ocularnervosa's Open Salon Blog

Stop this plane I want to get off.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:04:38 -0400

An urban myth claims that crashed planes have a higher cancellation rate than ones that arrive safely. There are no statistics to support this claim. Psychologist say people create such stories to make themselves feel better about flying. After all, your higher sense of self preservation would prevent you from getting on a doomed plane.

I was taking a late flight and the gate area was mostly deserted. I was eating a fast food burger and watching a couple at the last chance slot machines, I've always said McCarin in Las Vegas is just a casino with an airport theme. I was chuckling because the guy was playing slots but his companion was telling him what to do. Is there a cashier cage in the airport? I had no idea.

I didn't know why but I really didn't want to fly that night. Perhaps it was just the usual end of vacation funk, maybe it was the long trek ahead of me or maybe it was just the late hour. Whatever it was I really wasn't looking forward to this flight.

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is called Twenty Two. The basic story is a woman has a nervous breakdown and winds up in the hospital. While there she keeps having the same lucid dream about a nurse walking down a hall. She follows and they wind up at room 22, which just happens to be the morgue. The nurse turns around and says "Room for one more". The woman screams and runs back to her bed.

The doctors assure the woman that there is no room 22 or a morgue in the hospital and nobody on staff resembles the description of the nurse. They chalk the dream up to the woman's breakdown and subscribe her sleeping pills.

The woman recovers and is heading home. She goes to the airport where the events of her dream start coming true, the clock strikes the same hour, someone breaks a glass like in her dream and she just happens to be on flight 22. As she climbs the stairs to the plane (it was the early 60'sbefore the invention of the walkway) and who is the stewardess on the flight? Yep, it's the nurse, and she just happens to say "Room for one more honey" The woman screams and runs back into the terminal and collapses in terror. And you can guess what happens next, the plane crashes in a huge fireball killing everyone on board.

After a short wait the incoming plane arrived and we boarded. There was the standard crowd of people who first had to line up in front of the gate despite their section not being called. Then there was the wait as people tried to jam their overstuffed carry on bags in the overhead compartment. Finally everyone settled down and we taxied to the runway. I don't know why but I just didn't want to be on that plane. It wasn't the trip anymore but the plane itself.

We took off without incident and the clouds cleared just long enough for me to get a great view of the Hoover Dam lit up at night. Even thisspectacular view didn't cheer up my mood. I was hoping we got to Phoenix in record time. I tried to sleep but the best I could do was a light doze, the kind where you are half asleep and half awake. Are we there yet?

There's a scene in the movie Fight Club where Edward Norton's character ( who doesn't have a name) is on a flight and is half asleep. He is looking out the window when he sees another plane coming right at them. The plane smashes into his flight and he watches the cabin get torn to pieces. He wakes up to find himself sitting next to Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, and his life changes drastically.

We finally began our decent into Phoenix. As we circled the city I became very impatient, I just wanted to be on the ground. I wanted off this plane and as quickly as possible but it seemed like we were taking forever, even though we probably landed quicker than normal due to the lateness of the hour and the fewer flights at that time of year. I was never so happy when we touched down and taxied to the gate area. Just open the door and let me off.

The wost airline disaster occurred on the island of Temerofe off the coast of Spain. Several major airlines had been diverted to the tiny airport after a terrorist attack has shut down a mainland airport. Ground fog and miss communication, along with a KLM pilots attempt to maintain his on time record resulted in his plane trying to take off directly into the path of a landing Pan Am 747. 583 passengers and crew were killed in the crash and the international flight committee changed the rules regarding take offs and landing.

I never understood why the minute the plane stops rolling people jump up into the aisle to grab their overstuffed bags out of the overhead compartment. The walkway won't be connected to the plane for a good five minutes and nobody is really going anywhere. I prefer to sit and wait, even though I wanted to get off this plane as quickly as possible.

As I sat there I looked out the window, there was a guy with a flashlight walking around under the wing. I figured he was doing a standard check and put it out of my mind, until the second guy walked up. The new guy was wearing a dress shirt and a tie and was also inspecting the bottom side of the wing, he sure didn't look like the ground crew. I didn't really think that much about it until the first guy pointed his flashlight at the tarmac, there was a puddle of clear liquid, about the size of a serving platter, and then he pointed it further up the wing to another puddle about the size of a large dinner plate. This was not normal. The cabin door opened up and I got off that plane as quickly as I could.

Later when chatting with a pilot friend on Twitter I found out the puddle were more than likely jet fuel. The pilots on the flight must have known about the leak since the ground crew began the inspection as soon as we landed. I was grateful it was a short flight.

They say there is no such thing as ESP and people only believe they would know not to get on a dangerous flight to make themselves feel better about flying.

I QUIT!

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:04:49 -0400

To began with this isn't a flounce. Nor did I quit my job. Last night I finally admitted something that I had pretended wasn't happening, I gave up on trying to do a daily blog.

When last I left off I had moved to the afternoon shift and headed to Vegas for a couple of days. When I returned I was just a couple of weeks behind in my blog and swore I would catch up. You know what they say about God and plans.

Then the trouble began, computer trouble. I found that my computer would lock up on a regular basis, especially when I went to save my work. Everything would freeze and then I would lose everything. This happened regardless of if I was saving a paragraph or a single character. It took me nearly two weeks to fix the problem, and now I was way behind on my blog.

