As The Station Turns 8/26

 I was getting ready for work when my toilet came loose. It's still attached to the sewer pipe but loose from the floor. I contacted the handyman and he's coming on Friday, my day off, but until then I have to be careful when I use it, so I went to work early to use the office toilet, I didn't clock in first, I did it on my own time.

My first customer wanted to know if we had a hose, sorry. He bought a bottle of windshield washer fluid and bitched about the price. My attitude is the same, don't like it? Go to Walmart and don't complain at me.

The first hour of my shift was non stop busy. I figured it would be like that for the rest of the day. And then the crowd dropped off to just pissers and lingerers.

The Manager told me that Stinky is working at Arbys. She walked in, saw him back in the kitchen and walked out. I guess I'll be going somewhere else for a while. That guy had a stink that would linger, I can just imagine trying to eat something he's been near.

Pump #7 has decided to stop working. First it was trying to authorize a card that had been cancelled earlier and then it went offline. The Boss said he was going to have the Late Guy check it out, I hope it works out better than when he checked out pump #12 or fixed pump #5.

The Manager left but later came back, she had gotten someone to go to a station in another town, load up their old ATM and haul it to the storage shed behind the station. She then rang out the guy's fuel on the company account. Later the Boss came by and said he had told her to give it to her husband since he likes tearing apart old machinery and restoring it. I don't think the Boss knows that the company paid for the guy's fuel and I wasn't going to say anything. I would like to know what the conversation was like but I'm also not looking forward to going to work on Thursday. I also mentioned that there was an old ATM in the back room of the Haunted Station. The Boss said he never saw it, I wonder if he'll go look. I wonder if there's still money in it.

Business was dead so I went to check the trash and they needed to be dumped. when I pulled the bag out of the one there was some ultra stinky goo in the bottom. I hauled to can over to the edge of the lot and turned it over so the stuff would drain out. Of course someone came in so I had to put it back. If they hadn't locked up the outside faucet at the dog park I could have rinsed it out. I guess that will be a post Labor Day job.

The people who pulled in and forced me to stop taking care of the trash parked at a pump. The woman came in and used the restroom. Then they hung around outside for a half hour. Then left. They never bought anything, they just parked at a pump despite not getting any fuel. Then I went and dumped the rest of the trash.

A customer dropped some coins and when I went around to the front of the counter there was a coin stuck halfway underneath it. I got the flyswatter and used the handle to dig around, I pulled $47 cents out from under there. I wonder how much more money is jammed under the counter. Another potential post Labor Day thing to do.

For the past couple of weeks the cigarette total on my paperwork hasn't matched the total on the register so I was checking all the packs to see what the actual price is. I found one that was different. And of course none of the card readers on the pumps would work so I had to drop everything and wait on customers and then find where I had left off.

The Boss came by and told me he had called the car scrappers and made arrangements to haul off the abandon RV. They are suppose to show up on Friday and hook up to it. They will take it to their lot, let it set for 90 days and then file a title claim against it to recover the storage fees. Then they'll part it out.

Also the Boss had dirt and oil on his shoes. He tracked up the floor and left chunks everywhere, which I had to clean up. I can't say anything because he's the Boss but geeze, wipe your shoes, you aren't a tourist.

The Storyteller came by. We were chatting and I said I was cutting up the broken tree limbs on my day off. He said his son was happy because the neighbor had an old tree that blocked his view, the wind toppled the whole thing and it didn't land in the son's yard. He got a better view thanks to the wind.

A woman came in, drifted around the building and then left. She did it a second time. The third time a guy came in with her, he made a bigoted comment and went to the restroom. Dude, you look like trash, you have no room to be talking about other people. Now take your stoned wife, get in your trashy truck and go back to whatever trashy place you came from.

A guy wanted a Monster so I pointed at the cooler. He walked right by and got a Red Bull instead. Perhaps calling all energy drinks "Monster" is the same as when people around here call all sodas "Coke"

I wanted to do one more trash go around before shift change and once again the pumps started rejecting all the cards so I had to stay behind the counter and wait on people. Eventually I did catch that break and good thing too, someone had stuffed one of them full.

A Specter of Homeless Past came in. I recognized the guy but I wasn't sure. He was asking a question but I couldn't quite understand him but then I figured out he wanted hot sauce for his burrito. He left and then came back and wanted a cigar. I offered to sell him one of the sale ones but he wanted one of the more expensive ones. He also wanted a lighter but didn't have enough money. He wanted to know if he could borrow one but I wasn't going to let him take one that is for sale outside, he'd take off and I would never see him again. In the end he was outside asking for a light. 

Thankfully the Crazy Lady came in and I could leave. I rushed out of my drawer and went home.