gas stations

[agentsteel53]

I also remember some the older traffic signals: late at night, they would go to flash cycle, flash 3-4 times, then resume normal cycle. Wish I'd had a camera then.

what is the purpose of doing that?

[US71]

[quite]Quote from: US71 on September 15, 2009, 13:38:59
I also remember some the older traffic signals: late at night, they would go to flash cycle, flash 3-4 times, then resume normal cycle. Wish I'd had a camera then.

what is the purpose of doing that?[/quote]

I always figured it was a glitch in the controllers. Maybe they were supposed to flash, but something was broken.

[agentsteel53]

I wonder if it was an indicator that they were resetting for the night, and starting up their daily program again.  Kind of a status indicator, at the time of their least use.

[US71]

I have heard some stories about gas stations in the US. Is it true that most of them do not have self-service, but that some employee of the gas station fills up for you? Because this is very uncommon in Europe, where virtually all gas stations are self-service or even automated where you pay at a machine. (no staff).

New Jersey doesn't have self service stations, but nearly every other state does. Many have an "attendant" who supposedly can come out if you are disabled and need help, but I've noticed many stations are "understaffed" and have no one to help.

Price-wise, most stations are the same price cash or credit. The difference was more prevalent 10-12 years ago, but not as much today. Wal-Mart offers a discount if you use their branded credit card or a prepaid gift card. A few stations in my town still offer a 3 cent cash discount, but it's rare.

Nearly every freeway exit has at least one gas station. It may be "Bubba's Quik Serve" and be 10 cents higher then the next station 5 miles up the road, but you can almost always find a station.

Not every gas station sells Diesel. You don't necessarily have to go to a truckstop to get it, but you may have to search for it. If the station is next to a freeway, there is a good chance they will have diesel. If there is more than one station at an exit, one may have diesel and the other may not.