The second problem was the change of shifts. Before I would come home at the end of the night and go straight to bed. After 7 or 8 hours of sleep I would get up and have a third of the day before I had to go to to work, plenty of time for writing. Plus on my nights off I was wide awake at 2 am and had nothing to do. The only thing on TV was informercials and the only place that was open was where I worked and I didn't want to go there. Writing in the dark was easy.

Now, I come home at 10 pm and I'm wide awake. I need a couple of hours to decompress and the last thing I want to do is think, so instead I would watch the repeat of a few shows I had missed and play on Twitter. Finally I would go to bed and sleep till around 9 in the morning. I would get up, go for a nice walk and then do a few of the household tasks. By the time I was finished I would watch the repeat of another show I missed and when all was said and done it was noon. I would have to eat lunch and then get ready for work. My new broken hours off left me little time for writing, never mind I always had my days off.

So my weekend would roll around and I would swear that I was going to dedicate a couple of hours to writing, this should catch me up in no time at all.....then someone would need something. "Can you give me a ride here?", "Can you help me with this?", Can you cover my shift for a couple of hours?", "Can you cover my shift?" It seemed my days off became occupied with helping others out and with warmer weather on it's way the demands will be getting greater, not less.

I was a week behind, then a month. Last night I realized two and a half months had gone by and a stack of notes were sitting on my desk, mocking me. Putting self imposed pressure to get the job done resulted in writers block and I finally admitted I just wasn't going to be able to do a daily blog.

So, I am calling an end to trying to write about the day to day routine of working at a gas station. After all, I have written more about quitting the blog today than I have written in the past two months, which I haven't written anything in the past two months. It's not that I haven't considered putting the stories into some kind of book form but I'll have to get to that later, I swear.

The Afternoon shift Week 26

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:03:39 -0400

A few days off.

I had a simple plan but you know what Robert Burns said about that, The best laid plans of mice and men... Anyhow the idea was that Thursday and Monday would be covered by my fellow employees, who wanted to trade days off, and I would take an unpaid Friday. That with my normal Saturday and Sunday off would give me five days, and I would take a quick trip to Vegas. Then P on the afternoon shift went nuts, cursed out the owner on his voice mail and was fired. I moved up to the afternoon shift and my days off switched to Monday and Tuesday. Luckily Diane offered to cover the weekend and Ann said she would work that Thursday for me so I didn't lose my deposit on my trip but oddly enough I had Monday and Tuesday off, had to work Wednesday and then left on Thursday. What a week it's going to be.

2/8

Wednesday turned out to be a typical February day, slow. Tourists don't travel this time of year and Diane was off on her marathon cleaning. For some reason she feels she can only clean everything in site on the days I work so I end up stuck behind the counter. I did stock and clean the cappuccino machine, I wanted things to be in order before I left. But the night drug on.

Most of my customers were truck drivers. There were those who paid with their fleet cards but most paid cash. I ended up dropping $1100 in cash by 6 pm. At the end of the night I dropped over $17oo in cash. Not a bad take for a slow night.

Finally the night came to an end. I stuck around for a while because Steph was her usual late. As I was waiting a guy came in and asked if we had Camel 99's. Amy said "no we only have 100's". I was laughing because 100's refers to the length of the cigarette and 99's are a brand of Camels. I got the customer his smokes and handed them to Amy, who turned beet red at her mistake. Seriously, that was the most interesting happening of the night.

Before I left I decided to air up my tires, and it turns out they needed it. I got some quarters from Amy and she asked "are you driving there?" I told her no but I was driving to the airport, that is 240 miles away. Again there was that look of logic slowly sinking into her mind. Sometimes Amy doesn't snap to simple things.

I went home and did another paranoia run through of my packing list and got ready for tomorrow. I was going to have to leave early to catch my flight so I went straight to bed. Tomorrow I leave for Vegas!

Found money 2 cents.

2/9

5 am sucks, just saying. I had to get up early to make the 3 1/2 hour drive to the airport. But the positive side is you encounter almost no traffic on the highway at 6 am on a Thursday morning in early February. There is a drawback, unexpected weather. Although most of the time it was partly cloudy when I got near Santa Fe I hit heavy fog followed by snow, and slow driving. Finally I passed "The City Different" and got back to clear weather, and lots of traffic. Regardless the time of year there is always traffic between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, which is why they are expanding the highway into three lanes. Even with bad weather and people who don't know how to drive the speed limit I arrived about an hour earlier than I planned.

Cloudy skies, a half hour later fog and snow.

I decided to stop at the Reservation gas station, about 20 miles north of Albuquerque, they generally have the cheapest gas in the area. If I tanked up now I wouldn't have to do it on my return trip. I even had time go grab a snack before getting back on the road. Seriously, travel in the off season if you can get away with it, summer is overrated.

I always park in one of the off airport lots, they are about half the cost and they have shuttle buses that drop you off at the front door. If you park at the airport you have to find a spot, which are too narrow, then haul your bags across the lot, then through the parking garage (why is the enclosed lot for short term parking anyhow?), across the drop off lanes and then into the terminal, all for twice the price.

I did have to laugh, the shuttle showed up and I got on. He pulled out and then swung around through the lot looking for his next pick up. When he finally found them they had parked right next to me. He could have saved himself a trip. With nobody else on the lot we headed to the airport.

