gas at 7.9 cents a gallon...

[queenlives]

i drove our prius up to my father's house earlier this week and found the cost of fuel along the I-5 corridor, regular was >$4.30ish a gallon, diesel was >$5.30ish a gal.

woof.

when i got to his place, pop was very curious about the prius' mileage (45+ driving up, 47+ returning) and from there we got into a discussion re the cost of gas. i said i remembered pumping gas @27.9 cents when i was a pump-jockey while in high school. dad said, "i remember when it was 7.9 cents a gallon... and white gas (kerosene) was practically free."

we also talked about a couple of other things:

* growing up in whittier (southern california), he would walk 10 minutes from his house to go pheasant hunting in the "country".

* the los angeles river basin was a great fishing area; in fact, one year there was a pretty severe flood and when the water receded, he and his brother walked where the water had been and picked up steelhead (trout) for dinner. (doing a little research today, i see the steelhead are now back - UH mazing! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/emeraldcity/2008/03/steelhead-trout.html)

* during WWII, his older brother served on 3 naval ships that were sunk out from under him. first time i'd ever heard that story, so i did some research and found the ship's roster for one ship dad named, U.S.S. Atlanta. sure enough, there was my uncle's name, listed as a survivor of the sinking.

i'm betting we'll see a lot more steelhead in the LA river basin before we'll see 7.9cents @ the pump again.

 

[White92]

If we ever see 7.9 cent gas again it will be some radio promotion. People will line up for hours with their engines running the whole time for cheap gas.

 

[NSXrunner]

At 7.9 cents a gallon I'd show up in a big tractor tanker and say fill her up! :tongue: :biggrin:

 

[Ben]

I'd be interested to see what 7.9 cents and 27.9 cents a gallon would translate to when adjusted for inflation, to do an apples to apples comparison to today's prices.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

If we ever see 7.9 cent gas again it will be some radio promotion. People will line up for hours with their engines running the whole time for cheap gas.

The company I work for ran a promotion yesterday. To celebrate being in business for 92yrs, we decided to give a $.92 DISCOUNT on a gallon of gas with a max of 15 gals. This was to run for only 2 hrs.
One and half hours prior to this sale, cars were lined up 1 mile down the road. The local police department was in charge of keeping order and directing traffic. There were people driving ~30 miles to get in line to try and save a few dollars. Of course you have people that would try to skip in line so they wouldn't have to wait like others were doing. That wasn't a good idea because there were unmarked police cars in line and patroling the area watching out for that and not letting them get away with it.
Think about it. You aren't even going to save $15 and yet you are going to spend a few hours sitting in your car in the hot sun!! Or if you are really stupid, sitting in a running car so you won't get hot.

 

[gheba_nsx]

The US consumer price index was 50 in 1945 and it is 600 today: inflation over the last 60 years is around 1200%

7.9ct = 95ct still very cheap

 

[steveny]

The company I work for ran a promotion yesterday. To celebrate being in business for 92yrs, we decided to give a $.92 DISCOUNT on a gallon of gas with a max of 15 gals. This was to run for only 2 hrs.
One and half hours prior to this sale, cars were lined up 1 mile down the road. The local police department was in charge of keeping order and directing traffic. There were people driving ~30 miles to get in line to try and save a few dollars. Of course you have people that would try to skip in line so they wouldn't have to wait like others were doing. That wasn't a good idea because there were unmarked police cars in line and patroling the area watching out for that and not letting them get away with it.
Think about it. You aren't even going to save $15 and yet you are going to spend a few hours sitting in your car in the hot sun!! Or if you are really stupid, sitting in a running car so you won't get hot.

I have never understood this either. My wife is all excited when she gets gas for 3 cents cheaper then the place on the opposite corner where there is no line.
I hate getting gas. With the exception of the F car I have my wifes assistant take the credit card and fill up the vehicles every Friday.

 

[MvM]

Gas prices being higher than ever before (still about double what you guys in the U.S. are paying), there are at least two companies where I live which are exploiting unmanned gas stations.

The idea is you are paying with your bank card, then fill up your car and drive away. Apparently, being unmanned saves them enough to be able to give up to 12 (Euro)cents discount per litre of gas.
This amounts to about 5 Euro per tank or about 6% of your total fuel bill.
Needless to say, I am using these stations as much as possible.

Was wondering if you don't have similar gas stations in the U.S.?

 

[robr]

I have never understood this either. My wife is all excited when she gets gas for 3 cents cheaper then the place on the opposite corner where there is no line.
I hate getting gas. With the exception of the F car I have my wifes assistant take the credit card and fill up the vehicles every Friday.

My wife is the same way.... 'It's 4 cents cheaper down the road, lets go out of our way to go get it there". I point out we'd save $0.60 to waste 15 minutes of our time and she says 'so? 60 cents is 60 cents'.... then goes out and blows a zillion $$ on kids toys and clothes. My daughter's 2nd birthday cake yesterday I just found out was $75. WTF.... she's 2!! Granted the cake was absolutely stunning, but now it's gone.

Then again, I guess I'm guilty as well. I made liquid nitrogen ice cream. My 10L dewer must be hosed because it all boiled off in 5 hours. Literally $40 up in smoke. I ended up finding another place to fill it for $20 the day of the party and made the first batch in advance. Cost me $100 for 2 gallons of ice cream and I wasn't even able to put on the show I wanted. All the "smoke" always blows people's minds... but I also saved $50 by avoiding the dermatologist co-pay by using the LN2 to freeze off a wart .

