1/16

 Well, after working 7 days in a row I now get to work another 5 days. At least there will be a big fat check at the end. And since I had been here all weekend there were no surprises when I walked in.

It seemed Amy was running late and she hadn't called. A left since she had to pick up her kids at the baby sitter and Diane stuck around to wait. And wait and wait. Finally at midnight she said she had to go home since she had to go to her second job in the morning. She was going to swing by Amy's house to see if she was home. I was on my own, and the last time this happened I got in trouble but I was willing to wait to se. Diane called and said nobody was home at Amy's house and she was going home herself, I was going to have to make a call I didn't want to, especially at midnight.

Thankfully the manager was home but she wasn't happy. She asked if I could handle things on my own and I told her sure no problem, I've done it before.  So I got ready to cover the shift solo, boy I wish I had gone to the restroom before Diane had left, it was going to be a long night.

And then Amy walked in. I was ready to chew her out for not showing up and not calling when she asked "Where's P (from the afternoon shift)". It turns out Amy had called P and asked her to work for a couple of hours, P had said sure and even offered to work a couple of extra hours later in the week. Amy hadn't called because she thought things were covered. I told her I had called the manager and she was going to have to take care of things in the morning. Luckily Amy had saved the text exchange and had proof she had asked someone to cover and that person had failed to show up. Normally it would be considered a "no call no show" which is considered an automatic "I quit". P has a talent of making a mess, why does that woman still have a job?

The rest of the night was uneventful. January and February are usually the slow times of year so a few customers showed up but mostly we just hung out. When the manager showed up she was relieved to see Amy there and since she was going to have to explain the whole story I went home. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

Found money 66 cents and a 1941 nickle.

1/17

I worked with Steph since Amy took the night off, I guess she had some kind of plans. P was working for someone on the afternoon shift so she was kind of skittish about being there, Amy had send a text saying "Thanks for getting me fired", now P really believed it had happened. Nobody told P that everything had been worked out so now she is on edge.

I noticed that when I would come in after P there would be no pennies in the "take a penny leave a penny" box. I figured P was dumping them back into the register so she wouldn't have to drop a roll from the safe but A told me that P was taking them. Every night she dumps them into her pocket, who is this person?

Anyhow A also told me that the person who drove over the pump  last week had been caught. If you missed it a guy pulling a trailer loaded with drilling pipe had run into one of the diesel pumps knocking it off it's base and then drove off. The morning crew had gotten the plate number off the trailer which the police traced to a company in Texas, who then told them the name of the driver and his location. He will be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, destruction of private property and will have to pay damages. In case you are interested a gas pump costs around $10,ooo dollars including installation. That guy is going to be paying for this for a long time, plus the company probably fired him on the spot. Remember if you have an accident don't flee, especially if a dozen people with camera phones see you do it.

And there is a new hot dog machine. Well it isn't new, it's pretty well used. Diane spend the majority of the shift cleaning it up, I guess it was from the Downtown station and was pretty grimy when they hauled it in. Also only half of the rollers work. I hate hot dog machines because they are messy and people constantly complain that they are undercooked or overcooked or that you don't have any on when they want one. This ain't Burger King people, they are crappy gas station hot dogs, you get what you get!

Another celebrity sighting! Or at least another sighting of a celebrity bus. The El Paso Rhinos, a professional hockey team, rolled onto the lot around 3 in the morning. The driver came in and got some oil and filled up the tank. None of the players came in, which is what normally happens. I was busy while they were here, it figures the only time we get customers is when I want to go outside. I wanted to get a photo but was unable to. Oh well, next time...

Shift change, went home and went to bed. Only three more days in this 13 day week.

Found money 28 cents.

1/18

Two days ago I found a 1941 nickle. I told Amy and she wanted to look at it, and then kind of tossed it onto the counter, just as I was counting my drawer for shift change. When I got home I checked out the nickle and it wasn't a 1941 but a 1982. Had I accidentally mixed it in to the nickles I was counting at the end of the shift? Or had Amy pocketed it? I didn't know and I wasn't going to ask, I wanted to think better of her. Well...

Steph wanted to get a snack but she was low on cash so she went to get the change out of her car. When she paid among her coins what did I find? Yep,the missing 1941 nickle, Steph is a coin collector. Was it the same nickle or was it coincidence that she just happened to have a coin just two days after it seemed the one I found had been switched with a different nickle. I wasn't sure and I still want to think higher of Amy so I chocked it up to an odd occurrence and of course pocketed the new nickle. Thanks Karma.

Some guy comes in and asks for a pack of smokes but he talked in gibberish. I ask him to repeat what he said and again he mumbles and blathers, I wanted to ask him "what's your problem?"  Finally after the third time he speaks clearly and I get him what he wants. I hate people who think they are funny. I'm always tempted to say, "Speak clear English or get the Hell out!" Plus since I'm on my 10th day in a row I'm not in a good mood.

Later  a local meth addict came in. Normally when I see this guy I go on high alert because he and his friends are thieves and you have to keep a close eye on them. Today he came in by himself. He got what he wanted and as he was leaving he walked into the door, leaving a greasy forehead print on the glass. He had gone to the left side of the door even though it opens on the right. Seriously kids, just say No.