Here's a hint, if you want to get through security quickly, wear a Disney shirt. The TSA guy commented on Mickey and waived me through. I did have to wait because the screeners always freak out over my stash box, it looks like a personal hygiene product but it's really a hollow can with a screw off bottom, when I'm just taking a carry on I always remove the bottom and put it on top of everything but the guy decided he had to double check it because the top was heavy. It's built that way so it feels real but I didn't mind.

Finally I put my shoes back on and found my gate, thus started the long wait. I always hope some supermodel comes along and asks if she can sit down, but that never happens. This time it was three guys on their way to a drag queen contest in, of all places, Billings Montana. At least they were entertaining.

Suddenly half the passengers phones began to ring and then came the announcement, I was going to have to change planes in Phoenix (it was a cheaper flight) but there was a problem. It seems the incoming flight had mechanical problems and returned to the gate, the desk attendants told us there would be a slight delay and as soon as they had more information they would let us know. Immediately people went running up to the desk to ask about connecting flights. After they calmed them down they made an announcement that as soon as they had a time schedule they would do what they could for connecting flights but they couldn't do anything if people kept interrupting them.

The Drag Queens weren't worried, they had an 8 hour layover so it was either Albuquerque or Phoenix. They broke out their lap top and started talking about the pageant and last years winner and the general catty stuff one would expect. I think I know more about their shows then I ever cared to. I also figured out the one guy liked the middle guy who was dating the third guy. I don't know if they were all aware of just how transparent their love triangle really was. By the way the middle guy liked the extra attention he got from the first guy which will lead to real trouble in the future.

You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.

A dozen cell phones went off again as people got updates from the airline. The next announcement came and the flight had once again taxied to the runway only to have to return to the gate. We were told that if they couldn't figure out what was going on they would find a replacement plane. I was thinking "Great" I had no idea what time I would get to Vegas now. There was another rush to the podium and another announcement that they were working on alternate arraignments for those who would miss their connecting flights and would call people up to the podium. It was bad timing because I had to go to the restroom and if they called my name I wanted to be there to hear it, what to do, what to do.

The guy sitting next to me went for a walk and when he came back he was mad at his wife. It seems his bottle of water fell over and he hadn't screwed the cap on tight enough and it leaked all over his chair. Somehow it was his wife's fault and he stormed off to find some napkins or paper towels to clean up his mess, she just took her old newspaper and got the job done before he came back. The guy was so clueless.

Phones went off and the next announcement came in, the airline couldn't find out what the problem was so people, and baggage, were being unloaded. There was another rush to the podium and another announcement. They began calling names but I couldn't wait so I headed to the restroom. When I came back they hadn't called my name and were just getting rid of the people who just couldn't wait.

I have to be in L.A. at 5, what are you going to do?

After clearing out the angry passengers they announced that a new plane had been brought up and "if it gets off the ground safely" they would give us a new ETA. I had to laugh about the idea of the next announcement, the plane had taken off but the Phoenix airport was closed until they cleaned up the debris. They really need to be careful in how they word their announcements in the future.

Finally, two hours later the plane arrived, the incoming passengers disembarked and we loaded up. Boy was it hot on the plane because in the rush they forgot to turn on the ground air. Grumpy late passengers were even more grump. Luckily I was sitting in the emergency aisle and got to board first so I avoided all the standing in the aisle waiting for that guy who's bag is too big for the overhead compartment but insists on trying to jam it in to avoid checked bag fees. Finally we were all on board and off to Phoenix.

When we landed in Phoenix I was sure I was going to have to make the airport dash to catch my next flight but it turned out I was only two gates away from where I needed to be. I had time to hit the facilities, grab a bottle of water and a bag of trail mix and make it just in time to start boarding again. I had selected the exit row on this flight too so once again after the First Class and club members had boarded I was on, and again got to avoid the standing in the aisle while someone tries to jam their bag in the already full overhead compartment. The laugh of the day was a woman was complaining about waiting and someone in her party said "I can't wait to get you to Vegas and get you drunk!" I'm not sure but I think the woman making the comment was the mother of the woman complaining.

Loaded up once again and we were off, on time. The only problem was this plane had a regulation mid body emergency exit door so no window. I didn't get to see Hoover dam or the sites of the Strip as we came in plus I get kind of anxious when we land but thankfully we touched down right away. I was off the plane and in the casino known as McCarin airport. Since I didn't have to get checked bags I headed right to the shuttle van. Well not right to the shuttle van, I had to make a lap of the baggage check area because the helpful signs ended at the top of the escalator, but I found where I wanted to be. Luck was with me because one van had just loaded up and they had one seat left so I didn't have to wait, plus I was the second drop off, things were looking up.

I stayed at the Excalibur since they were having a sale. The drop off area for buses ironically is on the opposite side of the hotel from the front desk so I had to hike through the casino to check in. Thankfully it was Thursday afternoon and the lines were non existent. The desk clerk called up my reservation and asked if I minded being on the 13th floor. I told her I didn't have any superstitions plus it was fun to see the reaction of other people when I punched the elevator button. I found out why I had gotten such a deal, someone was in the hallway complaining about the lack of hot water and the guy was explaining that the hotel was under 50% occupancy and the water was taking a while to get to the upper floors. Oh well, a partial cold shower was worth the savings.

Did I just see twin girls wanting me to come play with them?

