Bizarre Morning.

Whoda thunk just filling up the Wrangler could be such an exciting event? [Note: “the other guy”, “the maniac” and “the crazy guy” are all referring to the same person – butt crack boy who started the whole thing.]

On my was to the Chevron this morning, while I was waiting at the intersection of 21^st South and 13^th East, I saw what I thought was a homeless man going up to cars stopped and asking for money.  It was obvious he was being aggressive, at least in the sense that none of the people in the cars had called him over to give him money.  They kept their windows up and took off as soon as the light let them.

As I was filling up I looked over to see if he was still going out into the road to harass drivers, and saw him (he’s the one with the blue hoodie on and butt crack showing in the first picture) at the driver’s window of a red Mercedes.  It caught my attention when he started banging on the window.

By the time the Wrangler was filled up, he had started punching and kicking the car.  I went to the front door of the Chevron where one of the workers I knew was standing and asked if anyone was calling the cops, I had no idea who was in the car and things were escalating.

A customer coming out of the Chevron was on the phone, and told us that he was calling the police.  By this time the driver of the car (he’s the one in the blue shorts and neon yellow shirt) had gotten out and was trying to keep the assailant from further damaging it.

The driver was trying real hard to keep his cool, but the other guy was swearing at him, insulting his family and continuing to kick the car.  Finally the driver had had enough, got in between the other guy and the car, trying to keep the other guy from doing any more damage.

The other guy wasn’t having anything of it, and tried to push past him to get back at the car.  At this point a brawl started.  It had been 10 minutes since the police were contacted and still no sign of them, even though the guy on the phone (and the driver was on the phone to them also) was encouraging them to get there fast before someone got badly hurt.

The other guy’s buddy, who was yelling things about the world coming to an end (I’m not making this up, honestly), pulled him away from the driver, things would deescalate for minute, then the other guy would head back towards the car, the driver would get in the way and the brawl would start over again.  This repeated itself several times, and still the comps were nowhere to be seen (it took them a full 20 minutes to get there).

A crowd had gathered, people had their cell phones out taking pictures (obviously I was one of them) and video of the whole event.  The Chevron parking lot was packed.

A young lady unknowingly pulled up behind the red Mercedes in her Honda Element.  She started taking a video of what was going on in front of her, the other guy noticed her (and for some reason he didn’t notice the other dozen people with their phones out).  I watched as he kicked her front bumper and then went up to her window, yelling at her to stop.   When he started pounding on her window a bunch of us started yelling at him and moving towards the Honda.  A guy across the street, in the white pickup, grabbed a 6’ pole out of the back of his truck and got the other guy’s attention away from the Honda.

I will never forget the look of sheer terror on the lady’s face as she jumped out of the driver’s seat into the passenger seat to get away from the maniac banging on her window.

The guy with the pole really didn’t want to fight, so when the other guy came towards him, the guy with the pole led him around the white truck away from the young lady, who took this opportunity to climb out the passenger side of her Honda and blend in with the rest of the crowd.

At this point I’m not sure what happened, but we noticed that the crazy guy had calmed down and was hugging his buddy who had pulled him away from the fights earlier.  Finally, the police showed up.  No lights, no sirens, no hurry.  The paramedics beat them there by a minute or so, at first we thought they had just happened across the scene.  The crazy guy was sitting calmly on the back bumper of the ambulance being looked over by the paramedics when I (and a couple other witnesses) went over to the driver to give him my name and phone number in case he needed witnesses.  I saw the police putting the other guy into the back of the police car as I waited at the left turn light on my way home.

And the whole time my good camera was sitting on the table in the garage.  Gotta learn to never leave that thing at home.

And I’m still wondering how the driver is going to explain all this to his insurance company.

Finally Happened

For half a decade I worked part-time at the Chevron near my house.  I was amazed at the number of people that would come speeding into the parking lot just to come to a screeching halt in the parking spots in front of the building.  I was even more amazed that no one ever jumped the curb and hit the windows.

Until this Wednesday.  I stopped by after school to fill up my tank and the manager was still sweeping up the glass;  I “missed it by that much”.

Of course the kid said that it was an accident, his foot slipped off the clutch.  That’s just about what TMC said in ‘87 when he drove his parent’s Country Squire into the Seven-11 ice machine. 

Truth was he was screwing around, trying to make a grand entrance and misjudged the car’s stopping ability.  Considering the damage done here, I suspect this kid was doing the same.  

That bent frame looks like more damage than a stopped car with a slipped clutch would do, but I could be wrong.

Still reaping the benefits.

I quit working at the Chevron about three months ago.  A week or two before I gave my notice I asked the manager if I could have one of the advertising props when they were done with it.  She’s always been great with this, employees were welcome to put dibs on and take home the advertising props that distributors brought, when they were no longer being used.

So, yesterday I went there to get some stuff.  I was talking to the manager, and on my way out as I said bye, she told me that the hammock I asked for was waiting for me in her office.  Pretty cool, considering I don’t work there any more.

