As The Station Turns 10/17

 I bought something from Amazon and when I got it the thing broke as I was trying to put it together so I had to send it back. The problem is that I have to send it via UPS which requires a pick up. I don't know when they'd be coming and I didn't know if I would be home when they showed up, so I arranged for a pick up at the Truck Stop which is open 24 hours and someone is always there. I was going to have to leave it first thing in the morning because again, I didn't know when they would be coming. So I got out of bed early and drove up to the station, and the Late Guy is working the morning shift again, and the Part Time Woman was there too. I went in and chatted with the Late Guy and ignored her. The tank alarm was going off again, this time it's a probe that isn't working. I decided to be a nice guy, went to the back and ran off an alarm report and it went off, I'll see if it stayed off when I go in this afternoon. And then I came home for breakfast, and I still ignored the Part Time Woman.

Once again when I got to work nobody had a closed drawer so I had to wait, again. The Late Guy made her close first, which was a nice change. He keeps talking about the Haunted Station opening (perhaps this week) and then I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. I still think it's not going to happen until November. Also the Part Time Woman was boasting about making the alarm go off, however they were getting a delivery and when the driver started dumping into the tank it knocked the censor loose and shut the alarm off, she hadn't done anything. 

The Late Guy told me that when he got to work Skippy was there and told off Bigfoot for refusing to take a $100 bill and turning away a customer. This wasn't the first of his shift but at the end of the night and he should have had the cash on hand. I guess the Crazy Lady, who thinks that she's in charge, decided to argue the point about not having enough small bills to leave a proper drawer, despite the fact that we have a drop safe and they could cash in the bill and get a hundred in $10's, $5's and even singles. I guess Skippy read her the riot act and basically told her to do as she was told. When I got there the Late Guy was looking for paper clips but the Crazy Lady took her dispensers. Her toilet plunger was also sitting behind the freezer, she probably intended to take it but forgot it. I swear if she doesn't show up on Monday I'm not working the graveyard. I considered hiding the plunger to really piss her off but I put it back in the office.

I guess the Part Time Woman was driving the Late Guy crazy with an endless stream of questions, probably about reopening the Haunted Station, who was going to be working there and so forth. She has a unique skill, she's able to piss everyone off. He wants to get rid of her permanently, I wanted the same thing when I was the manager. He is probably planning on making her miserable by checking up on her all the time and constantly criticizing her work.

The Late Guy closed his shift and left. Then I noticed he left his cash drawer sitting on the counter, so I put it away. I'm not going to say anything. He also left his jacket and probably would have left his phone charger if I hadn't put it over by his stuff. And he's working on Sunday too.

One good thing about the Late Guy covering the shift was that everything was done. The restrooms were cleaned and stocked, the trashes were dumped and the ice hopper was full. It meant I didn't have to rush around on a busy Saturday trying to get the stuff done that the morning shift had ignored, aka the Part Time Woman.

There's a stoner woman that comes around, she bugs the customer and steals. I guess since my car wasn't there she figured she could get away with it but I caught her on the side of the building and once again told her I'd have the cops on her if she didn't stay away. She waits until she's a good distance off and then starts popping off. I'm pretty sure she's banned from most places in town. I hate to say it but a few weeks back they found a body in a field and she was the first person who popped into my head. I'm not going to be surprised when she gets sideways with a dealer and winds up face down in a ditch.

I saw the state police go flying down the highway. I never heard what was going on and I didn't see any ambulances so I figure it must not have been a crash. And nobody came in to say anything so perhaps I'll hear something later.

Some guy took an extra long time in the restroom so I had to go check, however here came the next group of people who took an extra long time. When I finally went and checked I was somewhat happy because the toilet wasn't clogged, but the did manage to get water all over the floor, so I had to do a quick mop. And the ladies room toilet was clogged. 

A woman was buying cinnamon pretzels but her sister came in and she quickly hid them. I wonder how she's going to eat them in the car without getting caught. 

After a busy first half of my shift I figured I would run out and check the trashes but I got a family of tag teamer pissers. One would come in, spend time in the restroom and leave, then the next one would come in. I understand people wanting to keep an eye on their car but it only takes one person to do that, the rest could come in all at once. I don't understand people.

The Tow Truck Drive came in but his card wouldn't work. He tried several things but it kept getting rejected. He tried to call his bank but because it was Saturday their help center was closed. He was pissed, he's planning on closing his account. I told him my bank has a 24 hour help number. He went home and got a pile of quarters to pay. He was still pissed when he left. 

A local drifted in and boy was he lit up. Usually he buys cigars that he uses for blunts but today he must have had the munchies because he bought a bunch of sweet rolls, that he warmed up in the microwave. When he went out I heard someone yelling at him, he probably was suppose to come in and buy cigars and blew all their money. At least he wasn't driving.

A guy came in and said "Give me $40 on...." then turned around and left. I guess he forgot his money outside. He must have been embarrassed because he sent his wife in to pay.

A guy came in and wanted a receipt but didn't know what pump he was on, he figured it must have been pump #4 so I ran it off and he left. I checked out the receipt and wondered how he had put 30 gallons in a small car. Then I looked outside and he walked out to a car parked at pump #7. He didn't come back, I hope he didn't need that receipt for business reasons and if he was figuring up his mileage he must have been cursing his car.

Earlier in the day I had been discussing a former employee with the Late Guy but suddenly neither of us could remember her name. Much later in the day it suddenly popped into my head. I considered texting the Late Guy but I didn't. 

Some guy was filling up his semi, but only the passenger side tank. The big diesel pumps have nozzles on both sides but you have to turn on the main one to get the second one to work. Anyhow the guy had prepaid $600 and only got $450 and then left, however he hadn't hung up the primary pump. It's a good thing I'm honest, and don't drive a diesel fueled vehicle. I went out, hung up the pump and his change was automatically refunded to his card. It's also good for him it wasn't a busy day because if someone else had come in and started filling up I might not have noticed.

The Storyteller came in but at that moment I had a line of customers so he got his usual coffee and left. I guess I'm going to have to have him tell two stories next time.

I needed to use the restroom and the place was almost empty, except for one guy pumping. He finished and came in, he went to the restroom, wandered around the place, finally picked a couple of thing out and paid. Good, I could go to the potty. Nope, here came his wife to use the restroom. Again, I understand that people don't want to leave their cars unattended when they are traveling but She Could Have Come In While He Was Pumping And I Need To Go To The Restroom! Thankfully nobody came in after she left and I was able to run and take care of business. And yes, the next wave showed up shortly after that.

I tried to do one more trash run. I took one of the big bags and dumped the restroom trashes into it and planned to go outside and pull out the bags of stuff people had thrown in the cans, this saves on trash bags. However I got busy, and stayed busy for the rest of the night. I got a two minute break so I took the restroom trash and tossed it and came back inside just in time for the next round of customers. The outside trash is now the graveyard shift's problem.

The Graveyard Shift Guy came in and counted in his drawer. The Late Guy didn't count his roll of quarters so he was $10 over, I said that was a common occurrence, the Late Guy is lucky the Graveyard Shift Guy was being honest and didn't pocket the money. He wanted to know how I could ride my bike in the cold weather. Perhaps it's just me, perhaps it's all the years I spent working cattle, going out on freezing cold days to break ice on water tanks and throw out hay but 45F doesn't bother me and I plan on riding the Bad Hawg until the weather gets really bad, probably in two weeks. Anyhow I'm not a complete nut, I brought my heavy jacket.