What a nice room, perhaps the third nicest I have ever stayed in. It also had a great view of the Luxor across the street. Unfortunately it also had a nice view of the airport, I had wanted to sleep with the window open, as wide as it would go, but the sound of planes landing made that impossible. Surprisingly the room was quiet with the window closed. Way to go Vegas.

Once I had settled in I decided to go find a bite to eat plus I needed some toothpaste, since I only brought a checked bag I had decided to wait to avoid any hassle at the security check point. I decided to head across the street to the New York New York to a nice walk up hamburger place I had visited the last time I was in town. The thing about Vegas is everything changes fast and the place was gone, replace by a bistro that charged twice as much for the same burger. To make room for seating they also got rid of the walk up pizza place. Instead I went to a Chinese place.

After dinner I decided to go for a walk to stretch my legs after the long trip. You could tell it was the off season because there weren't the normal crowds filling the sidewalks, although the guys with the "escort" cards were out in force. I headed to the Bellagio and watched the fountain show and then back towards the hotel. Along the way I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a few items like bottled water, which is a lot cheaper than buying it from the hotel vending machines, and toothpaste.

By the time I got back to the hotel I was pretty tired, it had been a long day and a long trip and I just wanted to relax. I kicked back with the last of the trail mix and watched Goodfellas, mob movies in Vegas seemed appropriate. Eventually I went to sleep, tomorrow I would "do Vegas".

Found money, there was a dime laying on the floor but it was in the airport restroom and I decided to leave it there.

The Afternoon shift Week 25

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:02:45 -0500

2/1

For the past couple of weeks everyone has been on high paranoia watch. Every truck was suspect of being the fuel thieves and anyone who took too long on the lot got a second look. After waiting and watching things finally happened, and luckily for me it was my day off.

When I got to work I heard all about the big bust. Diane and Ann were working when the fuel thieves rolled in, and the owner was hiding just out of site. Sure enough the guys pulled up and prepaid, in cash, and began pumping. Next the boss showed up and went straight to the back room where the monitor is, and then the cops showed up. They caught the guys with the pump opened and running without the meter working. They were arrested and their trucks were impounded. A copy of the video was made and everyone had to fill out a statement. I guess the thieves are being held with a $50,000.00 cash only bond. Hopefully we can all relax again.

Except....the accountant called and wanted to know about a sale on January 29th. Diane called up the history and ran off a receipt and gave the accountant the name and time. A short while later the owner showed up and got another copy of the video, it turns out there were more than just the two thieves.

If you read my last post you will know that on Sunday I had gotten suspicious of some truckers and had Ann call the owner to let him know something was up, but he said they didn't fit the description and we didn't do anything. Well, it turns out I was right and they were stealing fuel. When I went outside, to check the trash (wink wink), they had shut off the pumps but they had gotten a hundred gallons over what they had paid for.

The owner said they had to have the pumps on before they could bypass the system so that is why they were prepaying. But one of the thieves used a credit card and the boss had rigged a camera right next to the pump. When the owner talked to the DA they said there was enough evidence to prosecute without having to catch the guys red handed so with the receipt and the video, plus the tank reading I had run on Sunday they were going to put out a national warrant for the guys, if they get stopped anywhere they will be arrested on site. I somehow doubt they will be back, for a while at least.

Meanwhile I thought working with Diane could get annoying, she tends to clean and straighten and never gets near a register during the whole shift, well I found it could get worse. Her nephew and niece dropped by tonight and hung around. First off Diane's sister is a thief and a drug addict, and has been to jail on several occasions, so when she is in the building I have to close my register, just to be safe. Second her kids are brats since they don't have a solid family life. I swear the nephew is going to wind up in jail before he's 18 and the niece is turned loose to do as she pleases, and here is where the trouble started.

The niece, who is 2, was screwing around with the computer, pushed some button and crashed the system. The pumps went down and so did the register Diane was working on. Diane messed around until she found out the kid had turned off the power supply, she got lucky that everything came back up and we didn't have any customers at the time. I wasn't going to call the manager. You'd think that would be lesson learned but nooo.

Next the Niece started punching buttons on the safe and they yelled at the kid, but didn't get her out from behind the counter. Then the kid was going to play with the time clock which would have caused big trouble. Then she started punching buttons on the fleet card swipe box, more yelling but no action. Finally they let her play with the calculator, which locked up and it took Diane a while to get it working again. The whole time the nephew was wandering around, I can't say for sure but I thought I saw him pocket something. If this becomes a regular occurrence I may have to have a word with the manager, and I really don't want to do that. Finally, when Diane said she didn't have any money, the sister left and took her two Future Criminals of America with her, things calmed down.

The most interesting customer of the night was a car salesman. He was one his way home after going to a custody hearing, which we got to hear all about. Some guy had a nice Ford truck and the car salesman was trying to talk him into selling it. I was laughing because they were both at least 200 miles from home, how exactly were they going to make a real deal. But it was fun to watch.

The shift ended and I got a phone call, Amy was running late and asked me to stay for a couple of hours. So I hung out and chatted with Steph. I guess the new guy was working out so I don't have to worry about that. Amy called again and she was going to be later than she thought so at midnight I clocked out and clocked back in again, I considered opening my register but Amy swore she was going to come in. At 1 AM she called again but Steph could barely figure out what she said, she was sick and taking cold pills so I figured I was working a double.