Got up this morning with..

not a wine glass in my hand, but the feeling:

.I don’t have to go to two jobs today!.

This weekend has felt like the beginning of summer, not just because we broke 80° (27°C) both days, but because the end of my second job feels much like the end of the school year – freeing.

Freedom’s just another word for…

not having a second job.  Yay!

I showed up to work to find that the manager had spent some time updating the schedule through the month of May.  One of the benefits was that she eliminated the two days I was scheduled to work next week.  I’M DONE!

On one level I’m sad – it was a good place to work.  Overall, the people there were fun to work with and the management was incredibly accommodating when something came up at school.

On the other hand, it’s going to be really nice not to have to, after eight hours of dealing with junior high kids, work another 4 hours.

Free!

Day 3 and other stuff.

Moon over my Chevron.

Every wonder how they build a parking structure?  I’ve been watching it happen, and it’s quite fascinating.  Once they have the original foundation they put up a huge aluminum framework with  a whole bunch of posts and braces underneath it.

Then they put down some boards, a whole bunch of crisscrossing rebar and then pour a thick layer of concrete over it.  They just keep going round and round until they get to the top layer.

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The English teacher next to me lost a lot of weight before I started working there by changing to a mostly raw, mostly vegetarian diet.  Very healthy, very not-burgers.  She also drinks a lot of herbal tea, and got into the habit of bringing me a cup of it every morning.  In a very dainty tea cup that makes my first period expect me to drink it with my pinky finger extended.  It’s become a ritual.

So to thank her for her efforts and because I’ve grown to really enjoy my morning cup of tea, I went and bought her a few boxes of flavored teas.

But I can’t just give them to her,  Nooooo.  Instead I had to go by a MacDonalds and buy myself a couple of Big Macs (first time I’ve eaten there in several years).

I’m going to present her with a MacDonalds bag with two Big Mac boxes in it.  She’ll probably know right away that it is some kind of joke, but the kids in her first period will probably not.

Almost makes me look forward to the end of spring break.

due, deux, dos, twee, dva, dalawa, hai.

One down…

…seven more shifts at Chevron to go.

3.25% = bye, bye second job.

Last week I refinanced my house at 3.25% on a 15 year mortgage.  This dropped my monthly payment by almost $400 a month.  I also recently paid off some credit card debt, saving another $88 a month.

I had originally planned to continue paying the same mortgage payment, which would have paid off the house in 11.4 years instead of 15.

Then I looked at my taxes.  I already had them figured out for the real income, so just for kicks I calculated my taxes without the Chevron income, and left everything else the same.

Instead of paying to both the Feds and the State, I would have received a refund from both, a savings of almost $1,100.  And that doesn’t even include the taxes Chevron withheld.  In reality, I was only earning $210 a month for 36 hours of work.  That works out to be $5.84 an hour.

It’s not that I don’t like working at Chevron, I actually really like the people and the job.  What I really don’t like is having to work a second job.  Just simply having to leave school as soon as possible to run off to work another half a day’s worth (4 hours).  So I talked to the owner/manager today.

I had planned out this nice speech, “I’ve paid off enough bills that I don’t need to work a second job, so I’m thinking of quitting.”  Instead, while we were just chatting like normal, I blurted out “I need to talk to you about something.  I’m going to quit.”  Smoooooth.  As curdled milk.

Once the ice was broken, I pulled out the smooth.  Mentioned that I really liked working with her and the people there, that they have been great to me but that I just don’t need (or want) to work 2 jobs anymore.  It all ended up good.  I told her that I would work the shifts I was already scheduled for, the schedule is already set up to April 26^th, but that if she hired someone sooner and needed to give away those hours, that would be fine too.

So it’s done.  Back to one job, and if I can find a good roommate I’ll even revive the increased mortgage payment plan.  But for now, a longer mortgage is better than several more years of working two jobs.

Scenes from a Chevron station.

Ok, we all know what I think about taggers and graffiti.  But this one seems to know where it belongs.  Or maybe it’s just a case of low self-esteem and he doesn’t feel his tag belongs anywhere better than on the side of a urinal.

Either way, I’d rather look at what goes inside than his tag.

And then there’s the person who did this.

Either they are a total dipstick and didn’t notice the flap with “TRASH” in big letters right above the windshield water, or they are just a big a-hole and thought it would be funny to make it hard for the next person to wash their windshield and eventually give me an opportunity to stick my hand in really cold fluid to clean it out. 

Either way, these people shouldn’t be procreating.

$100

There was an envelope waiting for me when I got to work (at Chevron) this evening.  At first I thought it was a pink slip thanks to some customer that complained about me, but instead it was good news.

I passed a tobacco sting, and Chevron gives out a $100 bonus to everyone when they do that.

