A lots has happened since I posted last: haboobs, re-signings, Harry Potter, the zoo... I can't talk about it all, but I'll talk about haboobs and the people who resigned at work.

about 2 weeks ago there was a huge dust storm in Phoenix. I didn't even know it was going on because it wasn't

til after 7 when it got to our house, so I was home and in the house. But I did notice it was windy outside and even looked out and saw it was really cloudy. I looked at the lightpost that shines in our backyard and it was so thick it looked like rain. but when I went outside it was just dusty and windy, so I went back inside. I didn't want to breath in dust and there was no reason to stay outside in the dark when it was windy. Turns out it was the storm of the century in Phoenix, and I missed going out in it. But it was so dusty, the pools in the valley took a beating! we had to close down our pool for a few hours just to clean and vacuum so we could see the bottom of the deep end. it wouldn't have been safe otherwise, and the health inspector said we couldn't be open and vacuuming at the same time. Even after we cleaned, we still didn't let people into the deep end, just to be safe. it was coming on the tail of that woman back east found in the pool after 2 days, so we really don't want to take any chances and loose someone in the deep end for a few days...

well, that night, after all the closing, canceling swim lessons, and cleaning

we had a volleyball game against Paradise Valley staff again. We beat them so soundly last time, I think most of the staff got cocky, and came more than a little tipsy. It was interesting to see some of them drunk because they were a lot more talkative than they normally are. But there were a few of us not drunk and after a while we started to get annoyed (or at least I got a little annoyed). We definitely did not win this time, and I don't think PV staff will ever ask to play volleyball against us again because it probably wasn't fun to play a game against people who weren't even trying. but after the game was over, there were plenty of us who wanted to leave right away, so we did. I was one of the last of those, and I saw that there were a few people hanging around for a while still. I didn't think that was the best idea because last time they wanted to go swimming, but the lights on the pool were still on, so we definitely would have gotten caught. But there was a group staying, and they were the drunkest, so I guess it was good they didn't try to drive away right away. Unfortunately they didn't drive away again any time soon/at all that night. another guard who had worked late at his other job came to the park and they got even drunker. I guess they all realized they couldn't drive home in the condition they were in, so they decided to go sleep in the office at the pool so they would have a roof over their heads and a safe, quiet place to sleep it off.

Well, one of the guys decided to go outside for some reason and passed out in one of the planters around our pool. Not only that though, he left the door slightly open, so when the police drove by and noticed all the cars in the parking lot, they only had to search a little and find a drunk guy and an open door to arrest 4 of our staff....

our manager had to come and deal with them because it was his pool and they were his staff, but he definitely didn't like being woken up at 2am to deal with stuff like that. All 4 boys did the smart thing and resigned from their jobs so they wouldn't have to be fired and write it on their resumes. It would not have worked out well for them. But that put us 4 staff members down: including a cashier which is a rare commodity in the City of Phoenix because each pool only gets 2 cashiers and they are both needed for all the hours the pool are opened. We had hired another guard because someone else had gotten injured earlier in the summer but was back, so we were actually only down 2 guards, and the rest of us had to take over their classes, but we hired a new cashier within 3 days of John resigning.

I guess the only good-ish part of they leaving is we have the opportunity of over time now because it is too late to hire 2 more guards and we are needed to keep the pool open. other pools don't have quite enough hours to lend us guards for the rest of the summer. they need them at their pools. but so far I haven't gotten overtime. I want it, but even though we've been given permission to have people get overtime, it's still a big deal if anyone does. I suppose with my requested sundays off, I won't get overtime. I said I would rather have sundays off than have 40 hours a week.

It was a somewhat hard decission, not because I don't want sundays off, but because I want to save up as much money as possible, and if I don't work 40 hours a week, I definitely won't save as much as I could otherwise. but I'm happy with my decision to take sundays off: it will definitely pay off more spiritually and socially more than I could ever imagine. but just a last thought: I'm so glad I made a decision years ago that I wouldn't drink because it keeps me from all these poor decisions that others make. I know when I should leave parties and when it is really that dumb an idea to try and do, so I don't do them and get caught and in trouble. I'm grateful for the gospel for helping me learn that.