Re: Pumping Gas in Oregon (WAS: Re: Osama Bin Laden Take Over List!)
On Monday 21 August 2006 17:34, Paul Johnson wrote:
> On Monday 21 August 2006 11:07, Marc Shapiro wrote:
> > Paul Johnson wrote:
> > > The upswing day-to-day upswing is that we usually pay less for
> > > gas than
> > >
> > >neighboring states: Insurance for self service is more expensive
> > > than hiring someone to sit in the kiosk and wrangle pumps, and
> > > the gas line moves faster since you're not having to wait behind
> > > grandma to get the job done. Another side effect of having
> > > minimum-service islands everywhere is they tend to be one-way, so
> > > if you're lucky enough to have a right-hand gas tank, the line is
> > > far shorter, if there is one.
> >
> > Actually, I have found that the lines are longer, here in Oregon,
> > than when I lived elsewhere.
>
> Depends on where you gas up, too. If you shop by price alone and
> only take thoroughfares, yeah, you're gonna hit long lines, right
> tank or not. But if you go to well-staffed high-volume stations like
> truck stops or stations off the beaten path like taxi stands, then
> about the only time there's a line is at evening rush hour (when it's
> most expensive to get gas anyway, since gas expands in the heat, so
> you're getting less gas for your dollar at the hottest part of the
> day)
Actually, if you read the gauge it says, "Accurate at any temperature or
pressure." The gauges are designed so 1 gallon is 1 gallon. Add to
that the fact that gas is stored in underground tanks, where
temperature is a constant and the gas is only exposed to other
temperatures in the delivery hose for a very short time. I don't know
about the state that feels the average person is not smart enough to
pump his own gas, but in VA there are inspections with only a tiny
amount of variance allowed, so if you pay for a gallon, you're getting
a gallon, with a variance of well less than an ounce. Even in my gas
guzzling 1973 convertible I'm restoring, that does not add up to enough
to make a difference.
I checked this with an engineer I know has done work in temperature and
pressure and delivery systems. (As a matter of fact, while this isn't
auto fuel, he was responsible for a lot of the development work on the
Nike-Hercules missile, including overseeing the fuel delivery system.
He still has 2 fuel nozzles from prototypes in his back yard and uses
them for barbecues.) One major point he made about auto fuel was that
it is stored in a tank that is, at least in VA, 15 feet or more
underground, kept at a constant temperature and pressure, and that this
effect the delivery much more than the air temperature.
Maybe the engineers who have jobs designing those things actually know
more about what they're doing than we do?
Hal
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