No more fill-ups? Feels weird

[sammyg2]

For 4 decades, I've filled up the gas tank in whatever I was driving several times a month.
But lately my driving has been reduced so much that if I fill it all the way up, the gas might start going bad by the time I use it.
So yesterday I put in 8 gallons. That should be good for a month or two.
It reminds me of when I was 16 and only put in a few gallons because that was all I could afford

[Heel n Toe]

Are you working from home or just going on fewer late night canyon runs?

[KFC911]

I still fill up ... what used to once a week ... now just once.

I made $2.35/hr back when I turned 16 and Uncle Sammy turned 200....

Finding 3-4 bucks for gas money was bigly ... don't know how old I was before I actually did a fill-up... I wasn't rich and had other priorities at the time

[sc_rufctr]

I fill my daily about every six weeks and it never gets below 1/4... Working from home is overrated.

[doug_porsche]

Yep. I have some friends with a BMW i8, and I drive a silly British sports car.
I have been telling my i8 friends that my Noble has been every bit as much a hybrid as their BMW because in the last year we have spent about the same ratio of time at the gas station vs plugged into the battery charger.

Ok, their electric range is measured in miles and mine is measured in feet, but ....

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

It reminds me of when I was 16 and only put in a few gallons because that was all I could afford

LOL! A dollar's worth of regular would get me back and forth to work in my '60 VW for a week.

[masraum]

I used to fill my car once a month. Now it's lasting longer, but not so long that I'm afraid of it going bad. And we used to only have one car, but now we have 2, but the second is getting more miles, 170-220 a week as we drive back and forth between the apt and the property that we bought.

[GH85Carrera]

For my 60 VW I always filled it up at the full service gas station, because they were all full service. They cleaned the windshield, checked the oil, checked tire pressures ask about the family by name and filled the thank with Ethyl. I still remember the first time it cost me 2 WHOLE dollars for a tank full of gas. Oh yea, I also got some green stamps I gave to mom and the free tumbler during promotions. When it got to the point it was costing me 3 full bucks to fill up and I had to fill it myself I was outraged, but I kept buying gas anyway.

It might take me 6 weeks to use a tank of gas now, but I get to use 100% gasoline and I don't worry about it going bad in 6 or 8 weeks. I still always fill er up.

[Seahawk]

Interesting thread.

I drive to our office in Yorktown once a month for two days. There are just some things you have to do in person. I drive the Tundra.

The rest of the time I work from home. I go for a drive everyday if I don't have meetings in town or DC...I have to get out! I take the LC.

BTW, I had a meeting at the Pentagon last Friday. I was meeting with a high ranking Admiral and staff about two projects that are funded and in design.

The walk from civilian parking to the visitors center then to the fifth floor is over a mile. I was wearing leather dress shoes for the first time in nearly a year. Holy cow! I have blisters like you read about!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

For my 60 VW I always filled it up at the full service gas station, because they were all full service.

Boy, not me. I didn't want some pump jockey folding my hood in half. I would jump out of the car as soon as I pulled up to the pump and run around opening the hood and taking the gas cap off for him.
One time my girlfriend was driving and while I was running around the car the pump jockey asked her,
"Can I check that dipstick for you ma'am?"
She said, "No, he's OK. He always acts like this."

[UconnTim97]

I recently noticed that the miles per gallon in my Subaru went up about 2.5 mpg in the last year. I am essential and work onsite. The advantage of less traffic.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Boy, not me. I didn't want some pump jockey folding my hood in half. I would jump out of the car as soon as I pulled up to the pump and run around opening the hood and taking the gas cap off for him.
One time my girlfriend was driving and while I was running around the car the pump jockey asked her,
"Can I check that dipstick for you ma'am?"
She said, "No, he's OK. He always acts like this."

I stopped at service station and the owner was often the guy pumping the gas. It was just outside the AFB gates, and called Sarge's Service Station. His few employees were all mechanics, and were always fixing cars for clients. No pump jockeys there. I bought as set of 4 tires from them for my 60 Bug. 4 tires, mounted and balanced, 25 bucks. Not each, set of 4 recaps, bias ply skinny 14 inch diameter tires. With a zero to 60 of infinity with a headwind I was not worried about tire performance.

