Maybe you remember full-service gas stations.
Not like in New Jersey today. Where – by law – you ‘re forced to wait for a lout (whoops, “attendant”) to slouch on over and eventually gas up your car … and usually, your fender, too.
He takes his time, doesn’t care whether your time matters.
And you definitely do not get a set of drinking glasses for the kids.
Full service – back in the day – was different.
You chose to pay a little extra and for that you got royal treatment.
Usually, from an eager teenager who would come right out as soon as you pulled in. You’d tell him to “fill ‘er up” and he’d get right to it, washing your windshield and checking your oil in between. He’d usually ask to check your oil and tires, too.
As a reward for your business, the station would give you a gift, too. Drinking glasses with the station’s logo, for example.
Like boarding an airplane without being groped by a government goon (and being greeted by a pretty female stewardess) this business is almost inconceivable to people not old enough to remember. But it was real, I assure you.
And it might be real again.
Well, full-service fill-ups at least.
With a difference.
Or rather, via an app.
And this time, the gas comes to you.
Like pizza or any other thing you can order up.
It’s a capital idea. A time-saving idea.
You’re late for work, but your car is running low. You’ve got just enough fuel left to make it there – but probably not enough to make it back home after work. This means having to stop and get gas on the way home. Assuming you’ve got enough gas left in the tank to make it to the station. If you don’t, you’re pretty much forced to stop on the way to work – and be late for work.
Cue the full service fill-up app.
Filld, Yoshi, Booster Fuels and Purple. These are some of the start-up fuel-delivery services that are operating in cities like LA and San Francisco, Atlanta and Nashville. You click the app and the fuel truck comes to you.
Naturally, Uncle is opposed.
In San Francisco, Hose Hero Jonathan Baxter of the SF Fire Department publicly urged anyone who witnesses a mobile fuel truck dispensing gas to send in the clowns – i.e., call the Hose Heroes (which will mean calling the other Heroes) – who will rush to the scene, sirens blaring (and guns soon too be drawn).
“It is not permitted,” decrees Lt. Baxter.
In the SF Bay Area, Booster Fuels ceased fuel deliveries because the Santa Clara Hose Heroes applied pressure. The same looks to be happening in LA. Delivering fuel is verboten, says LA Hose Hero Daniel Curry.
But why should it be?
It is routine to bring propane to people’s homes and businesses. Chaos – and conflagrations – have not ensued.
Propane is transported under pressure, too – whereas gasoline is inherently safer to transport and dispense because it is a liquid at atmospheric pressure.
A small leak in a propane truck, on the other hand, is a big problem.
But the essential point is that the private companies that deliver propane – inherently more challenging to handle – manage to do so without incident. When was the last time you heard about a propane truck blowing up? It seems reasonable on the face of it that gasoline trucks present even less of a risk. In both cases, the companies delivering the fuel have a very strong incentive to be careful. Why is the assumption always that – absent Uncle – things will be run in a slipshod manner? What is the evidence for the beneficent role of Uncle? (He’s done such a good job with the FDA… ) 
The real objection – sub rosa – is that gas-delivery services would be more efficient and put economic pressure on the existing business model – gas stations that don’t come to you – to either improve their service or lower their costs. It is of a piece with the hue and cry over Uber, which annoys the Taxi Cartel by providing more efficient (and lower cost) ride services.
But the cartels won’t say that – at least not openly.
Instead they will bleat about… saaaaaafety.
In order that political pressure be applied to protect their interests.
It is not saaaaaafe to let just anyone pick people up and drive them to their destination. Something might happen! The driver’s aren’t “certified” and “trained.” There must be licenses, procedures… and of course, fees.
The gas station mafia will eruct the same fuedal warble.
Which is understandable – in the same way that the cable TV mafia hates Apple TV and Roku. A gas station represents a considerable investment in facilities and equipment – and it can’t be picked up and moved somewhere else. No one likes to see someone else eat their proverbial lunch.
But the relevant issue here is the gas station owners aren’t entitled to that lunch.
They have every right to offer their services – gasoline and other things, too. But they do not have the right to use Uncle to force us to patronize their business by shutting down less expensive or more convenient alternatives like the infant fuel-delivery services that are trying to make a go of it.
The right response would be to offer things that the fuel delivery services can’t – like full service. There was a time when gas stations had a mechanic on duty and stocked needful things like tires and radiator hoses and windshield wiper blades. And would install these things for you.
Side benefit: This would provide jobs – real ones – as opposed to the government-mandated sort.
Back in the day, when full-service stations were common, countless teenagers earned money working part-time after school and weekends at a filin’ station.
Today, they play GTA.
Chiefly, because Uncle.
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Anatomically modern humans have been around for 150,000 years. War was only invented 11,000 years ago, around the same time as the invention of large scale agriculture, and slavery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens#Origin
The notion of their being a market in violence is one that could be eradicated, I think.
If someone does violence or steals from me. Causing suffering or death to the perpetrator does nothing to improve my situation. Its a bizaree lunatic fetish. And complete non-sequitir to do such a thing.
Once you abandon the idea that we’re all in this thing together. You begin to think clearly and rationally and choose only behaviors and take risks that have some possibility of a favorable outcome.
America truly is “The Kingdom of Fear.” And that’s too bad. I’ve been in many of the poorest and allegedly high crime areas there are. And there is nothing more to fear there than elsewhere. Probably there’s less to fear. It is the wealthy who have the resources and desire to control everybody else. And put people in cages or charge them with crimes.
If you are a producer of value. That’s great. But don’t fall for the salesman who use fear as their sales tactic to get you to give them your hard earned wealth.
Crime and punishment is a suckers game. It never does what it claims to do, but rather does the opposite. The need for some wealthy weak person to feel safe ends up feeding all kinds of fear mongers. And their systems of terror they erect to put fear into everyone else.
The state, as ugly and destructive as it is. In the end, is just a sort of puzzle and maze your forced to puzzle out so that you can go on and live your life the way you wish. There’s a lot less crime than people think. And a lot of it is understandable and avoidable if you take the time to understand who is doing what and why.
If you lash out blindly out of fear and loathing. You’ll never get anywhere and you’ll always be gullible for whatever schemes they concoct that are finally going to “keep you safe and sound.” This time we really mean it.