Since I was stuck at work I decided to straighten the cooler, it was a bit of a mess. The vendors had shown up earlier in the day and stuff was just tossed wherever it landed, I would have straightened it during the day but first Diane is always off messing with something and I have to watch the register and secondly I leave stuff like that for the night shift since they have the time. I spent about an hour in there and got everything back in shape.

Steph started cleaning so I hung out and ran her register, I never did open the second one back up. A truck started pulling out and for some reason locked up on his breaks. It shook his trailer so hard that it rattled the windows. I had to go outside just to be sure he didn't run over anything or cause any damage. Everything looked clear but darn that was loud.

Around two in the morning the Mississippi Department of Corrections showed up, they were doing a prisoner transfer. Normally when these vans show up they have five or six prisoners and a couple of guards. This time they had one prisoner and two vans, with five guards. They two guys that came in said he was a serious killer, a gorilla killer is what they called him and the wanted to know if Steph wanted to go out and take a look. She said no. They used the restroom and then went outside, the the other two guards came in. The one guy was wide but the other guy was at least6'5" tall and lanky, and spooky. I noticed the really big gun strapped to his hip and the Marines ring on his hand, this guy was ex special forces, you could just tell. He had one job on this trip, if the prisoner tried to escape, shoot him dead, not wounded or try to catch him, put a couple of bullets into him and make sure he was dead, you could just tell. This prisoners next stop was a super max jail where he would never walk out alive. I was glad when they left.

Finally the sun came up, the morning shift showed up and wanted to know why I was still there. I told them the story of Amy and then I went home to get some sleep. In 8 hours I have to come back and do it all over again, oh boy.

Found money 15 cents, a 1955 niclke and a 1963 penny that looked like it just came out of the mint, it was shiny and there was no wear on it at all. I had to wonder where it had been for the past 48 years.

2/2

I feel like I was just here. I got about 6 hours of sleep and crawled out of bed, cleaned up and ate and then went to work. I hate pulling doubles at the first of the week. And it's trying to snow, it's going to be a long day.

I walked into work, counted in the drawer and a bus load of high school kids rolled in, I was off and running. By the time I got them all cleared out I realized I never clocked in, I had worked for a half hour for free. Oh well I figured I would goof off to make up the time later.

I had to laugh because two customers came in and I knew I recognized them, they had been on their way to Denver last night and were now on a return trip. Then another guy came in, who I had seen the night before. He had gone to pick up a car and was on his way home too. It's not unusual to see the same customer twice when you work a double but two sets of different customers? That's a rare event.

Two truck drivers came in and they were clearly from Africa, based upon facial features and their accent. Plus when they talked to each other in their native tounge it left no doubt in my mind. They used a fleet card so along with their truck information I also had to get their drivers licence number. After they were done Diane and V, who was hanging around for some reason, wanted to know where they were from, I said I didn't know. They asked, "well where was their drivers license from" and I answered "Montana." I had to laugh because the guys obviously were U.S. citizens now and hadn't driven here from their home nation. I'm still laughing about that one.

Before Diane disappeared on her clean-a-thon I went in and worked on the cooler. Even though I had straightened it the night before more product had come in and again it was just piled everywhere. I figured if Amy was sick she wasn't going to be able to tackle it and Steph will stock the racks but she won't straighten the storage shelves. Plus I needed to stay awake today, working all night last night was making me drag today. With that done I returned to the counter and Diane disappeared with her mop and bucket.

Some guy came in and he was being a little loud, but not totally obnoxious so I let it pass. About a half hour later I was straightening around the counter and there was his wallet, he had set it on the counter just out of my site and left it there. From the way he and his girlfriend were talking they were heading somewhere, I hope it wasn't a long trip because it was stuffed with his credit cards and ID. I had to wonder if he was a local so I asked Diane if she knew him and ironically she did and even had his number, but she had left her cell phone at home. She called her nephew who gave her the number, she called the guy and it turned out he had just gone to Wal-Mart and was glad we found the wallet. When he came in to pick it up Diane gave him a bit of a hard time and made him describe it before she handed it to him, even though we had gotten his name from his ID.

The next customer came in and wanted a pack of cigarettes. Since I was working the second register I had to walk down to the end of the counter to get them and then came back. Even though the guy had gone through the full name, Marlboro 100's Gold pack he forgot one thing, he wanted soft pack and I had grabbed the hard pack. So I had to go back and get the other cigarettes, he must have been able to tell that I wasn't happy about this because he paid and left as quickly as possible. I wasn't really mad I just had to wonder why he went through the whole name of what he wanted and didn't say "soft pack"? Oh well...

Ten O'clock rolled around and I was ready to go home, then the phone rang. Tonight it wasn't Amy but Steph who wanted to know if I would stick around for a couple of hours. It seems she had covered for Amy at their other job and wanted to get a little extra sleep. I told her I would stay, I figured that since I was taking time off next week I needed to make up some of the hours this week plus I would already be into overtime so why not pick up a few extra bucks. Amy showed up and told me she had planned to come in the night before but after the last phone call she had laid down for just a minute and woke up at 8 in the morning. I told her I don't mind working for her in an emergency.