Some guy walks in and asks if we are open. I guess the bright lights, unlocked door and customers wandering around confused him. He walks over to the pot and asks ''is this coffee?" Well it's brown, hot and smells like coffee so it probably is. It's so tempting to give smart ass answers to people like this but they probably wouldn't understand so I just give them straight answers and try to get them out as soon as possible.

Steph was again talking about going to California. Now she wants to go either in February or March and asked if I would cover a couple of days for her. She still wants to get paid so she wants to trade days. This has me thinking, Amy wants me to cover a Saturday for her and Steph wants me to cover a weekend for her, if I have one of them work a Thursday and one work a Monday, and I take Friday off I could turn it into a five day weekend in February. I wonder what Vegas flight and hotels are going for these days? 

The night ended and I went home.

Found money, no regular coins but a 1946 nickle and a 1918 penny. I didn't show either to Steph to make sure there was no mix up this time.

 1/19

When I came in P from the afternoon shift was asking when Brent was going to start. It seems that when Amy explained to the manager what happened on Monday she included the part about texting P and saying she had been fired. The manager, along with everyone else, decided to play along and started talking about hiring a new guy, "Brent". It just goes to show how concerned she was with getting someone fired, she was just curious if she could flirt with the new guy. Boy is she in for a surprise.

What is it with $100 bills? It seems every time I just start my shift someone comes in with one. I don't have change and they get mad. Seriously if you are travelling and come in a place late at night don't expect them to have that kind of cash in the drawer, thieves and all.

Meanwhile  Diane has a secret trucker boyfriend that she thinks nobody knows about. When she worked the graveyard shift it was easy because he came by and saw her while she was at work but now it's a problem since they work at different times. So I wasn't surprised when I went to toss some empty boxes and saw her in the parking lot with the guy, thankfully they didn't see me. She came in the building after their get together to claim she had come for some ice. I laughed but I didn't say anything. 

 Some guy came in and he was shaking and couldn't stand still. He wanted to use the phone so I asked if it was a local call and he said yes. I gave him the phone simply because I didn't want to get into anything with some guy on a bad buzz. He called his mother, in the middle of the night, and was begging for money to keep the repo men from taking his car. The funny part was Steph came around the corner from cleaning the restrooms, saw the guy, got a weird look on her face, turned around and went back to the restrooms. After he left she told me that she had once dated the guy and didn't want to talk to him. Considering he couldn't stand still the entire time he was on the phone I don't blame her.

Some guy came in and he smelled like fermenting yeast. I hope he fell into a vat of beer and wasn't slow rotting. I was glad when he left.

For an hour I played the "Will I break a roll of quarters or not" game. I had less than a dollars worth in the drawer and every time a customer paid cash I wondered if this time I would be busting them open. Sure enough, within the last hour of the shift all my customers came up to the register with $20 bills and not only did I have to bust open the roll of quarters but dimes and pennies too. It never fails.

One customer was yelling at some guy in the parking lot. She kept calling "Marco....Marco..." I was so tempted to say "Polo" but I resisted.

A crowd showed up at 5 and until shift change we were busy. I took in more money in 45 minutes than I did the rest of the night. I guess people were getting an early start on the weekend. The morning shift showed up and I left. Just one more day on my two week schedule.

Found money 10 cents.

1/20

As usual I was first to arrive. A had taken the night off so it was just Diane and P. Diane left right away and P asked me when the new guy was going to show up, I just shrugged my shoulders and went to work. Then Amy walked in. P was disappointed to see her and then did a fake "sticky sweet" "Oh, did they hire you back? I'm so sorry for what happened." It was a good thing Amy had a week to cool off or she would have punched P square in the face. P must have felt the tension because she didn't do her usual milking of the clock but got out as soon as possible. Later after Amy calmed down I told her the tale of Brent and we had a good laugh.

My first customer of the night prepaid for $30 worth of gas. They got $27 and drove off without their change. A three dollar tip is a great way to start the night.

Since I hadn't done a serious straightening of the cooler in a few days, and since both Amy and Steph were at work I figured I would tackle it tonight. I was in the middle of straightening the shelves when some guy opened one of the glass doors to get a bottle of something. I was hit by a massive waive of aftershave, the guy must have filled up his bathtub and dove in. I had to hold open the main door for a while to let the place air out. I felt sorry for Amy and Steph who had to stand right across the counter from the guy, at least I had the cooler fans to blow the smell out.

Steph started sweeping and mopping and was singing and dancing while she was doing the job. I tried several times to video her but every time I got my camera out she turned around and looked at me. Oh well, maybe next time.

When the Morning shift woman showed up she was so hung over she was pukey sick. She wanted me to work for her but after 13 days on I wasn't going to work another 8 hours. Plus she is almost 40, it's time to stop acting like a teenager and not get drunk when you know you have to go to work the next day. So I took off as soon as possible, and while she was in the restroom getting rid of last nights fun. Hopefully she is learning her lesson.

Found money $3.10 and three 1964 nickles. 

And thankfully after working almost two weeks straight I get a couple of days off. Amy wasn't happy because she asked if I would cover her shift on Saturday and I said No! I need my rest plus if I had just one smart ass customer I'd jump across the counter and rip their head off, and that wouldn't be a good thing.