You have made some very good points Tor Libertarian. People learned that they were more intelligent than animals, so they caged and fed many of them, and protected them from all other predators except themselves. Livestock worked for and fed people. A certain small percentage of people then wanted to expand this concept by making other people produce for them, and once man became agricultural this became easy. Agricultural people produced food and grain that had to be stored in bulk somewhere. The nonproductive parasites would them swoop in and raid the stores of food. It didn’t take long for the parasites to learn that they could have food every year for consumption and for selling for income by promising farmers ‘protection’ from other bands of parasites in exchange for a percentage of the crops. The local parasites became the State, and they encouraged ever more grain to be grown because it could more easily be inventoried for taxation purposes over a longer period of time compared to real human food. It was impossible to estimate the amount of harvest of underground food such as carrots, turnips, onions, potatoes, and so forth, plus human food rots pretty quickly compared to grains.
Hunter gatherers really never had any reason to hit their children. The children would willingly feed themselves once they were able to, and would not become bored because there was always something to do or to look at, or someone to play with. Children almost never cried!
The dawn of an agricultural society changed everything, many of which were very bad. It brought about Statism obviously. Mobile nomads are hard to govern even today. It also brought about child abuse, because when crops had to be planted or harvested; there was a small window of time to get it done. Children suddenly were forced to spend long boring days out in fields for crop production, and children were beaten for objecting to this inhuman lifestyle.
Written religion appeared during this same time period, and the wealthy parasitical ruling class took full advantage of that since most people couldn’t read. This is also probably when anti-nudity laws were first created.
Thanks to the dawn of Agriculturalism and Statism; most people no longer know how to properly raise children! I have to go now, but I was hoping to include a link to an article where an Eskimo commented how people in developed countries treat children like they are dogs by alway yelling “NO!” at them.
CONTINUUM: An Introduction with Emilie Conrad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAacwbfveys
Eskimo summer 1943
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Escn0kv-jlA
That first video looks like it may be very good T.L., but I try to avoid watching new Youtube videos when I am on the road dependent upon my expensive Hotspot. I will view both Youtubes in full once I get home where I have reasonably priced Internet in a few days.
The truck driving job I have is always hurry up and wait. I was waiting while writing my previous post, then I got interrupted and had to hurry away.
The original person who started the Continuum concept in the U.S. was Jean Leidloff, and the most informative video I have seen from her is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4HGXeMgCU
Lets see if I can get the remainder of my reply past Wordepressed: We cannot go back in time to fix things. Automation is now depleting most of our jobs, and Big Agriculture is destroying farm land in this country.
So what is the solution to all of these problems? I do not know how the masses are going to be able to produce spending money in the future. Someone else is going to have to chime in here about that.
I and many other people are becoming active in Permaculture https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=permaculture and self-reliance. http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ Even people living in urban areas can catch the vision.
Tor ,Brian,Bruce,Eric ,8 ,etal;
Tor brought up such an interesting thought ,I love the truth and by golly most people cant handle the the truth ,I want the truth ,after a bit of meditation and reflection things jump out at me its nothing personal (it is something personal )I used to think I was the equal of any man ,true perhaps ,but as the author of animal farm said,”some animals are more equal then others”I thought people would enjoy my company (have been acknowledged as highly intelligent )but then it dawned on me ,I dont have money ,possessions or clout ,I am mostly honest ,caring , polite and helpful (in a word I am a boring SOB{NO OFFENSE MOM} too often ,I will tell the truth as I see it,but that is not the welcomed solution ,because too often it would require work ,a slight adjustment to life style ,compassion and maybe sharing a little wealth.
The other week I was viewing a documentary on prostitution and later one on drugs ,then one on guns.The common denominator was ,laws and inept law enforcement people make the situation at least a hundred times worse then it has to be.Most of the time hands off,let people feel good within reason,most intelligent people will eventually come to the light,when there is no alternative but penalties and punishment ,every bad or questionable behavior is hidden and it really drastically affects a lot of people then.
I never had a talent for scrying,but now my crystal ball tells me more of the same and worse is instore for the burgeoning population of humanoids on the surface of old mother Gaia .
Someone mentioned permaculture ,it is so obvious ,isnt it ? Currently I am trying to get setup in Silvaculture in a small way ,perhaps people will have to give up some toys ,as I keep telling Friends(the Indians knew this )no one can own the earth ,if people would stop fighting the affluents battles ,in the name of patriotism we would surely be taking a step in the right direction,how absurd to want to kill someone and mutilate their bodies and destroy their property in the name of war.
Hello Kevin, I have been interested in Permaculture for about 5 or 6 years. My first book on the topic was Gaia’s Garden http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Guide-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464235373&sr=1-1&keywords=gias+garden . I partially implemented its principles on my Missouri starter homestead, but financial problems arose due to the total lack of self-employment at a low cost opportunities in my community.
I still own that Missouri homestead, but I found the state of Texas to be more promising. I want to leave the west Texas oilfields which are located on semi-arid land to another area in this state yet to be determined that gets more precipitation. I am seriously considering attending a Permaculture course later this year, but I would like to become self-employed in that field as I do indeed need to generate income. I would also like to lease long term a fixer upper pasture at low cost in order to raise hair sheep and some cattle. If you or anybody else here has useful tips or ideas I am all ears.
It would make you sick what has happened around here in the past score of years,admittedly the land is not the best ranging from fair to hardscrabble,but all the little sustenance farms have been bought up by either land hoarders or nuts that take pretty decent old stabilized fields and replant them in either pinetrees (ugh ) or so called wetland species,I took a a landowner (He originally inherited about 2000 acres and bought several hundred-which now reside in a so called conservation easement )How come I asked,that their are no fruit trees and nut trees included in the mix of species(grape vines either )? He said .ah thats what they recommend to plant.This Guy is a Ivy League graduate and is fighting a proposed natural gas pipelinseslated to come through the county.
The real answer of course is sheer orneriness and unwillingness to share his private piece of paradise and money and ease,takes a lot of effort to run a farm.
The big feeling elite and govt have been responsible for the invasive species running rampant in the area(bamboo,Autumn Olive ,Multi flora rose etc.Its frustrating to see what this area has become ,from semi productive to gated community. The Luddites are firmly in charge ,the poor people are getting run off the land and they seem oblivious to the fact . The opposition to the natural gas pipeline is so puerile its ludicrous,
Which would people rather have,a hidden ,multiuse pipeline or start meeting CNG tanker trucks on the scenic hairpin curves on RTs 220 and 250 ?
As for the “Silva culture” start productive trees and vines (which with reasonable care) will last for generations and some cases centuries,whatever the conditions will allow(hazelnuts ,apple trees.oak trees ,hickories etc) a small non destructive grazing herd ,ponds and water holes by the score if conditions permit,dont force the land .control erosion and start eating those tasty hogs which are running rampant in the “Lone Star” Republic ,best to you in your endeavour .(hope my rambling makes sense )
Hi Kevin,
Are we talking ’bout the same pipeline? The one being proposed to run through Roanoke County (they tried Floyd, but gave up)?
