At The Gas Station Tonight

They tell you to NOT re-enter the car during a refuel for that reason.

The small tank in the Prius means it takes less time to fill, and to wait it out in the cold outside.

 

One time I saw a serious gas spill, and that was at a full service station, the pump handle locked ON, and auto shut not working (quite spectatcularly). At least no fire.

Our municipality (Coquitlam) is I think the only region in Greater Vancouver that still has full-service-only legislated. Accordingly, I've gassed up here maybe once in the 20+ years we've been resident...

Off-topic, but griping about gas stations: how come on Oahu gassing up with an out-of-state credit card requires all sorts of run around. You have to go in, explain you're one of the interlopers, leave your card with the attendant. Not the case on Maui.

 

In Oregon you can not pump your own gasoline, unless you are pumping it into a motorcycle.
The attendant will give you the hose and nozzle and allow you to fill up your motorcycle. You
must then, after filling up, give the nozzle back to the attendant.

However if you have a diesel powered car or truck you are allowed to pump your own diesel fuel.
I would like to see this law changed, but the people of Oregon have spoken with their votes....

 

An/advantage of being full service is that you can pay cash at the pump easily. Our pumps don't accept cash. I hadn't thought of that advantage before, so I might start using the one full service station on my route home. It's not ideal (left in, left out) but it's near the end of my commute so won't cause a temperatue issue, and it's the same price as self-service stations so could help me shift more expenses away from credit card back to cash.

You also don't need to get out of your car, which I'm sure many Mainers appreciate.

 

Teenagers don't work at gas stations around here. The guys are either immigrants or aliens from Pakistan, India, or Egypt. I always use the credit card so there is no temptation to overfill and it reduces the probability of armed robbery which is a bit of a problem around here. I frequent three stations & not even one comment about touching the pump or nozzle. At some stations the pumps are programmed to need the card's zip code.

 

You still go to gas station?

 

Seriously, what are the arguments for keeping the law against self service when this issue is put before the voters? To me, the safety argument is just plain bogus on its face. Unless residents of Oregon somehow have found a way to blow themselves up that the residents of the 48 states that allow self-service have not found. I suspect there is some political or interest group that finds the status quo to be to their advantage.

 

^^^
When I first encountered full-serve gas only there (in 95), the workers were saying things like "Welcome to Oregon. No self-serve gas here. Self-serve gas is illegal. We like to employ our people."

 

Reminds me of when I went to India a few years ago on business, where they had phone kiosks with attendants who took the payment for the toll which was displayed on an LCD display on the phones. I was told that that was specifically done to "make work".

 

Heh. I didn't know about self-serve gas being illegal there until I'd gotten out of the car and attempted to start pumping gas.

Before there were gas price web sites, I'd avoid getting gas in OR for fear of it being more expensive. Well, from http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/, it's cheaper than CA and WA.

 

I hate filling up in Jersey...which is why I almost never do it anymore. You pull into the station and wait forever for the attendant. Especially on the toll roads where they have two guys working twelve pumps. And they are not really teenagers..., they are career gas pumpers...even more scary...

It's not worth the cost savings to me. I now fill up in NY and at least my gas tax dollars go towards NY roads...maybe.

...and oh, I forgot, now attendants expect a tip.

 

Wow! That sucks!

 

State fuel tax is lower in OR than in WA.

 

There is also no sales tax built in as there is in most other states. Or does gas not get the standard sales tax?

 

3.37/gal ?? lol
I paid 3.99. Well, with PiP it makes it tolerable pumping in NY compare to NJ now.

 

Come to L.A. its $4.49 at the cheaper stations, up to $4.89 for 87 octane.

 

And when we aren't at the gas station we're getting burned at $0.32/kwh by Edison.