Moved

All further posts about my job have been posted at my "strange music, books and other stuff" blog, TAD's Back-Up Plan. See you over there....

On vacation

Gas price: $3.77 for a gallon of Regular.

This last week has been a bitch.
Following behind my Manager and her Daughter three days. Cleaning and stocking the store when it seems like no one else does.
Pricing and stocking a normal-sized beer order -- and getting laughed at when I asked our beer-distributor if he could bring the same-sized order for the Labor Day Weekend.
Running my ass off, as usual. Ain't got much ass left.
The Biker Chick returned to work one last shift -- and was only $36 short on her cash at the end of this one last go-'round.
On Sunday I followed The New Girl, who was worn to a frazzle by the time I got to work -- with the cash register messed-up and gas pumps locked up and alarms going off telling us we were almost out of gas.
But she survived it, and the store was in no worse a shape than I'd expected.
And she was only $5 short. And she was worried she might get fired -- ha! You have to mess up pretty badly to get fired from this place....
And I might have. On Saturday night I suggested that one of our Regulars could help me out if he wiped off his shoes before he came into the store.
And he freaked out!
I'd delicately suggested this before. The guy is a little older than me and works in a pizza parlor, and every night I've worked lately he's been in around 9 to pick up a six-pack on his way home.
And every time he's come in, he's left little white footprints all over our dark rugs on his way back to the beer section. And all the way back up front to the cash register.
This usually happens right after I've just finished vacuuming. Or when the store's really busy. And it makes me look like a lazy slob.
It bugged me.
So I lightly mentioned it a couple times before, and he didn't Get It. Or he laughed at me.
So on Saturday I was more direct. I said it would really help me if he could wipe his shoes on the mat outside the front door before he came in.
And he blew up.
"I've got construction guys coming in my place and wrecking it ALL THE TIME, and I've never said SHIT to THEM because they're CUSTOMERS!" he shouted. "Your Management is gonna hear about how you feel, and you won't be seeing my face again!"
And I was thinking: Maybe if you DID say something to your construction guys, you wouldn't have to come in and buy a six-pack to de-stress when you get home each night.
And: If you know how that feels, why would you do it to someone else? Because it's your turn to dump, because that's what makes the world go 'round?
And: Is it really that big a deal to you? It would take FIVE SECONDS to wipe your feet....
Hey, I've told painters and construction guys to wipe their feet, and they're still coming back....
This isn't just where I work -- it's my home for eight hours a day, and I care about how it looks, and it pisses me off when people trash it or don't clean up after themselves.
Besides, I'm tired of being fed shit by people and being told all I can do is swallow.
If she had been around, my Girlfriend would have joked with me -- as she sometimes does when I need a nudge -- that I was being a Pompous, Arrogant Asshole. And maybe I was.
After he left, the customer behind him told me not to worry about it: "That guy's a prick; I've seen him in other places...."
That helped, and I thanked him. And I didn't even start shaking, like I sometimes do in confrontations with customers.
Maybe it's a good thing I'm on vacation for the next nine days. Though folks generally haven't been terribly behaved or overly demanding during the past week, it was a long week anyway, with lots of people out and about and the busiest Friday and Saturday nights I've had in awhile. And I worked an extra month before taking vacation this year, while store management figured out its personnel issues....
So, was I out of line? You decide. And let me know below....

Nothin' but a breeze....

Hey, don't want to jinx it, but work has been nothing but a breeze lately.
I mean it's still WORK, don't get me wrong, but I haven't had much to complain about. There haven't been too many crazies out, the workload hasn't gotten any worse. Either customers have mellowed a bit or I have. I can't even remember the last time I got yelled at. (OK, now I AM asking for it....)
All this even as we're knocking on the door of $4 per gallon for gas. (Although we're still holding at $3.93 if you pay cash -- surprised it hasn't gone UP yet....)
Maybe the Summer we'd all hoped for finally arriving has helped people's moods....
Anyway, that's why not much posting here lately. Not like I'm having a great time at work, but if there's no yelling or screaming or craziness, there ain't much left to write about. Or at least it's a lot more boring if I DO....
Our Afternoon Girl, the Biker Chick, worked her last day at the store on Thursday -- and to celebrate she was $25 short on the cash she supposedly took in during her shift. Just like a lot of her other shifts. Nice person and I'll miss her, but she couldn't use an adding machine to save her life. Things just didn't add up when she was around.
We have hired a new woman to work afternoons, & hopefully I'll actually get a week off before I keel over from exhaustion. That week off's supposedly coming toward the end of August.
I'll keep you posted, but that's all for now....

