As The Station Turn 8/13 - 14

 I had a dream that I was taking a bath, but was fully clothed, and the door to the restroom was open, and my family (parents and siblings) were all home. So I got out of the tub to close the door and then looked in the mirror, someone else was looking back at me. And the alarm went off.

When I got to work I had to close out the day and wait for the report to run, and just as the printer was making the download sound a power spike hit. The computer started making all kinds of interesting sounds while various warnings blinked. Thankfully the register worked but the report didn't print. The Crazy Lady suggested closing the day again but I told her yesterday had already closed and all it would print was the one customer I had waited on this morning. I don't know the system so I didn't know how to get it to reprint. Oh well, Skippy will have to take care of it later. Later when he showed up he couldn't get it to print either and had to take a screen shot. On Friday when Mrs. Late Guy came in she got it to print for him.

Two days ago the price of fuel went up 20¢ a gallon, then down 10¢ a gallon, then down 20¢ a gallon and then back up 20¢ a gallon. All in two days. It's gonna be a fun fall.

I got Bigfoot's drawer and he had an odd amount in the dimes. I'm not expert but I'm pretty sure the number has to end in a zero, that's just the nature of the coin. If you're from a country that doesn't use U.S. currency a dime is worth 10¢, so you can't have an odd amount. 

A guy came in and was complaining about the quality of bills he was getting out of the ATM, I guess they were rather well used. Sorry dude, we don't load it.

The Auction Car guy came through, he was pulling a trailer with several car tow rigs on the back and several drivers. I guess he was on his way to the auction in Denver. He asked if I spoke Spanish and I told him a little, he told me he spoke a little Japanese, "Toyota, Honda, Suzuki" I said I knew some really old Japanese,  "Datsun" And we laughed. I like the auction car guys, they pay cash and get a lot of fuel.

Did a guy just throw a gun into the trash? I wanted to sneak out and take a look while he was still there but sure enough I had a couple of lingerers in the building. I finally got the chance to go look and...it was some cans. Well, that would have bene an exciting day.

About halfway through the morning I could have laid down and took a serious power nap. I did what I use to do in college, took a 5 second nap, while standing up this time. I managed to get past the need to sleep but it was a long day. This was 10 AM btw and I still had 12 hours to go.

I saw the Old Guitar Player hanging out on the edge of the property. I guess he was sitting down in the trees playing and singing in hopes that people walking their dogs would give him some coins. He started coming to the Truck Stop but I caught him outside and once again pointed out that the owners said he wasn't allowed on the property. I bet the guy shows up on other shifts and they feel sorry for him, that is how the trouble started last time. If the Boss catches him there and the cops are going to be involved.

I got overrun by a convoy of 5th Wheelers. I don't think they were all together. And just as fast they were all gone.

A family was hanging out and having a long and heated discussion about seltzer water. They were quite passionate about brands and flavors. They finally bought one bottle.

The Professional Moocher was back sitting behind a tree. It took me a minute to figure it out, he probably has a sign and is facing the station next door at their exit. Later in the day a storm rolled in including thunder and more important, lightning. And there he was, sitting under the tree. I wondered if there was going to be a show. He got up and headed behind the station next door, he's probably staying over there. 

The usual 2 PM rush showed up and the joke was on them, we weren't changing shifts so they weren't interfering in anything. I had a good laugh.

A guy got half water and half soda in his cup. Ewww. He then pissed me off when he started digging around under the counters for a lid. I went over to the rack on the counter, pulled one off and slapped it down in front of him. There is a reason there are closed cabinets, don't mess around under there.

A guy came in looking for butter. Ummm....we're a gas station, we don't sell butter.

A family was standing in the middle of the door, holding it wide open, letting out the cool air, letting in flies. All because one of the kids couldn't decide if she wanted a snack or not. Don't stand in the middle of doors!

After three days of being slow why was I not surprised when I went to sweep the restrooms and a family showed up. They ran around. They poked at everything. They took stuff off the shelves and then put them back, somewhere else. The whole time they were waiting for dad to come in, I'm pretty sure he was hiding out in the car. Finally they bought their stuff and left, and then dad came in. He grabbed a couple of fliers on zip lines and balloon rides, dreams of adventure I guess. He left them sitting on the counter. I guess he realized he was heading back into reality. 

Someone didn't hang up the nozzle on one of the pumps right. Later in the day when I was trying to get stuff done it fell off and I got the signal. I looked but nobody was outside. I had to go pick it up and hang it up. Now I'm considering doing something to bug the night shift, perhaps on pump #12, as I'm leaving.

The fire in Colorado was still burning but a huge storm rolled over that side of the mountain. Later the Ice Buying Guy came in, he said the water was flowing to the top of the curb. Later, after the storm rolled on I didn't see any smoke. On Facebook I posted a thanks to the people who prayed for rain and asked them to put in a good word for me towards the lottery.

A guy wanted to "make Amarillo" by tonight. I told him it was 3 hours away. He was happy to hear that.

The usual rain crowd showed up to track up the floor and after it blew over they all cleared out. I figured I could do a bit of cleaning, touched the mop and here came the pissers.

It was almost sundown and the clouds were getting ready to do a thing. I figured I could run out, get a quick photo and rush back in. That's when a local chatter came in and wanted to tell me all about something going on at their house. They finally finished, paid for their stuff and left. I went out and the clouds said "We already did our things and now we're back to being normal".

Why do people park as far away from the pumps as possible. Some guy was out there stretching the hose as far as he could. Does it make the gas flow faster? Do you get more? It seems that you could just pull in so your tank is in line with the pump, but that's just me. 

It was almost quitting time, the credit card paper was getting low and I didn't want to have to change the roll, and everyone started paying with their cards, and they all needed a receipt. Even the people who pumped outside needed one. I kept waiting for the low light to come on or the red strip on the paper to tell me it was time to change. But somehow I managed to finish my shift and even run the drawer report without having to replace it. Now it's Bigfoot's problem. Also there was a bill with a chunk bit out of it and taped back together, it wasn't going to feed into the safe and I didn't want to give it out to one of my customers so I floated it to the bottom of the drawer and at the end of the night I mixed it into the middle of the bills. Again, Bigfoot's problem.

As I was leaving I told the Crazy Lady I hoped I didn't see her on Friday. i said I was going to go home and put my phone on the charger, and to get it to charge faster I'm going to put it in Airplane Mode, and forget to turn it back on. 

8/14

My back hurt, my feet hurt and I was getting leg cramps, so I figured I had better go for a walk and work things out. I went to the West Side Station but imagine my surprise when the Manager was there instead of the Weekend Guy. I guess he was filling in at the Haunted Station. We chatted about the big changes coming and what the future of the West Side Station was going to be. I dropped hints about finding a new career next year. I should start on that.

I dropped by the Haunted Station to see what was going on there. They are getting ready for the hot food counter, this won't go well. I guess they are planning big stuff including new tanks and 16 diesel pumps. They want to go big time. It means the place will probably be shut down for a month since they have to dig up the old tanks, install the new tanks, change the signage and redo the interior. That should be fun. The Late Guy was shocked to discover that the Weekend Guy was coming in and the Random Woman was taking the day off, or perhaps the whole weekend. Once again, it's pretty obvious why she moved to the top of the "to be fired" list. He got busy so I went home. I'm going to enjoy sitting across the street and watching them tear the place up. 

I then came home and enjoyed my free pizza.