As The Station Turns 10/08

The weather has been nice so I rode my Bad Hawg (electric trike) to work today. As I was pulling on the lot some big semi was swinging around on the other side of the building so I gunned it to make it past the pumps and to the back side of the building before him, sure enough he turned right to where I was going to go. And then the Manager left a big bag of trash on the handicapped ramp, the ramp I drive up to park my bike next to the building, so I had to get off and pull it up over the curb. My day was off to a great start. Later, about 6 hours later, I realized I left my key in the battery, thankfully nobody stole it.  Sheesh.

When I went in the Manager was on the phone and trying to get authorization on a truck card. Thank goodness it was her because I hate those things. so I rushed to count in my drawer so I could open and she could close and not have to deal with anyone else. When she was done she told me that Bigfoot hadn't dumped the trash in the morning because he wasn't feeling well, probably coming down with the same thing the Graveyard Shift Guy had, basically it's the "I don't want to come to work" flu. 

And then things got interesting, a guy in driving an RV and wanted to fill up so he left his card at the register. However he filled up the tank on his drivers side but then wanted to fill up the passenger side but had hung up the pump. His wife came in and I was trying to tell her what to do but the Manager decided to get involved and went out and help, which she didn't. She told the guy to pull around and go to the next pump and pull in so the pump was on the passenger side. He was pulling around when some crazy semi driver came flying in and pulled through the pump, almost hitting the RV, and then he parked right in front of the pump so the other guy couldn't get in. I guess words were exchanged and the semi driver backed up, really quickly, I commented that I was glad I wasn't parked around back,  I did see someone trying to get out of the way.  The guy in the RV got around to the pump and....it decided to go off line so now the RV driver was going to have to back up and go to a second pump, which he decided to not do. He came in, paid for the one pump and got a large soda, which the Manager gave to him as a form of apology for the mess. The guy's wife was really nice about the whole thing by the way. 

Meanwhile the semi driver came in for a slushie, all that for a freaking slushie. (I charged him for an extra large by the way). He asked what "that guy's problem is" and I said you should know to not park at the pump. He said he had pulled past the pump so I said "You are a professional driver, you should know to not block the pumps at all". He paid for his slushie and walked out in a huff. Screw that guy. And all that happened in the first ten minutes of my shift, it was going to be a fun day.

Also the Sprite was out and the machine kept hissing because the air pump was trying to push the syrup into the machine. So I opened the syrup storage area, unscrewed the nipple and pushed in the valve so it stopped trying to pull stuff out of the syrup bag and the pump went off. The Manager asked me how I did that. Ummmm, you've worked here for 30 years and you didn't know that trick? The Manager said she was going to run across the street and see if they had some mix she could steal but the bad news they don't have a Coke machine, just a Pepsi one. Later the Tire Shop Guy came in and Sprite is his drink of choice so he wasn't happy, he got a Dr Pepper instead.

Several truck drivers, who trade out trailers at the station, were in the building. The one guy is a Yankees fan and his team is out but I'm a Dodgers fan and they are still in it. The conversation rapped up with "lets see what happens". The one guy left and then the next guy started complaining about trump. I told him that trump has gone off the mental edge. The guy said he had voted for trump but regretted it, I didn't call him stupid. Anyhow he said something surprising, he wakes up every day and checks to see if trump is dead, I told him that he wasn't alone, millions upon millions of people do the same thing. I have hope for the election.

Some guy was taking a long time in the restroom and two kids went in there, and were not quite about the stink. I could hear them, and he could really hear them. I was laughing and mentally thanked them because I've been wanting to say it for years. Needless to say the guy walked out in a hurry and didn't look at anyone. But of course I needed to go check the place and got busy right then. Later, much later, when I got a break in the traffic I went and looked and there wasn't a mess.

For some reason everyone kept trying to run their credit card magnetic strip. Ummm...this is the 21st century, just tap your chip!