$3.93!

Just a quick update -- our price for a gallon of Regular gas has been $3.93 since Wednesday afternoon. If you use a debit or credit card & don't get a discount, you'll be paying $4.01 per gallon. This allows the nationwide chain-station across the street to undercut us by 15 cents per gallon.
More soon. Summer continues -- hot here, but not too many Crazies out. (Hope I haven't just jinxed myself by mentioning it....)

Going Up....

Gas prices are going up again -- we bottomed-out at $3.69 a gallon for Regular over the last couple weeks, but have now gone up 20 cents in 3 days -- up to $3.89 per gallon as of yesterday afternoon, allowing the nationwide chainstore across the street to undercut us by 20 cents.
I wonder what the Oil Industry's excuse for this price increase is...? Amazing how they held off over the July 4th weekend but decided to do their recouping now...?
Otherwise, still running my ass off, still doing work for at least 3 other employees, life is grand. Counting down to Vacation, which is coming somewhere between 2 and 6 weeks from now. Wondering if it's time to ask for a Raise (haven't had one in at least 3 years), but doubt if I'd get it, even WITH all the running-ass-off activity....
& how are things in your little world...?

Down to $3.89!

Gas prices continue to drop -- we're now down to $3.89 for a gallon of Regular. Which is still too much, but....
Not much else to report, currently. Weather here is gorgeous, sunny & around 80. That should start bringing the Summer Weirdos out....
More soon, I'm sure....

Down to $3.95!

Our price for a gallon of Regular gas, as of 2 June 13 -- $3.95.
Prices obviously coming down now after that nationwide price-gouging effort over the Memorial Day Weekend. How are things in your neck of the woods?
More soon....

Third Anniversary

Well now. This is gonna be fairly boring....
Been 3 years since I started writing this blog. And though things are far from ideal at the little gas station where I work, even though I still have my Moments, it's been quite awhile since I've yelled at anyone....
These days I get more hassles from my co-workers than I do from customers -- & even then it's mostly indirect, thoughtless passive-aggressive stuff -- them leaving all the work they don't want to be bothered with for me, etc. .... I'm sort of getting used to it.
Recently, being tired or sick at work has probably been a Good Thing. It's helped mellow me out a bit.
I don't actually have that much to complain about right now.
They are, at least, still paying me.
Gas prices didn't go through the roof for Memorial Day Weekend. Shocking. We're still holding at $3.99 for a gallon of Regular gas. Which is too much, of course, but still....
One of My Favorite Drunks was back in the store last week -- Sign Guy was in for the first time in at least a year. And he shorted me 35 cents on the price of his beer, too. Just like Old Times....
I don't really have anything surprising or shocking to say right now. Sorry to let you all down like this.
This must mean that I'm actually fairly happy these days. Or that at least I'm putting up with it all. And that's got to be Good News.
I'll try to do better next time....

Bitching

Gas price -- $3.99 per gallon for Regular.

