gas pump mfgrs.

[Harvey M. Taylor]

When are the gas pump mfgrs going to wise up? I mean, install a device similar to the ones found on snack and cold drink machines. It could read a 1,5 or 10 dollar bill. The pump clicks on programmed to dispense that much fuel and shut itself off. none of this'withdraw card quickly', no zip code, no ;see cashier', Just put in your money, get your gas and go. Boy, are we creekers smart or what? Maybe the word is Avant garde or something like that. Max

[Ken Fitzgerald]

IIRC as a child in the 50's I can remember my Dad paying for gas in Wyoming using silver dollars that the gas pumps accepted.

[Caspar Hauser]

A fuel filled atm.. hmm..

[Mitchell Andrus]

When are the gas pump mfgrs going to wise up? I mean.....

They have. The cost to harden a gas pump/cash vault against theft is prohibitively expensive. Emptying the cash at the end of the day is hazardous to the employee's health too.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but that's the way it is.
.

[Caspar Hauser]

It would be nice to be able to specify at the pump the amount of fuel to be dispensed, either in dollars or gallons.

[Matt Meiser]

Buttons like that would be nice--it always confuses the clerk at our local station when I say I want 10 gallons of diesel. I've had to do the calculation myself for the really dumb ones.

[Jim O'Dell]

A fuel filled atm.. hmm..


Hey, it will save the thieves some time! Get gas, steal the atm.
I have this mental picture of an old beat up pickup truck dragging this contraption behind it by chain, with the gas hose and nozzle bouncing behind it on the 10:00 news :D:D Jim

[Jim Finn]

Had gas pumps like that in Milwaukee ... about 1965 or so.

[Chris Kennedy]

Not for cash, but these pumps exist. In Australia, for ages they have had buttons for a cash amount of gas (petrol) to dispense. It's been about five years since I was last there, but they have had them for a couple of decades (at least). As I recall, there was a 5, 10, 20, (maybe 50), and a Fill It option. You paid inside or with an ATM card at the pump.

Cheers,

Chris

[Van Huskey]

There was a line of stores in South Carolina a few years back that had those, I don't know if they still do.

[Dave Lehnert]

Why make it easy to pay cash at the pump when they can get you to use there credit card at 21% interest.

Would be handy to just put in a bill at the pump.

[Bruce Page]

Dispensing the change is where it gets complicated.
You know someone is going to insert a ten and their car is only going to take $7.41.

[Bryan Morgan]

I think those in charge are trying to get rid of paper money. Can't track people when they use it....

[Mitchell Andrus]

I think those in charge are trying to get rid of paper money. Can't track people when they use it....


They're making tin foil hats much thinner these days too. I wear two when I go outside.
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[Brian Elfert]

Doesn't ARCO have pumps that takes bills? Maybe it was another chain, but I have seen pumps that take bills.

I don't understand the fascination with paying with cash. Cash can easily be lost or stolen. I usually carry a minimal amount of cash and pay everything via credit card. My credit card is paid in full at least once a month and often multiple times a month.

I know there is the merchant fee, but cash and checks cost money to handle too. All the armored trucks you see aren't free and banks sometimes charge businesses for deposits. Small businesses like cash because they probably handle the deposits themselves. (They also may not report it all to the IRS.) Debit cards are the least expensive way to take money electronically if they aren't processed like a credit card.

[Mike Henderson]

I've been to service stations that accepted bills. Not on the pump itself, but there was station in the middle of the island where you could put your bills in and indicate what pump you were on. Then the pump would only allow that much gas.

I suppose it's easier to harden a single unit than all the pumps at a station.

I never used one so I don't know what happens when you don't take as much gas as the money you put in. I suppose you have to go back to the machine and tell it you were on pump six (for example) and it gives you change. It's so inconvenient compared to using a card that I can see why most places only take cards.

Mike

[Mitchell Andrus]

In NJ (and I think Oregon) this is all moot. No self-service stations... you don't get out of the car.
.

