Pumping gas? (Portland, Salem, Albany: credit, work, college)

[LADY_DI]

i like having somone else pump my gas but makes me mad i still have to go inside to pay it sucks when you have to get out of the car when its raining and you have your child with you , if there going to pump your gas atleast they can bring your payment in if your paying CASH


most of these people are just lazy and rude

[RockyMtnr]

Kind of hard to figure out where you're at, Lady Di - lazy and rude doesn't seem to apply to the Oregonians I've met ... except in a few cases.
At my gas stations, the clerks DO take the cash in and come back out with your receipt. However, it creates a bit more of a wait so, what I've started doing when I want to pay cash (and don't need a receipt) is to simply hand them a dollar amount and ask them to pump it.
It only takes a few times filling up to know how much it takes to fill your vehicle so, if your normal fill-up is ... say ... $27, simply hand the pumper a $25-dollar bill (okay, ya got me, a $20 and a $5) and ask for $25 bucks worth.
I actually had an attendant clean my windshields the last fill-up! Now, granted, the fellow was about my age and when I was a kid, there were always two or three people going over your car at ever fill-up and self-serve didn't exist ANYWHERE - but it's been a while since I've had someone do that.
It was a cash fill and I didn't have any other cash with me - or, I would have tipped him.
Nowhere have I had an attendant be rude. Now, the clerk inside the store is a different story - but I digress as it is not the subject here.
Lady Di, just a suggestion - especially since I am not acquainted with you - try a touch more patience and maybe a relaxed smile ... THEN, go to the gas station and put the attendant at ease. If that doesn't work after a couple of tries, it's time to find a new station.

[jm21]

The gas attendants do get tips if they're decent, especially from the old folks. So sometimes old ladies who look generous will get some great service, especially if they're known by someone at the station as a tipper. The most annoying thing I ever have attendants do is strike up a conversation with you when you don't want to talk.

What would you do besides asking them for X dollars in X type of fuel though? Maybe it's because I grew up here, but no one here asks for anything but $x dollars in X type of fuel (e.g $20 in regular), or sometimes to fill it up in X fuel. I've never seen it make a difference in service time either way. Most people just ask for $20 or so. Doesn't filling up (especially if you top it off) hurt your mileage a little?

I've lived in self-pump states and it was about the same speed or slower than OR on the average, except when there's a real busy day in OR. Maybe self-pump seems faster because you're doing something, rather than just waiting. I guess you have the people who are incredibly anal about their car who might not like someone filling their gas tank too.

Don't really understand why people would care much either way. Doesn't make much of a difference for most folks.

[RockyMtnr]

Change is often difficult - even if it is welcome.
Personally, I had a really hard time adjusting to .30cent a gallon gas and .35cent smokes.
I had a fairly difficult time adjusting to self-serve even though one of my high-school jobs was pumping gas. Just didn't seem right but then again, I also had a hard time adjusting to gas-stations that sold snacks!
I remember the first time I ran into PRE-PAY gas. On a trip out of Utah into Washington State. I was outraged! I'd lived in New York, California and Florida - even Detroit - and never had to pre-pay for gas. HeeHee - poor lady got an earful from me.
I had a hard time adjusting to "no lead" for cars. I grew up with it being called "white gas" and you used it in your mower ... sometimes.
I had a really hard time adjusting to cars that won't do 125+ mph - especially when the speedometers still went that high! Had a hard time adjusting to back-seats that you couldn't lay down in - thank goodness I went to college before that happened. Oh, my roommate (the virgin) had a VW but I didn't and nobody else did/was.
Drive-thru banks were modern, architectural marvels! (How'd they do that?!)
Had a hard time adjusting to McDonald's with seats! And glass fronts!!
(Remind me to tell you the story of the streaker in the motorcycle helmet who decided to streak a McD's with one of those new, glass fronts so you could stand in line out of the weather - only to find that the door on the other side was locked!)
Had a really hard time adjusting to living in a state where I can have hemp-oil on my salad and use hemp-shampoo and conditioner on my thinning mane! (Yeah, right).
Had a fairly hard time adjusting to a state where the "butt-heads" of the world are in the minority!! (no offense to buttheads everywhere).
Had a hard time adjusting to living in a state where, even the "bad guys" are nicer than me!!
Now, I'm not so sure about your statement of "topping it up burning more gas" - as, there's the condensation issue -vs- the weight issue ... and how some of the newer cars shouldn't be topped-up at all ... but I have definitely adjusted to paying .20 cents more a gallon to let someone else pump my gas ... wish they'd stop by the house and change my oil too ... and my plugs.

[jiffin4java]

LOL! I always love reading your posts, RockyMtnr!

Looking forward to making the adjustment!

[Tesaje]

I had always read that you better gas mileage by filling up because there is less room in the tank for the gas to evaporate. If you don't fill up, you can't calculate your gas mileage.

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by jm21

Maybe self-pump seems faster because you're doing something, rather than just waiting.

I don't think that's it. Even in self pump states, I hated going in to pay all the time, but atleast it's alot faster than waiting. Even with someone pumping your gas, if you get more than $10, they'll usually go to other cars and then you have to wait for them to come back to pay. I estimated I usually wait twice as long vs. pumping gas myself, but that's me and I grew up in SoCal where the pace is alot faster than Oregon.

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

I had always read that you better gas mileage by filling up because there is less room in the tank for the gas to evaporate. If you don't fill up, you can't calculate your gas mileage.

Unless you have a feature in your car that tells you your mileage.

[seashelly]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

I had always read that you better gas mileage by filling up because there is less room in the tank for the gas to evaporate. If you don't fill up, you can't calculate your gas mileage.

I always heard (lol) if you fill it all the way to the top in the hot summer months, the gas heats up and expands and overflows, and, if you underfill it during the cold winter months, the water in the gas has room to freeze. .....and that's about all I know about gas.

[RockyMtnr]

Well, I say I've adjusted - but I do think it takes a bit longer ... hard to say actually - with the potential standing-in-line. It's okay. There are things about other states that I dislike a lot more than having my gas pumped. I'd rather be in Oregon.
I agree with the poster who says it's harder to figure your mpg if you don't fill to the top - every time ... but .. whoops, make that a big BUT ... unless you fill up at the same time of day at the same temperature with the same nozzle and rate-of-fill, you're really not going to figure it down to an exact mpg anyway - if you're getting 40 (like I am), you know it. If you're getting 39.7 or 40.3, you've got other problems to deal with instead of worrying about mpg. Best to round it off and brag it up!
One thing I've noticed about having my gas pumped - and that is, I don't check my oil as often or check other things under the hood as often. This could lead to other problems - like today ... I checked my oil (finally) and saw that little "radiator" that sits in front of the Real radiator - is all orange and crumbly. Holy Crud!! My A/C was working just fine last I knew. So, see what I mean? If I'd been pumping my own gas, I would've checked my oil long before now and seen that potential problem.
-- and thanks, Jiffin4Java. It's a combination of the drug-years (the years - not the drugs), the Prairie Home Companion years ... and just plain ol' years ... and years ... and years.