When I got to work Wednesday evening -- my Monday -- the store was trashed. As usual.
Clearly the sodas & energy drinks hadn't been seriously stocked since I went home Sunday night, the ice machine was empty, the floors were a freaking mess, the restroom was hideous, nobody had swept the grunge off the rugs (we STILL don't have a vacuum cleaner) ... and my Manager stood around like everything was great.
Though I'm sure she noticed my almost-immediate whirlwind/crazy-man act that followed for the next 2 hours.
I'll give this to my Manager: She IS a Good Person, & she DID stock the cooler for almost an hour before she went home, bringing out a TON of empty boxes for product she stocked on the shelves -- confirming for me that no one had seriously stocked the cooler since Sunday night. (I brought out a ton MORE empty boxes when I stocked the cooler again after I closed the store.)
...Also confirming that she KNOWS what's going on. & is basically OK with it. Because trying to fix it will cause more trouble for her than just Letting Things Go....
Awhile back she passed down that Everybody's supposed to stock the cooler before they go home, so that The Gas Nazi doesn't freak out every time he comes to work & discovers Nothing's Been Done.
But it hasn't happened.
Oh, everybody pays lip-service to what I'd like. But nobody does much.
I don't expect the store to be Immaculate when I come to work -- I'd just like to see some evidence that the person I take over from has actually Done Something.
I didn't see much evidence of that on Wednesday. & I don't see much of it most days.
Four years ago, when we had 2 guys working at the store, I'm told customers used to come in mornings & compliment the morning & afternoon workers on how clean & organized the store was.
& my women co-workers -- including my Manager -- said: "Oh, The Guys do all of it. We don't do anything."
I have heard this story repeatedly.
Now I'm the only guy working at the store. & all the women leave the stuff they don't want to be bothered with for me.
I've seen this clearly, everybody knows it's happening, & they all figure the lip-service they give me will be enough.
The morning worker hardly ever stocks the cooler. The weekend fill-in has stocked the cooler TWICE in the 4 months she's worked for us -- usually she's in a big hurry to get out the door to see her boyfriend.
& the other fill-in -- my Manager's daughter -- is never around much later than 6 p.m. no matter what, no matter how large a beer order is sitting in the cooler waiting to be priced.
They're all Good People, pleasant to work with and be around, but....
This has happened to me repeatedly over the years.
Men generally work harder than women, no matter what the business setting.
Men get the job done. Women leave most of the work for others.
I wonder why nobody ever talks about this?
In 35+ years of work, I've had exactly one woman supervisor who absolutely knew what she was doing, had worked her way up through the ranks, hadn't forgotten what it was like, & was an absolute model of intelligence and reasonableness.
Over the same period, by far the 2 worst supervisors I've ever had were women -- one who was so busy trying to beat men at their own game that she treated all the men who worked for her like shit, couldn't say a nice word about any of them ... and another who repeatedly dumped all her work on the men who worked for her -- especially when The Job interfered with her Weekend Plans.
Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE women. They're almost always a joy to work with, a pleasure to be around. While guys can often be angry and brutal and crude.
But in my experience, this kind of work-avoidance lip-service behavior by women is pretty much normal.
Does it make me a sexist, for pointing out this Reality?
Very well then, so be it.
Anybody want to argue about this?

Prices going up for Memorial Day

By the way, our little store's price for a gallon of Regular gas went up to $3.95 on Thursday night -- a jump of 20 cents in the last couple weeks.
This after the media'd been reporting that demand for gas was below-normal, supplies were huge, & "experts" expected prices to start dropping toward $3.20 per gallon sometime soon.
Instead, one station in town -- which is notorious for being overpriced & which is usually the first to break the $4/gallon barrier -- is already at $3.99 for a gallon of Regular. (Up to $4.14 as of Saturday afternoon!)
& we are 25 cents per gallon more expensive than the nationwide "cheapo" gas chain across the street.
& so much for all that. My opinion is the oil companies are lining us up for $4 per gallon in time for the Memorial Day Weekend & the Official Start Of Summer. Your opinions?
BTW, Memorial Day will mark 3 years since I started keeping this ranting, raving journal. & I have so much to show for it.... Passed 50 posts here with that "10 Commandments" list below. So, indications are I might just stick with this.
More soon -- I'll keep you posted as gas prices go up-up-up, just like last year....
What are gas prices like in your neck of the woods...?