A car pulled on to the lot and dropped off a hitchhiker. I hate when they do that because it usually leads to trouble. I kept an eye on the guy but he went over to the edge of the lot and sat under the big sign while digging through his stuff. I took a restroom break and when I got back he was gone. I guess he worked his way over to the highway and continued his journey.

I got another break in the traffic so I ran out to check the trash and the squeegee buckets, enough water for the day but someone was going to have to fill them up tomorrow. I also found the broom, outside. I wonder how long it was out there, and why. Thankfully nobody stole it.

The Manager was across the street getting stuff. She grabbed the last of their 12 packs so the construction guys can buy them first thing in the morning. And considering nothing is happening over there I doubt they'll be open on Friday.

A few months back I wrote about the guy who power puked all over the restroom and I had to close the place so I could clean it and not have people tracking the mess all over the building. Well, the guy came back and was still apologizing for it. He said his sister had also gotten sick while on a trip somewhere else, he figured they had both picked up some kind of virus. I know if I had made that big of a disgusting mess I would never be able to show my face again.

A guy was digging in his pocket and dropped wheat seeds everywhere. At least I hope he said wheat and not "weed" because I swept them up and threw them in a planter outside. If five fingered weeds start growing in the spring it's going to get interesting. 

Since I touched the broom I got busy, when the place finally cleared out I went and swept up the trash in the restroom. Then I figured I would do the ice and got busy again. Then I tried to do the trash and got busy again. When I finished the place cleared out and it was dead the rest of the night.

While I was busy my neighbor came by. She asked me what was going on at the bridge, beats me, I was busy and couldn't see. WhenI went to look there were several police cars on the westbound side of the bridge and on the north exit ramp. When the place finally cleared out I went to look but whatever was happening was done. 

One of my regulars has been having a bad week. One of her close friends is dying and has decided she wants to go, no hospital, no life support, no nothing, and my regular has been taking care of her. And she's smoking again. So I'm being extra nice to her.

An old guy came in and tried to be funny. He failed miserably.

A biker parked in Skippy's spot. He had to park at the out of order pump and was probably not happy about it. I laughed.

A guy came in and asked for something I couldn't understand him so I asked him to repeat it. I din't understand him the second time around so I told him no, we didn't carry it. Pronounciate people.

The Crazy Lady showed up early which made me very happy for multiple reasons. First there was a football game going on and it was probably just about over, which meant the place was going to be swarmed on. Second a really old lady was heading to the restroom. Not to be mean about seniors but they do tend to stink the place up, and quite often have to change an adult diaper. Since she was still in there as I was walking out the door it wasn't my problem. And the third reason I was happy was because the Manager had told me Bigfoot was "getting sick" and so far the Boss hadn't called to ask me to cover a shift. When I got out to my Bad Hawg I "accidentally" put my phone on Airplane Mode so if the Boss tried to call he wasn't going to be able to get hold of me, "gosh, I was charging it and it goes faster on Airplane Mode and I guess I forgot".

10/09

So my plan was to wait until after I would have to go in today and turn my phone back on. However I went to the store and first I saw that not only is the Haunted Station still closed but the West Side Station was also closed, this was an interesting turn of events. later after I got home I went for a walk to take a look at the Haunted Station and nothing has been going on there. When I got to the West Side Station the Late Guy was there, so I decided to stop in and find out what was going on. It turns out that the Weekend Guy was taking the day off and had texted the Boss, who hadn't read it. The handyman showed up to do some work and called the Boss to let him know nobody was there. They couldn't get hold of the West Side Manager so they called the Late Guy and he went over there and opened up the place, after setting off the alarm. He then told me that they had sent off the repair paperwork for the Haunted Station to the state but it was sitting on someone's desk and hadn't been forwarded on to the inspector, so the station will be closed until some time next week. Now I don't know what the schedule is suppose to be, I was suppose to work over there on Sunday, I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I hopeI get the day off. And I left my phone off for the rest of the day just in case Bigfoot wants to take tonight off, "hey, since you have Sunday off you can cover tonight!" Darn phone problems.