12/21

Sleep. I don't know why, maybe I was tired but I slept until 4 PM. Needless to say I didn't do anything and for once I got a full night off, no calls, no emergencies, no nothing. It was a pleasant change of pace.

12/22

Since I didn't have to work I got a good nights rest and spent the day doing some last minute Christmas shopping. I had considered going to Wal Mart last night but I just didn't feel like getting out. It's trying to snow so I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to drive over the mountain so I hit a few local stores. I then stopped off and visited a friend I hadn't seen in a while. We talked about work and the holidays and in general stuff. By the time I went home the wind was kicking up and there were flakes in the air. After last weeks blizzard I am glad I didn't have to go to work tonight, the last thing I needed was a bunch of grouchy tourists who were stuck and couldn't get home for the holiday.

I did realize something, way too late. The station will be closed on Christmas eve so I get the night off. If I had asked last week I could have taken Friday off and had a four day weekend. Oh well, I could use the hours.

Around midnight I realized I left some packages in my truck so I went to get them. The wind was blowing and snow was flying everywhere and the lock on the passenger side was frozen shut, I had to go around to the drivers side. I am really glad I'm not at work tonight.

12/23

 Tonight is going to be busy and Amy took the night off. She decided to take a two day holiday weekend and I can't blame her there. The problem was I was working with Diane and she was going to spend the entire night avoiding the register. Tons of holiday traffic meant that I wasn't going to get a break from the register all night long. The only good thing was last nights storm turned out to be pretty light so the roads were open and the tourists, for the most part, were happy. The bad news was the roof was leaking everywhere so there were buckets and trashcans catching all the drips. 

I was talking with V about the hippie and she said, "well you won't have to worry about that with me". I had no idea what she was talking about but then they told me the hippie had decided to quit, Tuesday was going to be his last day. The week before he had gone to Albuquerque and loved the place so he was moving, and this is good news for me. V from the afternoon shift was going to move up to mornings, Diane was going to move to the afternoon shift and as far as I know I was going to get weekends off, but nobody had said anything yet so I figured it was going to be another wait and see situation.

And the new slushy machine is already frozen. It seems someone filled it up but put in the wrong mixture. Now there is a big block of ice right on top and they had to turn it off. Seriously, if you don't know what you are doing leave it alone.

My first customer of the night had a cold. She looked over the selection of medications and then asks, "Is this the only cough drops you have?" I considered saying, "well we do have a secret stash but that is only for certain customers". I seriously wonder about people some time.

A customer came in and paid for his gas and then just stood there. I knew he wanted a receipt but I guess I was just in a holiday mood so I didn't say anything. He finally asked and I printed him one off and he was on his way. Sometimes I am just evil like that. 

A woman came in and she had a screaming child. They were hanging around and hanging around and although I understand that kids on long trips get tired and sore and need to walk around they were really getting on my nerves.  Finally the father finished tanking up the car, they got their snacks and such and left. Peace at last.

Diane went off to do her usual marathon cleaning and I couldn't figure out why, didn't she see all the customers in the store? They were all going to want to use the restroom and she was in their scrubbing the place down. Sometimes I don't understand her at all.

The first break I got I went to check the Cappuccino machine and I wasn't surprised, it was almost empty. I didn't have time to wash it all down but I did throw some mix into it. This ticks me off because the afternoon shift made no effort to put any in at all. Grrr....

A customer came in and ran his card through the machine. I asked him the standard question, "credit or debit", I have to know so I can push the button on the register. He answers "It's both", well that doesn't help me, I needed to know how he wanted to run it so when he started punching the buttons on the pad I pushed Debit and then made him reenter his information. I wasn't asking to be curious, I needed to know, Just Pick One!

In the past I have talked about the Nurse. She is a regular that comes in around 5 in the morning, she gets a cup of coffee, gas and sometimes a pack of cigarettes. Today she wanted a ride. I don't know where she had come from but you could tell she was really cold. I hated to tell her but I had to say no, state law requires two people be on shift at all times during the night and if I left and got caught I would be fired instantly. I don't know what she did but she left, I hope she makes it home before frostbite sets in.

