On your own
When they legalized self-service gas in Oregon this past summer, we were all assured that every station would still have to have an attendant available whenever the place is open. But what if they don't? I'm asking for an elderly friend who was at the Jackson's Shell at Northeast 33rd and Broadway yesterday at 6:30 p.m. It was pump your own or get lost. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of that, and once service becomes so unreliable that you can't count on it, the rules will be changed so that service isn't required. Thanks, Lew Frederick!
According to the climate crazies, driving is a privilege.
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding that driving is a privilege and has to do with being licensed. And it was considered a privilege since before 'climate crazies' existed.
DeleteThe unions are proposing a ballot measure to repeal self service, so maybe you will support that?
DeleteI would support enforcement of the existing rule. But this is Oregon; rules are not meant to be enforced here. Our license plate should say "Land of Expungement."
DeleteApparently complaints can be made to the State Fire Marshals office. What happens from there is anyone’s guess though.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been funny down here in the Salem/Keizer area since self serve started, in that attendants have been extra on the spot and usually I can barely get parked at a pump and they are there ready to pump, so I don’t even have to get out of the car. Much different than before.
I haven't met too many gas station attendants that I didn't like.
DeleteI only buy my gas from the Fastrak station at 25th/Broadway, they're great. And I agree with your comments about gas station attendants I've had some very interesting conversations over the years!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds fine?
ReplyDeleteSure, it’s part of OR folklore that we don’t have sales tax and have people pump your gas, but rural OR off the I5 corridor you’ve been able to pump your own off-hours for some time now?
&, sure, no sympathy for the oil companies & it’s nice to have someone there business hours to help?
Most of those gas station mechanic shops have folded except no-name Indy gas stations that sort of incidentally have gas, but do repairs moreso, anyway?
Idk, should old people really be driving much, anyway?
Most of the olds don’t go out late at night, most can’t see well at night and often work part time &/or are retired & have time on their hands, most retire to the dirty south / vote with their feet where they don’t pump your gas, anyway?
Retirees are a poisonous voting block / id rather take my chances with a younger crowd that works part time more total years than cater to monied retirees as a rule, tho we could use use, incentivize & attract some talent, ambition & competency around here in ways we currently aren’t…
For that matter, if you got the $, it might not be a bad idea to buy a new car ~age 65-70 if you got one that’s long in the tooth while you’re still able bodied &/or can learn something new to (hopefully) last as long as you do (or will be driving) for the next 10-20 years of (hopefully) light use of a (hopefully) reliable car, maybe make that new car a plug-in hybrid that doesn’t need gas for in-town short trips or all-electric so you don’t end up going to the gas station much (or at all)?
Save your fred Meyer fuel points on 4x fuel point gift cards for $1-off/gal & take some cans, drive less & fill at your house with no special trips to the gas station & only buy fuel for your old junker/traditional non-hybrid ICE vehicle every other month or so?
I bought ~100+ gallons back when I still had my 60+mpg hybrid in early covid for .79c/gal that lasted me ~18 months!
Much as I don’t always want to risk dirtying my hands & much as I realize not everyone is mechanically inclined (nor should he trusted with a pipe or gasoline nor queuing up for it in an orderly fashion), I personally find dealing with or waiting for the station attendant to be more annoying than self-serve off hours and not dealing with other people most of the time?
Like so many of these talking points you cling to, yeah; it’s local news, yeah you’ve sometimes got a point (that often by the #s just isn’t that big of a deal <a rounding error in the corporatocracy & almighty capitalist profit demanding algorithm subsuming all humanity & human agency these days? ), it’s a weird thing to hold onto or cling to?
Why are we trying to prop up the corpse here with low paid jobs & gas station convenience stores?
Build some transit & durable row houses with service alleys and corner grocery stores with roof top parking that can me multi-generational, divided, remodeled, repurposed, easily/cheaply maintained, heated-cooled and are quieter inside to the neighbors without a bunch of useless land to maintain to high standards visible to the public?
People can still have cars & spacious back yard in that scenario without expensive parking & parking garages nor having to live in some dystopian apartment cube nor tower (tho with similar densities) , (couple spots in an alley garage, one in a driveway and front garage, one on the street, one inset in the alley (if you want?), but we could cut the car miles-traveled way down, and, accordingly the gas?
Plug your car in at the street, have enough battery for 20-50mi/most trips, don’t mine the whole earth for a bunch of lithium fire hazard batteries , buy gas infrequently & have a little at home you got inexpensively, 90+% cut the gas station (& hopefully eventually oil company if we could dream?) /your exposure to it out of the equation, regardless of whether there’s a legally mandated attendant or not?
So glad you figured it out for us all. Enjoy the view from your pulpit!
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