First ship day

Photo Album Should Post Soon:
We had an employee meeting yesterday to communicate procedures and expectations for the near future while Peggie and I are unavailable. I have worked for this company for three years, but that was softball compared to the hardball we are now playing.
Apparently there are DOT rules and regulations that Dave did not bother with. In 2011 he was audited by the DOT. So now all those rules have to be followed. Hence, I need a drug test before I can drive. We have paperwork to fill out for every run which I have never seen before. We have to keep a log. Two logs. One for our driving time, and one for the vehicle miles and maintenance and fuel usage. We have a maintenance man who will fix things at the end of each day. No waiting for three weeks when it is that vehicle's turn to take Dave for his weekly Whitehorse weekend. We have two new-er buses (2006 and 2010) to replace the 1999 "new" buses (one of which literally burned to the ground on the last ship day last year) and the 1991 piece of $&#@ "old" bus that cost me hundreds in tips in 2011.
So, back to the meeting. Everything seemed so squared away. All the pieces were in place, and each person knew what to do and where to go today. We all meet at the buses(which are conveniently located 30 feet from our trailer) and do team pre-trip inspection, both for training the two newbies, and because it is difficult to see your brake lights working while you are in the driver's seat with your foot on the pedal. This would happen at 6:40 so we could drive the buses to the popcorn store for our daily 7:00 am staff meeting.
Good plan.
At 6:40 Peggie and I walk over to the bus parking lot. One of the buses is missing.
Time to introduce the cast:
Heath and Jaimie  ----own the popcorn store, bought the company at the beginning of the season last year after not completing the sale the year before. Over the winter also bought the green jeeps, including the land where we live, and opened popcorn stores in Juneau and Ketchikan.
Macky---born and raised Skagwegian (yes, that is what they call themselves, and it is a nicer term than I would use) our maintenance man.
Jack---seasonal who has been coming here since 1991, which means NOBODY CAN TELL HIM ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING because he has seen it all and it was better then.
Brian ---40ish semi-retired engineer who sold a successful company two years ago, ran into Jack on the Appalachian Trail, was talked into taking a job driving tours in Colorado, followed by coming here.
He lives in a "bunkhouse trailer" next door to us that he helped Heath, Jaimie, and Jack drive up here along with the two new buses and the two new green jeeps. We like him.
Alyssa ---twenty?something high energy, efficient, returnee from last year who previously drove the big buses and is married to a man who still does. She was training Brian before we got here and is now also training Peggie. We like her, too.
Okay. One of the buses was missing.
Jack shows up. (He lives in one of the six trailers, Jaimie and Heath in one, and the other two are leased to kids who work for Sockeye Cycles) We ask him how he wants to do the pre-trip inspection. He pooh poohs the idea and reaches in to start the small bus that will be Peggie's later. Dead battery. So he starts the new bus that is still there. At this point Alyssa shows up on her bike. She says to Jack, "Why are you starting my bus?" He says the other one is dead. She says how am I supposed to check the oil with it running. He says the oil has been checked 14 times in the last two days while you guys have been training.
This is the oil and water relationship Jack and Alyssa have already established in the last few days. She was trained by the big bus companies to follow the letter of the rules, he is....old school Skagway.
Upshot, Alyssa, Peggie, and I get in the running bus and head to the popcorn store for the daily staff meeting. Jack stays to help Macky get the jeeps ready for the prebooked renters. Oddly, they have not been cleaned and stocked prior to this moment.
At the popcorn store, Jaimie is putting together last minute paperwork and juggling phone calls with Heath, who stayed to help Macky and Jack.
There is no staff meeting.
Alyssa heads to the dock to pick up her passengers for the 8:00 summit tour. The "missing" bus and Brian are at the popcorn shop, he took it to get gas because it was the training bus and hadn't been filled up. He goes with Alyssa because he has to learn the tour. Peggie is given a green jeep to run some errands for Jaimie because half the office work is still down at the old Southeast office and half is at the popcorn store. I am dispatched in the "missing" bus to shuttle jeep renters up to the lot (remember, I can't do this yet, because I haven't done my urine test) so I make three trips, including a pickup at the dock, wherein Peggie has to go stand in the cold with a green jeep sign, so I can stay with the bus in a loading zone where the driver can't leave, or it is called parking.
Finally, Alyssa and Brian are back from the morning summit run and Peggie and I are allowed to join them for the Carcross run.  This has been accomplished by Jaimie convincing two people to change from a 9:30 to an eleven that also only had two people, and moving four people from a shorter tour to a free upgrade to this one, so that Jack could use the other running bus for an eleven o'clock summit run. Jaimie is a good juggler.
This is only the second time I have been a passenger on this tour, the last time was four years ago. It is a great tour. Alyssa did a great job. Not as good as me, but who is? The passengers were happy and that is what counts. It was good for me to get a refresher after missing a season. Peggie and I got a free lunch.
Sgt. Brown was our customs officer when we got back and he came on to check passports with his customary (no pun intended) query: "Hi folks, did you see any critters today?"
No. We did not see any critters today. There is snow everywhere. Bears are sleeping. Sheep and goats are invisible. Moose and caribou? Probably somewhere with food.
But we had fun.
Tomorrow? Are you kidding? I (he means "we") am planning to meet Alyssa and Brian for pretrip at 6:40, drive to the 7:00 staff meeting and roll with the flow. Just like today.