[Charles Wiggins]

When are the gas pump mfgrs going to wise up? I mean, install a device similar to the ones found on snack and cold drink machines. It could read a 1,5 or 10 dollar bill. The pump clicks on programmed to dispense that much fuel and shut itself off. none of this'withdraw card quickly', no zip code, no ;see cashier', Just put in your money, get your gas and go. Boy, are we creekers smart or what? Maybe the word is Avant garde or something like that. Max

My uncles grew up in Washington County, NC, which is very rural. They had an unattended, self-serve station like that right off of Hwy. 64 way back in the 1970s.

[Jim Rimmer]

Why make it easy to pay cash at the pump when they can get you to use there credit card at 21% interest.

Would be handy to just put in a bill at the pump.
It's only 21% if you don't pay it off. I pay in full each month and get 5% discount on gas purchases with my Shell MC.

[Ken Garlock]

Yes, it is Oregon. I think it is a form of welfare that gives jobs to old men and young kids.

Yes, Oregon still has 55 MPH speed limit except on interstate highways. From what I can gather, the west coast of the state is populated by leftover hippies of the 60s. The eastern part is populated by reasonable people who get out voted by the west coast.

All the people I have met when visiting are very friendly and reasonable people, but it seems that when they get in the voting booth it is like they had a lobotomy on the way in.

A couple other little tidbits about the fair state.

They have a state wide medial care system. A lady had cancer and the cost of treatment was between 3,000 and 4,000 dollars per month. The state troglodytes determined that Oregon could not afford the treatment, and INSTEAD OFFERED HER A SUICIDE KIT FOR $40. (you may be next.)

Portland as an extensive bicycling lane system. The city fathers have determined that is OK for people to bicycle in the nude.
As a follow on the police determined that it was OK for a woman to wash her car, parked in the front drive, while naked. This was a family neighborhood with small children.

Now I am not a prude, but it seems that somebody has their head screwed on sideways.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Oregon could not afford the treatment, and INSTEAD OFFERED HER A SUICIDE KIT FOR $40. (you may be next.)

.....OK for a woman to wash her car, parked in the front drive, while naked. This was a family neighborhood with small children.

Now I am not a prude, but it seems that somebody has their head screwed on sideways.


One of those I believe, the other two....

I'd like reliable newspaper, TV news, periodical references to bolster these anecdotes. Blogs don't count as reliable. Til then....
.

[Mitchell Andrus]

It's only 21% if you don't pay it off. I pay in full each month and get 5% discount on gas purchases with my Shell MC.

Many airlines offer bonus miles. Cash gets me only gasoline.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

.... way back in the 1970s.


My GOD MAN! The 70's weren't THAT long ago!
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[Bryan Morgan]

They're making tin foil hats much thinner these days too. I wear two when I go outside.
.


Yeah, yeah...;)

[Ken Garlock]

One of those I believe, the other two....

I'd like reliable newspaper, TV news, periodical references to bolster these anecdotes. Blogs don't count as reliable. Til then....
.


OK, the proof is available at cable network Fox News, and in particular, Bill O'Reilly. I saw/listened to reports on all three incidents. While they didn't show a video of the nude bicyclists, they did have video interview of the naked lady with appropriate white-outs. The suicide kit was on the news two nights running as they tried to get a statement from the state of Oregon. IIRC, it made the local newspapers.

QED.

[Charles Wiggins]

Why make it easy to pay cash at the pump when they can get you to use there credit card at 21% interest.

You know, debit cards work in those things just as well, and no interest payments.

[Caspar Hauser]

OK, the proof is available at cable network Fox News, and in particular, Bill O'Reilly. I saw/listened to reports on all three incidents. While they didn't show a video of the nude bicyclists, they did have video interview of the naked lady with appropriate white-outs. The suicide kit was on the news two nights running as they tried to get a statement from the state of Oregon. IIRC, it made the local newspapers.

QED.

Ah, proof positive.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Fox, the last bastion of truth in America.

A search for - "suicide kit", Oregon - and - suicide kit - on CBSnews.com, Foxnews.com, The Oregonian newspaper, Youtube and Google doesn't find that suicide story.

Maybe it was filed under 'rumor' and swept into the junk vault. I'd like to think that even Oregon has some mechanism for avoiding such a harsh treatment of someone in need... If this story is (was) true, maybe something has been done to change their practices.
.

[Ken Garlock]

OK, I found a reference.