Getting Better

Things are better now. At the risk of jinxing it, I've had a really smooth last 2 or 3 weeks. Nothing to complain about. The workload seems to have evened out, I don't feel like I'm being taken advantage of quite so much, customers have been easier to deal with ... & as a result, I'm easier to deal with.
Maybe a new batch of motivational music for work has helped. For more about that, see my other blog, TAD's Back-Up Plan. Maybe things have lightened-up because it's trying to be Spring around here. A little Sunshine now & then sure does a lot of good. Maybe I just went down as low as I could go & then bounced back up. It's happened before.
Anyway, things are way better. Didn't want to leave things here the way they were before -- it was too much of a downer.
I'll get back to you when I have something new to report. Even if it's just to complain.
BTW, we're holding at $3.85 for a gallon of Regular gas. Hope things are better in your neck of the woods....

Nice while it lasted....

Some nights I REALLY AM The Gas Nazi. I'm sure I was like that for a lot of Wednesday night, when it became obvious that my co-workers were being nice to me & split-up the work to give me a break -- for a week. But as of Wednesday night I was back to Eating Shit again.
Nobody gets it. Everybody else is mostly there just for a paycheck. And I'm back to doing more than my share.
I freaked-out about this for an hour or so -- about how I walked in at 5 p.m. Wednesday and the soda coolers were half-empty and the big beer cooler hadn't been stocked and the soda fountain was COMPLETELY OUT of ice and the restroom was trashed & the restroom garbage-can was stuffed full and the floors looked like crap and....
Basically it looked like nobody had done much in the store since I went home Sunday night.
As usual.
Then I rang-up a customer and after I had him locked-in for his gas purchase, he dumped a pocketful of change on the counter and asked if he could add that to the gas.
And I blew up. And then he blew up at me.
He asked what the hell was wrong with me. He said I was acting like a crazy man.
Which I probably was.
And it was probably a good thing for me to hear.
Since then I've been pretty much down-to-earth. Hearing that flattened me right out, just like hitting a "reset" button. So I didn't go nuts when my afternoon co-worker left Thursday at 6:10 p.m. after not even pricing half of the beer order. I didn't freak-out too much when my boss'es kids came in Thursday night at 12:05 a.m. to fill up their car -- five minutes after I'd made my after-closing Dash To The Restroom.
But I DID freak-out Wednesday night when another of my co-workers came into the store 5 minutes after my boss left and asked me what was wrong. So I TOLD her. And I'm sure that'll get back to the boss, because it's the second time I've yelled at her.
Again, might be time to look for a new job. Last night was WAY better, just because it wasn't my Monday anymore. And tonight should be OK because it's Friday, and they're usually pretty smooth.
I'll keep you posted on whether there will be any repercussions from all this yelling. Possibly there will be. Nobody seems to care what I think as long as I'm not complaining. Nobody cares how much work they leave for me as long as I don't start yelling about it. Some of my co-workers don't even know HALF the things they're supposed to be doing during a shift -- another sign of really solid training.
Anybody out there looking for a decent writer with 15 years of retail sales experience? Twenty years experience with newspaper writing? A real retirement job where I don't feel like I have to go out and re-shingle the roof almost every single day? Please respond below....

Gas prices up 20 cents in a week!

