It was amazing how obedient drivers are as a whole simply because I have an orange vest on and am standing in the middle of the intersection.
After work I headed into Ba Ha-ba (Bar Harbor) to grab fudge for God and Fudge tomorrow and try to say hi to Luke and his visiting girlfriend. Correction: on Wednesday he proposed so now she is his fiance. The trip to town was successful on those two counts. Luke and Tiana were in good spirits. To add to the success of the Bar Harbor trip, I stumbled upon a used book sale at the library. I walked out with ten books and only nine fewer dollars in my pocket. Even the librarian had to admit I bought a good variety of books.
One book I couldn't find was The Book of Mormon. I've always been curious about what it even says. As Ally and I were heading to the fudge shop after visiting the library, we ran into Elder Betts and Elder Thomas from New Mexico. They were awfully surprised when we agreed to stop and talk with them about Jesus. They gave an interesting presentation and then lo and behold, Elder Thomas gave me a copy of The Book of Mormon. Ally and I also told the two that we should meet up sometime and discuss how our respective ministries are going this summer. I bet being on Mormon mission in Down-east Maine would be a fairly difficult experience.
Fairly normal day today at work. The parking lot was busy, but that is still to be expected this time of August. I employed Jami's strategy of standing at the four-way intersection and waving cars out of the parking lot and back to the main road after they had made an unsuccessful loop around the lot. It was amazing how obedient drivers are as a whole simply because I have an orange vest on and am standing in the middle of the intersection.
After work I headed into Ba Ha-ba (Bar Harbor) to grab fudge for God and Fudge tomorrow and try to say hi to Luke and his visiting girlfriend. Correction: on Wednesday he proposed so now she is his fiance. The trip to town was successful on those two counts. Luke and Tiana were in good spirits. To add to the success of the Bar Harbor trip, I stumbled upon a used book sale at the library. I walked out with ten books and only nine fewer dollars in my pocket. Even the librarian had to admit I bought a good variety of books.
One book I couldn't find was The Book of Mormon. I've always been curious about what it even says. As Ally and I were heading to the fudge shop after visiting the library, we ran into Elder Betts and Elder Thomas from New Mexico. They were awfully surprised when we agreed to stop and talk with them about Jesus. They gave an interesting presentation and then lo and behold, Elder Thomas gave me a copy of The Book of Mormon. Ally and I also told the two that we should meet up sometime and discuss how our respective ministries are going this summer. I bet being on Mormon mission in Down-east Maine would be a fairly difficult experience.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
20 August 2014
Happy Wednesday!
Woke up this morning with ambition to get my run in for the
day before work. I decided against it for two reasons. A) I was tired. 2) My
shoes are so worn out that I’ve been having a lot of foot and knee pain lately.
I’m not super interested in sticking to my training schedule at the expense of
my muscles and bones in my feet and my left knee. My body has been thanking me
profusely all day because of my decision.
Work was steady but not as busy. We had a ton of phone calls
until about 3:00 and then the phone just went silent. It was really weird.
Before the phones settled down, however, I made reservations for Martha Stewart
and her party and then a separate one for Nelson Rockefeller and his party.
They both have very nice assistants who called from New York City phone numbers.
Sometimes when I make reservations with folks calling from New York City I feel
like I’m in the movie Elf. The caller
is Deborah, a professional and sophisticated individual, and I am Buddy the
Elf, a likable yet slightly awkward phone conversationalist. At least I don’t
ask them what their favorite color is…
After work I met up with Maggie for a walk on the carriage
roads and dinner at the Jordan Pond House. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation
and the sea scallops weren't bad either.
I am now ready to make a big announcement…after nice 20 day
break following my time here in Acadia I will be heading to the Furnace Creek
Inn in Death Valley National Park to join the winter ACMNP ministry team. I
just applied for jobs at the Inn so I don’t have employment finalized yet.
Nonetheless, you can start making plans to come out sometime between November
10 and May 1 to visit me in the desert.
19 August 2014
Happy Tuesday!
Yesterday I thought that I should not go for a run. Doing
this meant that I had to do a two-a-day workout today. I completed the six
miles before work, but only made it two miles into the post-work run. 11 miles
in one day, yeah, ain’t nobody got time for that. Well, actually I did have
time to do it. My knee and feet started hurting much more than usual. They told me to walk back to the dorm
and enjoy the evening instead.
Work today was pretty busy again. Our waitlist made it up to
70 minutes. That’s right on par with other busy days this month. I spent most
of the day out in the parking lot. Things were a little chaotic, but not much
more chaotic than usual. Around 2:00, the ever-friendly Ranger Donovan walked
to the middle of the intersection and started directing cars. Ranger Donovan is
the presenter on Saturday nights at the Blackwoods campground amphitheater. The
team and I run into him every week when we walk around the campground to invite
folks to our services on Sundays. Ranger Donovan and I make a great team in the
parking lot.
18 August 2014
Happy Monday!
Today caught me off-guard. I thought that since we are out
of the infamous first two weeks in August that meant that today would be slow
and easy at work today. In reality, however, today was on par with the last two
Mondays. I handled the phone and question spot today while Jami stayed out in
the parking lot and Edie added folks to the waitlist. It’s hard to know exactly
how many phone calls I answered today, but it had to be close to 15 or 20 per
hour. Because the reservation slots are fairly full all week, each phone call
for a reservation took about 2:30 to either figure out a reservation time that
is available yet also works for the guest or to explain how just because all
the reservations are full doesn’t mean that they cannot come in as a walk-in
guest. Every time someone said they want a reservation but not until September
or October, I was quite relieved. A reservation made early is a happy
reservation.
Work wore me out today. I lumbered back to the dorm tired
and hungry. And then I saw that….it was pizza night! Mm mmm. And to add icing
to the delicious dinner cake, Sean also made minestrone soup for us. I enjoyed
the feast.
I found out that someone else enjoyed a feast: my arch
nemesis the dorm mouse. On Saturday night I found that he, or she, had once
again broke into my bags of granola, nuts, and flax seeds which I use for a
snack each day. Today, I found that he had been eating my Riccola drops and
making a mess in the bottom drawer of my closet. I had to breakout the vacuum
to get rid of all the evidence of my furry roommate. I hope he never has a sore
throat or cough ever again.
