As The Station Turns 9/12

 I posted my blog yesterday and then realized I forgot something. The Dyslexic Woman needs a day off in two weeks on a Friday (which coincidentally is the High School homecoming). This means they will need someone to cover a shift at the Downtown Station and the boss realizes that I hate working there, so he's having the Random Woman cover and he wants me to cover the shift at the Haunted Station. The problem is Friday is my day off and he doesn't want to pay me overtime so he figured I could take Monday and Tuesday off, two full days in a row. The problem? If the tanks at the Haunted Station don't get fixed and inspected they could be closed so the Random Woman would be available to work Downtown and her shift wouldn't have to be covered. This means I could work my normal schedule, no two days in a row off. Why does this stuff always happen to me?

I have company so I needed to find a key to the house, I knew the spare was in one of my drawers but which one? As I was looking I found a set of keys but I wasn't sure what they go to. They are brand new, you can still feel the burrs from when they were cut. And they look like keys to one of the stations. I know it's not the West Side Station because there is only one key for that place and I'm pretty sure Downtown is the same, and the one key I had for that place I returned the next day. When I had a key to the Truck Stop the Manager claimed she needed the spare keys and took them back (I don't think she needed the spare, she was just saying that so I wouldn't feel like she didn't trust me). So, that means they could be for the Haunted Station. I know I had several sets for the place so this could be to there. If they fix their tank problem and I have to cover on the Friday I'll test them out. If not, I guess I'll continue to hold on to them and see if they fit something.

A quick note, they are still open across the street. I don't know if they fixed their tank problems and got it inspected or have just lasted that long on their available fuel. Waiting to see.

When I got to work there was some guy sitting out front with a sign, Mrs. Late Guy doesn't like to confront the beggar crowd so I was going to have to take care of it, again. I got in my drawer and started my paperwork when he came inside, good I'd have a quick word with him at the register. He was looking for alcohol so I gave him directions, good, he was going for the long walk and the problem resolved itself. Later he came back so I was going to have to say something however he wanted to buy some stuff and his EBT card wouldn't work. He grumbled and said he would go next door, good, stay there. I didn't see him again.

It was just after that when Mrs. Late Guy mentioned that the Part Time Woman hadn't come in, she called in sick. She seems to have the 30 Day Flu, at least once a month she comes down with something and can't come to work. I'm considering chatting with the Boss when he comes back, he's off on another business thing, and see about working four days a week, at the Haunted Station. This means they would have two full time people, me on part time hours and wouldn't need the constant rotation of people through there on the Late Guy's day off. And they could get rid of the Part Time Woman. I could also start collecting Social Security which would mean I was making more money than working full time.

I went to check the restrooms and there was a note next to the urinal, "Do not put anything in the urinal but urine". People take this as a challenge. I'm not going to clean the paper towels out, whoever put up the sign can do it.

Someone pulled a big bag out of their vehicle and tried to stuff it into the trash can. I had to go pull it loose and walk it over to the dumpster. They are driving through the lot, they could just swing by the dumpsters and toss it but nooooo, they try to make a mess for me.

Today was so slow, until I went to do something. Someone left a forehead print on the window, why I don't know. I grabbed the glass cleaner and here came a crowd. They cleared out, I cleaned the spot and decided to do the doors on the coolers and ice cream freezer, and here came a crowd. They left and I got the rest of the glass cleaned, but I needed to give the restrooms a quick sweep, and here came the crowd. Trash, crowd. Ice, crowd. Sit behind counter doing nothing, dead.

I don't know if the internet was spotty all day or is the computer getting ready to crash but all day the credit cards weren't connecting with the banks. I had to wait for the error message and then have people run their cards a second time. They all give me the evil eye as if I'm double charging them. I give them a receipt and tell them if they had a problem contact us so we can clear it out.

Skippy came in, said "Hi", tossed something in the safe, checked his phone and left. My favorite kind of management.

I had less than an hour left on my shift and the place was dead so I figured I would take a quick potty break, except a State Cop pulled into a pump. I was going to have to wait because they use fleet cards and they never work at the pumps. However he wasn't getting fuel, he was dropping off some woman. He found her wandering down the interstate and had to bring her to a safe place, he could have taken her to Dennys or McDonalds but he dropped her off here. She wanted to know if she could charge her phone so I let her. And then she started talking, about how they were out to get her, and she needed to call people in case she disappeared, and so forth and so on. Great, the cops left me a nutter. She wanted to know if there was a plug outside and I told her only on the back of the building, she was worried about being in the dark, it's not that dark and there are a lot of security cameras. She went out and I was happy, until someone came in and told me she was sitting in the middle of the road. I had to go out and tell her to move over to the side of the building, she's still be in the security light but wouldn't get run over by a semi. Then the Graveyard Shift Guy came in and basically I considered her his problem, and went home. I hope she's gone when I get there on Sunday. And I still have a crowd at my house.