First do a google on cancer suicide. Search within that on Oregon.
You should get a fairly long list

[David Weaver]

The real story is that she was denied state payment for an unproven treatment, which really isn't that much of a story. It's done at a private level as well, there are stories all the time, because people want to spend some huge number on something that marginally increases lifespan, but offers no real benefit (there was a story not that long ago about a health insurer denying coverage for something that was about $100,000 (fill in the blank with the right number, but I think that's ballpark) for a treatment that increases the mean life expectancy of otherwise terminal patients by 1 or 2 months.

The only twist is that it's oregon and that she was offered information on physician assisted suicide (not a kit). That may be SOP there for anyone with a terminal illness.

Were it any other state, it would've not been a story but the result would be the same. The lady would be denied coverage because funds aren't infinite.

[Van Huskey]

Yes, it is Oregon. I think it is a form of welfare that gives jobs to old men and young kids.

.


Not so in NJ, don't think I have ever seen an older man nor a young kid at any pump while I am there.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Much easier to believe the fiction. It would sound even better if the dying patient was handed a revolver by her doctor. Perhaps an upset family member will come to a stand crowded with microphones with that one some day too.

When 3 of my grands died, comfort was chosen over forcing them to spend their final 1 or 2 weeks connected to tubes - in a coma. It wasn't a plot to fatten someone's paycheck, or a scheme to corrupt the system... it was just the right thing to do and had nothing to do with getting face time on the 6:00 news.
.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Not so in NJ, don't think I have ever seen an older man nor a young kid at any pump while I am there.

In NJ the Russians and Pakistanys have taken over the gasoline dispensing industry.
.

[Mitchell Andrus]

OK, I found a reference.

First do a google on cancer suicide. Search within that on Oregon.
You should get a fairly long list

Found a story about a woman (Mrs. Wagner) who was treated by Oregon's health agency up to the day she died.

I chose to reference the Catholic News Agency on purpose.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/oregon_health_plan_covers_assisted_suicide_not_dru gs_for_cancer_patient/

Read the comments after the story for more info.

The story is dated June, 2008.

She requested that she be given Tarceva, a drug with a reported 8% success rate in moderate patients, and nearly zero in terminal patients. Average late-stage patient life extension on this drug is 12 DAYS. She was told that assisted suicide would be available and covered when the time came to face that decision. Being told this isn't cruel, it's public knowledge in Oregon.

Except for the state-sponsored plan, she would have had zero care without having family pay for it. It's unlikely they would have decided to pay $100,000.00 for a drug with a <8% success rate for a terminal family member.

Sometimes, when it's time to go.... we have to let go. Angry family members at a microphone rarely get their facts straight. The Catholic News Agency didn't report the whole story. Neither did Fox.

Ken. My last post on this. This is a story about compassionate care at the end of a terminal patient's life provided by the people of Oregon, not a sinister plot. Sorry, I don't buy into talk of sinister plots at face value. You shouldn't either.
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[John Coloccia]

I was just skimming through this thread. Reading every 10th word, I believe we've concluded that using a debit card at a gas station causes cancer, and pump manufacturers should commit suicide. :p

Remember the good 'ole days when this whole discussion would have been moot thanks to full service? There's still a gas station near my parent's house in New York that is 100% full service. I like going there just to remember how things were (it's the owner that pumps, by the way).

[Bryan Morgan]

I was just skimming through this thread. Reading every 10th word, I believe we've concluded that using a debit card at a gas station causes cancer, and pump manufacturers should commit suicide. :p

Remember the good 'ole days when this whole discussion would have been moot thanks to full service? There's still a gas station near my parent's house in New York that is 100% full service. I like going there just to remember how things were (it's the owner that pumps, by the way).


There is a gas station near my house that is still 100% full service. Theres a sign that says "No tips". I've only been there a couple times because its not convenient but when I first stopped by it was a few years ago. A guy comes out and starts touching my car and it caught me completely off guard. I almost punched him. Apparently he was used to it because he thought it was funny. The fuel there wasn't really anymore expensive either. Not sure why they do it, but its kind of cool anyway.

I remember the old full service stations and when they had different full and self service sides.... its been so long since self service only I'm not used to any service at all.

[Caspar Hauser]

Y'know, If I remember correctly you can legally bicycle/stroll/shop nude in Brattleboro, Vt too.