As I catch up on writing blog entries, I am watching ESPN
Monday Night Football. The Redskins are beating the Browns. Summer is
officially winding down. Here comes fall!
17 August 2014
Happy Sunday!
Not much sun to go around this morning when I woke up. In
fact, a light rain was falling. We arrived at the Blackwoods amphitheater to
find rain-soaked benches. My "dew on the pew" towel wasn't
sufficient.
We had three families join us at Blackwoods and a young
couple in attendance at Seawall. As usual, our attendees were key in making the
service truly a time of worship and fellowship. Our Seawall attendees came with
us to the Common Good for popovers and oatmeal after the service. She is a math
professor at Rutgers and he is an adjunct professor and wears several others
hats, too. Their attendance helped at our service helped to fulfill their New
Year's resolution from 2013 to go to church every Sunday. It's cool how even
though our services aren't held indoors, we can still consider it
"church" because....
"The church is not a building;
The church is not a steeple;
The church is not a resting place;
The church is a people!"
During the afternoon, Luke had to work a shift from 1 until
6. Ally, Sabrina, and I went on a mission to replace Ally's phone. We didn't
have any luck at the Wal-Mart 30 minutes away in Ellsworth, so we had to go up
to Best Buy in Bangor. All of us were sort of taken aback by the urban
landscape of Bangor, Maine. We've been on this island too long I guess. Before
we left, we stopped by Wendy's for some fast food. We had to get our fix. The
only fast food restaurant on the island is a Subway in Bar Harbor.
Our sunset service had a slim crowd, but at least it had a
crowd. Maggie, one of our ministry support committee members, joined us along
with a family originally from Jamaica but now hailing from Connecticut. We sang
a few songs and hymns as the chilly wind reminded us that we need to start
bringing a hat and gloves to sunset services from now on.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
16 August 2014
Happy Saturday!
The alarm chimed at 6:04 this morning. After reading the August 16 devotional from My Utmost for His Highest and a passage from the book of Mark, I roused myself out of bed and into the employee dining room for some breakfast. Honeynut Cheerios, an apple, and a spoonful of peanut butter were on the menu. By 6:48 I was taking the first few strides of my long run for the week.
18 miles and 2:31 minutes later, I was back at the dorm scrounging around in the fridge for some chocolate milk to re-hydrate and replenish my body. Although my route was about as scenic as it could be, I didn't plan any water stops. As it turns out, that was a tactical error. I did bring and consume a few tablespoons of honey around mile 9. That helped significantly. Still, I was a tired and sore puppy as I finished up the run. Completing 18 miles is a huge confidence booster. I'm not too intimidated anymore about running a marathon during the first weekend in October like I am planning on doing.
I was pretty tired at work today. My two-hour shift in the parking lot was challenging. Not because traffic was overwhelming. In fact, the crowd today was low compared to the last five days. Rather, the parking lot kicked my butt because not only my glutes but also the rest of my legs were pretty tired from the big run this morning.
This evening I started working on the required "Final Report" for ACMNP. All the summer ACMNPers have to fill it out by September 1. Ally, Luke, Sabrina and I all have another month and a half to go after the final report deadline. It'll be interesting to look back in on my final day and see what has changed during the September 1 to October 20 stretch.
The alarm chimed at 6:04 this morning. After reading the August 16 devotional from My Utmost for His Highest and a passage from the book of Mark, I roused myself out of bed and into the employee dining room for some breakfast. Honeynut Cheerios, an apple, and a spoonful of peanut butter were on the menu. By 6:48 I was taking the first few strides of my long run for the week.
18 miles and 2:31 minutes later, I was back at the dorm scrounging around in the fridge for some chocolate milk to re-hydrate and replenish my body. Although my route was about as scenic as it could be, I didn't plan any water stops. As it turns out, that was a tactical error. I did bring and consume a few tablespoons of honey around mile 9. That helped significantly. Still, I was a tired and sore puppy as I finished up the run. Completing 18 miles is a huge confidence booster. I'm not too intimidated anymore about running a marathon during the first weekend in October like I am planning on doing.
I was pretty tired at work today. My two-hour shift in the parking lot was challenging. Not because traffic was overwhelming. In fact, the crowd today was low compared to the last five days. Rather, the parking lot kicked my butt because not only my glutes but also the rest of my legs were pretty tired from the big run this morning.
This evening I started working on the required "Final Report" for ACMNP. All the summer ACMNPers have to fill it out by September 1. Ally, Luke, Sabrina and I all have another month and a half to go after the final report deadline. It'll be interesting to look back in on my final day and see what has changed during the September 1 to October 20 stretch.
15 August 2014
Happy Friday!
Today was filled with God and fudge. In the morning, only two of us made it to God and Fudge Club. We are both Christians, so we had a really great chat about how the summer is going for each of us on a spiritual level. I think we both enjoyed the chance to be in fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit.
During the evening version, the crowd was only two strong again. Instead of the two God and Fudgers (I being one of them) being in step with each other regarding our relationship with God, we were each coming from very different places. By the end of the evening, however, it seemed like we were moving a lot closer to the same thing--understanding God by knowing Jesus Christ as savior and Lord. Needless to say, it was a successful day for God and Fudge.
In between the 8:30 am and pm club meetings, I went to work. We had what may very well be our final truly busy day. I ran the waitlist computer for much of the afternoon. It is truly remarkable how many people are guests at the JPH during these busy August days. I'm willing to bet they'll be entire work weeks in September with fewer people than we had come through just today.
Sorry, no picture of the day. It's getting harder and harder to find something to photograph for each day. I may start going to pictures of the week, instead.
Today was filled with God and fudge. In the morning, only two of us made it to God and Fudge Club. We are both Christians, so we had a really great chat about how the summer is going for each of us on a spiritual level. I think we both enjoyed the chance to be in fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit.
During the evening version, the crowd was only two strong again. Instead of the two God and Fudgers (I being one of them) being in step with each other regarding our relationship with God, we were each coming from very different places. By the end of the evening, however, it seemed like we were moving a lot closer to the same thing--understanding God by knowing Jesus Christ as savior and Lord. Needless to say, it was a successful day for God and Fudge.
In between the 8:30 am and pm club meetings, I went to work. We had what may very well be our final truly busy day. I ran the waitlist computer for much of the afternoon. It is truly remarkable how many people are guests at the JPH during these busy August days. I'm willing to bet they'll be entire work weeks in September with fewer people than we had come through just today.
