Gas pain
Happy Halloween! I have a multi-part rant today for your reading pleasure today!
I went to fill up gas at Costco this morning. Costco has always had the best price on gas but during the recent declines the price gap has widened to the tune of about $0.65/gallon less than most other stations.
Of course with savings like that, Costco looks like Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone and their brother wants to fill up at rates cheap enough to drive around the island for fun again. The line just to get into the driveway at Iwilei backs up Ala Kawa onto Dillingham. Which brings me to the beginning of my litany of rants:
Line jumpers
Everyone can SEE that the line in the right lane is solid around the corner, and yet dumbasses still make the turn down Ala Kawa in the left lane then proceed to block then road by stopping and trying to wedge in. Hell no! I’ve been sitting in this line for 10 minutes already. Pay attention and plan ahead!
People making left turns
I’m a little conflicted. Legally, people can make left turns from Ala Kawa into the driveway, but it sure feels like they’re jumping the rest of the line and by now I’ve been waiting for 20 minutes so I’m already cranky. Someone (Costco? City?) should prohibit left turns into the driveway.
Driveway of the Dammed(sic)
Speaking of the driveway, who the hell designed an offset entry that’s 2-3 cars wide for 10 lanes of pumps? Can you say “gridlock” boys and girls? I knew you could! I can see that you need some means of preventing cross-traffic from blocking lanes, but somehow Waipio manages without a Funnel of Frustration. Would it have been so hard to center it, or make it wider, fer crying out loud?
Non-existent attendants
Okay, so Costco is stuck with moronic infrastructure. The least they could do is staff the facility appropriately. Sometimes I’ve seen attendants directing cars near the entrance to ameliorate the effects of all the other screw ups by directing oblivious drivers (“Duh…I think I’ll block the driveway instead of moving up into the shortest line”). Not today though. There was ONE guy walking around the pumps. I’m surprised no one has cited Costco for blocking city streets.
Pump campers
Once you’ve waited in line for half an hour, fended off line jumpers, and managed to find your way to the front of the pump line you get to watch someone who’s apparently just unfrozen from prehistoric times try to figure out how to get gas. Somehow I’m always behind the person that doesn’t know how the pump works, needs to study each line of instruction on the display, doesn’t have their cards ready, inserts the cards in upside down or in the wrong order, and manages to fat finger their PIN.
EPILOGUE
ANYWAY… I eventually got my gas, saving almost $10 in the process. Now that I’m away from the chaos, all is good with the world so I’ll close with some suggestions in case you feel the need to use up half an hour of your lifetime getting gas at Costco:
- Go to the bathroom before you set out. Either that or bring an empty bottle.
- Bring a snack.
- Bring your laptop so you can blog about how waiting to fill gas sucks.
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By Kendra, November 2, 2008 @ 9:39 pm
Very entertaining post! I am no longer a Costco member, so I unfortunately cannot share your pain, although I can definitely feel it through your rant. I also just had to share a quick story about pump campers — my coworker has a chronic problem w/ his SUV (which I have been trying to convince him to trade in for years) — the gas tank door thingy won’t open. He’ll pop the thing in his car, won’t open. Hit the button on the key fob, won’t open. Uses the super-secret technique in the owners manual, won’t open. And this always happens to him when there’s a bunch of people behind him at Costco.
By the lone gunman, November 3, 2008 @ 10:21 am
We enjoy the cheap gas at the Waipio Costco at 6:30am… The other day tho… when Costco gas 1st dropped below $3.00… there was actually a two car wait!!! at 6:30am! Atrocious!
Yeah, I think the Waipio gas area has more space and two ways to get to the pumps. Also, though the Iwilei station is designed rather poorly for high volume… who would have thought the price difference would be so much… $0.65/gal!!! What happens to the line at McDonald’s when they have new mini beenie babies?
I agree that when people are in a rush or have been made to wait for a long time for something that should have taken a few minutes… their IQs drop by 50%, their tact drop by 35% and their patience drop by about 75%.
Waipio Costco, man… 6:30am. I think the answer is to move Waipio with Doctor Keith… who, it just occurs to me… no one reading this blog knows…
By Not "The LG", November 4, 2008 @ 8:54 am
Unfortunately, independent gas dealers don’t have bulk retail sales to subsidize any of their losses in gasoline sales.
Not that I’m not prone to shopping at the large national retailers myself, but more big box means less mon ‘n pops. More money leaving the state and less money reinvested in to the community.
By the lone gunman, November 5, 2008 @ 8:49 am
Tru about the inverse relationship between Big Box and Mom and Pops… However, aside from the sentimental value of shopping at a Mom and Pop… Is it more important for the consumer to save money and make ends meet? Or to spend more to keep a local mom and pop afloat? If that savings is 20%? 30%? When does it make economical sense to go with the Big Box?
Money leaving the state is something else… I think it has to be balanced with the jobs that Big Boxes create… tho perhaps, initially, management level jobs are reserved for “outsiders”…
I suppose that’s somewhat anti-Republican, but I am a huge advocate of Big Box stores since I need to “Buy More” (OK, who gets that reference to my favorite Monday night show?) for the home…
The contridiction is that some mom and pops actually do have better deals on certain items than Big Boxes… and may carry things that Big Boxes do not offer… Niche Marketing… Just need to figure out the niche.
By egeek, November 5, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Chuck! But is it cooler to work at Buy More or the Work Bench?
By the lone gunman, November 5, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
egeek, sorry, don’t know what the Work Bench is. Are you referring to the blog?
By egeek, November 5, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/reaper
Follows the adventures of Sam Oliver, a young slacker that has to serve as a bounty hunter for the devil, capturing escaped souls. Sam, Sock and Ben work at the Work Bench (ala Home Depot).
By the lone gunman, November 6, 2008 @ 8:41 am
Aha… Work Bench = Home Depot…
Though being a bounty hunter for the devil sounds WAY cooler than being the CIA/NSA “Intersect”/Whipping Boy (and becomes expendible when the Intersect is put back in a computer), it sounds a little better to work with Sarah Walker than it does working with guys named Sam, Sock, Ben and the Devil.
By Not "The LG", November 8, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
It’s not for sentimental value, but I do understand that consumers are going to make economics a part of their decision making.
But it’s like Aloha Airlines, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that one of the 3 local airline carriers went out of business. They’ve said before there were the 3 and up until the bankruptcy of Aloha that Hawaii could not support 3 carriers. But people went after the cheap (Go!) and forwent a company who was truly a part of this community and gave to its community. And then people got all sad and stunned when Aloha’s final demise came.
You can say the same thing for a lot of local restaurants that have been shutting down over the years. They’re losing business to Chili’s, Mac Grill, CPK, etc. and while they are creating jobs, the bulk of the money is not being put back into Hawaii. But employment is always the thing that makes stuff look okay. Sure you’re employing 10, 20, even 100 people, but what other re-investments back into Hawaii are being done. Cause you’re still taking more than you’re putting back.
Look at UH sports, Flamingo, Columbia Inn, KC Drive Inn, Aloha Airlines, etc. all gave to the school. Do the big box boys or the “mainland” companies? How about to our local charities? Event sponsorships?
All, I’m saying is that patronizing non-local affects the overall economics of a community. Individually it can look good, but in the big picture it’s not the same.
By the lone gunman, November 12, 2008 @ 7:55 am
Well, playing Satan’s Advocate… Maybe the box companies DO donate to Local institutions? Or involve themselves in local events? I hear the question, but what’s the answer?