Greetings, Happy New Year and Sorry Again for the delays.
I'm posting here again because the price for a gallon of Regular gasoline at my little store has gone up 20 cents in a week -- from $3.39 per gallon to $3.59.
The national news media says this price spike is due to oil refineries shutting down to switch from their Winter-blend gas to their Summer blend.
I don't know, maybe. Sounds like a hype to me, though. Is the Summer blend thinner? Thicker? Sweeter? What?
To sort-of counteract this, and at roughly the same time, my boss recently dropped prices on beer and cigarettes -- the two biggest items people come into my little store for.
Cigarette prices drop by 40 cents per pack if you buy 2 or more packs. Beer prices, meanwhile, have dropped a dime each for 24-ounce cans up to $2 on 12-packs and 18-packs.
All this happened just in time for the Super Bowl -- good timing. We reportedly now have the cheapest beer prices in town. And our cigarette prices are pretty reasonable too -- for Washington state, where there's really no such thing as "cheap smokes." Before the price change, our cheapest pack of cigarettes was $6.39 plus nearly-9-percent sales tax.
My boss has made these price reductions -- which come straight out of his profit-margin -- because business has been pretty flat since at least September -- and the Summer wasn't the business bonanza we'd all expected, either. I was surprised that we even received Christmas bonuses this year. The boss is trying to come up with more reasons for people to come INTO the store -- because that's where he makes his profit, not on the gas.
Every time I hear something on the national news about how the economy's improving, I just think about how slow things have been at work, how many people are still on Food Stamps or Unemployment, how we've all had to redefine what "a busy night at work" means.
There are still a few people out there with money ... but we haven't seen too many of them, lately.
How are things in your neck of the woods...?

In other updates, our last Real Worker left in December, and now I'm mostly surrounded by a crew that's just collecting a paycheck. A LOT of stuff is left for me to take care of at night -- when I allegedly have All The Time In The World. Stocking, cleaning, emptying garbages, vacuuming, taking care of customers -- you name it, I do it all.
We hired a couple of new people before the holidays, but on a bad day neither of them do all that much, and there were a LOT of things Management apparently didn't tell the newest of our employees. She ALWAYS has questions whenever she works, and she can't seem to remember all that much.
I can always tell when I've had a couple of days off, because when I go back to work on Wednesday evening, the store is usually a shambles and it's clear that nothing much has been stocked since I went home Sunday night.
I've complained about this a couple of times, but my manager just shuts me off. Just a little more effort out of everyone else would make me a happier guy. I know they all have demands on their time, but they sure don't seem to Do Much. And if that's the case, why do I always feel like I'm running around like a crazy person...?
Our store motto sometimes seems to be: Let the 53-year-old bald tired stressed-out guy do it.
But it's always been like this, and I don't see it changing much until I can't keep up anymore.
At least they're still paying me....
So, stop in and see me sometime!

9 YEARS!!!

Hey there. Sorry for the delays.
Celebrated NINE YEARS working at the gas station on Nov. 7 -- the longest I've ever worked for any employer other than the Air Force, and the longest I've worked in one location EVER.
So, how's it going? Glad you asked.
Things seem a little easier lately. WAY easier since new electronics for the gas pumps were installed this past July.
Doesn't mean the job isn't occasionally stressful, but there's half as much to stress about now as there used to be.
I do occasionally get a little wound-up, but usually as long as I can keep my cool, the customers keep theirs. Maybe I've mellowed a bit -- or maybe the customers have. Not sure which. But most nights seem way less trouble lately.
Course part of that's because Winter is coming on strong and it's getting seriously colder at night -- fewer people want to mess around at night if it's 35 degrees and raining.
Still have some busy nights -- Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays seem to be the best bets for business. Other nights of my work week seem practically dead compared to days past.
The fact that gas prices have been dropping helps a little bit. When I left work Sunday night we were at $3.49 for a gallon of Regular gas -- $3.39 if you've got enough discount points piled-up -- the cheapest prices we've had for awhile.
A month or so back, I was hearing "experts" on the national news talking about $3-per-gallon gas by the end of the year, and I'm hoping for that. It would do the economy good.
And I'm in favor of anything that means less screaming and yelling.
Lately, the biggest thing on my mind has been the fact that I'm one of only TWO employees who actually WORK at my store -- stock the coolers, clean up, mop floors, empty garbage cans, clean the bathroom, etc. Everybody else just seems to take money, chat a lot, and pick up a paycheck.
I've been fighting against this for years, but it's becoming more and more obvious that my main job is just to PICK UP AFTER EVERYONE ELSE. Make everyone else Look Good.
When I come in to work on Wednesday evening -- my Monday -- the place is usually a wreck and it's usually abundantly clear that nobody has stocked the beer or soda coolers since I went home Sunday night.
I wonder how stupid management thinks I am...? "We don't have to work very hard -- let's let the balding, high-strung, stressed-out 53-year-old do the job! He'll do anything! He'll clean up after anybody! He'll make us all look good! And we won't REALLY have to do SHIT!"
That's what I get paid for.
Shit, I get worked up just WRITING ABOUT IT.
I've been trying to figure out for years how to approach this topic with my boss so that she won't immediately turn me off. But there's no way to win this discussion because SHE'S PART OF THE PROBLEM. Any time I try to address this issue, she starts up with "Everybody here works hard, we all put in long days, we all have things that make us crazy...." And that may be true.
But I do everything I can to make my co-workers' jobs EASIER, so they hardly have to THINK about what they're doing. And I hardly see anybody doing anything to make my job easier.
And I know from past experience that if I choose NOT to do certain things at work, to save time or stress or overwork, all that'll get me is a big ugly yellow note from the boss.
And then I'll still have to do the work....