Just before the end of the shift a regular came in. He drives the long haul mail truck and he is probably just about the cheeriest guy you ever met. He started telling me about what happened the last time he came through town. He got near the northern exit and there was a shirtless guy laying on the side of the road. He stopped and saw the guy's head was covered with blood. He said the guy stumbled to his feet and pulled a jacket up off the ground and put it on. Meanwhile the truck driver had called the cops. When they showed up the guy told them he had been attacked and dumped on the side of the road. The truck driver said he had seen some car go flying off the road and down the exit ramp but until he saw the guy he thought nothing of it. The truck driver had to leave so he didn't hear how the story ended, now I am going to have to do a bit of research to find out what happened. 

Finally 6 rolled around and surprise both the people on the morning shift showed up and mostly on time. I got to go home and went to bed. I survived the Friday before Christmas and I don't have to go back until Sunday. 

Found money, nothing. People around the holidays keep a tight grip on their cash. 

12/24

Christmas eve and I have the night off. I don't have to go anywhere, I don't have to do anything and I don't have to see anybody. And then my brother dropped by. He had just come for a visit but in the end I got invited over to his house for a family get together. I wondered if his wife knew.

He had said to show up at 5 so I got my mother and we arrived at around 5:15, and we were the only ones there. It turns out the party was suppose to start around 6. So we hung out with my nephew while my sister in law ran around trying to finish up . I wasn't surprised, my brother is always forgetting to invite us to stuff and regularly gets the times wrong.

Anyhow we spent the majority of the night watching A Christmas Story and talking about local goings on. In the end I left around 9, they had to go to the sister in law's cousins house for Christmas morning and she wasn't looking forward to it. I couldn't go to sleep so I watched movies and wrapped presents. Finally I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, and no Santa didn't come while I was up. 

12/25

This wasn't the worst Christmas day I ever had but it ranks up there. I had a simple plan, get up, eat breakfast and watch the Disney parade. Well one of out three ain't bad. It seems Santa left me a Shetland pony, to be specific it's the neighbors pony. Some time in the past 24 hours the thing got over the fence and was trying to mount my brothers horse. It was a really sad thing to see.

The neighbor came to get it out and he brought nothing with him, no rope, no bridle, nothing. He chased it around and around so I went to help. I was trying to put up a few temporary panels to try to separate the pony from the horses and the neighbor managed to run them out the gate. They ran up the block, across an open field and out towards the highway. I eventually got them turned around and headed back towards the house.

As I was walking down the road, cursing, the neighbor came by and offered me a ride but I waived him off, I would say a few choice words to him about his ratty animals and his lousy fence and I figured I had better not do that. The horses stopped at the gate and the neighbor drove straight at them, thus chasing them back up the street. I had enough so I went inside to call my brother, he said he would be right over with a couple of bridles.

The horses ran down the street and into the neighbors yard so he closed the gate on them. He then tried to separate out the pony and almost ran the horses through the fence so I went and told him my brother was coming and to just let them stand, I know if he had been successful he probably would have turned my horses back out and I would have had to chase them down again. My brother showed up and we caught them and led them home. Then we broke the ice out of the water tanks and filled them up.  We also penned up the horse in heat so she would stay off the fence line and the pony would stay on his side.

By the time all was said and done I was starving and had missed the Disney parade. But as I said, this wasn't the worst Christmas I spent.  At least nobody ended up in the hospital this year.

~

Off to work, ho ho ho. Since it's Sunday and Christmas night I'm not expecting much of a crowd. Most people take off Monday so they won't be hitting the road until early tomorrow. Normally I hate slow nights but after the day I had, I'm glad I won't be dealing with a lot of tourists.

The Hippie was filling in for V on the afternoon shift. Since he was working with P I figured it would be a good idea to check the restrooms, sure enough they were out of toilet paper. I doubt either of them bothered to go in and clean them. No surprise there. I also checked the ice hoppers on the soda machines and they were empty. And the cooler....Yep the afternoon shift hadn't done anything and I know they weren't busy.

Since I spent the majority of the night taking care of the side jobs I hadn't dealt with a lot of customers but eventually I wound up behind the counter. A group of people came in and were asking for stomach medicine and the restroom. It turns out they ate at a restaurant and two of them had a bad meal, now they were...well you don't want to know. They stayed for about a half hour, mostly in the restroom. Finally their intestinal distress settled down enough for them to leave. I didn't want to go check the restrooms.

Around three we were overrun. People were everywhere just as Amy was trying to clean the restroom. One of the slowest nights of the year and sure enough, they show up to mess up what she just finished. I secretly laughed.

