August 4-10, 2019

Weather | 8/4, 60°, 85° | 8/5, 67°, 86° | 8/6, 64°, 85° | 8/7, 64°, 83° | 8/8, 67°, 85° | 8/9, 63°, 83° | 8/10, 62°, 87° |

• Sunday (8/4): Had 4 dogs in 3 dog training classes. My first client with a noon appointment missed because she started taking a bath at 10, fell asleep in the bathtub, and woke at 12:30 to tell me she wasn't coming in...what a nitwit! I graduated 2 dogs who passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. Shane, my boss, was in Quincy. He investigated Bill Fawcett's texts to women employees...5 received inappropriate texts from him and one was a photo of his private parts. Shane asked for written statements from all 5 employees. Brandon, another employee, came in looking white as a ghost...stomach problems. Shane sent him home, so we were short-staffed. Emily and I closed the store. Shane emailed the new store manager, Matthew Brown, and his boss, Rob, to tell them that my last day of work will be Thursday, August 22. He told me after I end employment, Petco pays me unused PTO (paid time off) on the credit card issued to me when I first started employment. I texted Mary to see if we still have that card. She found it in the safe. Mary mowed and mulched.
• Monday (8/5): Trained 3 dogs in 3 classes, doing 2 classes in 1 hour for each dog so I get them all done before I quit Petco. Originally, I had 2 dogs in a 6 pm class, but that's when Shane needed to talk to Bill Fawcett, so we changed that class. I gave pet parents the options of 4 or 7pm...1 picked 4 and the other picked 7. Molly showed up just before 6. Shane called Bill into the office and 20 minutes later, Bill left. Shane said it went well...that Bill denied he did anything wrong, saying his texts were consensual both ways. Kind of an argument that doesn't hold water, since 1 of the employees he texted, Becca, our grooming salon leader, is gay. Shane suspended Bill, pending investigations. Emily and I closed, again. Since Bill always worked 6-9 pm on weekdays, I'll close on Wednesday, instead of opening, like originally planned. Mary mowed and mulched. Texted Katie prior to bedtime. At that moment, she was boarding a plane in Seattle destined for Anchorage.
• Tuesday (8/6): Mary and I did absolutely nothing, since we were both extremely tired. We watched 2 movies...My Big Fat Greek Wedding I & II. We're lifting Churchill up so he can walk with an oversized beach towel. He's very heavy to lift. He can't make it up after laying down, since his hind legs are weak. Chicks are growing very fast. Blackberries are done. It's now too dry. The Quincy newspaper reported that area farmers saw too much rain, preventing planting, followed by dry conditions, preventing new plants to grow...feast or famine on rain here.
• Wednesday (8/7): Lazy morning. Mary saw a Blue Grosbeak. After identifying its song, I know I've been hearing that bird all summer. Worked 4:30-9:30. Mary mowed. Molly told me that Bill Fawcett was officially fired today. His wife visited Petco, asking what happened. Missy told her none of us know. Bill's wife said Bill told her an employee goofed up on a sale and Bill texted the woman to make sure everything was okay. Not exactly the truth. Later, Bill was texting Molly, perturbed about what any employees might have said. Ron said he will take over training Alaska, the white husky, whose pet parents skipped so many classes. Mary mowed, quitting early, due to too much poison ivy at the edges of the lawn and pathways.
• Thursday (8/8): Had 1 pet parent cancel, which is no surprise, because she always cancels. She attended 1 class through all of July. Told her that if she doesn't finish with me, she can finish dog training with Ron, because my last day with Petco is August 22nd. Finished training her mother's dog, Hershey, a Pomeranian, an untrainable dog that took a shit in the middle of the store after she told me the dog is doing great at potty training. Glad to be done with that one. Shane was at Quincy. He hired a new dog trainer, a woman, who Ron (the other dog trainer) disliked immediately. Shane changed photos on the wall of managers and let me have my photo. Closed the store with Emily, who was bitching how nobody does their job. Two weeks from today, I won't have to hear that complaint, again.
• Friday (8/9): Mary and I went to Quincy and had new tires put on the Cadillac at Sam's Club. The tire repairman checked the valve stem of the tire that was always deflating and said it was fine...thought my problem was with a poor tire. New tires provide a smoother ride. Most importantly, my driver's side front tire stays inflated. Bought a new Dell laptop from Staples. It isn't in stock, but will be there on Sunday, when I'll pick it up prior to work. Bought 12 books and 9 DVDs at the Quincy book store. Also, picked up food items at Aldi and 2 new chicken waterers at Farm & Home. Went through our books after we got home and did chores.
• Saturday (8/10): Lazy morning. I sharpened Mary's mower blade, then I drove to the Fastlane gas station, near Taylor, MO, and bought three 5-gallon cans of gas, 2 gallons of 91-octane gas for weed whacker and chainsaw, and filled the Cadillac. The gas station's credit card internet line was down. People were getting cash out of the ATM machine. I tried, but it charged $3 extra to get cash, so I declined. After 20 minutes, they entered my information manually and I left. We watched the movie Bewitched.