As The Station Turns 9/16

 I'm having evil thoughts. Nobody is telling me what is going on with the schedule next week. Originally I was suppose to have Monday off and cover a shift at the Haunted Station on Friday, however they are closed down and I'm not going to have to do that. Mrs. Late Guy said they wanted me to cover the morning shift at the Downtown station but that means I have to work Thursday night then open on Friday morning, plus I don't have keys to the building or the alarm code. And it's Homecoming which means I could get caught at the station during the homecoming parade with no way to get out. So if by this Friday they don't tell me anything I'm going to send the Boss a text saying that as far as I know he has everything covered and am assuming I'm working my normal shifts at the Truck Stop. If he contacts me back I'm going to remind him he has three full time employees on part time hours, one who works Downtown, and one who isn't working at all, just playing at being a manager, and they are all available to cover the shift. I don't like making a stink at work but I think the time has come.

The Haunted Station is closed and the Manager is hauling all the perishables over to the Truck Stop, the estimate is still the same, three weeks. I don't know what the Weekend Guy is doing and I don't care what the Part Time Woman is doing. I know what I'm doing, working at the Truck Stop.

When I got to work there was no customers, the Manager was able to start counting down her drawer as I was counting in. As soon as I started my paperwork a van full of guys showed up and of course they all bought stuff so I had to wait to do my cigarette count. The entire time I got interrupted and of course as soon as I was done they all cleared out. With the Haunted Station closed and the place next door running crazy high prices I'm busy all day.

When I left on Monday the slushie machines stopped freezing up, today it was empty and turned off. Also pump #1 was offline all day and today it's working. However now pump #4 is getting ready to crash, it's doing the same stuff that pump #5 did before it finally quit working. Again, I hope it waits until my day off.

The lot was full of cars and people were wandering around everywhere and some guy said "I thought you guys were abandon". Seriously dude, you couldn't see the crowd, the cars pumping, the flashing sign that says OPEN. O....K....

A couple of people wanted to know how to get to Farley New Mexico because they wanted to see a ghost town. I had some bad news for them, it's not really a ghost town, people still live there and most of the abandon buildings were torn down a long time ago. Instead I gave them directions to a nearby hidden gem that people know but the general public is unaware of. It was a coal mine camp and the foundations of the old houses are still there along with placards telling you about the public buildings, the old post office is now a museum with photos of how the place use to look and you can buy a book on the history, and it's full of photos donated by my family. After that they were going to try to go to Fort Union, I told them to look for the signs since it's a way off the interstate.

I got a fleet card, which are a pain in the butt to run and sure enough I got a crowd. I got his card processed and all the paperwork done and the place cleared out. Why?

The Fedex driver came by, he was asking what was going on across the street so I told him about their problems. He said he had a couple of packages for them and I said he could drop them off here since it was the same company. I put the boxes behind the counter and labeled them to keep nosy people out. Later the Late Guy dropped by and I forgot to tell him they were there. Oh well, the Manager will have to deal with it tomorrow. 

Things cleared out and someone had filled up the trash can with empty plastic bottles, thankfully they are empty because some semi drivers take potty breaks without pulling over. Anyhow I figured I would do the trashes and sure enough I got busy, for an hour. I got some more trash done and more people came running in. By now you know how this story ends, I got the trash done and the place cleared out. If I wasn't working alone I could come up with jobs to do all day long and have lots of customers, all day long

A guy came in and asked when the price of diesel was coming down. Normally I'd say "I don't know" but I guess I'm pissed about everything in America and said "Well, in two years when we finally get rid of trump". The guy dropped the conversation.

Business dropped off again so I tried to get the ice done. I got the bagged stuff filled and started on the soda machine hoppers when an old hippie came in. He was really happy to be in New Mexico, he sang out the door while the rest of his family came in, he was super happy about the coffee, he embarrassed the crap out of his grandson. I gave the kid the "Yeah, I know, I understand" look and I could tell he appreciated it. If I could have I would have told him "write it all down, one day it will make an amazing book".

I was waiting on a line of customers, meanwhile the security cameras have two way communication and the Boss, who is out of town, started making weird sounds. I ignored him, the people wondered what was going on and if he ever asks I'm going to make a comment about "unprofessional". I wish I could hack the system and mute the volume.

A woman came in carrying an adult diaper. When she left she didn't have it in her hand anymore. I went and dumped the restroom trash.

My neighbor came in and said she almost went to my house to see what was going on this weekend. First she heard glass breaking and then a bunch of noise. She thought someone was breaking in so she walked to the edge of her yard where she can see up my driveway and saw a strange car. Then she heard a bunch of kids. I told her my sister, niece and four kids under 10 years old were visiting. My niece had dropped a glass on the patio and it shattered. I'm glad to know my house is being watched when I'm not there. And yes, I watch the neighbor's house but her dogs go nuts when the deer run down the street, I can just imagine what would happen if someone went in her yard.

I got my second fleet card of the night. And the second crowd while I was trying to process it. And they cleared out. But he filled up his semi and added a thousand to my total. Then the Crazy Lady came in, she was somewhat chatty tonight. Since the place was empty at that moment she said I could close my drawer while she counted in hers. The funny thing was I was out before she was in, they are that slow with their count. I hope they never find themselves at the station with one drawer and you have to do a fast count between customers. 

And when I got home I was greeted by two raccoons and O.C. They were all feeling slighted because of my company over the weekend. The raccoons didn't run and hide, they sat there waiting for me to put the cat food out and O.C. ground herself into my shoes for about 10 minutes. It's nice that someone is glad to see me.