As The Station Turns 8/24

 When I got to work all the diesel pumps were shut down. It seems the #12 pump started leaking and set off the leak detector in the system, which shut all the other pumps down. They had a call in to the repair guy and he said he'd be there in "2 hours". They called him at 10 AM and it was 2 PM and he wasn't there. 

Meanwhile the pump on the ice maker has stopped working and the machine is slowly filling up with water. I don't know how this is going to end but I assume it won't be well.

Mrs. Late Guy was telling me the Professional Mooch came by. He was ranting about me kicking him off the lot. He claimed the owners gave him permission to be there, lie. He said he was going to kick my *** so he'd better steer really wide from me now on because the last time I taught someone a painful lesson I swore I'd never do that again but in his case I'd make an exception. Mrs. Late Guy told him off and said I was only following the Boss's orders. I guess he got pissed that she didn't take his side and left. I haven't seen him for 24 hours so perhaps he's finally learning that he has overstayed his welcome and then some and rolled on down the road. There is a woman who comes in, gets her stuff, uses the restroom and heads on back to Beggar's Corner and she's welcome, for now.

Speaking of the regulars the Stuffed Dog Guy came in. He looks a little better than the last time I saw him but he's still limping and still doesn't have his dog. However he's looking really thin. I'm wondering if he'll survive the winter.

At first I didn't realize that the diesel pumps were down until two different trucks pulled in, stopped at the pumps and then left. Why are they doing that? Then it dawned on me so I checked and saw the yellow bags on all the pumps. I did half as much business by the way.

Mrs. Late Guy was stocking the cooler with stuff from the freezer, sandwiches and whatnot, anyhow she panicked because several of the items on top seemed to be defrosting, and then there was water in the bottom of the ice bags. However the thermostat showed the temperature to be in the normal zone. I figured out the Manger had bagged the ice but didn't drain off the water that is collecting on the bottom of the maker. I took the bags over, turned them upside down and drained them off. Later when I checked things it was normal. Heck with everything else breaking down today I wouldn't have been surprised if the freezer went out too.

The Tire Shop Guy came in, he said he was tossing out some trash when the woman living next door to the shop came over and started telling him off. She said he was illegally dumping stuff, in the dumpster in front of the shop, the one they pay commercial fees to use. She said she was going to call the cops so he said he would wait, she left. Basically if you move next door to a tire shop you don't have room to complain about a business that has been there for 40 years. Then my other neighbor came in, she's 16 and hates school by the way. It was like a gathering of my neighborhood and I got to hear all the local gossip

The pump repair guy showed up, 6 hours late. He took the pump apart and discovered the filter had a pinhole leak in it. It was a simple repair the Boss or at least the Late Guy could have done. He finished in about a half hour and the pumps were back up and running. We lost half a day in business because of a tiny little hole.

It had been a slow day and the pump repair guy had tracked up the floor with diesel tracks off his boots. I figured I might as well mop it up while nobody was there, I mixed Dawn into the water because it works best on oil and fuel stains. Anyhow as soon as the mop bucket was full a crowd showed up, for the first time of the day. And one guy had waited until I had mopped only one spot on the floor and he had to go walk all over it, and of course he didn't buy anything, just left muddy tracks, so I had to remop it.

A guy came in and was heading to Shreveport Louisiana. He wanted to know how to route around Dallas. Dude, that's 600 miles away and I've only been through the airport there. As far as travel information goes, use an app, or asking when you get to Amarillo.

I had two customers in two hours, it was that slow. Later I found out there was a fire in Colorado and they probably shut down part of the highway. Anyhow the Graveyard Shift Guy came in and, just like everything else in the place, the time clock had locked up, he couldn't clock in, or waste time clocking in. So he got in his drawer right away, I got out right away and went home. They will put me down as leaving at 10 PM so it worked out for me. The graveyard shift couldn't clock in so they won't pick up the extra minutes and if the thing is still down in the morning the Crazy Lady won't be able to pad her hours. 

Tuesday is my day off and I plan to avoid the place in case anything else went wrong overnight.