Sorry, no picture of the day. It's getting harder and harder to find something to photograph for each day. I may start going to pictures of the week, instead.
Friday, August 15, 2014
14 August 2014
Happy Thursday!
The rain came in cold and heavy last night. I woke up to a
foggy, fall-like sky. When I went in for my 10:00 shift, the parking lot was as
empty as I’ve seen it all summer. Throughout the day, the weather steadily
improved until we had blue clear skies around the end of my eight ours. The
waitlist lasted all the way until past 6:00, which is a new record.
For my run this evening I headed down toward the ocean on
the carriage roads. Usually the gates to the Rockefeller property at Barr Hill
are closed. Today, however, the gate at intersection 32 was wide-open. I
interpreted that as an invitation to explore. I did so and found a beautiful
landscape on either side of the 16-foot wide grass covered path. I didn’t have
to complete a workout run tonight, so I moseyed all the way down to the ocean,
walked along the beach for a bit, and then jogged back up through Seal Harbor
and to the dorm.
13 August 2014
Happy Wednesday!
The forecast called for rain. The clouds threatened rain all
morning. The reservation guests all called to change their outdoor reservations
to indoor. But, the rain never arrived until late, late afternoon. As a result,
today was not a slower day like I thought it’d be. The wait time reached one
hour for tables inside while tables outside went for 40 minutes. Fortunately,
Jami was back after her Monday-Tuesday “weekend” so she took over parking lot
duty today. I spent the day answering the phones, adding guests to the
waitlist, and, the best part of the day, resetting the pagers we thought were
broken. Now, we have an additional 15 pagers that we raised from the “RIP”
pile. Getting those pagers back up and running is huge since it’ll reduce the
amount of trips we have to make between the booth and the basket at the host
station to collect used pagers.
After work I completed my speed workout for the week. I went
out and back two miles on a progression run. After ever eight minutes I picked
up the pace. My total time for 4 miles was 28:37. The weather was cloudy and
windy, or in other words, September weather.
My sister, Nicole, and I had our weekly chat tonight. The
“rock” in the woods had a cell signal. The only problem with hanging out at the
“rock” after dark is that the poor employees walking back from the restaurant
to the employee parking lot have to pass by. Over the past few months I have
evoked a significant number of fearful reactions when they see me as a shadowy
figure standing still (as to not lose the signal) on the edge of the path. So
if you are ever walking in the woods of Acadia at night and you see a dark
figure, don’t worry. It’s just me.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
12 August 2014
Happy Tuesday!
Work was really busy today...okay, enough about that.
I've been boring you all to death lately with wordy blogs. Today I am going to catch up on posting pictures. Most of the dorm is either at work still or on the mainland at the casino this evening, so I have a lot of wi-fi signal to myself.
Here's a shot of the clouds last Thursday in between afternoon thunderstorms.
We had a great sunset on Sunday for the evening worship service.
After no one showed up to our service, the team and I decided to fight the crowds up at the summit of Cadillac. Fortunately, I took this shot of Bar Harbor, the Porcupine Islands, and Frenchman Bay without including the back of anyone's head.
The supermoon rising out of the Atlantic from atop Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the American eastern seaboard.
To prove just how taxing parking lot duty is, check out what has happened to my insoles and socks. Don't worry. I have a back-up pair of insoles and I threw this sock pair away. The rest of my socks are doing alright for now...I know you are curious, Mom.
This evening I decided to go for a bike ride instead of a run. I rode the "Around Mountain" loop. Here's a shot from the Chasm Brook Bridge located at mile 4.
First colors of fall or the signs of a dry August?
The view this evening from the highest point on the carriage road system.
Sunset this evening. Clouds and rain are in our forecast for the next 48 hours so It was nice to wave goodbye to the sun before it took a summer vacation.
Monday, August 11, 2014
11 August 2014
Happy Monday!
Laundry day was a success. I woke up at 7:00 to get my clothes in the washer before anyone else in the dorm started their own laundry ordeal. I poured in some of my Rite Aid brand detergent with "fresh scent." I was tired of using the dorm-supplied Aroma-Land brand detergent which is unscented. Re-read that sentence if you didn't catch the irony the first time.
While waiting for my laundry to finish I took a morning nap, ate breakfast, and read the book of Nehemiah from the Bible . I had read in 24/6 that Nehemiah was worth reading to understand how to work incredibly hard while also honoring the Sabbath or "stop day." He claimed that if you ever find an old Bible that belonged to a Plymouth Rock Pilgrim, the pages in Nehemiah would be heavily dog-eared.
The Jordan Pond House parking lot never ceases to amaze me. Instead of the busiest rush coming at 1:30 like it usually does, the flood gates opened at noon instead. Several times traffic backed all the way up to the main road, even though all the cars circling the lot were moving. It was an incredible mass of metal and rubber.
Around 12:30, at the absolute peak of business in the lot, I turned around to find 3 horses and riders come across the crosswalk. I walked toward the ladies and said, "Now, I don't know anything about horses, but..." I planned on continuing on by telling them that I'm almost positive that there is no place to hitch the horses to while the riders eat at the restaurant. Before I could explain that to them, however, the one with a riding helmet brimmed with what appeared to be a large sun hat asked me where they could ride. Then the second rider said, "I am Martha." I'm not lying here, it was Martha Stewart...in the parking lot...again. To her introduction I literally replied with a "hey" and a slight head nod. Because of how busy everything was around me and how absurd it was that I now had three horses in the middle of a backed-up parking lot, I gave the riders my park and carriage road maps, told them to go back to the carriage roads and take two rights, and sent them on their way. Ain't nobody got time to be starstruck in the parking lot.
Around 2:00 a law enforcement Park Ranger came up to me and asked, "Are you the parking attendant?" I replied honestly, "Well, I'm not sure if I'd call myself that today." She went on to tell me how they had received a report that the parking lot was "horrendous." She wanted to know if the caller had been referring to the south lot right by the restaurant or the north lot. I like to refer to that lot as No Man's Land since we don't have anyone attending to that lot. Keeping my honest streak going I admitted to her that at times the south lot had been exceptionally bad, but I guaranteed her that the north lot is consistently worse. She replied with a, "yep, that makes sense," and then something along the lines of "looks like you're doing the best you can over here." Thanks, Ranger!
