Yet another story of an SC at closing time.

[Deserted]

Most of the stations around here are pump first then pay, but then again I'm in Oregon where we're not allowed to pump our own gas.

...wait, what? REALLY?! WHY?!

[Sparklyturtle]

Seriously. Here's an article about it:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting...ump_their.html

I used to live in California, and while I can pump gas with the best of them I rather like having someone else pump it, especially in the rain.

Edited to add: In fact, the first time I came to Oregon back in the early 1980s I stopped at a station close to the border, hopped out of my car, and started pumping. The attendant came over, looked at my license plate, and said, "California. It figures." He then explained that in Oregon I wasn't allowed to pump my own gas. I worked a full-service island in California in the late 1970s and can pump gas, inflate tires, and check oil, so pumping my own gas is no big deal. However, I like having someone else pump it, as I said.

[eltf177]

I'm in Virginia and just about everybody is pump your own, but then again just about everybody is pay before you pump as well.

In New Jersey you can't pump your own gas, as I found out when I got sent there on a business trip...

[EricKei]

Turtle -- Metros are a bit of a collector's item, believe it or not. As my brother regaled me with a few months back when we drove several hours to go buy one ...Sadly, the seller had neglected to mention that the transmission's current status was "Well, sometimes the engine just stops...once you can actually get it going, that is". Even in that condition, it was still reasonably worth $600 or so.

Apparently, the true diehards can take that charming little ball of automotive confetti, which already has insanely good gas mileage, and boost it even further. Some go so far as to remove all of the seating aside from the driver's seat, along with anything else they consider to be "dead weight." It's not unheard of to get better than 50MPG out of the little bastards, and this is for a gas-only car from the pre-hybrid/electric era.

The damn things run forever if properly maintained, too. Well, just as long as you don't wrap them around a pole or breathe on them too hard. Just pray you never get into a wreck in one *crosses fingers*...'cuz you probably ain't coming OUT if you do. o_O;

If you ever wanna sell it, hop online first and do some research; e.g. with enthusiast groups. You might be able to get a surprisingly good deal if the innards are all in working order. That's low mileage for a car that age, too.

[dawnfire]

I'm sure Lace has brought this up to her boss many times before, too. And when they lose enough money to drive-offs, they probably will change over. People don't like anything to change, even if it's inevitable.

It's pretty much the standard here in Australia to pump and then pay, except at late night, then it's pay then pump.

[Lace Neil Singer]

From the way Lace describes things they don't lose very much money from drive-offs. They seem to have a good relationship with the local constabulary force that goes after the drive-offs and collects their money for station, and some extra for themselves.

Of course in this case the woman did provide her details so making the collection was a lot easier.

That's right; we don't lose that much money. In fact, recently a drive out in the morning had the cops knocking on his door in the early afternoon. XD Thank CCTV, and great local cops!

We're also gonna get pay at the pump soon.

[BPFH]

The damn things run forever if properly maintained, too. Well, just as long as you don't wrap them around a pole or breathe on them too hard. Just pray you never get into a wreck in one *crosses fingers*...'cuz you probably ain't coming OUT if you do. o_O;

I've been in a wreck in one. I didn't get so much as a scratch.

[dalesys]

I've been in a wreck in one. I didn't get so much as a scratch.

Hit a full beer can in the road?

[Nunavut Pants]

No, an empty one.

BTW, 50 MPG is possible without stripping them down or making aerodynamic additions. If you go that route, you can actually get far more than 50 out of a Metro 3-cylinder.

Evidently the biggest killer of them is rust in the suspension mounting points.

Note that in both NJ and OR you cannot pump your own fuel.

[wolfie]

Note that in both NJ and OR you cannot pump your own fuel.

Haven't fueled in OR, but in NJ I (legally) pumped my own fuel. There are a couple of exceptions to "full service only", as a result of lobbying by petroleum companies. Self-serve is allowed for diesel in both states (rated as combustible, rather than flammable), since requiring full-serve would ban cardlock pumps at truck stops. One of the two states (can't remember which) allows self-serve gasoline for motorcycles. It seems an attendant scratched the (4 figure price tag) airbrushed paint job on someone's tank, and the biker sued. Gas companies didn't want to risk a repeat - of course, they could have simply refused to fuel motorcycles due to the liability issues.

[Sparklyturtle]

Once driving down I84 alongside the Columbia Gorge, which is at the border of Oregon and Washington, I got something like a 30 mph tailwind in my Metro, and drove 120 miles using only a little less than 2 gallons of gas.

[Becks]

^^Yeah, but that's still almost a quarter of a tank.

[Sparklyturtle]

This happened to us once. After church we decided to get some dinner, so we went to our favorite restaurant, not realizing until we got there that they'd be closing in 20 minutes. We told the manager we'd go somewhere else, but he said, "Come on in. We know you - you're nice people." So we did, and tipped the waitress well who stayed and served us. It's nice to have a reputation for not being an SC!

[Slave to the Phone]

At the food stamp office, we give out numbers to our customers when they check in. When there are so many customers that we are full, we close the line for interviews. Everyone with a number will be seen and this usually means that we work overtime.

The gnashing of teeth and howls of rage that happen when the interview line is closed at 3pm are loud enough to wake children sleeping blocks away. I understand that people come to us because they need help, and I understand that us food stamp clerks don't have families or lives outside of the office. HOWEVER, threatening cursing and threatening violence is not a good way to get us to reopen the line. That just results in Tank standing close while calling the police.

Being calm and polite while giving us your tale of woe could result in getting a number. I've actually got a soft spot for homeless people. They usually don't have a reliable way to get mail, and probably don't have any reason to remember what day or month it is, so didn't renew on time? Yeah, I'll stay late for them.

The person who doesn't work, but has a stable home and didn't renew because they were too busy...sorry. You will have to come back tomorrow.