9/28

So....honestly I didn't do anything today. I slept unit 2 then got up, watched TV, ate, screwed around on the internet and then around 4 in the morning I went to bed. I was a total sloth. This is a bad thing, I seriously need to start doing stuff again. Tomorrow.  

found money, none. I didn't leave my house. 

9/29

Mom wanted to go to Wal Mart so I got up early, well before noon. We drove over the hill and went to lunch at the Chinese restaurant. I don't like going there on Thursday because first it was full of working people on their lunch break., on Sunday morning everyone is in church so we have the place to ourselves, today we had to sit at the table next to the restroom with the view of the kitchen.  Secondly I like the Sweet and Sour soup and they only serve it on Sunday. Today was some kind of pepper vegetable thing, and they were heavy on the pepper. I ate a little of the soup but I was glad when the main course showed up and I could push it away. ps, cashew chicken, very good. The owners did come around and ask where we had been, we probably hadn't gone to Wal Mart in a month. That was nice.

Then it was off to shop. Wal Mart is a different place in the afternoon duirng the middle of the week. Even though there are less customers they still manage to block the aisles you want down. Seriously, how many time can people almost run into you or straddle their cart directly across the path. And they seem to seek out the narrowest spot to hold a conversation.

One thing, there use to be a guy who worked as a greeter, he was going through the process for gender reassignment and was in the early stages. I hadn't seen him at Wal Mart in a while and wondered what happened, well he was there today but not by the door. He is now working in the meat department ( I refrained from making any jokes) and has even started wearing a blond wig, which was better than his long thinning hair with the big bald patch in the back. It's good to see he still works there and that Wal Mart is an equal opportunity exploiter.

After the shopping trip it was back home where I took a nap, I had to get up earlier than normal so I was kind of tired. I wasted the better part of the day watching my favorite programs on TV and then it was off to the computer, yeah I said I was going to be more active but it just didn't seem to happen. Around midnight I did get bored so I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and they turned out quite well. Finally it was off to bed around 2 in the morning.

Found money, none. Poor people going to Wal Mart hold on to their cash tight. 

9/30

Today I did what I said I was going to do, I got busy. I woke up around noon, yes I slept for around 9 hours, and before I turned on the computer or the TV I went for a nice long walk. It was a good thing too because just sitting around all day is starting to make my back and knees hurt plus my thumb has been aching from too much mouse work. See, computers are bad for your health.

After the walk I ate my first meal of the day, I really don't know what to call it because technically it is breakfast but that generally means "something you eat in the morning". I've decided it's just easier to call them "first meal, second meal" and so on. Yes I had a cookie for dessert. Then, well then it was time for my favorite shows so I kind of vegged the rest of the day.

Time rolled around and I had to get ready for work.

~

I wasn't looking forward to work tonight. First it was homecoming so there were going to be a lot of post game people rolling through including high school kids who wanted to buy cigarettes but "forgot their ID". Secondly it was going to be me and the new woman Amy so I was going to probably have to keep an eye on her all night long, even though she has experience and had been working for four days mistakes are still possible. Finally it was Friday night and the freaks come out after dark, even in a small town.

The night was going to go into some new unexpected direction. It seems Amy and her boyfriend broke up on Thursday and things had taken an ugly turn. He tried to lock her out of the house and when she barged her way in to get her stuff he called the police. Her name is on the lease and so he really didn't have a legal leg to stand on. The police showed up and she gathered up her stuff, except for the dog because he claimed it was his and now they have to go to court on Monday. The dog is registered in her name so again he has no legal rights, this guy doesn't sound like the smartest person at the MENSA meeting. If this wasn't enough on Friday he slashed the tires on her car and covered it in some kind of oil, I figured he was trying to torch it but used something within the diesel family that requires more than just an open flame to spark it. And he spent the day harassing her over the phone and calling her family. I fully expected trouble before the end of the shift.

Around 10, just as the night was starting the boyfriend called. The woman on the afternoon shift answered and refused to let him talk to her so he hung up. At 11:30 he called again and I answered. He asked if she was there and I said "no". At this point he said "Put her on the Damn phone!" and I replied "Please don't curse at me", I was being firmly polite. He went of on a string of profanity and I hung up on him. I was so hoping he would call back or show up and then I could really put the fear in him explaining how if he didn't stop I would turn the matter over to a few friends of mine on the police force and it wouldn't end well for him, especially since my sister in laws cousin is the local judge. But he never called back.

Amy then told me how her now ex had caused a lot of trouble over the past few months and had pretty much burned every bridge he had. He hadn't been at work for over a week because he had heard they were going to do drug tests, if you ever want to go to the head of the line this is the way to do it. All in all the whole situation is going to end ugly and if I can I will try to stay out of it but if I am forced into the middle I will use the law rather than doing something stupid. So don't worry.