I finally retreated after a full 3 hours of serving and protecting in the lot. I returned to the info booth to find Edie and Sarah keeping everything under control. While I was away, the wait time had crept up to 70 minutes for outside tables today. I think that is a record for the summer.
We kept the waitlist going until 5:41, another record for the summer. We also received so many phone reservation requests today that reservation seating for tomorrow is filled up until almost 5:00. We'll still have space for walk-in guests, but I'm willing to bet we'll break 90 minutes on the waitlist tomorrow at some point.
Being in the heart of the truly busy season is sort of a bummer. When I'm in the parking lot, my job is basically to tell folks that all the spots are full and their best bet is to circle the lots for an untold number of times until they see a spot turn over. Then, they have to be next in line in order to snag the spot. When I'm in the info booth, my job changes to answering the phone and telling people that have already had to wait in the phone line and listen to a pre-recorded message about Acadia that their preferred reservation time is unavailable. Their options are either to reserve a spot for a late, late, late lunch or to walk in and plan on waiting for an hour or so. Most people are very understanding and courtesy when I have to break news like this. After all, the news is simply a product of the popularity of the restaurant and not the way it is run. Most everyone realizes that. But I can tell under the facade of saving face that they are disappointed. I don't like to upset people. That makes me feel upset.
Sorry, the wi-fi signal is pretty weak still. So weak, in fact, that I cannot manage to get a picture of the day downloaded. One of these days I'll catch up on those, I promise.
Laundry day was a success. I woke up at 7:00 to get my clothes in the washer before anyone else in the dorm started their own laundry ordeal. I poured in some of my Rite Aid brand detergent with "fresh scent." I was tired of using the dorm-supplied Aroma-Land brand detergent which is unscented. Re-read that sentence if you didn't catch the irony the first time.
While waiting for my laundry to finish I took a morning nap, ate breakfast, and read the book of Nehemiah from the Bible . I had read in 24/6 that Nehemiah was worth reading to understand how to work incredibly hard while also honoring the Sabbath or "stop day." He claimed that if you ever find an old Bible that belonged to a Plymouth Rock Pilgrim, the pages in Nehemiah would be heavily dog-eared.
The Jordan Pond House parking lot never ceases to amaze me. Instead of the busiest rush coming at 1:30 like it usually does, the flood gates opened at noon instead. Several times traffic backed all the way up to the main road, even though all the cars circling the lot were moving. It was an incredible mass of metal and rubber.
Around 12:30, at the absolute peak of business in the lot, I turned around to find 3 horses and riders come across the crosswalk. I walked toward the ladies and said, "Now, I don't know anything about horses, but..." I planned on continuing on by telling them that I'm almost positive that there is no place to hitch the horses to while the riders eat at the restaurant. Before I could explain that to them, however, the one with a riding helmet brimmed with what appeared to be a large sun hat asked me where they could ride. Then the second rider said, "I am Martha." I'm not lying here, it was Martha Stewart...in the parking lot...again. To her introduction I literally replied with a "hey" and a slight head nod. Because of how busy everything was around me and how absurd it was that I now had three horses in the middle of a backed-up parking lot, I gave the riders my park and carriage road maps, told them to go back to the carriage roads and take two rights, and sent them on their way. Ain't nobody got time to be starstruck in the parking lot.
Around 2:00 a law enforcement Park Ranger came up to me and asked, "Are you the parking attendant?" I replied honestly, "Well, I'm not sure if I'd call myself that today." She went on to tell me how they had received a report that the parking lot was "horrendous." She wanted to know if the caller had been referring to the south lot right by the restaurant or the north lot. I like to refer to that lot as No Man's Land since we don't have anyone attending to that lot. Keeping my honest streak going I admitted to her that at times the south lot had been exceptionally bad, but I guaranteed her that the north lot is consistently worse. She replied with a, "yep, that makes sense," and then something along the lines of "looks like you're doing the best you can over here." Thanks, Ranger!
I finally retreated after a full 3 hours of serving and protecting in the lot. I returned to the info booth to find Edie and Sarah keeping everything under control. While I was away, the wait time had crept up to 70 minutes for outside tables today. I think that is a record for the summer.
We kept the waitlist going until 5:41, another record for the summer. We also received so many phone reservation requests today that reservation seating for tomorrow is filled up until almost 5:00. We'll still have space for walk-in guests, but I'm willing to bet we'll break 90 minutes on the waitlist tomorrow at some point.
Being in the heart of the truly busy season is sort of a bummer. When I'm in the parking lot, my job is basically to tell folks that all the spots are full and their best bet is to circle the lots for an untold number of times until they see a spot turn over. Then, they have to be next in line in order to snag the spot. When I'm in the info booth, my job changes to answering the phone and telling people that have already had to wait in the phone line and listen to a pre-recorded message about Acadia that their preferred reservation time is unavailable. Their options are either to reserve a spot for a late, late, late lunch or to walk in and plan on waiting for an hour or so. Most people are very understanding and courtesy when I have to break news like this. After all, the news is simply a product of the popularity of the restaurant and not the way it is run. Most everyone realizes that. But I can tell under the facade of saving face that they are disappointed. I don't like to upset people. That makes me feel upset.
Sorry, the wi-fi signal is pretty weak still. So weak, in fact, that I cannot manage to get a picture of the day downloaded. One of these days I'll catch up on those, I promise.
10 August 2014
Happy Sunday!
Last week being the busiest week at the Jordan Pond House
and all, I fully expected worship attendance to be the highest of the season.
Not quite. I guess I have no authority or ability to successfully predict the
gathering of Christ’s followers. I suppose that’s not even something I really
need to know anyway.
Despite not having both amphitheaters filled in the morning and
the entire Blue Hill Overlook brimming with the faithful during sunset, the
team and I still had a great day of worship. At the Seawall service we had a
great crowd consisting of a New Jersey family and a lady from England. The
family had five kids ranging from age 3ish to 12 or so. They all had angelic
voices which made up for my relative tone deafness. And to top it all off, the
weather was gorgeous.
The team and I had our customary oatmeal and popovers at The
Common Good for brunch and then went to Ship Harbor to hike the nature trail
and throw rocks into the water. Chucking rocks into the ocean is quickly
becoming a team pastime.