Some guy showed up and claimed the pump had ripped him off, the company offers a three cent discount on cash payments. I pointed out that since he had prepayed the pump automatically ran at the lower rate but he kept going on about 6 times 9, where he got the numbers is beyond me. I then ran off a receipt and showed him exactly how much he had paid and where the pump had discounted his sale but he pretty much called me a thief. This was a bad thing to do when I was sleep deprived so as he stormed out the door I said "have a nice night Asshole!" Sometimes you just gotta curse. I watched him as he angrily threw some trash in the can outside and then got in his car and drove off. I doubt he will be back.

Steph showed up at midnight and I went home, I really need the sleep now. Oh well, I am taking time off next week so I will make up for the extra work now.

Found money 11 cents.

2/3

After a good nine hours of sleep I feel a lot more rested and probably won't be cursing at anyone today, although I don't make any promises.

When I got to work I looked at my time card and I hadn't clocked out the night before, although I swore I had. I told the manager so she just checked when Steph came in and wrote that time on my card. I think that time clock doesn't like me because this isn't the first time I swore I clocked out but hadn't. It was trying to snow but it wasn't putting forward much effort, although I guess it was a raging blizzard up in Denver. Oh well, I don't care what it does this week as long as next Thursday is clear.

Ann took the day off because something was going on with her kids so it's just Diane and me, yea. This means that on the busiest day of the week Diane would be off on one of her super cleans and I would be stuck behind the register. Oh well.

Grrrr, want to make a gas station worker mad? Just kick off the ice from under your car right at the pump. It doesn't go anywhere and is in the way of other customers so we have to go out in the cold an scrape it off. Or it gets squished down by other drivers and then we have to sweep up the cinders and the mud that builds up after the ice melts. If you must kick off the ice please pull off to the side out of the way and do it, but don't do it at the pumps!

So the guy who had come in for a pack of smokes and after I walked down to the end of the counter and back he then said he wanted a soft pack, remember? Well he came in again tonight and after he went through the full name of the cigarettes he remembered to add "soft" even though I won't forget him in the future. I just smiled because it was funny.

Ann was out running around, so she and the kids dropped by for a soda. She was telling us that the DA had dropped by her office, she works for the parole department, and had her look at the videos of the gas thieves. She identified the one guy who had used the card and had to fill out another complaint. Did I mention I was glad they caught the guys while I was off?

A funny thing did happen, there is a UPS driver that stops in every week day. He washes his windows and tosses his trash and then leaves, we don't mind because we do plenty of business with the company. Well on days when Ann is working he comes in and hangs out for about an hour but on days when she isn't there he just leaves after his windows are clean. Well she was in the building so he came in. He went straight to the restroom and while he was in there Ann left, her and the kids were heading somewhere. When he came out he looked around and the disappointment on his face was priceless. He didn't stick around but left right away. Diane and I laughed.

It got cold, when I checked the thermometer outside it said 28 f. I checked because a couple came in and they were both wearing shorts. It may have been warm where they left from but they should have checked the weather before they got dressed. I was chuckling because they were shivering and complaining. Hopefully it was lesson learned for them.

When you use a debit card you run it through the swipe and then you have to push the yes button to say you agree to pay the charges. Most places don't do this so I spend the majority of the night telling people to push the green button first. You wouldn't believe how many people then ask "The Green Button?" "Yes, the green button, just like I said, the only green button on the swipe machine, just like the display screen on the machine says, Push The Green Button!" It's not rocket science people.

I did have a laugh at one customer. He was bobbing his head up and down like he was listening to music. The thing was he wasn't wearing any ear buds. Whatever he was listening to was strictly in his mind. At least he was enjoying it.

The next customer was a truck driver from India. He wanted so popcorn and we had just cleaned out the machine so I gave him the bag of extra. He wanted to know how much he owed and I told him no charge, since it was going to just get tossed anyhow. I never saw anyone so happy at getting old popcorn in my life.

Both Amy and Steph showed up, and on time so I clocked out and went home. I was still dragging a little from working a double earlier that week and needed the rest. Just a few more days and then my mini vacation.

Found money, 70 cents.

2/4

Another cold and windy day.

The night started off with a driver trying to use a fleet check. I hate these things because you have to get authorization by punching all the information in on the card machine. I had to punch in the express code, then the drivers name using the alpha/numerical keys, then the check number, the amount of the check and his information. After I got the whole thing done it told me the express code was wrong. I tried it again and got the same message so I checked with the driver. He had transposed two numbers so I had to punch the whole thing in again and then it wanted his trailer number so I had to punch the whole thing in for the fourth time. I hate that machine. It finally went through and I was done with it.

Two stoners rolled in and bought $40 worth of junk food. Just say no kids.

Since there is bad weather all around us and there are no holidays right now it has been slow. Just when I thought I would be able to clock out and enjoy my two days off the phone rang, Steph had caught Amy's cold and was sick, so I said I would work for her. Great, my second double of the week.

2/4-5

Amy had taken the night off because she was still sick and Steph had caught her cold so she was taking the night off too so it was just Brent and me. I had never worked with him so I wasn't sure what to expect. I just hope he has learned everything because I hate trying to teach people how to do stuff, even though everybody says I'm really good at it.

The night was really slow, Brent insisted on doing all the work but I still went in and stocked the cooler. Since I had cleaned and straightened it during the week it only took around 20 minutes. Then I broke down the cappuccino machine and washed and cleaned it. Brent stocked and cleaned the restrooms so I didn't mind that. And we chatted about working the graveyard and his other job.