Just a very different era. My grandparents still had a milkman that just walked into the back door and put the milk in the fridge, and picked up the empty bottles and asked if there were any changes in the order. They had a man deliver farm fresh eggs and he too just walked in the back door, it was never locked.

[911TES]

In the mid 60's at age 10, or so. I'd pull into the Ladera Chevron station and fill-up my mini bike. something like a quart or a bit less. 7 cents. I'd then roar-off to no where in particular. What a great feeling it was.

[911TES]

" Just a very different era. My grandparents still had a milkman that just walked into the back door and put the milk in the fridge, and picked up the empty bottles and asked if there were any changes in the order. They had a man deliver farm fresh eggs and he too just walked in the back door, it was never locked."

Glen,
same here, although it was my house in the early sixties. I've told the story a handful of times and I don't think a single person believed me. It's obviously where the line "the kid looks like the milkman" came from.

[Evans, Marv]

Around 1960 +/- in high school, I'd stop at the corner gas station and put a dollar's worth of gas (@ 19 to 23 cents/gal.) into my '55 Ford with a 273 ci, Y8 engine. I'd drive to work & back four evenings each week, plus dates, visits, and actvities with my girl friend. Don't remember how frequently I put that dollar worth of gas in, but I'm sure the car didn't get that good of gas mileage.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by 911TES

In the mid 60's at age 10, or so. I'd pull into the Ladera Chevron station and fill-up my mini bike. something like a quart or a bit less. 7 cents. I'd then roar-off to no where in particular. What a great feeling it was.

Sofa change!

[GH85Carrera]

On base at Hickam AFB in 1970 I mowed yards year round and I would push the mower to the gas station on base to fill up the mower, and my one gallon metal gas can for the day's mowing. For 25 cents I could fill up the mower, the gallon can and still get a Coke and have change back. No state taxes on the gas on base and no taxes on the Coke. And I kept the bottle to turn it in for the deposit. I only made 2 or 3 bucks per yard but it was mostly all profit using dad's mower. It was easy to make 10 bucks a day.

[speeder]

I browbeat my parents into buying a Toro 19" power lawnmower in about 1970 so that I could start a mowing business in the neighborhood. I was 10 years old and had been using our push mower previously, hard to make a living without a little automation helping out. I remember that there was also a 21" Toro and even one w driven wheels but the base 19" was the most I could negotiate. Of course, I agreed to mow our lawn until the year 3000 to close the deal.

Summers were so sweet in Minneapolis, I still love the smell of fresh cut grass. You geezers are really bringing back the memories.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Are you working from home or just going on fewer late night canyon runs?

I finally retired last year for reals this time.
I make a trip to the grocery store once a week and a couple trips to home despot or similar each week, and that's about all I drive anymore.
I'll probably find more stuff to go and do once So Cal gets out of jail.
Good news is, I've only put about 2000 miles on the highlander in a year. Might be the last car I buy.

I worked at a shell gas station in high school and drove a 65 bug.
Funny thing happened one day, we received a package from shell that contained red and green flags.
The station owner didn't have a clue what they were for and called the shell regional manager who told him not to worry about it, we'd know what they were for when the time came.
Several months later we were using those flags to tell customers if we had gas or not during the ('79) oil crisis.
They knew it was coming, it was planned well ahead of time.
That's when gas prices jumped from 33 cents to 65 cents.

[GH85Carrera]

We had a Toro mower that dad bought in the mid 1960s back before the safety folks took over. I could put the mower into drive, and off it went, and I could walk along the side of it and just have to be there to make it turn. My brother had full on fist fights over whose turn it was to use the mower. Mom finally made up a calendar so I did not get beat up by my 2.5 year older brother. That mower ran most days it was not raining from the time school got out until dark. It was really worn out so dad gave it to my brother and dad bought a new mower when he had to mow his own yard. My brother said it finally broke the crankshaft at the blade after whacking something. It was a workhorse.