As The Station Turns 7/9

 It's lottery ticket day, part of my year long experiment, and I'm still avoiding the Late Guy because I don't want to hear what a great job he's doing. I dropped by the Haunted Station in the morning when the Weekend Guy is working instead, and boy did he have complaints.

The Haunted Station has run out of plastic bags, I use to order two cases at a time when we started to run low just to make sure. Also all the pumps are working like crap and they still haven't fixed the credit card problem. And now they're getting a pizza oven and a burger grill, I'm not sure how that's going to work out, is it self service, are the employees suppose to handle it, are they going to install a proper sink for cleanup or are they going to use the utility sink? I'm pretty sure the health department would have a word to say about that. I think it's just another pending disaster waiting to happen.

Another thing that bugs me when I chat with the Weekend Guy is that he brags about what a great job he's doing, and how much cleaner the place is since he took over. I spent a year scrubbing that place down and hauling abandon trash out, so he's pretty much insulting me. Well, I got a chance to take a look around today, the last time I was there I noticed a layer of dust on top of the coffee maker, today someone had wiped across it but only got half, you can clearly see the thick layer versus the newly forming layer. Also there was a cleaning rag on top of the cappuccino machine, not exactly up to health codes. And there was a receipt behind the register screen, in plain view, I checked it and it was dated from two months ago. Nobody has dusted the front counter in two months. Sheesh. 

Also I noticed something new taped to the window, it was a set of rules for employees. I recognized it, the previous owner had an employee handbook and it was a page out of that. I know the current owners didn't put it up so who did? Was it the Late Guy? Was it the Part Time Woman? I get the feeling this is going to be one of those silent things that causes conflict.

I got home and I realized I forgot to get a cigarette sheet from the Haunted Station so I could make them a new one with the right prices on it. Oh well, I'll do it later.

When I got to work the Manager wanted out, she wanted to go home and have nothing to do with the place for the rest of the day. It seems that a crackhead came in, and brought their dog. A woman came out of the restroom and said a woman was in there doing "bad things", basically trying to tie off. When the Manager went in there the dog was pissing all over the floor and the stuff the crackhead had taken into the restroom had disappeared. The Manager threw her out and I know exactly who she is talking about so I get to tell the crackhead that they are banned and if they don't leave the police will be called.

Also a guy came in to buy a pack of smokes but he wanted to pay for them on his company card and wanted the manager to ring them out under something else like oil. When she went to void the sale the register rang it out under Cash so her drawer was short at the end of the day, she had to leave a note in her paperwork for the accountant. Thankfully all the real problems happened in the morning and I didn't have to deal with any of them. 

The rep from the supply company dropped by again, and I think she's coming in late intentionally, to avoid the manager. She spent about an hour going through the shelves, complaining about how things are organized, outdated stuff, and things that are suppose to be on the shelves because of the company contract but are missing. I don't think she believed me when I said the Nutella flies off the shelves. She asked me when I would see the Manager next, I said Wednesday. I'm off on Friday, the Manager is off on Saturday and Sunday, I don't say anything to her on Monday because she's always in a bad mood and hopefully running out the door, I'm off on Tuesday so the first day I'll see her is Wednesday. The rep left her a note.

The Pepsi machine went out, and of course everyone wanted Pepsi at that exact moment. As soon as they left I checked and the the CO2 tank was empty and I have to wonder how long it had been like that. Got a new tank on and we're back in business. And I don't know if I sold any Pepsi for the rest of the night.

After the rep left I figured I had time to get some stuff done, except for a dad and son, who wandered around, looked at everything and after the crowd showed up they decided it was time to leave. 

A guy came in pulling a trailer and I wondered if I should tell him he needed some air in his tire, since he didn't seem to have any. He never came in the building so when he left I watched to see which way he was going. He turned down the frontage road so I think he was headed to the tire shop, even though he was taking the long way round.

