All new gas pumps!

Or: It takes so little to make me happy....
And other things....

First off, my apologies to the dozen or so of you Out There who read here -- it's been awhile since I've updated. Sorry about that....
Back in the last week of July, my little gas station received all-new electronics for our 10 gas pumps, which means that for the first time in 3 years, almost everything WORKS LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO.
I'd been waiting anxiously for this for quite awhile. I've joked with customers for years that the job-related stress was what made all my hair fall out....
Naturally, there were a few minor problems. Two gas pumps started running IMMEDIATELY, charging you money even though the pump wasn't actually pumping any gas into your gas tank. And some idiot was so distraught about his cat throwing up all over his new car that he drove off without hanging up the nozzle ... so that after 2 weeks, we already had 3 gas pumps that were DOWN and unavailable.
There were other, minor things. One pump printed nothing but BLANK receipts. Another wouldn't accept any punched-in zip codes -- a step used as an anti-fraud device.
But overall, things are much smoother and quieter at my work now -- proving again that the challenge of my job isn't so much THE WORK (a trained monkey could do that) -- it's more about dealing with PEOPLE'S WEIRDNESS. And of course that never ends....
This summer's been quieter than others, though. There have been a few freaks around -- and the hot weather we had last week (mid-90s, which is hot for us) did bring more of them out. But it could be worse. Has been many times. I'm happy to report that life at Work is actually ... sort of good. Been awhile since I've been able to say that.

On other fronts, I note that the Media is At It Again, predicting that a fire at a huge oil refinery in Richmond, California, three weeks ago might jump West Coast gas prices by 50 cents to a dollar per gallon.
There HAS been a jump -- when I left work Sunday night we were at $3.95 for a gallon of Regular, up about 20 cents in the 3 weeks since the refinery fire.
And I have seen competitors' prices as high as $4.09 per gallon, which is way too much. But their prices were higher than ours from the start.
But a 20 cent jump is in no way 50 cents or a dollar per gallon.
Once again I have to conclude that The Experts consulted by the Media are full of shit, alarming people for their own reasons. Which will, of course, go unrevealed.
Don't be sucked in.

If you enjoy the ranting I sometimes do here, please feel free to join me over at my other blog, TAD's Back-Up Plan, where I sometimes rant about Strange Music and off-the-wall books. I tend to be a lot sillier over there, and have a lot more fun. Got to figure out a way to import some of that silliness over here....

I turned 53 years old today, and life is good. Hope you all are the same.
More soon....