This afternoon we watched the movie God’s Not Dead. Being a Christian movie I’ll admit it was a little
cheesy and overly dramatic. That being said, I highly suggest it. The movie isn’t
supposed to be for simple entertainment. Rather, it reflects the real and
legitimate arguments and conditions in life which cause people to believe that
God doesn’t exist or care about them. Both of those beliefs are wrong, and the
movie does a good job addressing them through using relatively relatable
characters. Another cool part about the movie was that it came into Ally’s
possession as a gift from her boss, the retail manager for Dawnland.
God’s not dead.
Even though I did this verbally on the phone, I wanted to
remind Dad that today is his birthday. Happy Birthday!
9 August 2014
Happy Saturday!
After 94 minutes this morning and what seemed like gallons of sweat, I had finished up my long run of the week. I’m not sure exactly how long it was, but I’m guessing about 12 miles. That’s what my training schedule told me to run. I try to be obedient to the piece of paper with a bunch of numbers on it, but sometimes my sore legs speak much louder than that piece of paper. The run today went fairly well, especially after the honey I ingested during the 50th minute kicked in.
At work I took on parking lot duty for the first watch (11:30 to 1:30). Things were routinely crazy until an ambulance came screaming in. Luckily, it arrived right as the lot was completely full. Even more luck caused the driver to misunderstand where to actually go which meant he had to weave in and out of cars in the driving lane of the lot so he could make it back out to the Park Loop Road. Come to think of it, I don’t think luck was involved in the situation at all. On a related note: It’s unbelievable how much more authority I suddenly gained when drivers saw me in an orange vest while hearing the siren. Everyone’s eyes were on me. I think I performed fairly well under that pressure.
The team and I went campground walking this evening. Sabrina and I took on the A Loop while Ally and Luke conquered the B Loop. For whatever reason, this week’s campers didn’t seem overly interested in joining us. It was our toughest crowd of the summer. All well, I’m sure the Holy Spirit was still working through our invitations as they entered the ears and confronted the hearts of the people we met.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
8 August 2014
Happy Friday!
God and Fudge day! No one made it to the
morning session. That didn't catch me off-guard. I brought the book 24/6 to read. At the ACMNP
training conference all of us received a copy of it. The author is a former ER
doctor and discusses the importance of keeping the Sabbath (or "stop
day"). He made a pretty convincing case. I highly recommend the book and
his advice of taking a day of rest once a week.
Work was significantly less busy than
previous days this week. That's typical this summer. Tuesdays through Thursdays
are the busiest at the JPH followed by Mondays and Fridays and then the
weekends. It's a little counter intuitive but that's just the way the cookie
crumbles under the JPH visitors.
During dinner I kept an eye on Batman Begins playing on
the television. I thought I should finish it up after dinner, but then I
received a better offer from Raul to play chess against him. He beat me. To say
I held my own probably isn't an accurate statement.
At the evening God and Fudge session the
usual crowd didn't show up for various, understandable reasons. Two guys from
the dorm, however, followed through on their promise to stop by during their
break from work. Inviting my roommate yielded a good conversation about his
belief in God. I also had a chance to share some fudge and my faith with one of
the hosts on duty at the restaurant. So all in all, God and Fudge was once
again a success!
Saturday, August 9, 2014
7 August 2014
Happy Thursday!
Sorry this entry is so late in coming. We've had pop-up afternoon thunderstorms for the past few days. When there's lightning in the forecast "they" turn off the internet (not sure who "they" are). At least that's what the rumor is. So this evening I have a lot of catching up to do while the wi-fi is still relatively strong...
Today was another busy day. Other than that, I don't remember much of what happened at work. Things are running together this week.
This evening I had the chance to catch up with Ivan. He's a Cru staff member at U of Montana (Go Griz!) and somehow picked the short end of the stick and ended up being my discipler during my final two years of college. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his summer adventures and getting to share with him what God's been doing in my life this summer. Those two topics yielded nearly 80 minutes of conversation. Good times.
The internet is still too slow to download pictures this evening...I'll catch up with pictures of day on Sunday or so.
Sorry this entry is so late in coming. We've had pop-up afternoon thunderstorms for the past few days. When there's lightning in the forecast "they" turn off the internet (not sure who "they" are). At least that's what the rumor is. So this evening I have a lot of catching up to do while the wi-fi is still relatively strong...
Today was another busy day. Other than that, I don't remember much of what happened at work. Things are running together this week.
This evening I had the chance to catch up with Ivan. He's a Cru staff member at U of Montana (Go Griz!) and somehow picked the short end of the stick and ended up being my discipler during my final two years of college. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his summer adventures and getting to share with him what God's been doing in my life this summer. Those two topics yielded nearly 80 minutes of conversation. Good times.
The internet is still too slow to download pictures this evening...I'll catch up with pictures of day on Sunday or so.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
6 August 2014
Happy Wednesday!
Another busy day at the JPH (Jordan Pond House). In the
parking lot three different people chewed me out pretty decently while I also received
a $5 tip from one lady and a cookie as a tip from one of the tour bus drivers.
Overall, my job while in the parking lot seems to now be making people’s
parking lot experience even more frustrating when I tell them that since the
parking lots are full during the peak hours of the day, the best and only
option is to keep circling until a spot opens up. The bummer part is that the
majority of my verbal interactions during parking lot duty involve confronting
motorists with this unpleasant prospect. If only they hiked, biked, took the
free bus shuttle, or came before 11:00am or after 4:00pm…
I left work a bit early today to get into Bar Harbor and
reliable cell coverage. I had a phone interview for the recruiter and winter
placement positions through ACMNP. The interview went well…I think. Decisions
are made at the end of the next week. I would ask you to keep your fingers
crossed but that would do as much good as me worrying about the outcome. So let’s
all agree to not to either one of those.
After the interview I went for a run on the cool trails
between Bar Harbor and Sieur de Monts (the historic hub of Acadia National
Park). I have told people to visit the area because of the cool museum, nature
center, and trails around there. I’m glad to report my advice has been spot on.
The Jesup Path with its seemingly endless boardwalk through a forest of maples
will be a sure stop this fall when I get into leaf-peeping mode. The Wild
Gardens of Acadia claims to contain every plant species found in the park. It
is now my favorite garden in the park.
Today’s picture of the day is the boardwalk on the Jesup
Path. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
5 August 2014
Happy Tuesday!
