As The Station Turns 7/16

 I've been doing a lottery experiment, once a week I buy a scratch ticket then I keep track of how much I spent versus how much I won. I'm down fifty bucks by the way. Anyhow I was dropping by the Haunted Station on Friday to buy one but the Late Guy, who is the manger over there now, has been bugging me when he boasts and brags about what a great job he does, so I go on Thursday morning when the Weekend Guy is there. Plus this Friday I have a big package showing up and I have to be home when it arrives. Anyhow I went and bought my ticket this morning, and I lost again.

The Weekend Guy is pissed at the Dyslexic Woman because she called him and asked him to go to work early yesterday. It seems her daughter's boyfriend is abusing her and the Dyslexic Woman had to take her to the hospital yesterday, what a mess. 

The back room at the Haunted Station is a mess. There is all kinds of new equipment being stored for their future restaurant, but that's not what I was looking at, there is a bunch of trash piled up and all the stock is jumbled, different brands and different products stacked up on top of one another. No organization, no keeping track of new vs older. Plus several of their coolers are empty and the floor looked like it hadn't been mopped in a couple of days. I also noticed that the lid on top of the slushie machine was off, this isn't good because the ice doesn't stay at the proper temperature and the machine has to use more energy. I shouldn't but I enjoy seeing the place fall apart after all the bragging the Late Guy did. Once they start on the remodel it's gonna get even more interesting.

So I go to work and the first thing I discover is that Bigfoot left me $72 in one dollar bills in the drawer. Instead of starting off with a mix of bills it was mostly singles. This guy is suppose to be the manager of a local discount store and he can't leave a proper drawer, and I'm pretty sure the rest of the Graveyard Shift isn't properly teaching him. I thought once Stinky was gone things would get better, I guess I was wrong. Also Bigfoot seems to have trouble with basic counting, he was off by about a $1.30, short by the way, so I had to open the drawer for a lower amount than he said. Sheesh.

The Manager was in a bad mood, she had gone around and sharpened all the pencils. However someone else went around and broke all of them, it was about a dozen and every single one had been broken, not accidentally, someone did it intentionally. Some people never grow up.

I was wondering about the car on the edge of the lot and today I found out. The local Tow Truck Driver came in and was chatting with the Manager. It seems that he dropped the car off and the owner had left their number. The Manager called them about the car, they swear they are trying to do something about it but so far they don't know what to do. Here's what you do, you hire a flatbed tow truck and take it somewhere, home, mechanic, somewhere other than on the lot. If the Boss was in town he would have had it towed off by now. 

The ice machine at the West Side Station died so the Manager took all our old ice to them. So we have freshly bagged ice and they have all the old crusty stuff. 

A really old biker gang came in and hung around, while I was trying to do my shift opening stuff. They mostly were standing around complaining about how they felt after a long ride. Perhaps it's time to admit the truth and go on shorter rides, or become a bus riding gang.

The bikers left, the place cleared out and I got my shift opening paperwork done. I also got a chance to put new paper in the restrooms before the next crowd showed up. Perhaps today was going to be a good day.

Today must have been 5th wheel day. I kept getting caravans of people pulling their camping trailers. Lots of families, lots of junk food sales. I don't mind. 

A guy in what was probably a rental car pulled up to the pump but when he popped open the gas tank he discovered he was on the wrong side. So he pulled out, turned around and pulled back in, on the wrong side of the pump. Third time's the charm.

Last week the Manager was pissed, some woman came in, grabbed some stuff off the shelf and went to the restroom. When the Manager went to check the stuff the woman had taken into the restroom had disappeared and her dog was peeing all over the restroom floor. The Manager kicked the woman out and told her to never come back, so who should walk in today? So I went over to where she was and I told her I wasn't trying to cause a scene but she had been told to leave and not come back. Well, she decided to create a scene by demanding to talk to the Manager or the owners. She was going to make a lot of noise and refuse to leave when the deputy walked in, she left in a hurry. Some people's children, and don't do drugs.

Halfway through the day everything dropped off. I got the ice and the restrooms done. I figured I could rush out and do the trashes, I was wrong. First a truck driver came in to use the restroom and they always take their time. Then some guy parked in the middle of the pumps, he never got any fuel, and then the crowd showed up. Thankfully I had four hours to get the trash done and they had been mostly empty during the day so I didn't worry about it. 

A truck driver was trying to get his card authorized to get fuel at the station, however he was at the wrong place and they wouldn't give him a code. He wasn't too upset about it because he spent the time flirting with a woman. She left so he left.

I looked out the window and a man and woman were having a fight, not an argument but a physical fight. I was about to call the cops when I realized they weren't being serious, they were just messing around. I figure it was a couple of siblings. It's a good thing the cops didn't drive by because they would have had to answer some questions.

A teen girl came in wearing a cape. Tonight she is my hero.

My 9 o'clock rush came in early today. At the time it was annoying because it meant I couldn't do my end of the shift check on thing.  Later I would be grateful for that.

My shift was almost over and I was going though my usual stuff, and that's when the bus showed up. It was full of teenagers on their way to Bible camp. They lined up for the restroom, they bought lots of snacks, the volume in the place increased 10 fold so I had to lean in to talk to my customers and hear their answers. And then, they were all gone, and the Crazy Lady walked in. I had to wonder if she had been sitting outside the whole time. And once again I didn't see Bigfoot. 

Skippy came in, he said something about pump #5 but I didn't quite hear him due to the crowd. Perhaps he wanted it unbagged, perhaps he wanted to know what was wrong with it, I don't know. I'm off today so I won't find out until tomorrow. 

Today I'm waiting for a package so I won't be going to the stations.