So this happened....

Long pre-story exposition short: our company pays for gasoline through some electronic gizmo embedded around the gas tank inlet. Only a few gas stations in the city accept this form of payment. One such is near my apartment, and I use it frequently.

Ok. last Sunday I filled up the tank there. After filling up, the attendant had trouble with the terminal that prints the voucher. He simply left towards the station's office, without saying a word to me. After he'd been gone 10 minutes, I finally got out of the car and asked the other attendant what happened. he said there was a problem with the transaction, and the first guy had gone to check. he further said if the transaction didn't go through, I'd have to fill a form. All this time the nozzle from the pump was still attached to my car, and I didn't want to risk moving it (it might screw up the transaction). But by then I was pretty angry about being kept waiting, without even an explanation.

About six minutes later the first attendant comes back, disconnects the nozzle and screws the gas cap back on. I started the car and began to drive off. The attendant yelled out I needed to fill in some form, I told him "You know, that's not my problem." He asked for my name, I said "I'm not giving you my name," and drove off.

I don't usually do things like this, but I was really mad about it. I had plenty of other things to do, and I wanted to get back home before 2 pm.

Pull away without paying here and cops
come to your house.

For those of you who believe in karma, that last fill up lasted until Fri the 16th. Traffic was light after work, so I stopped at another compatible gas station on the way home. They were out of premium gas, which is the only the chip on the gas tank will accept. But not to worry, there is another compatible station nearby which would only take me a mile out of my way. I drove there, to find their system was down.

So I tried the one near my place, but a different section further up the road (it's complicated to explain; they seem like two gas stations, but they're really only one.

That one did work.

Quote: Nareed

They were out of premium gas, which is the only the chip on the gas tank will accept.

Premium = 91+ octane south of the border? You guys running super chargers in your gov vehicles?

That's a gov move if I've ever seen one. Not only waste money, but make the wasting unavoidable by way of chip. Nicely done =p

Quote: Face

Premium = 91+ octane south of the border? You guys running super chargers in your gov vehicles?

There are two types of gas, named Magna and Premium (some stations also have Diesel). There have always only been two types, going through names like Green and Red, Nova and Extra, and perhaps others I no longer recall. All I know, besides the name, is that my car was limited to Magna when the chip was installed, but later it only allowed Premium.

FWIW, the car's manual says to use Premium gas.

Quote:

That's a gov move if I've ever seen one. Not only waste money, but make the wasting unavoidable by way of chip. Nicely done =p

Technically the government doesn't pay for it, my employer does. But my employers makes better than 95% of its income through selling stuff to the government. Make of it what you will.

Different oddity.

At work today the coffee maker did not turn on. It was unplugged. I plugged it, but it remained off.

Facing imminent catastrophe (not to mention a serious risk of developing triskaidekaphobia), options ran through my mind: set it up in the conference room, or on top one of the copiers, or on the floor by the work table. Then light dawned through my subconscious: check the circuit breakers.

Sure enough, one had popped. I reset it, and lo and behold there was coffee!

Funny thin is when the cow-orkers began arriving, they all said in wonder "Oh, the electricity's fixed in the kitchen!" I'd no idea it had gone down.