We have finally reached the truly busy days of summer. By noon we filled up all of our reservation spots for "lunch" seating (11:45am-5:45pm). I've never seen the reservation system so full. The wait for outdoor seating even reached 60 minutes at one point. Naturally, the parking lot was incredibly busy. Jami took one for the team and went out for the early shift. I only had some major tie-ups during the first half hour of my time in the lot. After 2:30, things became pretty manageable and flowed well.
I like to help load and unload bikes onto the Island Explorer shuttles so I figured I'd get the 4:00 #5 to the Village Green on its way and then I'd call it a day in the lot. The shuttles had been full all day and, in turn, running late. Long story short, three shuttles arrived within 3 minutes of each other leading to mass confusion. The three bus drivers and I managed to organize everyone enough to get them all and their bikes on a bus. If they got on the correct bus, however, is a different story...
This evening I took a not-so-full shuttle down to the beach at Seal Harbor to warm up and start my evening run. I ran up the little-used trail along Harbor Brook. Let's just say that it's not a trail I'd recommend. I did get in a pretty good workout since I had to constantly leap and lunge over tree roots and mud pits while trying not to lose my balance and fall into the water.
Even though my camera is back in action, I don't have an original picture of the day today captured by my Nikon. Instead, the picture of the day is Luke and I jamming out to the music by the guitarist on the cruise last week on the Margret Todd (courtesy of Ally's camera and Facebook). Enjoy!
We have finally reached the truly busy days of summer. By noon we filled up all of our reservation spots for "lunch" seating (11:45am-5:45pm). I've never seen the reservation system so full. The wait for outdoor seating even reached 60 minutes at one point. Naturally, the parking lot was incredibly busy. Jami took one for the team and went out for the early shift. I only had some major tie-ups during the first half hour of my time in the lot. After 2:30, things became pretty manageable and flowed well.
I like to help load and unload bikes onto the Island Explorer shuttles so I figured I'd get the 4:00 #5 to the Village Green on its way and then I'd call it a day in the lot. The shuttles had been full all day and, in turn, running late. Long story short, three shuttles arrived within 3 minutes of each other leading to mass confusion. The three bus drivers and I managed to organize everyone enough to get them all and their bikes on a bus. If they got on the correct bus, however, is a different story...
This evening I took a not-so-full shuttle down to the beach at Seal Harbor to warm up and start my evening run. I ran up the little-used trail along Harbor Brook. Let's just say that it's not a trail I'd recommend. I did get in a pretty good workout since I had to constantly leap and lunge over tree roots and mud pits while trying not to lose my balance and fall into the water.
Even though my camera is back in action, I don't have an original picture of the day today captured by my Nikon. Instead, the picture of the day is Luke and I jamming out to the music by the guitarist on the cruise last week on the Margret Todd (courtesy of Ally's camera and Facebook). Enjoy!
4 August 2014
Happy Monday!
Today was a big day for five reasons.
Reason 1: Martha Stewart
I was out doing parking lot duty when I overheard two ladies
walking to their car and talking about how cool it was to see Martha a few
tables over. I thought, “Yeah. That does sound cool,” and then went back to
protecting and serving in the lot. A few minutes later I had to truly direct
traffic as the loading area and intersection became backed up with a gaggle of
angry motorists.
Once I saved the day, a gentleman in a black Suburban waved
me over. He said, “Hey, do you know Martha Stewart?” I told him yes, thinking
that he must’ve heard she’s at the restaurant and wanted me to somehow get an
autograph or something. It turns out he was her driver and he truly and firmly
believed he needed to go in and tell her that he had arrived and was ready for
her. I told him he could wait in the loading and unloading zone since, after
all, that’s what he was doing. But I told him that he had to stay with his
vehicle if he is going to wait there. That left me to have to go and in relay
the important message. I did so, but not until I cleared the intersection so the
busses could leave and got the traffic to flow through the lot smoother than
butter on a hot skillet. I went back to the Suburban to let him know I was on
my way in to relay the message. I found an empty driver’s seat. Luckily, I
intercept him near the gift shop entrance and assured him I’d go find Martha so
long as he returned to his vehicle. Judging by his sense of urgency, I figured
he was running late or something in picking her up.
After I narrowed down the general location of the Stewart
party, I realized that I didn’t actually know what Martha looks like. I knew
she was older and had blonde hair. Unfortunately, a lot female patrons to the
Jordan Pond House have a somewhat similar appearance. Fortunately for me,
however, I found her at the first table I made contact with. To help me even
more was my orange vest and general appearance of a poor parking lot attendant
that obviously has never picked up Martha
Stewart Living in my life. So I’m sure she wasn’t expecting a lot out of me
while I not-so-smoothly passed on the important information to her. She
nonchalantly told me to pass on the message, “Okay, tell him I’ll be out in a
while.”
Back in the parking lot I managed to not only tell her
driver, Carlos, the message, but I also had a chance to chat with him in
between addressing parking lot emergencies. He complimented me on my skills and
told me I need to move to a big city to make big money as a parking attendant.
I went along with it, but I’m not looking to move to Boston to direct or park
cars anytime soon. He was a very nice man and had been Martha’s driver for the
past 16 years. He works for her on Fridays through Sundays. He enjoys when
Martha vacations in Maine just as much as she does. It is a vacation for him
from all of the lousy East Coast traffic.
Eventually, Martha and her guests came out and loaded into
the Suburban. Carlos whisked them away, but not until Martha leaned forward in
the front seat and gave me a nice wave to thank me—the cute little parking
attendant boy. So that was pretty neat.
Reason 2: The Rockefeller’s
Little did I know when I awkwardly walked up to the table to
attempt to contact Martha that she was hosting the Rockefellers. Included in
the party of seven was David Rockefeller, the son of John Rockefeller, Jr., who
used to own the Jordan Pond House before it was a National Park Service
property.
Reason 3: Whoopee pie
During the beginning of parking lot duty, I was talking with
a tour bus driver for Vermont Bike Travel Company. She gave me one of her
homemade pumpkin spice whoopee pies. In case you are unfamiliar with the treat,
a whoopee pie is pretty much two cookie-sized cakes with a large amount of
frosting in between. I didn’t have time
to eat it until the end of parking lot duty around 3:00, but it was still
really good even after hanging out in a shaded crook of a tree for a few hours.