The night finally ended and I could go home and enjoy the last of my holiday. Now all I had to look forward to was New Years Eve, and a new mystery employee who would be starting on Friday.

Found money, 31 cents, a 1953 penny and a  1957 nickle.

12/26

Hopefully everyone  going somewhere left early. I'm hoping for a slow night but who knows if that is going to happen.  Plus with the hippie leaving it is the last Monday I will be working with Diane. 

People started coming in and complaining about the eastbound highway. They said it had patches of ice and several cars had spun off the road. Although conditions were dangerous it didn't seem like the highway department was going to close the road. It was going to be a fun night.

Diane started off with her usual marathon cleaning. She doesn't like the hot water out of the back room so she fills up the decaf pot with boiled water from the coffee machine. The only problem was she left the valve open on the pot and flooded the counter. She claimed "someone else" must have done it and I got to mop up the mess while she went and did something else. Two days....just two more days. And of course customers can't wait the three whole minutes it's going to take to clean up the mess, they need coffee and they need it right now! I had to wait for them and then start soaking up the water off the counter and then wait for the next person....two more day.

I did have a laugh, people driving long distances will crank up their heater so their car will get extra hot. When they get out they are instantly cold so they try to put back on their coats and whatnot as quickly as possible. One kid was trying to get his sweater on as he walked across the parking lot but one sleeve just wouldn't cooperate. By the time he finally got it all straightened out he was in the building. The fight was a total waste of time.

Early in the morning this mud covered truck came in. Someone got out and pumped their gas. They then came in the building for coffee and to use the restroom. They then left and to be honest I couldn't tell if they were a guy or a woman. I guess I should have snuck around the corner and seen what door they went in when they took their break.

The next customer had me scratching my head.  He was wearing pajamas, seriously, complete with slippers. And I'm not talking about some hipster character, the guy had to be in his late 50's or early 60's. Maybe he just wanted to be comfortable on a long drive, or maybe he got them for Christmas and just didn't want to take them off. Either way it was kind of strange.

Finally a redneck crowd came in. They were as stereotypical as you could get, hats, boots, denim jackets, the whole nine yards. Except, one woman was wearing a full length fir coat. She looked like she stepped right out of the 1950's society pages. Talk about not fitting in.

Diane finished her cleaning, I finally got away from the counter for an hour, just long enough to dump the lot trash and toss a few items on the racks in the cooler and then I got to go home. I still haven't heard anything about the new employee or if I was getting Diane's Weekends off shift. I hope they tell me soon because I don't want to have to work almost two full weeks in a row by accident.

Found money. $9.06

12/27

Diane went off to do her usual, cleaning everything in site, and I got stuck behind the register, again. 8 more hours, just 8 more hours. I hope the afternoon shift will enjoy working with her. Bwa ha ha ha ha. 

The night started off with a couple of cars pulling on the lot. The people came in and asked if we sold oil caps. It seems that when they left Phoenix they had put a quart of oil in their engine, but they hadn't tightened the cap properly. Somewhere in the last hundred miles it had vibrated itself loose and oil began to spray out all over their engine. I had bad news for them, no auto parts store would be opening until 8 in the morning and their best chance was over the mountain at Wal Mart. They had done some kind of MacGyver patch job and hopefully it would hold for another 20 miles, and a pretty steep hill. 

The next group of people ticked me off. They came up to the counter with a couple of items so I rang them up and gave them change. Then they got something else so I rang them up and gave them their change. Then again, then again and then again. Couldn't they just have done their shopping, got everything at one time and I would have only had to make change once. Not to mention they took all my pennies.

With a fill up we give a free cup of coffee. I also give one when I don't feel like ringing it up, don't tell anyone. Anyhow a solder came in and I gave him a cup, usually people ask "really?" but this guy almost teared up. He shook my hand and left. I felt kind of good about that, perhaps the guy just got back from Iraq or Afghanistan and thought I was treating him special. Boy, I wouldn't have said, "everybody gets a free cup" for anything in the world.

Are those Elmer Fudd hunting caps with the ear flaps coming in style? It seemed as if half the customers coming in tonight were wearing them. If they are on the runway in Milan this spring I won't be shocked.

