Dec. 4, 2016

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Hello friends,

Greetings once again from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I hope all are well and getting ready for the work week this fourth day of December. I wish I could say the same as I finish my third day full here with still nothing to show for my efforts to land a gig. I was hoping as I last posted that I would have some good news for you by this time but unfortunately this state has been the toughest stop thus far.

I knew it would be rough based on my research and it has proved me correct. I have kept positive knowing that things could and have turned in an instant as in so many other stops. I have struggled in other states and cities that I eventually scored gigs in but they at least had something to work with. This city and state have absolutely nothing for me and my unique circumstances. I have searched the region over and over, every hour on the hour since Friday afternoon. My head hurts from scanning the internet constantly for days.

Using not only the C.L. but also local and state wide jobbing sites and even the social media streams. I had a guy on the hook yesterday with a small repair on a boat and another who needed construction help. Both never returned my calls so here I sit at the local Hy-Vee superstore, watching football and editing my books for future publication. Sometimes I have waited as much as five days to find a job but that is after responding to dozens of ads. Two ads in three days is not much to work with and very frustrating for the Johnny Man, especially since my bills and the bad weather loom in the short distance.

My patience is being tested to the limit and my butt is tired of sitting! Sitting in my truck, sitting at the truck stop, sitting at the library and sitting here at the store. I’m afraid I’m going to develop some type of secretary spread or hemorrhoids on my tushy!  Not that there is anything wrong with it folks, I’m just saying. The city is not that small and that is what surprises me I guess. I have scored gigs in small communities before but they had plenty of postings available. I suppose this state is not that big on the CL or on line job services as other regions are and my Facebook connections have come up empty here as well. I’m still sleeping every night at the Flying J parking lot and showering in their facilities but a deep freeze is coming Tuesday so finding something is getting urgent for me now. The local folks seem friendly and the town is quiet and homey with a large Native American population it seems but everyone seems to keep to themselves. This is why I can’t keep my mouth shut when I finally find work or someone lets me stay in their home, because I go days without conversing with anyone, except the clerks and attendants at the truck stops! Just ask Patrick, Stacy in Alexandria or Juliette in Fargo! I could converse with anyone about anything but in a town like this people might think I’m a weirdo or something. They're probably right!  #Yo-Ga-Fla

Juanjohn