Every now and then the Utah Health Department gets a 16 to 18 year old kid to drive around with an adult and go into various stores trying to buy smokes.  If you I.D. the kid and refuse to sell him the tobacco, they give you and send the company a letter congratulating you for refusing to sell to a minor.  If you sell the kid the smokes you get a ticket and both you and the company are fined.  Obviously the company doesn’t like getting the fines (they are in the hundreds, not a buck and a half), so a lot of convenience stores reward their employees that pass.

Now I just have to decide what to do with that cash. (It’s not the lottery, don’t ask for a loan.)

Intentional asshole, oblivious asshole, blind as a bat or dumb as a rock?

These people drove up to one of our pumps, bought nothing at all and spent 20 minutes cleaning their car, including the windows inside and out.  The could have at least made their garbage into the trash bin.

An amazing amount of people leave their trash right on top of the pumps or right above where it says “TRASH Push Here”.  Even worse is when I find trash inside the window washer fluid buckets.  Today I had to refill one that had orange rind floating in it.  Now that I know was someone purposely being a jerk.  Makes me wonder if they really get off on the thought that someone is going to think “What an ass” as they clean it out.

Ahh, the human race.  Not as civilized as we like to believe.

Stereotypes and being just plain rude.

I’m not a big fan of the Republican party here in the United States.  I’m registered as an independent and vote Democrat probably 90% of the time.  But that didn’t stop me from wanting to tell this customer today to just shut up, pay for her damn beer and get the hell out.

She’s probably in her late 20’s or early 30’s.  She and her friend come into the store and as they are walking around getting their stuff I hear them bitching and moaning about Republicans.  That’s OK, everyone has their right to their opinion and to talk about it with their friends.

My coworker was ringing her up, I was ringing up one of our regulars, when an older  man in a 3-piece suit comes in to use the restroom.  Bitchy customer looks at him and asks him “Are you a Republican?”  He replies politely "Why?” She comes back with “It’s a yes or no question, just answer it.”  He says “Yes.”

“Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww.”  Yes, she actually said that.  The poor man just wanted to pee, didn’t confront her at all and she feels the need to offend him.

Funny thing, though, is that she didn’t bother asking the 20 year old guy with long hair wearing jeans and a T-shirt that question.  Or any of the other 3 or 4 customers that were in the store.  Nope, because if you’re wearing a 3 piece suit you must be a Republican.  And if you’re a Republican you must want to ban all birth-control and force every pregnant woman to carry every unwanted child to term.  Because, as we all know, that’s what every Republican believes. (The coworker helping her asked her why she hated Republicans so bad, and that’s all she came up with.)

It’s just plain stupid to think that every Republican has the exact same beliefs, just like it would be stupid to think that every Democrat wants to ban all guns, get every internal combustion engine removed from the planet and eliminate all defense funding.

And it’s just downright rude to drag some unsuspecting guy who just wants to relieve himself into your own bad hair day.  No excuse for it.

Shirley, you jest?

I always thought all the crap that people left laying around, and on, the pumps at the Chevron was because of laziness or a total lack of giving a crap.  But I found out differently today.

Study the picture carefully. Can you tell where the trash goes? 

I was out sweeping up the gum wrappers, receipts and cigarette butts out by the pumps today.  I saw a guy walking around lost, with a couple empty water bottles in his hand.  I pushed the flap open and said “here ya go”.  He thanked me and tossed the two bottles in the trash.

We didn’t have a huge, long conversation but he came across as a normally intelligent person.  Which makes me wonder if all those bottles, packages and receipts sitting on the pumps are not due to a total lack of consideration, but simply because for some reason they just can’t see the trash bins.

So, I ask your help.  Are they really that hard to see, or are these people just not looking?  I’ve changed them so many times that I honestly can’t tell whether or not they just blend in.

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

I call him “Copenhagen® guy”.  He’s in his late 40’s or early 50’s, chews Copenhagen® tobacco and has a serious Napoleon complex.  Although he doesn’t come in often anymore, he’s been buying his tobacco at the Chevron since before I started working there.  And he’s always arrogant, condescending, rude and impatient.

The other day he struts in and commands “4 Copenhagen pouches.”

There’s only one tin up in the display, so I look under the counter to see if there is any more.  I grab a roll of what happens to be Skoal® pouches, not recognizing the difference since they are both brown and I don’t chew the stuff.

“Those aren’t pouches” he barks at me.

Looking at the roll in my hand, right to where it says “Pouches”, I respond with “what?”

“Those aren’t pouches!”

“Says ‘pouches’ right here.”

I his best condescending “are you too stupid to understand what I’m saying” tone, he replies “Not Copenhagen pouches.”

“Oh, not Copenhagen, now I see what you meant to say.”  I wanted to say “Well, why the $*&# didn’t you say that in the first place?”, but I knew that I was going to ruin his day by having only one tin anyway, so I just let it go.

He bought his one tin and stomped out, dissatisfied with our store once again.  Dude, if we suck so bad, why do you keep coming back?

On a lighter note, here are some pictures I took that same day, of the evening sun shining on the Wasatch Mountains.

And one final picture I just took a minute ago, that was just too cute not to post.