I’m not opposed to the pipeline, per se. But I do not approve of the use of eminent domain to obtain the right-of-way. If a man truly owns his land, then he has every right to say: “I don’t want you guys coming on my land to do a survey; I don’t want a pipeline running through my land. Please go away.”
And if he is in fact the owner of his land, they must respect his wishes and go away.
The company has every right to attempt to persuade the owner (without using threats) to allow them to survey his land and to run the pipeline through his property, if they can agree on a mutually satisfactory price for the privilege.
But the way these things usually seem to happen, the pipeline company sics Uncle on the property “owner” (who really isn’t, given this) and forces him to allow the company to trespass on “his” land and – ultimately – can simply tell the “owner” that the pipeline will be run through “his” land, like it or not.
That’s what rankles.
Like so many things, this is fundamentally an issue of property rights. That is, of human (individual) rights. You either own what you bought – or you do not.
And if you do not, then you have no rights at all.
Because without ownership, rights are an impossibility.
No I think this sucker heads through Augusta county to parts unknown,I dont like E D either but unfortunately the Robber Barons set the wheels in motion in the the 19th century with the railroads(hence the term being railroaded ) I dont like being ran over either ,but its a fact of life ,the best best thing to do is to make lemonade out of these lemons ,hypocrisy kicks in when these people who (wink ,wink) are so eco minded nd the cant stand to do their little part,natural gas is the cleanest combustion fuel there is bar none(cept maybe hydrogen)Most of the opposistion is from the selfish luddite groups.The pipelines have other utilities and strategic value as well.The Columbia Gas Transmission has been through Rockbridge county for at least 50 years with nary a problem and its well maintained(actually a bonus for the wildlife ) no the biggest problem is the people are not opposing it for the right reasons ,I would have backed them in oppostion to eminent domain ,but just to be anti advancement .selfish and pig headed no .These people bitch about something that could benefit large groups of people but dont say a word about something such as the Luxury cottages slated to begin construction next spring at the foot of Warm Springs mountain which will actually have an effect on the quality of life around here ,more cost to the marginal infrastructure,higher property taxes,more traffic congestion,more suspicious unfriendly people around,to name a few.
So my vote is for the pipeline (pipeline networks are said to nominally knock about a dollar a gal cost off the price of gasoline in the US ,so my vote is for the pipeline!
Eminent Domain .no -People if you want my support oppose the govt bullies .
I bet you are thinking ,hush you nimby wanker,not at all,they can run it right through my property if they keep gravel on the driveway and the grass mowed.I really dont like the idea of this county turning into a gated community ,for the affluent and their lackeys.
I don’t know if I have this right, but I have to ask: Where do these gasoline delivery trucks get their gasoline? Do they not get it from a filling station? I mean…I wouldn’t expect a 10,000-gallon tanker truck to show up to refill my vehicle along the side of the road. And I doubt that they just take a fuel tank to the local refinery for a fill-up. (At least my city has a large refinery.)
So if they have to get the fuel from a local filling station, then why the hell should the filling stations be objecting to this?
On another note: I haven’t seen much good come from those Foolish Drug Addicts in Washington, either. Let alone the stooges at the dopey Department of Energy, which is always tired and asleep.
To much govt Travis,they think we are incapable of making our own decisions and let me let you on a little secret ,there are a plethora of whistleblowers,rats and tattletells today.Sadly enough I think a lot of them think they are doing the right thing by dropping a note on you ,but the bad thing about it is(besides ratting) is that the majority have been brainwashed by nonsense and are incapable of rational thinking-Kevin
They likely buy from a wholesale gasoline/fuel company. This is where businesses and government bodies often buy fuel. It’s a good deal cheaper than retail gasoline. However you need to have an account and to have an account it must be for a business or government entity.
Ross ,what does interstate smell like now ?It smells like old shellac that had alcohol in it . I have no problem personally with 10% the old dodge doesnt care and the fuel mileage was about the same ,it just became to much of a hassle to find non E,but I am careful about storing and letting it stand in power equipment .
“You’re late for work, but your car is running low. You’ve got just enough fuel left to make it there – but probably not enough to make it back home after work. This means having to stop and get gas on the way home. Assuming you’ve got enough gas left in the tank to make it to the station. If you don’t, you’re pretty much forced to stop on the way to work – and be late for work.”
Well, I finally have to point to the elephant in the room. Maybe Vicente Fox was right and Norte Americanos are “lazy”. You know you can’t make it to work the next day but you still don’t put any gas in your car.
And far be it from “you’, your holy highness, to have a couple gallons in a can at the house.
You will have to stop on the way to work and put in some gas “but you don’t have time”. You couldn’t get ready 10 minutes earlier. No way. No how. You’re on a tight schedule and you don’t have time but you have time to jack with somebody filling your car or moving it out of the garage so they can.
I’m guessing this crowd isn’t cranking up their car 20 minutes ahead of time. They probably don’t even do a walk-around to check for a flat or light out. I can check 18 tires in 30 seconds and the lights too. This same bunch can’t imagine pulling out at 4 am knowing they’ll have to stop for half an hour to fill up before coming home and knowing they won’t be home before 8 pm. And they damned sure don’t intend to do this every day. 10 minutes for a splash and go….and they have no time.
I guess their alarm clocks don’t set for 10 minutes earlier. I live with a person like that but only because she can use another vehicle that has fuel and leave me one that won’t make it to town. I work with people like that too. People who leave me a truck without enough fuel to make it to a pump. I call them lots of things…… to their face……. and lazy is just one adjective I use.
The majority of so-called polite Christians are exactly like the skeletal aliens in “They Live.”
There is nothing redeemable about them. There’s nothing good to say about them. They’re the worst kind of zionists. Whose idea of Heaven is decreeing and enforcing their idea of how everyone else should live. And providing nothing of value themselves. Only being zombies who live off the value of others.
They love to conspicuously consume. And flaunt their wealth. In exactly the wrong way. They just can’t enjoy life knowing somewhere there are people who want to be nudists. Or live primitive-like and hunt monkeys for food in a jungle.
Or being a bunch of carousing slobs and boisterous profligate louts and irresponsible hedonists with no desire to preen and costume themselves and engage in pointless rituals of “politeness” or “godliness” whatever the fuck they think they mean about such vague meaningless notions of self hate and xeno loathings.
