Put a tiger in your (own) tank
I see that the pinheads in the Oregon legislature are back to pushing self-service gas stations on a population that mostly doesn't have them and mostly doesn't want them. The supposed reason this time is Covid – the current excuse for everything. Allegedly the gas stations can't find attendants to hire due to the "labor shortage." Especially in "rural areas," supposedly.
But part of the sales pitch for allowing self-service is that stations will still be required to have at least one attended pump, and maybe more. In which case, it's hard to see how the new rules are going to solve the "labor shortage."
God forbid they should just pay the attendants decent money.
Whatever the new rules are initially, if they pass we all know darn well that in a few years there won't be any more attendants. They'll figure out a way. Buying gas here will be just like everywhere else (except New Jersey). Jobs will be lost, and deserted gas stations will become another component of the scary landscape that Portland has become.
The oil goons never let up with this. The current pushers that you get to vote against over it are, on the Republican death-cult side, Reps. Shelly Boshart Davis, Rick Lewis and Ron Noble and Sen. Brian Boquist; and Democratic leading lights Rep. Julie Fahey and Sen. Janeen Sollman. It's gross that they have nothing better to do with their time and influence.
I worked pumping gas as a kid, which is pretty grim work on a graveyard shift sometimes, especially when it gets really cold. I LOVE not having to pump gas and hate the idiots who want to simply increase the owners’ margins by getting rid of the labor force.
ReplyDeleteThis being Oregon, we ought to play the climate angle — what’s the biggest cause of poor mileage and thus increased emissions? That’s right, under-inflated tires. The average schmoe drives around with at least one tire several pounds under, which hurts tire wear on all the tires and wastes gas. With radial tires, you can be seriously under inflated and not really see it if you haven’t been taught to notice what properly inflated tires look like. And soft tires really does waste a lot of gas, it can easily cut you for 4-5 mpg sometimes.
So the solution is not just keep pump jockeys, but also require that all stations have air supplied at the pumps and that attendants offer to check and press up all improperly inflated tires at no extra charge for people who buy gas.
Mixed feelings. I have an old euro-trash heap of a car w/delicate alloy filler neck that can be bent out of round easily & let vapors go commonly made in W.Germany.
ReplyDeleteThat's not the gas-station attendant's fault, but the part's not easy to find anymore & if you hold the nozzle up-side-down yourself, it's no biggie.
It's not reasonable for me to be a condescending jerk about this or expect the attendant to know this or not hang the nozzle on the thing.
However, straightening or dropping the fuel tank to replace the thing isn't much fun...
I'd like to be able to get gas sort of whenever, but I'd like a gas pumping attendant during business hours that checks tire pressure or the like?
& sometimes not having to touch the nozzle is a nice thing the garden state & OR have in common..
Total cold engine run time & improper idling warm up instead of light cruise w/the heater control valve shut & tire pressure are a MAJOR source of poor fuel economy & premature wear for sure as well as emissions. 90% of the most harmful emissions & engine wear occurs in the first few minutes of run time in cold weather.
We could probably reduce engine & emissions control equipment wear/need for buying new cars all the time by pre-block heating cars by 20-50%, & reduce emissions/noise/deadly wrecks w/injuries by having modern round-abouts instead of traffic lights as well as increase power outage resilliancy from studies I've read / where its been applied in Sweden.
Whatever the case, no sympathy for oil companies or our useless legislature.
Apparently, they got all the time in the world to reduce costs for oil companies & make it more of a barren hell-scape, but when it comes to the 9% defacto flat income tax on wages, waste & $80 car title fee/other extortion flat-fees or other inconvenient expensive graft & moral scolding...'guys...guys...(legislative leave)...*crickets*...