Monday, May 12, 2008

Digital Confusion

I threw fuel into the Disco 2's tank for the first time this morning since the above R10 a litre hike in price, and it was both amusing and confusing.

The price is given in hundreds of cents, but it should be in just over a thousand. So when you put in R20, you end up seeing a charge for R2 on the pump!

If only....

This could, of course, work for both good and evil. If you go cash in hand and say "give me 20 bucks of diesel", they'll fill it to R20,0* worth, approximately R20 but with the last few single figure cents unknown so you could just score an extra drop. If you go garage charge card in hand, the computer at the back calculates it to the last cent and charges you accordingly!

So on the former the garage could lose out, on the latter you could.

Apparently the petrol stations have been given until the end of the year to upgrade to exorbitant-compliant numerals. Which of course means only one thing. The fuel price can only go up.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Rest Up

Olivia is taking a break.

She was the daily drive commutemobile for an entire month, completely fulfilling my quest to turn her into such that started the whole Work In Progress thing at the beginning of last year. She's been tootling along, generally happily - a very big difference from me being too scared to get into her!

But now she's taking a break. I'm back in the more fuel-efficient Discovery II that belongs to Favourite Man for the daily dash. And why? Well.. the petrol/diesel prices are up again. So much so that some older pumps can't handle the new 4-digit diesel price. A bit like Y2K for petrol stations!

So the Disco is getting a run for its money once more, and Olivia has become the leisure/mountain work truck. Olivia gets to do the short trips around town when needed. She gets to go offroad and uphill when site clearing is required. She does shop runs and fun runs. But she's taking a break from commuter battles.

I'm not sure how much fuel savings we'll see. Diesel has become way more expensive than petrol, so I'm still paying about the same every day... well, nearly. I can sneak through the day slowly on less diesel than the petrol Olivia sucks up. It's still pricey - I'm not sure how financially feasible a daily commute is going to be down the line - but it's probably the best option for now.

So Olivia is resting a little. She'd better rest well - I have plans for her....

Friday, May 02, 2008

Working Girl

Olivia has been earning her keep the past few days. On Tuesday she drove Cape Town flat - including picking up e-waste for Virgin Earth and seeing a few blokes for Cape Connect.

Today she did what she was made for - trundling slowly up a mountain in low range to take us to a Cape Connect mast site which requires clearing. She toted water, 3 humans, food, supplies, equipment and a faulty chainsaw which gave up after an hour's work. And then she came down the mountain again.

Landies are meant to be used. They're not just pretty, they're not simply road cars. They were designed to tackle tough terrain and keep you safe. Especially if it means facing slopes like this regularly.