There’s an incandescent ugliness about such ubiquitous assholes who insist others live the way they think they should live.
They’re beyond odious and intolerable, miserable liars who always pretend to be so humble and restrained.
All the while, they love nothing better than watching some other poor slobs getting jackboot stomped and flogged and caged and impoverished for daring to live their own lives the way they see fit, without giving a single shit about the “They Live” corpses and their death cults and moldy books of the long dead and long should be forgotten.
If your beliefs are so great, then be content to believe them. Don’t erect some arbitrary authority to tell you in minute detail everything you need to do. And then expect the rest of us to want to be told such things as well. This is the acme of asshole-ism and the reason we’re all in such a inextricable predicament now.
If you want to submit to some inscrutable tangle of forced behaviors, fine. But leave the rest of us the fuck out of it. Because we want not a got dam thing to do with any of your false realities, false fetters, or false fetishes.
Sie Leben
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE4bBo9nKUU
You’re intolerance and oppression is real fucking ugly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XCvUccPACg
Puritanism, it’s what your ancestors were full of when they died trying to “help” heathens. Onward Christian soldiers. The stories of the pilgrims and the Indians can only be put into proper perspective by the likes of Kurt Vonnegut.
When you carry “the lord” around with you, you can never see yourself as the interloper.
My grandma always said, “We used to get our cars serviced at the service station, now we buy gas at a “convenience” store that happens to sell gas”.
For an example of full service in cinema watch “Back to the Future” where Marty McFly pulls into a gas station in the 1950s. The scene is actually funny BECAUSE of the contrast with today.
environmental engineering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_engineering
Environmental engineers study the effect of technological advances on the environment. To do so, they conduct studies on hazardous-waste management to evaluate the significance of such hazards, advise on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps.
– engineering is developing regulations? really?
so its a crony profession? it can’t exist on its own merit, but instead requires the thugs of state to implement its “solutions.”
history of ee
http://eece.wustl.edu/aboutthedepartment/Pages/history-env-eng.aspx
Environmental engineering isn’t a 4 year course……of course. It’s so govt. doesn’t look so bad passing ridiculous regs. Some companies hire them as a buffer between the company and regulatory agencies since it’s like having one from the other side on your side. Gaaaaaaa
Ah yes, I do remember them good ol’ days. Back when you could get regular for .30/gal and premium for only a nickle more. I also remember driving through area
of Pontiac, Mi. when they had a gas war and gas was .19/gal.
Remember Sunoco and their multi fuel selector? I can’t remember the highest octane they sold but quite a few guys in my dinky little town were buying up muscle cars( Judges, Road Runners, Super Bees, SS 396, Z-28, like hot fudge sundaes ( which you can’t get anymore) were filling up the tanks with the hottest fuel you could get.
And of course the station always had an attendant. Yup they sold TBA had lifts and even a grease pit GASP!
Today they would have to fill out reams of Gov paper to verify they hired a black lesbian transgender male.
Those day are gone.
Oh yeah, I remember buying a box of .22 cartridges at the local hardware store for something like .75.
My local gas station/C-store sells fuel, ammo, live bait, fishing tackle, hunting gear, various sundries, sub sandwiches on fresh bread baked on premises and pizza. It’s an owner operated business that employs local youths to fill out the roster. Population under 4000, second ring suburb of Minneapolis fighting to resist being annexed by larger city. Solid republican.
K-
The local hardware store. Now that brings back memories. A brick of .22 LR for $4 and nearly anything you desired on hand but could order almost anything else. Their gun rack had an eclectic choice including things like a Thompson .45, a Ruger Nine, Sweet Sixteen, US made rifles in calibers like 40-30 Krag and of course, .06. Bass fishing lures that would be worth thousands of dollars today. Vespa scooters that would run over 60 mph, good leather work gloves and just about any fastener or tool you could imagine.
As a person with an environmental engineering education, I’ve always thought that if the safety regs in place were there over a century ago we would have never been allowed to use or have gasoline cars or much else.
Hi sth –
Yup. Motorcycles would have been forbidden, too. Not “safe.”
Give them time…
Lovely idea! I love reading about new, innovative businesses. It’s no surprise gov’t is against this considering they despise real prosperity and real innovation. Imagine how much better our quality of life would be if gov’t didn’t exist.
Agreed, Handler!
Bastiat called this the things “unseen” – what we might have had – were it not for Uncle.
I remember full service stations. You were overcharged for all fluids added under the hood. It was quite a racket toward people who didn’t know any better.
The attendant showed the customer the dipstick at one quart low. Easy to do by not pushing the dipstick all the way in. The quart of oil was worth 25¢ but the customer was charged $1.00, but nothing was actually added. The attendant brought out an empty oil can with the spout already snapped on and faked it again.
No doubt that was done but it wasn’t bidness as usual for most places. I never even considered it and don’t know anyone personally who did. I don’t recall checking oil and finding it over-full either. If anyone asked me if the oil needed changing I’d tell them the truth, yes, since it was almost always more than past when you looked at the sticker. Of course many people would check their own sticker and ask if I had time to change the oil. I tried my best to work them in if they had a few minutes. Otherwise we’d work out a time when they could. I never even considered cheating anyone for anything although I’m sure there were people who did, as there are in any business. Plenty customers knew what the gauges meant and sometimes pulled in just to address what they saw as a problem. The worst cases of dishonesty I saw were at the bank and insurance, esp. insurance companies.
Gas attendants are a casualty of minimum wage laws. Soon “Would you like fries with that” will be a distant memory as well as teenagers have a much more difficult time getting their first job.
Sheets, Inc runs hundreds of stations in the Mid-Atlantic. They have between 20 and 40 fuel pumps, a fast food restaurant where everything is made to order, and a decent sized crap food store with soda fountains and coffees and other assorted goodies. Typical shift is 12 employees, because the customer does most of the work, self service to the max.
How to be an enlightened agorist?
You must love only the market and free exchange of goods and services.
And have no soft spot in your heart or head for any contrivances of statisms.
You should feel equal disgust to both these versions of “happy birthday mister president”
marilyn monroe version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqolSvoWNck
dennis rodman version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIIe9kf_3w0
neither of these dear leaders have any redeeming qualities once they became dear leaders. they are apes, and no human should ever submit to them, ever. to do so is unmanning and dehumanizing. don’t do it.
take you stinking paws of authority off me, you dammed dirty apes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdmqn9JIuzc
When I was in college I worked in the school’s maintenance department. The first two years I was there, we had our own on campus gas pump for the college’s fleet, very handy and it saved money because the school could buy wholesale (sometimes the boss would let us gas our personal cars too).
