Panic buying creates gas shortages in NC

All the gas stations around my house are out of gas. Not a bad time to own an electric car

https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-ca...s-panic-buying-seen-during-pipeline-shutdown/

 

Or ride your bike more

 

It's more of the same...

Local press hypes the possibility of a shortage and the possible disastrous consequences, and as a result their fantasy becomes reality. Then they report on why the panicked buying happened... and act like they can't understand the "irrational" behavior.

 

I’m planning on keeping one dinosaur-burner even after going primarily EV, just to diversify my propulsion technologies.

 

I filled up the tank on my bicycle, just in case. I guess I am a part of the panic.

 

Was that Del Taco or Carl’s Jr.?

 

Better gas at Del Taco. Even better at Taco Hell from my memory, but also has other side effects

 

I was gonna say he ate a burrito.

 

My friend in Jacksonville is feeling the pinch as well. Luckily, he works from home and he just so happens to be a cyclist so he can hang a basket on the handlebars for grocery shopping.

The pics and video clips of idiots filling things like plastic shopping bags with extra fuel is astounding. Are people really that stupid?

 

Cheech & Chong's Solution

 

the also have a spike in fuel prices. they just 2.99 a gallon today. no other state has to pay a $1 a gallon carbon tax to Sacramento

 

Yes.

 

If you have to ask.....you already know your answer.

 

Short answer: yes.

Oh the irony answer: yesterday I drove out to the gas station to get some no-ethanol gas for our lawn tractor and hedge trimmer. The gas station was empty because they were "out of gas". After picking up 15 gallons in three approved gas containers (which lasts me several months) I happily topped off my car with 93 octane no-ethanol gas... that apparently most people don't know you can use in a car. Yeah, it cost $.30 per gallon more than premium, but what's a couple of bucks when it saves me a 10 mile unnecessary drive to Costco?

Meanwhile... waiting for the Darwin awards for all the people whose homes are going to spontaneously combust over the weekend as volatile fumes accumulate in their garages. It makes you wonder. I am certainly stupid on occasion, but I would say I am 90% smart. I think there are a lot of folks out there who are 10% smart... on a good day. They were showing people filling plastic zip-loc bags with gasoline. I wonder if they even make it home before the plastic melts?

Sometimes when the herd is stampeding, you need to follow along at a safe distance. However, I still go back to my earlier comment - if the Press hadn't hyped it, no one would have known there was the chance of a problem. Gas stations would have still had gas, no one would have panicked. As of this morning the pipeline is up and running, and there is no supply shortage. Sturm und Drang. And this is why my wife asked me to buy a shotgun when we lived in SoCal during the last ebola scare. Not scared of ebola. Scared of peoples' irrational response to it.

 

https://abc57.com/news/us-consumer-product-safety-commission-do-not-fill-plastic-bags-with-gasoline

 

YES!!!

 

So in NC they sell no EtOH gas?
At a pump?
Didn't know such a thing was an option.

I think it was Bush that signed a law mandating EtOH in gas, a big push to big corn agribusiness

 

A more accurate meme has never been made.

 

LMAO, He was a Genius!!

 

https://www.pure-gas.org/

Here is the list Not as many options in CA, but there are a few...

Don't forget... I live in the heart of NASCAR. Also, a lot of the "gas stations" on this list are actually marinas. Ethanol free gas is a better option for gas that might sit for a while - like in a boat.

 

It's worth noting that none of the gas stations listed in CA will legally let you pump E0 gas into an on-highway vehicle. It has to go into containers because road fuel is legally required to be oxygenated with 10% ethanol in CA. That, and the octanes listed over ~93 are definitely race fuel and anything over 100 is likely leaded. I can get VP100 unleaded out of the pump here, but it's still E10.

It's too bad, too, because the ethanol picks up a lot of moisture sitting in a 44gal trash can. Keeping the closet door closed helps only so much.

 

Make sure to keep the light off so it slows the evaporatin!

 

Good idea. Could also see around with a Bic so there's not so much light heating up the gas. If that doesn't help, next step might be to put the can lid on.

 

Modern fuels with ethanol are bad for boat motors which often sit for extended periods between use.