Brent works at a pizza place and Sunday was The Big Game, Superbowl. I asked if they pre set up a bunch of pizzas that they would just throw on some toppings and toss them in the oven so they could send them out right away. He said he wanted to do that but the manager wouldn't let him, everything had to wait until the customer ordered them. I guess some people don't like to prepare in advance.

A truck driver came in and complained that he had been harassed by the DOT. They told him one of his tires was two pounds under inflated. They told him the cars he was hauling hung off the back "6 too much and he needed a wide load placard. They threatened to fine him heavily if he didn't fix these things. I asked him if the officer was a short guy and he said yes. I told him everybody hated that guy and wished they would transfer him somewhere else because he had the "short man" syndrome, he was trying to make up for his height by being a pain in everyone elses ass. The driver aired up his tire and was on his way.

The next truck driver came in with his wife. She went to the restroom and he quietly asked for a can of chewing tobacco. During the entire purchase he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't caught. I figured he promised to give the stuff up but was still sneaking a pinch when he could. He paid and then quickly headed outside, probably to hide the can in his secret stash. Oh well, what she doesn't know isn't any of my business.

Finally the night ended, my second double of the week and I went home I would once again be trying to catch a couple of hours of sleep before I had to come back in the afternoon. But I had plans for the day so we will see how things work out.

Found money 56 cents and a 1957 penny

2/5 Super Bowl Sunday!

Yea, I get to work on the biggest unofficial holiday in the US, but I have a plan. Originally I was going to bring in a better radio since the one at the station is pretty beat up and has to be in just the right position with nobody parked in the wrong position on the lot in order to pick up the right station. Ann told me she can still pick up a few station on her old analog TV and I just happen to have a portable one. I tested the TV at home before I left and sure enough, the one station I can get is the one the Super Bowl is being broadcast on. So I will get to watch the game while getting paid to work!

I get to work and what's the first thing I see? Two guys smoking, right next to the propane tanks. Boy are they a couple of smart ones. Thank goodness none of the tanks were leaking so I still had a place to go to work.

I had a couple of hours before the game started so I figured I would rush to get all the side work done and then I wouldn't feel like a total slacker. Sure enough, a couple and their kids come in and they are hanging around, and hanging around, and hanging around. I wanted to scream at them "Hurry up! Just get something and get out!" but I didn't. They finally left and I got started, right until the next group of people came in,the tag teamers had arrived. Oh well, there's always half time.

An old beat up car with a plastic bag for a side window and a couple of spare tires jammed into the back seat pulled onto the lot. I watched them try to use their card at the pump several times and I wasn't surprised that it got rejected. I figured they would come in and try to just leave the card and fill up but I was going to insist on a prepay, not to stereotype but they looked like they didn't have the money. I was pretty happy when they just drove off, I hate dealing with situations like that.

Then it was kick off time and everything just died off. We had maybe three customers during the first half. One guy came in and asked what the score was and watched part of the game while his girlfriend went to the restroom. I figured she was just a girlfriend because no married guy would say "Sure I want to go visit your mother this weekend, it's just a game and I can catch the replays later." He looked disappointed as they headed back out to the car, poor guy. Also that was the excuse I was using for watching the game, customer relations, I had to be able to update people instantly.

Halftime rolled around and I was ready to do some work, and then another group of people rolled in. They hovered around the drinks area just as I was going to fill up the ice hoppers on the soda machines. They wandered around the aisles and finally paid for their stuff, just as another group came in. Sure enough just around kick off for the second half everyone left. Did they time this out?

Thankfully nobody came in during the last few minutes of the game. I would have had to tell them, "I'll be with you in a minute, I have to see how this play turns out." Luckily we were pretty slow so I got to see the entire game. As soon as it was over I rushed to get everything done. I finished out the night by trying to count the cigarettes and sure enough, this is when people showed up. I managed to get the count done and wait on customers and then the night shift came in. It had been a long week and I was looking forward to the next couple of days off so I clocked out and left as quickly as possible, and remembered to take my TV. Tomorrow I will start getting ready for my trip.

A slow day so no money found.

In the Afternoon Week 24

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:02:16 -0500

1/26

Well, I'm off the graveyard shift. Now I am working the 2 to 10 shift and can actually go to bed before midnight. Things change fast sometimes.

It figures, my first official night off I couldn't sleep at all. You can't spend 6 months staying awake all night and suddenly switch in less than 24 hours. I did get to sleep around three in the morning and then slept till around ten am. I'm sure I will be able to adjust soon.

The difference between the afternoon and night shift is you are a lot more aware of time passing. When you work in the dark the artificial light is always the same but during the day you can see the shadows shifting as the sun heads towards dusk. It's harder to not pay attention and time can drag. Plus I have to adjust to working with Diane again. But I'm on the daylight shift!

The one thing that doesn't change are the customers. Some guy came in and asked if we did atm. He had a bit of an accent so I didn't understand what he wanted, he repeated "atm" several times and then I figured out he was talking about ATM cards. It's been years since I heard anyone call them that, instead everyone says "debt cards" these days but I was able to help him after the mistranslation.

A trucker came in and wanted popcorn. He asked how old it was and then went into a long story about going to the movies and getting a bad batch. Some people are passionate about their popcorn. He must have liked the the truck stop's because he didn't complain about our batch.