Until uncle showed up during the summer of my sophomore year. That was the end of our own pump. Too close to the creek they said. So it was closed down and eventually ripped out.
Never mind that the town’s pump for city vehicles was just as close to the creek as ours. And we probably had the newer, better and safer setup too.
“Rules for thee, not for me.”
People wonder why I’m such a taciturn asshole…
I wonder why they can’t just forget to breathe and do the world a favor…
I don’t mind pumping my own gas, for some reason. Maybe because back when they started there was a price differential. But I am not going to ring up my own groceries or hardware if I can help it.
Now, thanks to the pending leap in minimum wages, Wendy’s, and probably soon others, will be doing away with order taking personnel and making you punch the order in yourself.
PtB, going through the self-checkout can be a boon and no stupid bagging like hot stuff in with cold stuff or cannonballs in with your peaches. Punching in an order sounds like another boon especially if you could do it with your phone and credit card if you like. Since I rarely eat out and more rarely use a fast food service, I’m just guessing here.
John Horgan: Why the U.S. Military Needs to Shrink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmJnOkMdm3E
John Horgan: The End of War?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM6rvequsz4
War, agriculture, and slavery all emerged only 10,000-12,000 years ago or so. Maybe they don’t need to be part of our culture. Especially war. What is more anti-NAP than war?
Is there really going to be a singularity? Or is it just another religion masquerading as science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Varz7s1pbWU
I think war will always be necessary.
Someone else will always want what you have…. And be willing to “apply force” to take it from you…
Small scale battles, but still war.
Only solution is to be able to resist that other person. For the old and infirm, they cannot do so well on their own. But with a tribe….?
And so collectivism is born. {sigh}
Tor, speaking of shrinking the military, a concept to make the Hitlery’s of the world want to push the button, every person in the navy knew early in WWll the destroyer was not only unnecessary but nothing more or less than a death trap for troops.
Did the military quit making them? For a while, after war orders were filled or simply dumped mid-build after the war, halfway intelligent people wrote the destroyer off and so we got super-carriers that made more sense post war.
But now, we have an all-new “stealth” destroyer nobody even speaks of, never mind the astronomical cost it surely incurred. So why build a new destroyer? Those folks at Iron Metal Works need a job and the stockholders need a big stock boost.
http://gizmag.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=57c04fd0f2defe64b0f583dc7&id=a10cccb91f&e=b89acd4700
Destroyers unnecessary? Shoot, these days even aircraft carriers are obsolete. In fact, the whole friggin’ Navy, with the possible exception of submarines, is a dead letter issue. But then, when the Constitution was written to include a Department of the Navy, I think most folks voting to ratify it had something more like the Coast Guard in mind, not a fleet to expand ‘our empire’ around the globe.
You know, Japan never actually attacked the US. The attacked the US Navy, tied up in Pearl Harbor. What was ‘our’ Navy doing 1/2 way across the Pacific anyway? I mean besides sitting there a bait in FDR’s trap?
If you can’t muster any ire against not being allowed to pump your own gas in NJ. You must be a statist shill. Another whore in the authoritarian gang bang. Everything you say and do is suspect.
Why Can’t You Pump Your Own Gas in New Jersey?
http://mentalfloss.com/article/74549/why-cant-you-pump-your-own-gas-new-jersey
Drop That Gas Nozzle: New Jersey Is Full-Service Island, and Likes It
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/nyregion/new-jersey-drivers-dont-pump-gas-and-dont-intend-to.html?_r=0
NY Times. A statist fucking shill and another whore in the authoritarian gangbang. I mean c’mon, look at that title. Lying cunts. Wouldn’t even use that news rag to wrap some old fish heads.
Get a load of this statist claptrap. Lying assholes. Fuck you. Until you’re profusely bleeding out every one of your copious mandatory new jerseyan govholes.
http://www.bergencounty.com/trivia-and-fun/why-you-can-t-pump-your-own-gas-in-bergen-county-nj-1.1010289
First time I refueled in Jersey I pulled up and started pumping. Didn’t give it a second thought. There wasn’t anyone around the pumps and I’m pretty sure I didn’t leap into action. The attendant comes running out the door screaming at me. Then he saw the Pennsylvania plates and took 5 minutes to explain how I’m not to pump my own gas in the garden state in the way only someone from northern New Jersey can.
From then on I always filled the tank before heading across the border.
“in the way only someone from northern New Jersey can”
You mean Joisey? Fuhgeddaboutit!
5 minutes to explain what exactly? Its utterly unintelligible in reality.
It’s all simian nonsense. the pumping of gas. the cashier who records everything for tax compliance. It’s all a North Korean house of cards funny farm.
As is the constitution and the founders and the British colonies and their funny cosplay antics that somehow sadly took root among the formerly unkempt yankee dude’ulls.
The 600 pound gorillas of statism look invincible. But if you are an individual with enough tenacity and skill. You can bring the got dam dirty apes down and make them humble
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSS1zh45Fts
“5 minutes to explain what exactly?”
I exaggerate for humor, obviously.
Wow, 3 stations that fuck your car up AND clean the windshield(sorta….I’d have to see it to believe it). Do they wax your glass? I do that but it must be perfectly clean before it works. Do they clean your lights? Bad weather, lenses that don’t show crap and headlight covered with bug goo. If you can’t get out then you have to wait again to do those things.
Is it the same for truckstops? Nobody will know. Turn on your lights, pull your trailer brake lever so brake lights are on and turn on your emergency lights and do a walk around? You have to stop somewhere else and get stopped by the DOT while waiting for a place. So how do you pay, get some oil, buy some load binders, log books, beer? Oh, you have to pull out to the parking lot, find a spot(if you can) and finally get it backed in there. Hoo boy, now we’re havin fun.
Ever notice how police departments always have time to enforce economic laws and those generating revenue while they might get around to investigating a burglary or other real crime?
A nicer landscaper’s trailer or truck will have a tanks of fuel for their equipment. If they don’t have that they’ll have gas cans. Not sure if they ever get hassled for it. Probably not.
They get hassled for it, on occasion, randomly, depending on LE agency and community. It usually happens when a neighbor doesn’t like what your doing (like the crime of parking on the public street in front of their house). I have a friend who has a landscape business, so I have heard a few stories. When I was a real estate agent, you would get a flatfoot once in a while who would claim my signs were not allowed. Wrong, officer, I would say, I carried each towns sign laws on my phone and would read them to them. I would offer to get the company lawyer on the phone if he needed more info. They would be irritated but my signs would stay.