Meanwhile I went into the cooler and I was shocked! It was clean, it was straightened and it only took me 20 minutes to stock the shelves. I do like Amy, I hope she sticks around for at least a few more months. Also one of the afternoon women decided that she needed to do some shopping so she took off, in the middle of her shift. If I hadn't mentioned this before I live in a small town and you can't sneeze without someone calling you to say "Bless You". Sure enough someone told the owner who told the manager who wrote the woman up. You get one write up and the next incident you get your final check. The woman was really mad, claimed the other people on the shift had ratted her out and now they aren't talking. Who knows, by the end of the month I may be working daylight hours. Don't worry, this is another situation I plan to stay out of.

I lost my temper this morning. It was the typical Saturday, the woman on the morning shift showed up on time-ish and the hippie was nowhere to be seen. I had to hang out for another hour after my shift was suppose to end. I calculated up thanks to just the one guy I will probably make an additional $2000 in overtime but it's really getting on my nerves, after all it's not like I volunteered to work an hour of his shift and it's not like he ever asked me to cover for him, he is just inconsiderate. And anyone else acting like that would be written up. I have grown tired of the whole thing especially since it's almost a guarantee that Sunday morning I will be stuck there for two hours since neither of the people on the morning shift can show up on time. I'm trying to not let it get to me but week after week it gets to be quite annoying.

Oh well, Wednesday is payday and it will all be worthwhile then. At least that is what I tell myself. Someone said you should never do a job just for the check but sometimes you have to.

Found money, 22 cents, two silver nickles and a 1943 steel penny. 

Total found money for September $11. 04 

10/01

The Saturday Night/Sunday Morning Non Holiday Off Season shift is usually the quietest of my week. People aren't travelling and most trucking companies take the night off, there aren't many independent drivers in the modern world thanks to the high cost of fuel. I was planning on getting creative with killing time. Perhaps I would wash the windows or wipe down all the shelves or if I got really bored I would go clean the outside trash cans. Anything to make the night go by quicker, but you know what they say about making plans.

It was around 11:00 and there was the usual early crowd, usually we have customers from 10 to midnight and then from 5 till the end of the shift. Anyhow Amy, the new coworker, got a phone call. Her ex was still trying to cause her problems so I figured it was about that. She suddenly said "He did what?" very loudly and with a lot of distress. I figured he had done further damage to her car or something along those lines. Next she said "When did that happen?" and started to cry. Oh no, he had been holding on to her dog and my first thought was that he had killed the animal, you never know with people like that. Things were getting worse by the minute as her conversation continued.

The building finally cleared out and I asked what was going on. She told me, and I swear I am not making this up, that her psycho ex had shot her brother. They had rushed him to the emergency room and that was all she knew. She was sobbing and wanted to know what she should do so I told her to close out her drawer, clock out and go. She wasn't going to be any use for the rest of the shift anyhow.

I did have an alternative motive for having her leave. She hadn't said anything about where psycho ex was and the last thing I wanted was a nutsy armed, possibly drunk or high, crazy showing up. I figured she would be safer if she was at the hospital surrounded by people, and possibly a cop considering what was going on, than at the station. Plus I wouldn't get caught in any crossfire, yes I was thinking of myself too. So she left.

This was a small problem, I was going to be on shift by myself for the rest of the night. I figured I could get the required side jobs done and would have to skip on anything like stocking the cooler or cleaning up outside but for once someone on another shift was going to have to do it. Turns out I didn't have to worry because it was an extra slow night and I managed to do all my normal jobs  and the cooler plus dump the outside trashes, and wait on all the customers. I probably got more done solo than the other two shifts combined, I shouldn't say that but sometimes it feels that way. the most difficult part of the night was making a rush to the restroom during down times but I even managed that. :)

Other than the shooting it was an interesting customer night. The first woman had a huge freshly bleeding knot in the middle of her forehead. Either someone had slammed on the breaks and she did a header into the dashboard or someone had smacked her hard. Either way she didn't look too happy. 

Around one of the down times I figured I had better do the cleaning so I did a rush job on the restroom, Speed swept the floor and vacuumed the runners and then started mopping the floor. I got most everything done, the office, cooler, behind the counter and all the aisles. I had just finished mopping the mens room and was stepping out the door when a customer was walking in, I almost hit him with the door. Sure enough he was going to track up the floor but I figured that was that. He finished up and then he and  the woman he was with wandered around the store. They finally got what they wanted and paid and I was ready to finish mopping, maybe.