A customer mixed coffee and coke. I guess he wanted a lot of caffeine and sugar.

A truck driver came in and wanted to fill up so I turned on the pump for him. After he started pumping he wanted me to set the pump for $4oo. I explained that I can't set the pump once it's running so he said he would stop it. He got over $500 and then complained the pump didn't stop so once again I explained that once the pump is on I can't set it to stop. Sometimes I think people don't listen and other times I think they hear what they want and ignore everything else.

A guy came in and wanted a cup of coffee so I charged him the normal amount for it, he didn't get any fuel. After he left Diane told me he was one of the station owners. If he had introduced himself I wouldn't have charged him but maybe he was testing me. Either way he didn't say anything so I'm not going to worry about it.

When Steph came in I had to tell her that she forgot to put the cleaning supplies away and the manager was ticked. When I worked with her I would remind her but now she is on her own. I had pointed out in the past that the one thing guaranteed to tick off the manager was to leave stuff out and to be prepared to be told off tomorrow morning.

After that I went home. The schedule change had caught up with me and I went straight to bed and slept all night long. It's nice to wake up in the morning while the sun is still up, I could get use to this.

Found money 30 cents.

1/27

Tonight I worked with A for the first time. Since she will probably be featured in more stories I should give her a name so I will call her Ann, not her real name. We'll see how things go.

Ann didn't do much, mostly painted her nails. She seems to be the opposite of Diane. I don't mind because that means I can do more. Plus she cleaned the restrooms which I dont' mind at all.

A guy came in and wanted to know if there was a town around here. I pointed across the highway. I guess all those street lights confused him.

The afternoon shift is in a way like the night shift. There weren't many customers so I decided to stock the candy and sure enough a crowd of people showed up. I seriously think they are watching and waiting.

A group of kids on a group trip came in. They must have been watching "Finding Nemo" because they were talking in a bad Australian accent, and very loudly. I was happy when they finally left but I felt sorry for their chaperons who probably had to listen to them for the next couple of hours. I hate to say it but I remember being like that.

I looked out the door and some guy was backing up a truck, the problem was he was heading right for my truck. He kept getting closer and closer. Finally I went outside and waived at him to stop, he couldn't have been more than a few feet away. He was kind of embarrassed and when he came in to pay he went straight to Ann and didn't even look in my direction. Oh well, the truck survived.

The new guy came in on time and I got to go home. I'm starting to like the afternoon shift.

Found money $1.51

1/28

After last weeks fuel theft the owner decided to install a hidden camera right next to the pump. They spent the entire day installing one in an old speaker box from back when there was an intercom system. The problem was that the morning crew, who usually screws around all Saturday morning, did everything. There was nothing left to do, they cleaned the lot, the counter area, they even stocked the cooler, which never happens. There was nothing left but to hang around and wait on the few customers that came through.

Ann went to bag up some ice and dumped it all over the floor of the office. I guess she didn't knot the bag well enough and when she picked it up it went everywhere. I told her that she was looking for something to do and cleaning up ice counted.

The morning crew had put hot dogs on the new machine. The thing was they had turned it up to high and forgot to turn it back down. There were crispy little shriveled hot dogs turning round and round and it took twice as long to clean off the burned on parts. Gotta give them a message tomorrow.

Some truck driver called, he was staying at a nearby motel and wanted to know how far it was to Salt Lake City. I told him I had no idea and he asked if I had a computer and could look it up. I told him no and he said "Well you're pretty useless" I hung up on him. I could have pointed out that I wasn't going there and he was the useless one for not knowing how far his own trip was but it wasn't worth the effort. Plus it pisses people off even more if you don't fight with them. He didn't call back.

Brent had to close out at his other job so he was going to be late. I stuck around for an hour and chatted with Steph about how things were going. I guess the new guy is going to work out. He showed up and I went home. I guess next week he will be on a new schedule at his other job and I won't have to wait for him, oh well I don't mind the overtime.

Found money 16 cents.

1/29

It was another slow day. I was so bored that I got a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush and cleaned the outside trash cans. They were nasty sticky and I hated dealing with them when I switched out the bags. Now they are all nice and sparkly and should remain that way for about a week.

Two trucks rolled onto the lot. They hung out for a while and then left. About an hour later they showed up again, and I got paranoid. They prepaid for $200 bucks each and pumped up to $195.00 and then stopped. I had Ann call the the owner but he said it didn't sound like the trucks they videoed in the past. Just to be on the safe side I went out to check the trash cans but it appeared they were checking their oil and washing their windows, and were just hanging up the pumps. I guess it was a false call, thank goodness.

The night crew showed up, on time and I went home. It had been a long boring day and since I had changed shifts it had been a long week. But I have two days off!

Found money none.

1/30-31

For the first time in moths I could go for a walk in the sunshine. I dropped by to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a while and caught her up on the going's on at the truck stop. After chatting with her I stopped at the station to talk, they think I'm mad at them if they see me walk by and I don't stop. Then I went home and enjoyed the rest of my day off.

On Tuesday I got a haircut, it was way overdue. The best thing about the barber shop on Tuesday is there is no wait. Now that I'm not tired all day I got several things done, including preparing for my trip. Tomorrow I go back to work but today I'm enjoying the sunshine.

found money, one cent.

Found money for January $14.20