They would save themselves a lot of time if they would just know the f**king laws. Because when your trying to make a living, you do quickly learn the law so you don’t lose a day of work because some dumb a** cop doesn’t know what he is doing.
” some dumb a** cop doesn’t know what he is doing.” – I’m sensing some redundancy here.
How many of your local heroes actually know the laws and ordinances? Very, very few from what I’ve noticed.
Even worse, they simply make it up. The “law” is whatever they say it is.
They often get angry if corrected too.
That’s why I found that actually having the actual ordinances on hand very helpful. Hero would say one thing, and I would open up the actual law on paper (well cell phone screen) and read it. Most would back down at that point knowing they were wrong (or they figured I knew better then they), and that if they persisted I could be more trouble then its worth. Yes, some would continue to to try to dial it up, but you can’t back down. Don’t ever sound angry (that NEVER works), even if you are pissed.
Yeah, its a tough thing to do (and could be dangerous too). You have to be very careful, and its tough to be ready when it would happen due to the overall randomness of it all. And you have to be 100% right every time or you will lose. Because you know they will look for the most minor violation. And its very helpful if you not alone with that hero, you do need witnesses in case something does go south.
But when I needed to run an open house etc, I had to have my signs. To not have them, a waste of time. And I have a right to my signs. And my signs complied with all the stupid ordinances that the towns came up with. I couldn’t have some idiot shut me down for a day costing me thousands of dollars just because they were ignorant. And that was one thing real estate teaches you, that is negotiation. So it became yet another negotiation for me.
The thing is, if you can make that cop think messing with you is more trouble for him then it is for you, most will back down. Most government drones are by definition lazy. And I think a cop is more willing to back down to a guy in a three piece suit and a decent looking car.
But do be careful. Mouthy can be bad. Or it can get someone off your back, each time is different and each cop is different. One time when a hero suggested that I take my signs down even though he acknowledged that my signs were in fact legal. He said, for the good of all involved (who was involved me and the cop??, or me and the neighbor that summoned him, who didn’t have the balls to come out and ask about my sign???), would you take them down please. Without thinking as i say no, I make a crack about how it would be better for all in the community if he didn’t write anyone any traffic tickets the rest of the day. Amazingly he stopped and said, ok, good day sir. Maybe he did figure out I had to do my job and that if he didn’t let me, there would be h@ll to pay. Or he got my point and had no comeback for it. Later, I was thinking, that could have gone really bad since I had made an insulting remark about his job.
Basically IMHO by even stopping you for doing ones job, its really insulting. But that is a whole other can of worms.
Though I think it depends on what you are doing too, makes a difference too, so this advice may not be for you. Real estate agents are often seen as successful (meaning they have money and good lawyers) business people, and we have the ears of important people. Important people that could stunt your LE career.
But don’t ever look mad, if you look mad you lose. A forceful tone is about all you can do. That is what they use for the most part too, throw that back at them. If you get mad your the crazy person, no question. Getting mad is what most people can’t get past, so that why the cops win the argument most of the time. Because they do it all day long, you don’t. Your just the random victim that time. I can go a decade without being stopped by a cop. But then there is that day…………..
Unfortunely most people need to take Eric’s advice for dealing with cops. And that is to back down.
Eric, I really get why you like these rants, you do feel a bit better when your done with them. this rant is over.
Not a landscaper but the DOT doesn’t like to see plastic (non-safety) gas cans or auxillary fuel tanks larger than ~110 gallons w/o placarding & associated hazmat endorsements/paperwork.
Been there, done that.
Yep, nobody in the company has sprung for the cost of a Hazmat license(just another letter on your license and no problem to pass the written test but way expensive) and the company hasn’t volunteered so I sometimes pull a 1,000 gallon diesel trailer illegally but never been stopped. I can only pull my dragup propane trailer on back roads(dirt) since it’s totally illegal no matter what. Every year more things are illegal. Now I wonder why?
Why 8, more things are becoming illegal because the State cares about you. Haven’t you been listening to the pol itical campaigns?
Whew, I nearly barfed just saying that!
William Norman Grigg has recently posted on his blog about a guy who has been caged for 7 months so far after pleading the 5th. “When an estranged sister claimed to have seen child pornography on Rawls’s cellphone, police demanded that he provide them with access to the device. Rawls cooperated, and no such material was found. ” They then stole his computer drives and wanted him to provide the encryption codes, which he refused to do. He still does not have a release date. I learned of even more proof that many of the founding fathers of this evil government were opposed to individual freedom and liberty. He mentions Madison’s Federalist 51, the 1789 Judiciary Act, and the All Writs Act.
Returning back to the story: I do not know that guy, but clearly his rights were violated without probable cause. The State uses ‘Child Pornography’ laws and ‘illegal drugs’ laws as excuses to violate our rights. Any person who would force a child or any other person to have sex with him or her is evil as this violates the NAP! But the judicial system, politicians, and the news media have blown things out of proportion again and again. Because of ridiculous laws children can become convicted of possessing child porn for taking a selfie, and spend the rest of their lives being on sexual predator lists. Nudity does not violate the NAP! There are nudist beaches in many countries including this one, and children are oftentimes present at them. What is the difference between seeing a live person nude and seeing the same person nude on a photo? Nowhere in the bible does it say that man must wear clothes, yet many so-called Christians support indecent exposure laws. Do they believe that God’s image is indecent? For evolutionists opposing nudity: Do they not realize that our ancestors have been running around nude for far more years than we have been running around wearing clothes? In more recent decades, houses and shelters were very small, so it was very probable that children saw their parents having sex from time to time without being traumatized. I long for our society to break free from its Purityrannical roots and to embrace rationalism.
“Nowhere in the bible does it say that man must wear clothes”
In Genesis, before Adam and Eve sinned, they were “naked and unashamed.”
Now most of us have plenty to be ashamed of. I do think it is wise, in most cases, to be clothed in public as you may tempt someone. (or, in cases like myself, incite them) But on a ‘posted’ nude beach? Who is the victim?
PtB, that is the typical excuse so-called Christians typically trot out. Do they not get that their shame of being nude creates a barrier between themselves and their Creator? If you had the power to create beings: Would you want them to be ashamed of how they look? My statement stands rock solid. God did not ever tell man that he must wear clothes. The shame those 2 people had does not equal Gods law. One only has to look at the differing cultures living closer to the equator to realize that mankind has not been hard wired to be ashamed of his body, and they aren’t wildly raping each other due to lack of self-control either. You are ashamed of your body because your parents trained you to be ashamed of it back when you were a toddler running around nude and unashamed, just like their parents did to them. That is unintentional generational child abuse which probably began due to non-biblical religious beliefs, and the practice should be ended.
