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Thread: Humanity has lost it!!!

  1. #1
    Senior Member srobinsonx2's Avatar
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    Humanity has lost it!!!

    First off, let me just say that the support, prayers, volunteers, and donations, that are being sent to our brothers in Houston for the victims of Harvey is truly amazing. I know that none of this will take away the sadness and loss but it is a positive silver lining to a tragic story. All types of people rushing to support their fellow Americans, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other ridiculous category that has caused division. We all came together. I had a very positive outlook on humanity. For a moment we forgot about the latest presidential tweet, protest, safe spaces, or congressional fiasco. Americans really were concerned about their fellow citizens. Then Thursday came and my optimism turned to disbelief and anger. A local media outlet in San Antonio ran a story about potential fuel shortages due to Harvey. Utter nonsense, but why does news need to be based on facts right? This got spread like wildfire on social media (AAHH the wonders of social media). By Friday over 80% of the fuel stations were out of gas. Not low, not out of premium, OUT! No fuel and none expected. This lasted all weekend. Whenever a truck load would show up, the current line waiting (yes people waited hours at a station for a truck to show up) would spread the word and immediately long lines would show up and the station would be empty in hours. This madness continues. It has gotten better they say. Only 60% of the stations have no fuel.

    All of this a result of panic buying and hording. Now keep in mind the terminals, trucking, and local logistics have not been disrupted. No flooding here. Just panic buying that reached a pace of 4-5 times normal demand. Local authorities and experts told people there is no shortage. But the collective masses proved them wrong. They created a shortage.

    So how does this have anything to do with a Factory Five Roadster? I refuse to wait in line and contribute the madness so I can't drive my car. I believe individuals are smart. The herd on the other hand has lost it and gone completely loco.
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  2. #2

    Steve >> aka: GoDadGo
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    Look On The Bright Side:

    Don't fret because things will come back to normal soon, what ever that means in this day in age.
    Also, as things begin to normalize the fuel tanks at your local gas stations will have all be thoroughly flushed.
    This means you won't get much sludge, goo or goop in the tanks of your daily driver or your beloved Factory Five Masterpiece.

    Take Care & Pray Hard Because Life Is Shorter Than We All Think It Is!

  3. #3
    Senior Member Mike N's Avatar
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    Just watched the national news this morning and on one hand you have the Governor of Florida trying to get a constructive message across and in the next segment the news monkeys are spewing panic. Totally counterproductive.
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    Yeah, it's crazy - and I'm told it's worse in Austin. I'm working from home in a new job now, but yesterday I drove out to freetails for a beer with friend and saw a gas station with a dozen cars lined up on the street waiting to get in. 2 miles down the road.. two gas stations with a couple guys at the pumps, no lines. Herd mentality makes me sad.
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  5. #5
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    I live in San Antonio too. I got the bird, actually 2 of them and she stuck her tongue out at me, because I would not let a girl break line. I laughed pretty hard at that. It made the waiting in line so much more entertaining.

    Saturday morning, I called around and Costco was the only place I called that had fuel. Costco did a pretty good job preventing people from breaking line and efficiently getting people through to get gas as quickly as possible. One driver was extremely persistent and bullied his way in a couple cars behind me after being told to go to the back of the line. They stood in front of that person and stopped the traffic in the lane next to him and made him get back out of line. I passed 4 gas stations that were sold out before arriving at Costco. I stopped at the first and asked what people were doing sitting there at the pump if the station did not have fuel. The guy said, "waiting on the tanker. I have nothing else to do today". At the second station I was told by an employee that they had a tanker coming in from out of state. It was due to arrive in about 4 hours and I was more than welcome to wait. I drove on to Costco. I ended up making 2 trips to fill up my and my wife's daily drivers. Things are already getting better I think, although 93 isn't as easy to find.
    Aaron

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    Senior Member Duke's Avatar
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    Remember, the main stream media isn't in the business of reporting news or journalism. They are in the business of selling advertising space. That's what pays. Sensationalism draws people in, higher ratings, higher profits. Unfortunately with more and more noise it's getting more dangerous with association allegations and people not being able to think critically to tell the difference. Example: A factory five owner once watched an alien movie, therefore all factory five owners are aliens. It's gotten nearly this bad, and it's going to continue down hill.

  7. #7
    Senior Member skidd's Avatar
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    I've been refusing to contribute to the panic... had 3/4 of a tank in my Subaru as of the start of last week.. I'm down to 1/4 today, HyperMiling for the win! Pretty sure I can manage until Saturday... Fingers crossed, the Hysteria will have died down and fuel will be "normal" by then.

