Steve-- you are wondering about our gas stations here in Oregon.

By law we are not allowed to pump our own gas. I have always been glad to
get back in Oregon where
the gas was pumped for me. It is great to be able to sit back and let the
attendant take the horizontal rain storm. Yes it really does rain in Oregon.
About 100 inches per year where I live.

There are advantages in pumping your own, for instance,(Vanagon content) my
'87 Vanagon had a weird gas tank and some attendants would shut it off about
3 gallons too soon.

About the gas prices:  Gas prices are very high in Oregon at this time. We
have been driving from Oregon to Arizona for the last 8 years. Gas prices in
southern Ore. and northern Cal. are about the same.
As you get farther south in CA and into AZ  prices get cheaper. In normal
years, prices seem to be the same no matter who pumps the gas. The location
on the map seems to dictate the prices.

Something new has started in Oregon and I don't like it. Some of the
cut-rate stations pump the gas but they give you a pump number and you go
into the store and wait your turn to pay. I says to the attendant, "This is
getting to be like California"  He just gave me a sickly grin and didn't say
anything. The last time we got gas there (Eugene) it was $1.549.  It is a
new station and has already gone up 5 cents if I remember right.

Hey Steve, you make me feel good!!  You say that you like Oregon and the
people.
I am a fith generation Oregonian and I like the rain and the gas pumps. Got
used to it I guess.

Bob