Just as the couple was walking out the door a semi rolled up and a rather chunky woman climbed out of the cab. I figured she was going to use the restroom and such so I quickly re-mopped the mens room floor and was going to wait on the womens room. The truck driver walked in and, OMG it's a guy! Here's a piece of advice, if you are somewhat round and have hair that looks like you just had it permed don't wear powder blue gym shorts or people will confuse you with a woman. Sure enough the guy headed right to the restroom and once again tracked up my wet floor.

Then the tag teamers showed up. First it was two guys who pulled up to one of the pumps and pretended they were going to get gas but all they were really there for was the restroom, plus they came in one at a time.

There was another gap and I rushed back to mop the mens room for the third time, and then I did the womens room. Several people came in and I held my breath but they just wandered around the store and never wen to the restroom so it finally had time to dry. All I had left was the hallway then the mopping would be done.

Then came the hunters and they all wandered around. One of them went to get something out of the cooler and I have no idea what he was thinking but he figured it was a sliding glass door instead of one you pull towards you. He yanked on it and spilled his coffee all over my clean floor, and my clean glass cooler door. So the next time I had a short interlude I rushed over with the mop to clean up the new mess.

The next customer came in and instead of heading straight to the restroom he headed straight to the big wet spot where I had just mopped up the spilled coffee, tourists are attracted to a fresh yet still damp floor like moths to a flame. He walked back and forth several times to make sure he tracked it up well plus picked up enough moisture to spread it around a bit. Worst of all he didn't even buy anything from that area. Grrrrr.....

Finally, finally everyone cleared out and I managed to mop the hallway. Just as I was dunking the mop into the bucket for the last time some guy came out of the restroom, I didn't even know he was in there. Sure enough he walked right across my freshly mopped floor and headed for the coffee area tracking that up too. It turns out he was with the truck drive that looked like a woman and must have been in the restroom for a good 30 minutes, he had a shaving kit and bag with him so he probably took a sponge bath in the sink. He finally left and I re-mopped the floor once again. Just as I finished another car pulled up on the lot and I kept looking over at the wet floor while looking outside and kept saying "come on...come on and dry already!" Finally the floor was dry and track free and the mopping was done. In the end a 10 minute job took an hour. 

The next customer who came in just wanted a pack of cigarettes and never headed to the restroom. This next part gets a little gross so you may want to skip to the next paragraph. He stepped out the door and, I kid you not, puked, right in front of the door. Then he hopped in his car and just left. Thankfully I was about to dump the mop bucket so I just wheeled it out the front door and started to dump it on his mess. Right then a woman pulled up and guess where she parked? I  kid you not, she could see the puke, she could see me dumping the mop bucket water on the puke but that was the one spot on the two acre lot where she absolutely had to park, and all she wanted was a pack of cigarettes. After her purchase she drove off leaving a trail of vomit. I finished dumping the mop water on the mess and then got a couple of bucket of water to finish washing off the mess. Worst of all there was a trash can about three feet from where the guy puked, thanks a lot!  

Thankfully the rest of the night was uneventful. At 5 am I got the usual phone call, the woman on the morning shift had been out partying with her useless boyfriend and wanted to know if I would cover her shift for a couple of hours. I fully expected this call and had even brought my sunglasses with me so I said yes. The hippie was late as usual so I worked an extra hour solo, plus holding off using the restroom. The hippie finally showed up a little after 7 and we did the shift change, no more work for me. Then the woman showed up at 8 and after explaining why Amy had to leave my 10 hour night had come to an end. I clocked out and checked my hours, thanks to the persistent lateness of the morning crew I had an extra 8 hour of overtime, so I wasn't complaining, well not out loud at least. Home and to bed. I wonder what will happen tomorrow, or later today.

Found money, one cent and a 1955 penny. 

10/2

 Update: Well it turns out Amy's mother got the wrong information. Her brother wasn't shot but psycho ex boyfriend did beat the hell out of him. Amy's brother had to spend the night in the hospital to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Plus her brother is going to need some work done on his nose. The best part of the story, psycho ex isn't in jail, seriously the police did nothing! Of course being a small town everybody who runs into psycho ex lets him know they are related or friends with Amy and there are plenty of old caves and volcanic holes he might accidentally fall into.

Meanwhile I went to fill up the ice hopper on the soda machines and wheres the ice scoop? Turns out one of the other shifts left it in the ice machine and it got buried under about 6" of cubes. Seriously, do I have to write a note? Maybe some day I will drop by and ask to use the office restroom, and toss it in. Do you think someone will learn a lesson? Probably not.

And what is it customers hate about rolls of quarters? A guy took my last quarter but I didn't want to bust the roll in the drawer. Sure enough the next customers total came out to exactly $4.50 and she handed me a $20.00. I busted the roll of quarters and then she decided to pull change out of her pocket. And every customer after her had exact change. By the end of the night I rerolled the quarters and had $6.50 left over. Why, just why?

