As The Station Turns 6/25

 I took the Jeep over to the Truck Stop this morning to see if I could jump start the pickup. The idea was get it to fire up, drive home, walk back and get the Jeep. However it wouldn't spark over. I'm thinking it's something to do with the distributor. I called my brother and he's going to help me get it to the house tomorrow and I'll get up under the hood. If I can't get it started I'll have to call the mechanic.

Meanwhile the Manager's granddaughter is saving can pop tops for the Ronald McDonald house. I haven't seen that in a long time. The have water jugs full of them, and no idea what to do next. I didn't tell her "toss them, that was an original internet hoax". At least they aren't sending money to a Nigerian Prince.

When I got to work it was a mob scene, people who are taking a week off for the 4th are setting off early. I'm glad I'm not working on Friday because around 5 PM the people who took a half day off start showing up and it doesn't stop until Saturday afternoon.

Bigfoot's drawer was off, again. You'd think the guy who was the manager of a discount store would know how to count a drawer. Also I haven't seen him in over a week. (The Late Guy was asking what Bigfoot's name is but I said I don't bother learning until they have stayed for more than two checks.)

Someone pulled up to one of the diesel pumps, although they weren't getting fuel. They were digging around in their trailer and then left. The next time I looked out I saw they left their fold up stool outside, sitting in the middle of the road. I could picture someone driving over it, causing damage to their car and blaming the station for it, so I ran out and grabbed it. I put it behind the counter in case they went to McDonalds and realized they had forgotten it. At the end of the day I took it home and now I have a stool for my kitchen. 

I can't tell if squatters have set up in the lower lot at the Haunted Station or it's an abandon RV. I've been watching it but I haven't seen anyone over there. Perhaps the auction car guys bought it but that's as far as it got.

The place mostly cleared out so I could quickly do a check before the next crowd showed up, except a woman and her kids were in the building and she was on a long business call. When she finally finished one of the kids pointed out that dad had been sitting at a pump the whole time, he wasn't happy and instead of coming inside he tried to call her, but the line was busy. Families are fun.

I was busy busy busy and then it was like someone threw a switch and they were all gone. I had time to check the restrooms, dump the trash and even shovel up a big chunk of mud someone had kicked off their truck, right next to the pump of course. 

As I was tossing the mud into the ditch next to the station I discovered the guitar, or the remains of a guitar. I have to wonder if the Old Guitar Player or the Minstrel had gotten sideways with someone and learned a difficult lesson. Either way I left it there as a warning to other people who want to come to the station and bug customers. I considered getting some heavy duty glue and sticking it to the big digital sign leg with a "beware" notice.

My eye started to itch, you know that horrible itch that needs to be scratched? And of course I had a line of customers who didn't want to see me rubbing away. Finally they left and I got satisfaction.

The radio was playing Oh Sherry and some guy was singing along. Rock on Dude!

Haw Haw, a got a cool cloud shot before people showed up. And they did swarm on me until after it collapsed in on itself.

A family came in, parents, kids, I think an aunt or two and they were loud. One kid was off in the corner with his fingers in his ears. I feel you kid, enjoy your holiday week.

A guy was outside at the pump for a long time. He finally came in and it turns out he was waiting for his company to authorize his card. He finally got fuel and then bought snacks, and sat out at the pump eating. Then he came in and spent a long time in the restroom. In all he spent an hour there. I don't know if he was responsible for the next part but...

I went to check the restroom and someone had written their name in a graffiti script on the toilet paper dispenser. Thankfully I had my graffiti remove spray out in the truck, which was still parked on the lot and it took me about 10 minutes of scrubbing to eliminate their art work. Honestly, get a canvass and creat real art that will last. 

There were people mulling around when the phone rang. It was a company that hauls those big turbine blades for generators. They were asking about getting one of those into the pumps, oh boy. I told them if they needed to they could leave the blade parked across the street while they fueled up and then gave them directions on how to get here. of course that was when everyone decided they needed to check out. I made them wait, I know but it was an important call. I hope they show up when the road is busy, it would be fun to watch the traffic jam as they pull that thing off the road.

I'm gonna say someone smeared chocolate on the restroom wall, it makes the job easier. 

I was trying to dig sandwiches out of the freezer and fill in the gaps in the cooler and of course some guy wanted to know the prices and flavors of the vapes. He didn't want to buy any, just do a price comparison for where he lives. Honestly guy, you saw me working, what the heck was that all about. Then he wanted coffee but couldn't find it, in that big metal coffee pot with the sign that says "Hot Coffee". Thankfully he found the cups and lids. 

A guy came in and wanted to know if the air pump worked. He had been to two stations, they took his money but it didn't work. I told him I didn't know but nobody had come in and complained. He went back out and didn't come back so either it worked or he tried somewhere else. Personally I bought a portable air pump you plug in to your lighter auxiliary slot.

My shift was almost over when a fuel truck showed up. Great, I was going to have to get a late fuel report, make a copy of the delivery and all the rest of it. However he was taking an extra long time, the Crazy Lady came in and opened up her shift and I was able to leave before the guy was done. it was her problem now. 

6/26

Happy Stitch Day! If you know, you know.

I had talked to my brother and he said he could help me get the truck home. That way I could crawl up under the hood and see what was going on. However I had to get a bird out of the house first. I have no idea how they keep getting in. We went up to the station and hooked up to it but it was a busy traffic day. He started to pull me out into the street but just then the strap broke, he was halfway out in the lane and I was in the middle of the exit. He backed up and tied on again. The trash truck managed to squeeze by and then some guy in an antique car wanted out so I went around the front of the truck, which was blocking his view, and waved him out when he had a safe gap in the traffic. 

We got the truck home and I popped the hood. Some wild creature must have been crawling around and popped a wire loose. I got the thing hooked up, put it on the charger for a couple of hours and it fired up. 32 years old and still runs. 

I decided to go out for my Friday walk and stopped off to see the Weekend Guy. It seems their computer is going nuts and instead of printing out the daily report it just picks some random day and prints out that report instead. They also came and took photos of all the numbers on the computer equipment, perhaps everybody is about to get an update. I figure the company is putting it off until they start the bridge project, which should be in two months. That's going to be fun, or a giant mess. I guess we'll see.

I wasn't going to stop at the Haunted Station but I haven't gone by there in two weeks and I knew the Late Guy needed to blow off steam. The new thing is moving stuff around on shelves. I always hated that when I worked there, and I know it's the Part Time Woman doing it. I took and organized everything, sunflower seeds in the sunflower seed area, pretzels with the pretzels, crackers, Chex Mix and so on, the same stuff in the same place. And then I would go in and find a bag of Bugles on one shelf and a different flavor on a different shelf. So he's been trying to do the same thing, and running into the same problem. I told him that I wanted to tell them "Just leave it alone, I'll do it!" I never checked the coffee pot, I wanted to see how much dust was on it. He also told me about the Weekend Guy messing up a stack of lottery tickets. He's having fun being the manager. 

Tomorrow will probably be fun.