The Boss came in, he told me he's heading to NYC for a couple of weeks and probably won't be back until some time in August. He wanted to make sure I remembered to cover the morning shift when the Manager went to Sturgis. I'm not looking forward to that, six days and back to back double shifts for a total of eight shifts. Oh well, it's gonna be a nice fat paycheck. 

The Boss also thinks I need to take a Disney vacation. He said he'd make sure my shifts were covered and even though the company doesn't do vacation pay he'd make arrangements for me to get a full check for the week. I'm seriously considering it. I told him the Weekend Guy would be pissed since he's the one who would have to come in on my days off. 

He told me Stinky had gone to a restaurant to apply for a job. While there he put in an order but when the food came he didn't have the money to pay for it. He didn't get the meal or the job. I told the Boss I had seen the Doofus's car at the liquor store. He wondered if the guy was working or just shopping.

Before he left the Boss told me gas was going up on Friday so I filled up before I left work. I did the math and since I got my Bad Hawg (electric trike for those who don't know) I hadn't bought gas in two months. And I got a whole six gallons. Three gallons a month or....less than a gallon a week. 

A woman came in and said she wanted $40 so I set the pump and she ran her car. As it was going through she said she had only wanted $20 but it was too late, the card had been approved. I told her to get the $20 and hang up the pump, the rest would be refunded. She got the whole $40. Since gas was going up she saved money. 

And of course the Graveyard Shift was late. The Crazy Lady said she had forgotten her jacket so she went home for it. I didn't see Bigfoot again. Then I went home and discovered the backup lights on the Jeep aren't working. Since it's both lights I have to wonder if it's the fuse and not the actual bulbs. I'll need to get a new one and see.

7/10

I woke up and was playing Angry Birds before I got out of bed and suddenly I started getting pinged in a group text. It seems the state pump inspector was in town yesterday and tagged one of the pumps at the Haunted Station due to a leaking hose. The Late Guy needs to replace but it takes three people, one to hold the hose, one to push the release and one to turn it until it releases. He was trying to get hold of me and the Weekend Guy to come help him do it. I didn't text back, I hd to go to the store so I figured I would drop by and find out directly.

I stopped by the West Side Station first and said Hi to the Weekend Guy. He was going off because the Haunted Station is a mess these days. Nobody is cleaning or tossing the trash and they are all fighting with each other. Also the Manager of the West Side Station has pretty much checked out, she shows up, does what she has to do and goes home so he also has to pick up all the slack there. I told him the Boss said he was the "Go To Guy" at the stations. He complained but it made him happy to know he was appreciated. The Boss was telling me the Weekend Guy never complained, I said "He complains to me, a lot". 

I went to the Haunted Station to see what the Late Guy wanted and got the whole story. My favorite part was the Weekend Guy had texted to say he had to go to a kid's funeral, he doesn't. The Late Guy said he wants to get the Weekend Guy at the Haunted Station full time, and replace the Random Woman however he had to tell WG to stop being so grouchy towards the customers. I told LG that it was the result of the guy's horrible childhood. Holy Roller grandparents, a drug addicted father and I have no idea what happened to his mother. He's quite the character.

The Late Guy doesn't know exactly what is going on with the new pizza oven, how they are going to set it up, how they are going to serve and will there still only be one person working there or will it be two people. I keep trying to convince the Boss that it would be best to do the whole thing at the Haunted Station and I could just send people over there instead of doing something similar at the Truck Stop. I don't know how this will play out.

Oh, and someone had put up a code of conduct for employees at the Haunted Station, it turns out to be the Late Guy, he had gotten it from the accountant. I told him I recognized it from back in the day when they had employee handbooks. I told him he should have put "ATTENTION" in big red letters. Basically it says employees are responsible for cleaning, stocking and having a pleasant attitude when dealing with the customers. I bet everyone is going to appreciate that. 

So, on Monday I have to go help put a new nozzle on a pump at the Haunted Station, so I have that to look forward to.