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    We had a similar situation here in NC when Katrina hit Louisiana. It shutdown the pipeline and people freaked out. Long lines everywhere. Stations out of gas. Local news even tried to tell people that they are only making the situation worse by freaking out. Prices jumped from ~$2 to over $5 in a week or so. Took years for the price to correct. Harvey caused a pipeline outage again, but this time there wasn't a huge freak out and the price has gone up only 50 cents. Hopefully (and I'm not just thinking about gas prices) Irma will find a way away from everyone. That thing looks scary.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by srobinsonx2 View Post
    But the collective masses proved them wrong. They created a shortage.
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    Senior Member R Thomas's Avatar
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    This has all happened before in the early 70's I worked a discount gas station in California. I was sitting at home watching the ^ o'clock news when the lead story was "Last chance to buy cheap gas in California". Our station pumped an average of 3500-4000 a day and our standard price for regular was 29.9. I decided I better head down to the station and check things out. The line was two blocks long, and the lot clogged with cars all 12 pumps running. First thing I did was bailed the guy handling cash out so he could drop money. When that shift ended people were yelling at us for closing and we did the readings on that single shift 8000 gallons. Because sales tax was added the next day our price adjustment took our new price was 31.5, so for 1.6 cents per gallon they sat in line for hours. That was when gas prices changed. A few years later we had every other day rationing of 5 gallons a day 'til prices creeped up to 65 cents a gallon then miraculously there was oil. and so the price gouging was on, what's Unleaded in Ca these days 4.50 or so and somehow after Harvey South Carolina fuel is 55 cents a gallon more and stations appear to be out of fuel.
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  11. #11
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    I do not buy into the masses creating the shortage. Thursday everyone went out to get gas because Wednesday night the stations started running out and the rumors started. The gas stations started running out of gas before the rumors started! I also do not believe demand went up by 4 or 5 times normal. Most families have 1 car per driver and do not have the capacity to fill up 4 or 5 times what they normally use in a weeks time to in order to truely horde. True there were some future darwin award winners filling up trash cans and even trash bags with gas, there are pictures on facebook, but those were the minority, not the majority. Just like there are those that avoided the lines altogether, did not get any gas, did not travel and are waiting for the chaos to subside before they go to purchase fuel. There was not a true "shortage of fuel" because there was plenty of fuel in tanks at refineries (at least 10 of which were shuttered because of Harvey) and storage facilities across the nation, but there was definitely a logistics issue, post Harvey, in getting that gas from those tanks to the the tanks at the gas stations so consumers could fill up their cars.

    I did wait in lines and fueled up my daily driver and my wife's daily driver. I even filled up my Cobra as I normally would so I could go to lunch in it most days this week.
    Last edited by slaga; 09-06-2017 at 11:13 AM.
    Aaron

    Holley 650 DP / Performer RPM Intake / Twisted Wedge Heads / 347 ci / TKO500 / 3.73 rear gears

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by R Thomas View Post
    ... somehow after Harvey South Carolina fuel is 55 cents a gallon more and stations appear to be out of fuel.
    Once again it is a logistics issue getting fuel from the refineries (restarting production) and storage facilities to the gas stations. I am assuming South Carolina gets a good portion of their fuel from the pipeline that was shut down, but I could be wrong.

    http://myfox8.com/2017/08/31/harvey-...-supplying-nc/
    Aaron

    Holley 650 DP / Performer RPM Intake / Twisted Wedge Heads / 347 ci / TKO500 / 3.73 rear gears

  13. #13

    Steve >> aka: GoDadGo
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    Can You Say:

    Yellow Journalism

    Seems that is all we have these days & they get paid big bucks to do it.
    Last edited by GoDadGo; 09-06-2017 at 12:52 PM.

  14. #14
    Senior Member Avalanche325's Avatar
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    They were reporting wave height from the buoy closest to hurricane Irma. 8ft waves didn't sound bad enough, so they said "These things break all the time, it could be broken and the waves might actually be higher". During Matthew, they did their reporting from the one street near my house that was under construction to make it look like a total disaster zone.

  15. #15
    Senior Member CraigS's Avatar
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    I disagree. Some people like to try their best to be prepared. I would be in that gas line but I would NOT try to cut in front of others. Others ***** about the people buying supplies and I guess they 'hope' all will be OK. For me, hope is not a plan. OTOH, the news and weather people? Yep they are mostly a joke.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by CraigS View Post
    I disagree. Some people like to try their best to be prepared. I would be in that gas line but I would NOT try to cut in front of others. Others ***** about the people buying supplies and I guess they 'hope' all will be OK. For me, hope is not a plan. OTOH, the news and weather people? Yep they are mostly a joke.
    Well said. I am not the least bit ashamed that I stood in line to get gas, or filled up all 3 cars I own, or that I swapped cars with my wife so the most fuel efficient car was traveling the longest distances and the least efficient car was only getting spot duty. I figured this would only last a couple weeks and as soon as I had the opportunity to be prepared for that couple weeks, I did so without hesitation or regret. I can also say I drove my Cobra every day this week and will continue to do so. Oh the humanity...
    Aaron

    Holley 650 DP / Performer RPM Intake / Twisted Wedge Heads / 347 ci / TKO500 / 3.73 rear gears

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