Pumpin' Ain't Easy

"Sn210" (sn210) 01/02/2015 at 13:29 • Filed to: Gettin' Gas in Mass

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2015 means the return of hold-open clips on gas pumps in Massachusetts! Good old Mass was the only state to have a ban on the clips that lets you take your hand off the pump while getting gas at self service stations. The ban is from the '70s when people thought this would lead to overflowing gas tanks and fiery death. Soon I'll be able to start pumping and then jump back in my warm car until its done. You guys have no idea how exciting this is.

That would be #9 in Wikipedia's fancy diagram.

(Source wwlp)

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FocusedMark > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:32

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I'm excited! No more freezing my ass off when it's 15°

Sn210 > FocusedMark 01/02/2015 at 13:33

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right?! im pumped!

(I'll see myself out)

Takuro Spirit > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:34

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Even with the clips that we've had all my damn life here I stand out next to the car while filling it. Unless there's torrential rain or a blizzard, that is. I also pay attention to the weather and get gas when its nice out, because I'm a sissy.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:36

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We don't have them here in Florida, or at least in my county. Could be because no one around here knows how to deal with with flammable things. Something is always on fire.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:37

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I find that its usually the opposite. I always use the hold open clips at Pumps. But whenever I go to Costco I always somehow get the pump with the broken auto shut off switch. So even if I hold it and watch it my tank overflows. Only at Costco though, any other gas station even the shitty Bradley stations it doesn't happen.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:39

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Uh, wat? For 40 years people haven't understood the very basis upon which the whole mechanism operates? The whole point is that it automatically shuts off to prevent overfilling...

I'm going to go bang my head into my cubicle wall for an hour or two now.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:40

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They were not on pumps where I have filled up in CA for a while, then they came back. I was pretty happy when they did. My 240Z has a big filler hole and a pump won't sit in it anyway so i have to hold that rubber sleeve up against the rim to keep it from splashing.

AdverseMartyr > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/02/2015 at 13:42

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We don't have them in Hawaii either.

FocusedMark > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:46

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http://www.badum-tish.com

Sn210 > Takuro Spirit 01/02/2015 at 13:46

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I usually do the opposite, I only seem to need gas on the coldest day of the week.

CalzoneGolem > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:46

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I just jam my gas cap in to hold it pumping.

Like dis:

Sn210 > AdverseMartyr 01/02/2015 at 13:48

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Hawaii I can understand. I think I got to use a clip in Maui though when I returned my rental Mustang...? I can't remember

lone_liberal > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:48

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Yay for common sense! Now if we can get the states that won't let you pump your own gas (I'm looking at you Oregon) to enter the 21st century we'll be good on the gas pumping front.

Sn210 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 01/02/2015 at 13:48

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From the people that brought you the Revolutionary War...

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:53

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And the home to MI-fucking-T, too!

ttyymmnn > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:53

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Getting back in your car is really a bad idea, unless you are careful to discharge any static that builds up before you touch the pump handle.

Sn210 > ttyymmnn 01/02/2015 at 13:55

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good point. I bet something happens within the first thirty days and we go back to clip-less pumps

Tohru > Takuro Spirit 01/02/2015 at 13:56

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I also pay attention to the weather and get gas when its nice out, because I'm a sissy.

Yep, can confirm. Both parts.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:57

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Welcome to the club, Massachusetts. Now you can participate in the rampant, cataclysmic gas station conflagrations the rest of the country has been experiencing all these decades.

Tohru > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 13:58

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They kinda had a point. My '76 Delta 88 had the filler neck under the license plate, and with the clicker on the highest setting by the time it'd automatically stop it would leave about a tablespoon of gas on the ground under the car.

I just used a lower setting.

RedPir8Roberts > lone_liberal 01/02/2015 at 14:01

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New Jersey doesn't allow self-service, but being a car guy I'd try to fill up my 1968 Mustang, to prevent the gas from spurting back onto the bumper and back panel surrounding the filler neck, which was very abrupt, and because I didn't trust them not to mess up the cap either. Technically they weren't supposed to allow this, but years ago some stations didn't care. One woman gas jockey insisted, with some attitude. Of course the gas did come out, I said "that's why I like to do it" and she said "you should have told me." Ah, but she's the professional. It is, however, nice to just sit in one's warm car when it's freezing out and let the gas station guys do their thing. Now that I live in CA, though, it's warm enough I don't often face that situation (what is even better is that there are pros who will put on your tire chains in Tahoe when it's freezing cold and dark and snowing. Best $20 or so you can pay for someone else to do an unpleasant task.) What's even less common sense is the relatively huge premium charged for "full service" where you pay 20 cents or more a gallon to have them pump for you, when there is a choice.

Cé hé sin > CalzoneGolem 01/02/2015 at 14:03

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Do you just fill up all the time, because this is going to be awkward if you're only buying a fixed amount? I tend to buy €x rather than fill it up.

CalzoneGolem > Cé hé sin 01/02/2015 at 14:14

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I only just fill up but if you pre-pay then you can't over pump.

lone_liberal > RedPir8Roberts 01/02/2015 at 14:18

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My main complaint is that it takes too damn long. I live in Washington so I don't have to deal with Oregon gas stations all that often but it's a pain waiting for an attendant to get to you when you could just do it yourself. At a station that isn't busy it's actually kind of nice, but at a busy station when you're in a hurry? Pain in the ass.

Cé hé sin > CalzoneGolem 01/02/2015 at 14:24

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Ah, you do pre pay of course. Which is odd given your fuel is almost free. Here we pay about US$6 per US gallon but until a few months ago I had never encountered prepay. You might be pumping €70 or €80 but they trust you not do a runner.

ttyymmnn > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 14:25

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Probably not. I see people getting back into their cars all the time, particularly women. Fiery death is rare but it can happen.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 14:32

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I enjoy these things. NY has had them for a while. Rarely do I go to the top thing but it's nice not having to hold it. #Lazy

sketchcat > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 14:42

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i remember back in the late 70's .. or maybe it was the 80's...

these cheezy plastic gizmos that were on everybody's key chains that were for holding pumps open.

they looked like a flat hand in profile.

CalzoneGolem > Cé hé sin 01/02/2015 at 14:49

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Yeah it is cheap so I always just fillerup!

Have car, will drive (now has a motorcycle too) > Sn210 01/02/2015 at 16:09

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They are illegal here in Australia, I knew nothing else until I first went to New Zealand in 2011. At first I just kept holding on until I realised I could use the clip. Such a wonderful invention!

The pump handles in Aus usually have the spot where the clip should be but no clip. Maybe one day we too will have the clips legalised.

guinessboy2013 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 01/02/2015 at 18:26

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I actually did get an overflow on my mom's old car twice before.

But basically yea this is Massachusetts. New cashless "pay by plate" toll system in town uses strobe lights aimed directly at your eyes to keep traffic moving swiftly and safely. Great at night, especially when first experiencing it.