Anyway, I guess I shouldn't bitch. These days, any paying job is a good job. And at least I can keep up with my bills. And I've survived 9 years and reached the point where it's almost all automatic now. I can almost go through a whole evening's shift without thinking.
And that's got to be good, right?
I just wish it were easier. I feel like I run my ass off EVERY NIGHT.
And maybe that's what they pay me for. But I don't see ANYBODY ELSE doing it.
Maybe I'm getting too old for this.
But I can't quit.

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....

$3.44!

Wow, this is the lowest price we've had for a gallon of Regular gas since ... well, since I don't remember when. And I've been driving around the area a little bit lately and noticed that practically all the gas stations in my area have higher prices than we do! Some of them are 15 cents higher or more....
Of course all of this holiday-weekend good-feeling could change in the next couple weeks, when our station is supposed to get all new electronic innards for the gas pumps. That should lead to a whole new round of headaches.
But I've been waiting for this stuff for more than 2-1/2 years, since back in the days when I still had hair ... before it all fell out due to job-related stress. So I'll keep you posted....

$3.54!

Have been woefully lax in updating things here at The Nazi. My apologies. My allergies have been kicking my ass for the last week. Can't type when I'm busy rubbing my eyes out of my head....
Our current price for a gallon of Regular gas is $3.54 -- down 40 cents since early in June. I had a customer tonight say the media is talking about prices dropping under $3 per gallon by Fall. That would be wonderful, but I'll believe it when I see it....
Our station is supposed to get all new electronics for our gas pumps sometime around July 4th -- which may mean all of our gas pumps will work like they're SUPPOSED to, that for the first time in nearly THREE YEARS we might actually have 10 gas pumps that REALLY WORK....
I'll also believe this when I see it. But I'll keep you posted....

$3.78!!!

Hey, our price for a gallon of Regular gas has gone down 30 cents in a little over 2 weeks. Maybe there really IS something to this Congressional-investigation-of-gas-prices thing.
Maybe it's also the end of those $5-for-a-gallon-of-gas-this-summer rumors. Hope so.
More soon....

$3.88!

Hey, maybe my roommate was right about that whole Congressional-investigation-of-gas-prices thing. Our price for a gallon of Regular has come down 20 cents in 2 days. This might end up being a good summer after all....

$3.98!

Hey hey -- our lowest price for a gallon of Regular gas since the end of April.
My roommate says gas prices are coming down because members of Congress are looking into why gas prices have been so high -- especially on the West Coast.
Hmmm, Good Luck with that. You can bet that members of Congress aren't going to look TOO FAR into the business of governmentally-subsidized oil companies. Bet on that.
Meanwhile, we finally got some fake "CASH" and "CREDIT/DEBIT" signs posted on our big station ID sign out in front of the store, so there's been a lot less screaming about our prices. Thank Ghod. The whole cash-discount vs. card thing is still bogus, though. I don't really blame people for screaming about that. Wish they'd be a little nicer, though....
More soon!