Nudist beaches have people of all shapes, ages, and sizes. Once you get used to seeing nude people you just get used to it.
Brian – you missed my drift. I was agreeing that God did not command clothing, but man invented it due to his own shame.
I still think that, as a general rule, in’polite society,’ it is better to be clothed. But certainly there can be exceptions. And again, nudity is NOT a sin in and of itself.
No I didn’t miss it PtB. My reply did not point towards you, but towards so-called Christians who use the shame of Adam an Eve to justify anti-nudity laws. But I do question why you perceive textile wearers as being part of a ‘polite society’ I suspect that nudist and nearly nudist cultures would take issue with being considered as being ‘impolite’ merely for not wearing textiles. I haven’t heard of any of them bombing other people. Clothes are merely useful tools. Perhaps our society would be less worshipful of authority if they were also nude instead of wearing fancy expensive clothes. In fact, I fully believe that anti-nudity rules were forced upon our ancestors by the ruling elite. Our ancestors probably draped themselves in robes on cool mornings, then disrobed when it warmed up. Wintertime saw them constantly wearing clothes. Once fancy clothes were invented, the wealthy rulers probably forced year round clothes wearing in order to make their subjects real inferior.
Brian, I must agree with you. If the “lords of congress” weren’t dressed in expensive and “fashionable” raiment they wouldn’t have the clout they do among those hung up on dress.
I once remarked to a kin that I lived my life in the boonies as much for being private in what most people think of as privacy but my dislike of wearing clothes. He asked why I didn’t like to wear clothes. Hell if I know said I, I just prefer not to. The locked gate is indicative of my desire to not have other people give me trouble for doing so. I wear whatever I feel I need at the time. Building fence, mechanicing, welding and similar will remind me of needed protection quickly. Other than that, my attire is dependent on weather or inside conditions.
I used to have an outside shower that was toot sweet. Those driving up just had to endure it. It wasn’t a problem for my “friends”. I miss that shower, think I may build another.
For anyone who hasn’t had the privilege of an outside shower, at the end of the day or work, if it’s raining, the water off the roof is a mighty nice place to be and you will realize where the term “squeaky clean” comes from. The dogs like it too and even some cats.
OK so “polite society” was a poor choice of words. I was just trying to convey that, when people are used to seeing others clothed, there is no need to unnecessarily offend them. True, being offended is their problem, not mine, but I still feel better about it.
8, yes, I agree with your lords of congress statement, but I would add the local coproaches to the mix because they would be less prone to violence if it weren’t for the costume that they wear. As you already know: the State has known for a great many years that its subjects and enemies can be intimidated by people wearing uniforms. This is why the State issues them.
For people interested in learning more about the nudist camps, resorts, and beaches I mentioned in general terms; click here: http://www.naturistplace.com/nudeusa.htm
Just remember that the official costumes did not work out so well for the Brits during the 1st War of Secession.
Brian, I noticed HIppie Hollow is “clothing optional”. Everything there is an “option” including birth control and your drug of choice.
Last week we got the Aspen headend backup generator refilled. 130 gal of red diesel, delivered. 70 gallons/min out of the truck tank into ours.
Can’t see what the difference is, other than there aren’t too many vehicles that can handle that flow rate.
“Can’t see what the difference is” – aside from the fact that diesel is much less volatile than gasoline. But that’s just common sense – has nothing to do with gunvermin regs.
I joked to the delivery guy to please not spill any because that’s way too much paperwork. Every month I have to fill out and file a form that no one will ever actually look at to show there’s no diesel spilled. It usually becomes a priority this time of year (when the fishing starts to get good) because the company safety compliance manager will be by to visit, and once in a while the state or federal EPA inspector will check on things too. Of course they could just check that the files are loaded up on the server from anywhere, but visual inspections are important. (Don’t) trust and verify…
it’s just spring fever – got to get out of that office, doncha know
should you ever try to sell that property, the money lender will likely require you to provide proof of clean soil and groundwater via testing, regardless of all your paperwork and inspections…
‘“It is not permitted,” decrees Lt. Baxter.’
Er, um, I have an auto-service membership. They will bring me fuel and put it in the tank for me, anywhere I run out of gas. How can they manage that (legally) if dedicated delivery services are deemed unfit to do so in your driveway?
Oh, Me2, you are being too logical!
Its because they aren’t advertising their services to the general public so they can’t be caught in the act.
Either that, or they offer the same services to the pheroes – at a discount.
So, if these delivery operators can’t be considered safe, one would assume that refilling from a Jerry can in your own driveway would be illegal (as unsafe) then too? Right?
I mean, have you ever watched a mechanically challenged, government dependent, cube farm worker try to operate a Jerry can? Half in the tank, half on the ground, pant leg and fender.
“Half in the tank, half on the ground, pant leg and fender.”
Too bad smoking is no longer PC.
Of course a large part of the blame for that can be placed on Uncle’s mandated saaaaaafety requirements for gas cans.
I fully agree with you. I have spilled more gas using those EPA approved, slow drain, ventless cans than I ever spilled with the old, vented, fast-drain cans. But the EPA cans can be vented, if they are your cans, you just have to order vents off of Amazon.com. Then drill a hole and insert the vent.
Have you ever tried to operate a fedgov compliant gas jug? They save on emissions by causing people to spill fuel all over the place.
Thankfully I have a few pre-uncle nozzles and cans. The pre-uncle nozzles fit my new plastic jugs too.
I have one plastic jug left, a 6 gallon Jerry can but I’ll never have another plastic jug simply because gas will last many times longer in metal cans, esp. galvanized. I believe it’s because there is NO light exposure as opposed to plastic jugs. I need new flexible nozzles for two old metal Jerry cans but you can still use them if you can hold them at the correct angle and the gas that gets out of the nozzle on the outside will run down the nozzle. The plastic Jerry can works fine but I know to use it first. Last year I moved a bunch of stuff in the barn and found a full galvanized can full of two stroke fuel. It smelled ok, looked ok and ran just fine. I was amazed since it had been there 2-3 years. Of course the two stroke mix has a stabilizer additive already in it.
I ended up inheriting galvanized cans from various people and it’s those I prize.
We needed gasoline on a job, a rare thing but for a small engine. I bought a jug, the only type available and I wondered how it worked with no vent when I filled it. It worked only if you held the little lip on the nozzle against the filler on the fuel tank so fuel fairly much covered everything. Last I saw of it was empty and being abused by having heavy crap thrown on it in the back of a crew truck. Good riddance. As with every other govt. mandate, they can KMA.