I was waiting on a customer and another was standing in line. A third guy came in and shoved 40 dollars across the register and said "Pump 1" Now I don't mind people being rude to me, well I do but I consider it part of the job, but to be rude and interrupt my customers who are willing to wait, that is too much. So I finished waiting on the first customer, then waited on the second customer and then programmed the pump. The rude guy could have stood in line in the warm building but instead he had to stand out in the cold. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

Diane finally made a reappearance and I once again had to rush around to get my side work done. One more hour, just one more hour. Also she has been closing her register out first so not only do I have to do my side work but I have to wait on the customers in between. Just one more hour.

When the manager came in I finally asked what was going to happen with the graveyard shift, did I have weekends off, who was the new person, when were they starting. It turns out the new employee is Amy's roommate, this might be fun. Plus the manager told me I could have weekends off, yea, but she wanted to know what I was going to do since I had the next two days off anyhow. Did I want to work this weekend, and all of next week or take the weekend off and end up with a short check. I pointed out that this weekend is New Years Eve and I really didn't want to work that night, I'd rather have one lower check and enjoy the night. Yeah, two days off, one day on and two days off, I'm not complaining. Heck if it wasn't for the new employee I'd have taken Friday too but I can't stick Amy with training and waiting on customers.

Found money 26 cents.

12/28~12/29

Two days off and I did nothing. And enjoyed every minute of it. 

12/30

Well, the hippie is gone. He moved to Albuquerque to start a new life. If 6 months from now someone tells me they found his body in a drainage ditch and it looks like he was killed by his dealer I won't be surprised in the least. Good luck to you, you freak .

Everybody was expecting some kind of fireworks between Diane and P of the afternoon shift, but they had V as a buffer so nothing yet. Maybe next week.

Amy and Steph (not her real name) showed up on time. I told Amy she got the fun task of training and I would do most of the side work.  I even left the start of shift things like counting cigarettes and running the tank report. I think I'm going to like training night. 

I started the night trying to stock the candy racks but there was a crowd of people. I finally just filled up the Snickers ( our most popular candy) and gave up. I then did the cooler but the vendors had taken Friday off so there was nothing to stock. Finally I came back behind the counter.

A guy came in around midnight and said "I didn't know if you were open". Seriously, the lights are all on, there are people wandering around and the doors are unlocked. Why would he think we were closed?  

A guy comes in and asks where the air is so I point out the pump. He stands there for a minute. He then tells me in Arizona stations are required by law to give free tire air to customers who buy gas. Well buddy, this isn't Arizona, and aren't they a big Tea Party state with no government interference in private industry? So he grumps out the door and puts his quarters in the air pump. He then comes back in to inform me it isn't working properly. I told him I would inform the manager but there wasn't much I could do beyond that. He called it a "ripoff" and stormed out the door again. Some peoples children. 

Steph turned out to be quite entertaining. She likes to sing and dance as she cleans and full on dancing. Not to mention the local police like her so instead of their usual 10 second drive by they actually came in and hung around for a while. This might work out just fine. 

Since I dind't really have to do anything the night wrapped up early and when the morning crew came in I was able to leave. Amy had wanted me to work New Years Eve for her but A) I hate working that night since nobody comes in, most people are either where they are going or they are avoiding coming near the highway because they are drunk driving and think this is where the cops will be. B) I don't want to train so I will leave that to Amy and hopefully by next week Steph will know enough that I don't have to do anything. Yes, I'm selfish that way. I told Amy I wasn't going to cover for her so she would stay out of trouble, I don't think she liked that but either way I'm off until 2012. Yea!

Found money $1.03  

12/31

I decided to enjoy my first weekend off so I didn't do anything. I somewhat expected my brother to call and invite me over for the festivities but he didn't. In the end I watched the ball drop in Times Square at New York time and then went to bed. Yep, I live the wild life. Goodbye 2011 and hello 2012. 

Found money for December, $43.54

Found money for 2011, $121.76

 2011 started with my 10th anniversary of working for the same company, and a pay raise. I visited London the week after the royal nuptials and when bin Laden was killed by the Navy Seals, which made me slightly paranoid. I began to get suspicious at work when I saw pamphlets on automated printing systems so I started visiting my friends at the truck stop a little more, and hinting around about a potential job. I went to my high school reunion, had a miserable time and was glad it was over, hey just like old times. Then I got pushed out of my job by a boss who technically was still employing me but wasn't given me any hours. After a week and a half of "unemployment" I was hired to work the night shift at the truck stop. And a half year later I'm still there. Can't wait to see what 2012 has to offer.