05/17/06
I knew I needed to refill my car's gas tank this morning. I got dressed and out the door
ten minutes early. Normally ten minutes is all I need. There is a gas station en route to
the freeway. Today though the whole process took thirty minutes!
The gas station is heavily trafficed and gets a lot of use and abuse over the course of
a day. Unfortunately some "patrons" take their frustrations out on the machines making it
more difficult for the rest of us. Today the first pump I pulled up to said "out of order"
but I would later learn it wasn't broken. The one behind it appeared to be working but the
internet connection to check credit cards and debit cards was timing out. The problem was
either a software glitch (the reader being just about ready to crash) or a connection problem
(too much traffic to the company that checks these payments). Either way, it just wasn't
going to accept any card I gave it.
I went inside to tell the man who is taking cash payments that the reader on pump 2 wasn't
working and to see if I could pay via credit in person. Apparently he couldn't activate the
pump with a payment while the card reader was in this funky state. He followed me outside
to see exactly what it was doing. When it was clear that it needed to be rebooted, he told
me to use the pump in front. I told him about the "out of order" sign and he said it shouldn't
be there. I guess some previous prankster had put the sign up. The pump and reader worked
fine. Unfortunately a five or ten minute trip to the pump took half an hour and I would end
up being fifteen minutes late for work.
Steps: 4000 
