As The Station Turns 8/29

As I was pulling on to the lot I noticed the suspicious red car pulling into the vacant lot again. They drove behind the trees where they wouldn't be seen on any of the station's security cameras. I really have to mention it to someone in a position of authority.

I figured it was going to be another slow day. I started my cigarette count, we have to have the incoming and outgoing numbers to make sure nobody is stealing, as I was doing it some guy was hovering so I went over to the register to wait. When he started his second lap around the store I went back to doing my count and sure enough he practically ran over to the register to buy the first thing he had grabbed off the shelf. Every time. Then I got a line of people. I finally got to finish the count, in between customers, and then they all left.

There is a glass display case at the front counter that locks up in case you want to sell high value items. The Manager uses it for storage of stuff she needs quick access to but wants to keep nosy people from getting into, or stealing. Anyhow I looked in and there, face up, in plain view, is a paper with the name of someone asking for a job. The paper includes his work history and that he's willing to work the graveyard shift. I get the feeling the placement wasn't accidental, the Manager wants the graveyard people to see that they are easily replaced.

Meanwhile I'm going to have to cover a shift over at the Haunted Station next month. It will mean two days in a row off and then a normal 5 day work week. I can't help but wonder if this is a test run, after all someone from the Downtown Station is taking a day off, the Boss is moving the Random Woman over there for the day and me to the Haunted Station, instead of just having me cover Downtown, which I've done before. Will things change in the future? Will they hire a new person, have someone else cover the afternoon at the Truck Stop, move me back to the Haunted Station and the Random Woman to the Downtown Station full time? I guess I'll eventually find out.

I had a mini power surge, just as I was prepaying a pump for a guy. The system locked up and wouldn't go through. I told him I was going to have to reboot the register and it was going to take a good 10 to 15 minutes. I suggested he try across the street. I hate losing a customer. Thankfully I didn't have anyone in the building until it was almost done reloading. One guy had to wait for a couple of minutes and then I was back up and running. It always waits until I'm right in the middle of something, it can't do it while I'm just hanging out or stocking shelves.

A guy came out of the restroom and his shoes were squishing, we in the business call this "a bad thing". I went to check and sure enough, the guy had clogged the toilet and threw water all around the sink for who knows what reason. I tried to use the plunger but it has a big hole in it and doesn't work anymore. I got the spare out of the office, the Crazy Lady wrote her name on the handle and instructions that it wasn't to be left in the restroom but always put away, I left it in the restroom for the rest of the day, however it took a while for me to take are of the problem. 

So here's how it went, guy clogs toilet, second guy runs into restroom and when he comes out he becomes a comparison shopper finally buying the first thing he grabbed. Then a woman's card was rejected so I had to wait for her to come in and do a prepay. She was followed by another comparison shopper. Then the guy who wanted to pay with small bills, and count them, and recount them, then count them again, his total was $4 by the way. And then another comparison shopper. It was a half hour between finding that the toilet was clogged and the actual plunging. The only good news was nobody went in there and flushed it again. By the way, I tossed the old plunger in the trash

When I went out to the dumpster I found a leg in there! Oh, it wasn't human but a deer leg. And considering the condition it must have been from when someone butchered a deer. I got the extended grabber and pulled it out, I tossed it behind the dumpsters so the wild animals could haul it off and gnaw on it. That way they won'd be digging around in the trash.

And then the rain came, along with all the customers. They like to come in so they can track up the floor. If it's raining it's guaranteed I'm going to be busy, and none of them will wipe their shoes. During the rain the Random Woman turned on the lights at the Haunted Station, it wasn't raining that hard or that dark, and she had zero customers.

When the rain passed I looked out and there was a rainbow. I had just a few minutes to run out and get a photo but someone was going to park right in the middle of the shot, thankfully they were just trying to figure out how to get into the diesel pumps. After I went back inside I was looking out and right in the middle of the rainbow there was a lightning strike, now that would have been a heck of a photo.

The place was empty so I figured I would dump the restroom trash. When I got to the back door it was pouring rain so I figured I would wait. As I was waiting I figured I would mop the hall, and I guess the combo called to them, they all came swarming in and headed right to the wet floor. Finally the rain let up and...I got a comparison shopper who did the usual, wandered around and finally bought the first and only item he had picked up. Everyone was gone so I went to dump the trash again and it was pouring rain again. The rain stopped again but then I got three kids who had to figure out what they wanted, then they were short on cash so the one kid ran out to the car for change, and was still short, then the kid ran back out and came in with a $20 so I had to redo all the change. I let the kid slide on the two pennies he was short and just gave him the bills back. And then it rained again. And then another comparison shopper came in. Finally everyone left, it wasn't raining hard and I ran out to the dumpsters. 

A guy's card was rejected at the pump so I had him do a prepay. I told him to hold the chip over the screen so naturally he held the chip under his thumb and waved the tap graphic over the screen. I told him no, he had to hold the actual chip on the screen, he said he never heard of that before. Here's the thing people, the graphic is just printed on the card and doesn't actually do anything, you have to hold the actual chip over the tap area. It's just that simple.

The Cheese Slippage Guy came in and bought his usual pack of cigarettes. He then told me his car was overheating and he was worried about going home. From what he described he had better go to a mechanic, at best he has a bad gasket or a leak. At worst he has a crack in the piston chamber. I told him to drive home slowly.

The Boss ran in, did what he needed to do, asked me if I knew about the schedule change next month and ran out. I prefer it that way.

When the Graveyard Shift Guy came in nobody was in the building. What do you know, he clocked in on the first try and counted in his drawer in a minute. I'm always amazed at the time difference between when we are slow and when we are busy.