 

[steveny]

Gas prices being higher than ever before (still about double what you guys in the U.S. are paying), there are at least two companies where I live which are exploiting unmanned gas stations.

The idea is you are paying with your bank card, then fill up your car and drive away. Apparently, being unmanned saves them enough to be able to give up to 12 (Euro)cents discount per litre of gas.
This amounts to about 5 Euro per tank or about 6% of your total fuel bill.
Needless to say, I am using these stations as much as possible.

Was wondering if you don't have similar gas stations in the U.S.?

I'm not 100% sure what state it was I think it was Mass. where I got out of the car to pump my own gas and the attendant was screaming at me like I had a bomb. It is illegal to pump your own gas in one of the states up here in the NE. At least it was at the time. This was like 8 years ago. Pretty sure it was MAss. Maybe not though.

 

[steveny]

My wife is the same way.... 'It's 4 cents cheaper down the road, lets go out of our way to go get it there". I point out we'd save $0.60 to waste 15 minutes of our time and she says 'so? 60 cents is 60 cents'.... then goes out and blows a zillion $$ on kids toys and clothes. My daughter's 2nd birthday cake yesterday I just found out was $75. WTF.... she's 2!! Granted the cake was absolutely stunning, but now it's gone.

Then again, I guess I'm guilty as well. I made liquid nitrogen ice cream. My 10L dewer must be hosed because it all boiled off in 5 hours. Literally $40 up in smoke. I ended up finding another place to fill it for $20 the day of the party and made the first batch in advance. Cost me $100 for 2 gallons of ice cream and I wasn't even able to put on the show I wanted. All the "smoke" always blows people's minds... but I also saved $50 by avoiding the dermatologist co-pay by using the LN2 to freeze off a wart .

I just read this out loud to my wife and she is laughing her ass off. Oh the things we do.
This guy who works for us is always noting how his dad will drive 30 miles to save 3 bucks on a oil change. It drives him nuts. People who are not busy do not understand people who are busy.

Glad you were able to get that LN2 refilled. Sounds like a great cake BTW. Happy 2nd birthday to robr's daughter.

 

[Ben]

I'm not 100% sure what state it was I think it was Mass. where I got out of the car to pump my own gas and the attendant was screaming at me like I had a bomb. It is illegal to pump your own gas in one of the states up here in the NE. At least it was at the time. This was like 8 years ago. Pretty sure it was MAss. Maybe not though.

A few years ago, it was illegal in Oregon too. Not sure if it still is. It's also illegal in Taiwan. I heard the rationale behind it was to create jobs for those with little education or marketable skills. I don't have a problem with it in itself, what I do have a problem with is that the attendants don't care about spilling or dripping gas on your car. In Taiwan they always try to top off to get that extra few NT$, and inevitably spill gas on your car. They also haven't figured out how to use the gas cap holders inside the gas tank door, and always put the oily/dirty gas cap on your paint, or let it swing by the tether, creating scratches under the gas tank door.

 

[queenlives]

A few years ago, it was illegal in Oregon too. Not sure if it still is.

still is - i was up there last week. interesting note, the gas was ~$.30 per gal cheaper there than our local stations.

 

[robr]

Steve, I think you're thinking of NJ. You cannot pump your own gas in NJ. MA has had self service stations forever. I occasionally run into a station that doesn't allow it (there is one local to me), but that's specific to that particular station. I got into an argument with the guy when trying to fill the NSX (a different attendant there let me do it myself previously). I *NEVER* let anyone else fill the NSX (except in NJ then I just stood there 3' from the guy watching him... even in NJ I'd start it myself and wait to get yelled at... sometimes they let me do it, sometimes not).

There was one incident I had in NJ, I was in my early 20s driving from MA to FL for spring break. I pulled up to the pump and waited for the guy to show, I got tired of waiting so started to pump my own gas, then the guy came and yelled at me. So I let him take over, he set the handle to go by itself and walked off and was hanging out talking with his buddy. The pump clicked off. I waited.... and waited... and waited for him to come back. Finally I said screw it, got out and put the cap on myself and was hanging up the pump when he came running back over screaming at me again. I told him I don't have all day to wait for him while he sits there and talks to his buddy. He thrust me the clipboard with my credit card thing to sign, all the while continuing to yell at me. I took the clipboard out of his handsm took my credit card and then threw the clipboard out over the fence into the NJ turnpike and told him if he wants my money, he'd have to go get it, I got in my car and drove off. Dick.... yeah, I'm talking about both of us.... .

 

[robr]

The $75 cake.... the only picture I have at the moment until we get the ones back from other guests.
In all honesty, when I think about the amount of labor that had to have gone into this cake, $75
was probably a steal, but regardless... $75 is a boatload of money for a cake for a 2 year old .
Really the cake was for my wife. My daughter wanted Teletubbies on the cake. It was amusing
watching the two of them sit at her computer, looking at google images of cakes and arguing
about Teletubbies vs. fairies. I said to my wife, "It's HER birthday, let her have the friggin
teletubbies already, I'll get you a fairy cake for your birthday". She said no way, I'm not
having a cake with teletubbies on it, she'll be fine with the fairies. ARggh!!!!!!!!