So it was the usual slow night and around 2 am the computer decided to cycle itself so it shut down and then rebooted. No big problem, after all there hadn't been a customer in the building for an hour, and then they all came rushing in. Sure enough in the 5 whole minutes it takes the computer to do it's thing a line formed, where were all of you a half hour ago? Finally it rebooted and we were able to take care of everyone and...then we were dead for the rest of the night. Seriously, how do people plan this stuff?

There was a shock. We were sitting around, with everything done and no customers in the building. I commented that if the morning shift showed up right then we could do the change over without the hassle of people waiting. Who just happened to walk through the door right then? Yep, it was the hippie, he wasn't just on time but early for a change. We switched shifts and then the manager showed up, and there still wasn't the morning rush so I clocked out and hit the road. Let them handle everything. 

Found money, 91 cents and another 1955 penny. What are the odds. 

10/3

 Another quiet night. I was working with Diane for the first time since Tuesday, she had taken Friday off after working for 11 days straight (thanks to Ray leaving). She must have missed the place because she spent the entire night scrubbing everything from the beverage area to the restrooms. She was in high clean mode.

I mostly ran the register and occasionally stocked shelves, during the down times. It must have been "What the hell happened to you?!?!" night but you'll be proud of me, I never asked. The first customer had one eye bandaged over, his lip was all torn up, his jaw was wired shut  and he still had the trach tube in his throat. It must have been one heck of an accident.

The next customer was a guy I knew, one night during a drunken fight he threatened to kill himself so he stuck a rifle in his mouth. His wife tried to grab the gun but only caused it to go off. The bullet when up and out and took the left side of his face off. He survived and after a decade of surgery he looks....well he looks mostly balanced, thats the best way I can describe him. Since the majority of his jaw was destroyed along with part of his tounge you have to pay close attention to what he is saying, thankfully I knew he wanted to prepay $25 on the diesel pump otherwise there might have been the uncomfortable "What, what?" discussion.

The final customer was, how do I say this without insulting people...a guy living as a woman. He was doing a good job of it but you could still tell. The funny part was the guy standing behind, the customer, was laughing that, the customer, was complaining about the high cost of fuel as compared to Texas and didn't notice that she was really a he, or at least a he in the middle of becoming a she.

Yep, it was defintaly double take night. At the end of the shift I wasn't surprised the hippie was late, one day in a row on time is his current record. After the morning rush, in which I got to run the register, the manager told me I could go. I was glad to get home and go to bed. 

Found money $2.01 

10/4

 Another slow and uneventful night. The vendors didn't show up so the cooler was almost empty, except for the milk which someone had spread around to every shelf in the place. I had to do a bit of straightening to make sure that it was all in one spot and when the order does come in things won't get buried or mixed together to the point where I couldn't find them. Even though it only took about a half hour and I was done. 

For the rest of the night it was a matter of doing a little of this and a little of that. It rained all night so some of the built up crud on the lot washed off, they closed off the outside spigot on the side of the building so I can't go hose the place down to clean off the leaky trash bag stains, it's kind of gross.

Most of the customers were so normal that they lacked the usual entertainment value and then one guy came in. First he took off his shoe, knocked it on the floor a couple of times and then dumped the content in the middle of the floor! What the hell dude, there's a freaking trash can right next to you! Tourists, you just want to smack them on the head sometimes.  As he was leaving he said "live long and prosper", you sir are no Vulcan because they wouldn't dump their shoe dirt on someone else's floor.

There was also a Canadian. I mean he was wearing a Maple Leaf shirt, had a wad of Canadian money and kept talking about how "down here" you have to prepay to pump your gas. Even if he hadn't been showing all the signs you could tell by his accent, although it was subtle. I hope he was enjoying his time in America.  

At the end of the night I once again got stuck running the register during the 6 am rush. In the middle of it the manager told me she needed to talk to me after things calmed down, I wondered what this was about. When we finally talked she gave me a verbal warning about Amy leaving on Saturday night. So I told her that there wasn't much I could do and who was I suppose to call to cover the shift anyhow, it's not like I had anyone's number. There was also a matter of an overring, for which I included a reciept and a note in my paperwork but now they are saying I was $35 short.

The more I thought about it as the day went along the more pissed I became.  It's a good thing I was tired and just wanted to go home because otherwise I might have gone off about "if I am going to be accused of being a theif then you are going to have to cover your own D**N drawer in the mornings" and "Gee it must be nice to be on the priviliged day shift where you can set your own schedule and come and go as you please". Yeah that wouldn't have gone over well. Maybe I should avoid the place until my Friday shift.

Found money, 25 cents and a silver nickle