You can still get the old fashioned metal cans, they do sell them, as containers for water (you will probably have to buy them online). So you may have to give a a quick paint job to make them look like gas cans. But they are the same cans you once put gas in.
You can still buy steel gas cans. they’ll cost ya though. They are on amazon and other places.
Just go to a motocross shop and get dirt bike gas containers, about $25 each and they work. They are plastic five gal. with a hose sticking out the top.
Less than $25 will buy a nozzle that isn’t crap too. Either one that says it’s only for gas cans made before 2009 (because fedgov but will work with newer ones) or one that is compliant that works (if they exist).
I know they’re expensive but the safety cans made for flammables are dandy and won’t gush although they don’t have a built in funnel. If they get hot for any reason, they have a safety that will melt and cause the lid to close and the handle that activates it to not work. They’re a great way to store fuel or inflammable liquid. Buy one off ebay…..Grainger will made you drop your teeth.
I have a bunch of metal cans older and about as old as me. Most of them still have 60 and 70s hydraulic oil and such in them. I have to get rid of the oil somehow. They are same as the five gallon gas can I have of 60s vintage. Also have a 2.5 can about that old. I have a couple plastic jugs I bought. but like I said I can old nozzles I can use.
Some cities and towns now limit the amount of gasoline you can keep in cans (usually less then 10 gallons). Yes, really.
Good reason not to live in town – among many others.
The state of Texas won’t let you fill up any container larger than 6 gallons at your local filling station (sometimes there’s a sticker on the pump advising you of this)
Chip H.
“The state of Texas won’t let you fill up any container larger than 6 gallons” Can you do multiple 5’s?
There’s another reason not to live in town. I haven’t seen a sticker of any sort about volumes of containers and would ignore it if I did. Nobody cares and nobody watches. I can put 35 gallons in the tank, that much more in the toolbox tank and stack as many 6 gallon containers as I want in the bed and the old pump just keeps on going. I don’t want a container(handheld) that holds more than 6 gallons. I can’t imagine being stopped filling a nurse tank of any size.
I’ve got 5 five gallon jugs I routinely fill up at once; out here in The Woods, no one cares, either.
But that’s just because Uncle hasn’t gotten around to it… yet.
Hi Chip,
I am constantly struck by the disconnect between the claims I hear that Texas is populated by freedom lovin’ Americans and… stuff like this.
Texas seems to be Chimp Country.
And you know what that means.
“Half in the tank, half on the ground, pant leg and fender.”
F%^& YOU, just because I can’t manage all the safety gizmos they’ve put on the damn plastic containers these days! 😉
I miss the days of “Open can, pour into funnel in tank.”
Now it’s, partially unscrew top, push button until it clicks, rock the nozzle back until it glugs (and splatters), keep pressure on button B, and slosh fuel frequently so it actually flows (no air hole allowed).
My father was a chemist; I got the inside scoop on some of this Bullshit. The whole purpose is to make sure a “civilian” cannot actually pour fuel, because some sorry SOB tried to basically boil the gas in the container. (I exaggerate, they had the mostly-empty containers too close to the flames, and the fuel was evaporating inside the container, and when they subsequently moved the container, they splashed the liquid inside onto the hot plastic – causing it to vaporize in the already-saturated vapor space, and also causing a pressure wave which burst the container. No explosion, more like shaking a soda bottle – but the bottle can take the pressure, the cheap gas containers can’t. Anyway, gaseous fuel burns, and the area became a mini FAE – Fuel/Air Explosive – and then the liquid on the ground was able to evaporate and sustain combustion. So they’re splattered with hot liquid gas, singed, burning, and possibly going into shock, and there are gasoline fumes that can ignite, as well as the liquid gasoline vaporizing and burning… Hellish, no doubt, but not due to the negligence of the container manufacturer. But now we have 2 flame arresters and 5 pressure seals, which need to be twiddled both sequentially and at once, in order to get gas out of the tank, and it f*cking spills everywhere – LOVELY idea when refilling a hot lawnmower! Maybe if the Politicos actually cut their own lawn….? But that’s work, we leave that for the Little People….)
“Full service – back in the day – was different.
You chose to pay a little extra”
Maybe back in your day, Eric. Back in my day, you didn’t choose. All service was full service. Self-service didn’t exist, IIRC, until the 70s.
Oh, and they also stocked fan belts. Maybe not needed anymore in this day of electric fans. Many were even attached to ‘full service’ garages.
But there was a reason they were referred to as ‘service stations.’
Yeah. The rise of self service gas stations began in 1974-75 in the aftermath of the Arab Oil Embargo. I remember that period like it was yesterday. Initially, I was actually happy about that. I didn’t like waiting on the fuel attendants. Like every good thing, the pendulum has swung too far the other way.
A larger problem today is the fact that compressed air for tires is not available at many stations. If it is, the machines are broken and it costs $1.25 to fill your tires (hopefully before pump stops). This is concurrent with the mandate for TPMS.
Look for Alon. They not only have free air but long hoses on reels mounted at head level so it’s easy to do all the tires on a vehicle and their air is good for 80 lbs that will take care of tires all the way through Class E…..80 psi.
“Look for Alon” – OK, I looked. Not found w/in 500 mi. of my location.
I worked at a service station during college. I did just about anything and everything to a car including brake jobs, changing engine mounts or whatever needed to be done. We had lots of TBA(tires batteries and accessories). Every service station I ever saw had a TBA button on the cash register. It covered nearly everything but fuel to keep taxes straight.
I prefer to pump my own fuel. I knocked off a couple places selling fuel with alcohol by pumping it myself(smell it). That was before it was mandated. One was a Chevron station that had it in their 93 octane. I immediately stopped and hung up the hose. The attendant remarked I didn’t need much. I agreed and told him why. He was unaware and not convinced. I went to the Exxon on the next corner, no gasahol.
I’ve been keeping records of fill ups and what percentage biodiesel it is. The lowest sort(none)returned the best fuel mileage. Most range from 5-15% biodiesel. Love’s truckstops are always a cent or more lower than a close competitor and 15% biodiesel is the reason. I don’t care if the price is a dime higher, it’s worth it.
I avoid crapohol like the plague (there are still a few places out here that sell non-ethanol gas) after it damaged a couple of my machines, but occasionally have to buy crapohol. I’ve never noticed a difference in smell, but then I never paid much attention to the odor. What odor does crapohol give off?