Reason 4: Jordan Cliffs Trail
After work and dinner, one of my roommates, Gabe, and I went
out to hike the newly opened Jordan Cliffs Trail. Since I’ve been out here, the
Park Service had not been allowing visitors to use the trail because the
peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs. Apparently, being dive bombed by a
territorial falcon is a bad thing.
I can think of no better person to do an after-work hike
with. Gabe is notorious in the dorm for either accidentally or purposely making
long hikes after the sun has set. My favorite story is when he misjudged how
long it’d take to hike back from Bar Harbor. He ended up hiking up and down the
tallest mountain on the Atlantic US coast (Cadillac Mountain) in complete
darkness. I knew with him leading the way we’d make it back to the dorm no
matter what the light conditions were.
Fortunately, it stayed light enough to safely see the trail
until we had already cleared all of the dangerous stuff. We finished the actual
Jordan Cliffs and arrived at the summit of Penobscot before sunset. The hike
down from Penobscot to the dorm starts out with a mile of walking the exposed
granite ridge line with expansive southern views of the rest of the island, the
off-shore islands, and the ocean as it blurs into the sky in the darkening
eastern horizon. The hike was stunningly gorgeous.
Reason 5: I fixed my camera!
After doing some internet research, I found a blog dedicated
to fixing digital cameras with “lens errors.” The solution to my problem was to
hold the menu button down for about 5 seconds. Some magical mechanical spell
came over my camera and it suddenly started behaving again.
Monday, August 4, 2014
3 August 2014
Happy Sunday!
At first, the Blackwoods crowd looked awfully thin. But once we started getting things going during the service, we ended up with a sizable crowd of 18. Seawall also had a good sized group of five. So I'd say we had our biggest morning so far this season. Woo who!
After the services and our weekly stop at The Common Good for popovers and oatmeal, we decided to play tourist for the day. We drove up to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, parked the car, and stepped into the land of socks with sandals and backpack leashes for potential runaway children. Being in large groups of visitors while not wearing a Jordan Pond House polo shirt and hat was a little weird.
We took the bus down to Sand Beach and then hiked along the ocean path. We made it all the way down to Otter Cliffs--a total of about 2 miles. Along the way we saw the stunning ocean views that only Acadia can deliver. We all made it safely, although Ally had to rein in Luke and I a few times when we got too close to the cliff edges. I guess we need backpack leashes, too.
All afternoon the sky looked friendly for our sunset service, but then around 6:00, the clouds started rolling in. There was still a huge crowd at the overlook even though the sunset itself was imperceptible behind the thick clouds. Our attendance was around 18 again. Folks gave me some kind feedback on my sermon/talk/message, so I guess that went alright. My main point was: re-creation doesn't come through recreation. Re-creation comes from Jesus Christ.
Sorry, no pictures from today since my camera is still broken. I'll steal some of Ally and Sabrina's pictures off Facebook if they post any.
At first, the Blackwoods crowd looked awfully thin. But once we started getting things going during the service, we ended up with a sizable crowd of 18. Seawall also had a good sized group of five. So I'd say we had our biggest morning so far this season. Woo who!
After the services and our weekly stop at The Common Good for popovers and oatmeal, we decided to play tourist for the day. We drove up to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, parked the car, and stepped into the land of socks with sandals and backpack leashes for potential runaway children. Being in large groups of visitors while not wearing a Jordan Pond House polo shirt and hat was a little weird.
We took the bus down to Sand Beach and then hiked along the ocean path. We made it all the way down to Otter Cliffs--a total of about 2 miles. Along the way we saw the stunning ocean views that only Acadia can deliver. We all made it safely, although Ally had to rein in Luke and I a few times when we got too close to the cliff edges. I guess we need backpack leashes, too.
All afternoon the sky looked friendly for our sunset service, but then around 6:00, the clouds started rolling in. There was still a huge crowd at the overlook even though the sunset itself was imperceptible behind the thick clouds. Our attendance was around 18 again. Folks gave me some kind feedback on my sermon/talk/message, so I guess that went alright. My main point was: re-creation doesn't come through recreation. Re-creation comes from Jesus Christ.
Sorry, no pictures from today since my camera is still broken. I'll steal some of Ally and Sabrina's pictures off Facebook if they post any.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
2 August 2014
Happy Saturday!
This morning I woke up to my roommate’s alarm at 6:50. I’m
not sure why he set an alarm for that time, but it worked our pretty well to
wake up then. I ate a bowl of Cheerios, scarfed down a banana, and lathered a
piece of bread in peanut butter before consuming it. I then donned my running
gear and stuffed a small Ziploc bag with a few ounces of honey into my pocket.
Then it was off to the carriage roads for the long run of the week: 15 miles.
The first five miles felt pretty slow. Then I started to hurt a bit. Around
mile 8 I broke out the bag of honey. From mile 9 to 13 I felt great! My time
was just under 2 hours with about 1 ½ miles to go. I miscalculated my pace to
be sub-8:00 miles. I suddenly realized, however, that my math skills while
moving are lacking. I felt slightly deflated when I figured my pace to be
around 8:45/mile instead, but then I perked up when I remembered that I was
about to finish a significantly long run. And I did just that. Now I’m back on
my training schedule to complete a marathon before I leave in October.
I felt pretty tired at work today, obviously. Fortunately,
the crowds stayed away until about 1:30. I did my parking lot duty from about
1:30 to 3:30. Jami took the 11:30 to 1:30 shift, but spent most of her time
patching up three different injured hikers and bikers. Rough day on the trails
I guess.
Unlike yesterday, no “fights” broke out. Instead, I was in the
wrong place at the wrong time around 3:00. I left my usual post at the main
intersection in the parking lot to investigate why the cars were starting to
back up. I found the source to be a car waiting in the middle of the lane to
see if a minivan was leaving or not. Turns out the owners were just changing from
hiking to restaurant-eating shoes.
Almost immediately after traffic started flowing
beautifully, a car was leaving the parallel parking spots along the edge of the
parking lot. The lady in the car next in line to take the newly vacant spot
asked me to help her park there. To make the spots even more difficult to maneuver
into, the lot is curved one the edge. Imagine parallel parking on the side of a
street curving inward. One has to have the highest level of skills to park in
such a harsh environment. Unfortunately for the lady and me, she did not have
those skills. It only took us ten minutes and countless back and forth maneuvers,
but eventually we succeeded. Still, I
will continue to avoid what I affectionately call the “South Lot’s No-Man’s
Land” and stick to “Malfunction Junction” at the other end of the lot.
Luke, Ally, Sabrina and I headed down to Blackwoods
Campground to invite campers to come to our worship services tomorrow. Luke and
I handled the A Loop while the ladies took on the B Loop. Luke and I received
verbal RSVP’s from a family with a New York Jets tailgating pop-up tent in their
site and from a family with a Corgi/German shepherd doggie. 8:00 AM comes
awfully early when camping, though, so I bet we see them at the sunset service
on Cadillac instead.
Once darkness set in, we headed back toward the dorm. On the
way, we stopped by Seal Harbor Beach to throw rocks in the receding tide. We
figured out that skipping rocks by throwing them behind your legs while bent
over is hard. I wonder if a long-snapper would be good at that.
1 August 2014
Happy Friday and August!
God and Fudge Club today. No one made it to the morning
meeting at 8:30. That was alright, though. I had a really good quite/devotional
time and practiced my talk/sermon/message for Sunday. Plus, I had all the fudge
I could eat!
Nothing too exciting at work…besides having to break up a fight
in the parking lot. A car had pulled off to the side to wait for a specific
spot to open up. They moved to the side to let the cars behind them pass. The
motorist with the spot backed out messing with their GPS or something like that,
but before the waiting car could snag the parking space, the next car in the
flowing traffic line allegedly pulled in. I didn’t see this happen, but my
investigation yielded this story.
I came on scene as the waiting car’s driver ran over to the
driver’s side window of the “spot stealer.” Emotions were running awfully high
between both of the drivers. Fortunately, the driver who felt cheated only became
violent to the point of finger pointing and saying over and over again in his
angry voice, “That was very rude, sir!” Mr. Sir’s comeback was a wave of his
hand and a turning away of his head as only an old man can pull off. So I guess
in reality, I didn’t actually break up a fight. Although I thought it’d make for
a good topic sentence for this paragraph.
Later on, I noticed a car completely stopped at the
beginning of the lot. I walked over to check on the driver and ask if
everything was alright. He replied it was and he intended to wait in that spot
until a parking space opened up. I told him, “Well sir, I can’t have you do
that. You’ll block the cars behind you.” Having thought through his plan, he
replied that “Yes, but I’ll move once I find a spot and then they can wait to
the next spot opens up and everyone will be happy.” I have to admit it sounded
like a pretty good plan. The tactical error, however, is that doing that would
back up traffic all the way to Bar Harbor. So really, no one would be happy. I
told him—kindly and not in these terms—that his plan wasn’t very good and he
needed to move along. Begrudgingly, he did.
After work, eating dinner, and catching up with my sister,
Nicole, on the phone, I headed back to the second floor banquet room for God
and Fudge Club: Evening Edition. The turnout was much higher with a total of
five! We had a really great discussion about the first few verses of the Gospel
of John. By the end of the conversation, we successfully identified “The Word”
as Jesus and established the fact that we have to make a conscious decision and
a devoted heart to become “Children of God.” I’d say the evening was a success.
Friday, August 1, 2014
31 July 2014
Happy Thursday!
Work was busy today. We had almost an hour wait and
countless hold ups in the parking lot. I am becoming very good at explaining the hassles of the crowds. For example, although there are no reservations still available, “you can still join us
here as a walk-in guest,” and how if no parking spots are available in the south
lot “go to the north lot which is bigger which means it turns over a little
quicker.” Folks don’t really like those phrases. They must remember, however, that “you
get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”
This evening I went into town to access the reliable and
fast wi-fi at the Jesup Library. I had to complete my applications for the
ACMNP post-October positions. As I was working, two Jamaican ladies walked in
and sat at a computer right next to me. One asked me to help open an email attachment. I did so easily. She was so impressed that she asked me if I would "like" to fill in her forms for her. Before I knew it, I was filling out
temporary work forms for a Jamaican to work in Canada. She and her friend are
both in their 50s and have worked housekeeping jobs in hotels all their lives.
I imagine neither of them had any experience with computers at all, so they
truly did appreciate my help. Once they knew I was here with ACMNP
they knew they could thank God for providing a way for them to complete the
forms using the ever-so-complicated Firefox browser and Service Canada form
portal. The best part for me is I now have two Jamaican friends that I met here in
Maine.
The library closed at 8:00 so I didn't have time to finish my applications before the librarians were going to kick me out. I went to the ice cream and
fudge shop Sabrina works at to buy the fudge for God and Fudge Club. I try and alternate between her's and Luke's store. I don't want to play favorites when it comes to purchasing fudge.
To access the internet and work on my applications some more, I went to the park in town. Not only do they have free wi-fi, but the Bar Harbor Band also had a concert. Using the internet has never been so pleasant.
30 July 2014
Happy Wednesday!
Busy day again at the Jordan Pond House. The waitlist crept
all the way up to 55 minutes but didn’t manage to break the hour mark. All
well, I bet we still have a good three weeks of potentially busy days ahead of
us.
Parking lot duty was fairly uneventful today. I had another
guy ask if he could park in the grass. He had a similar response to the
previous gentleman when I told him I couldn’t actually ticket him, but he runs the
risk of being caught by a ticket-happy park ranger. I may have to talk to the
park service and see if they could increase the fine for parking in that one specific
spot. During peak hours there are some folks willing to risk a hefty fine for
such a convenient spot. The question is what’s the dollar amount?
After work I took the bus down to Seal Harbor Beach to call
Grandma before doing my evening run. It’s amazing how cell phones allow us to
keep in touch with one another. After all, I was watching the fog roll in off
the Atlantic Ocean while she was watching the humidity roll off everything in
Missouri.
This evening I wrote up my first draft of the sermon/talk/message
for this Sunday. It took me quite a while to get the draft out of my head and
onto Microsoft Word. To write in peace, I hid upstairs in the restaurant to
escape the hustle and bustle of the dorm. Finally around 10:15, Keegan had to
kick me out because she needed to close up the restaurant for the night.
Walking back to the dorm with my laptop on my back and darkness all around
brought me back to the not-so-long-ago days of walking back to Knowles Hall
across The Oval as the bell at Main Hall ticked off the 11:00 hour. I guess
college is still with me in a way.
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