Well, if no one is waiting then it’s kind of moot. I buy gas at Costco and at a 3 pump island there is typically 5-7 cars waiting behind me.
Not really what you were looking for (But I’m like you. Get in, turn the key and Go!) but every day I take the dogs out in the Jeep. I get in and out several times while out in the desert. I usually wear a light Army Field Jacket, and nearly every time I get out of that damn Jeep, the pocket of the jacket gets caught on that big bolt thingy that the door latches on. I’ve learned to do this weird thing with my left arm to prevent it from happening. Very awkward.
I bought gas at a Costco once. I’ll probably never do it again. Holy shit, the line. (it was more than 5-7 cars ) i would skip my log book entry in that situation. Heck, I’d probably just drive to another gas station. Typically, I’m one of 2-3 cars at a place with room for 4-6 cars. I might be slightly in your way. Usually I’m not in anyone’s way. So yeah, it’s ordinarily kind of moot.
Slight hijack: They recently remodeled the gas station at our local Costco. It now has 32 pumps and there’s rarely a long line. A big improvement.
The gas station I go to only has 3 islands (6 pumps) (two pumps per side). Never any lines or waiting.
So far as entering or exiting my car, I’m a get-in-and-go guy.
It depends on where I am, and where I’m going.
When I’m going to work, there’s a bit of futzing, because I’m going to be there anywhere from 6 - 11 hours, and so I do a last check that I have important things-- wallet, glucometer, food, water bottle, anything special I need that day. It’s not going to be possible to go back and get something I’ve forgotten. Then I get out the phone and set the GPS, because there are several different routes I could take, and my GPS usually knows when there’s an accident, or construction causing a jam, or just a higher volume of traffic than usual-- or smaller. I also check the instrument panel, because it tells me things like whether or not I have a low tire.
When I get to work, I have a last chance for three or four hours to check text and email, so I do. I have to get my backpack, which might be in the hatch, depending on whether I was alone when I left, and I strap the water bottle to the backpack. Also, these days, I get a coat out of the back.
But when I’m going some place close by, or where I’m not in a hurry, and won’t be staying long, I get in and go, get out and go.
Trash goes into a trashbag I keep in the car, and taken out when it’s full, usually twice a week. If there’s something that will rot or otherwise be smelly, it gets taken out sooner, but I don’t gather up trash every time I get out. It’s also been easier to teach a kid to put trash in a bag immediately, than to remember to bring it in when we get somewhere 20 minutes later.
Yeah, futzing is pretty much a work thing. There’s a little bit of it when I take the dog to daycare, but not as much.
I don’t have remote start (only push button) and I usually warm it up (I mean letting the AC get cold) for a few minutes. So sometimes I do some house keeping then. I need a few minor tools for my job, supplies, use a few tools on the commute, etc. So I will take advantage of the time then to double check and rearrange things, but generally I’m in and out. Except when I’m early for work I might listen to the radio, enjoy the seat warmers, crank out a few reps of exercises, in the parking lot.
I’m generally an in-and-out person. If I’m driving by myself, it’s about 5 seconds, if that, from when I get in the car to when I drive off (after putting on my blinker and making sure I’m clear). If I’m with others, I make sure they’re buckled and off I go. When I park, I may take some time if I’m finishing off listening to something on the radio or if I’m on a phone call and don’t feel like switching from hands-free to phone. I don’t bother with any logs (my car tells me my mileage, and I can do a quick sanity check without needing to write anything down. Besides, I don’t even know what the hell I’m supposed to do with that knowledge unless it’s completely obvious my mileage is consistently way off, and I don’t need a detailed log to figure that out. My car’s mileage varies from 45 mpg - 55 mpg depending on time of year and driving conditions. If it’s suddenly 30 mpg, I’ll notice with ballpark back-of-the-envelope calcs or just general awareness, and the car will tell me, anyway.) If there’s anything to pick up, it’s done in advance of a trip, when general car-cleaning is going on. I don’t like dawdling.
The usual reason for logs is to substantiate your vehicle expenses and mileage deduction on your income taxes.
If you don’t have the sort of business or employment situation that enables deductible vehicle mileage there’s not much point. As you suggest.
Yeah, I use the Mile IQ app on my phone for that (because I do have a business where I need to keep track of mileage for tax purposes.) But the comments upthread I thought were about gas mileage. I understand logging starting and ending miles in a logbook, date, time, purpose of trip, etc., otherwise.
You are a true citizen.
The gas station is the only place I am a get-in-and-go type, as a courtesy to those waiting in line behind me, assuming there is someone behind me.
If I am waiting for the pump, and you are taking more than a few seconds to vacate the area once your transaction is complete, I will wonder if you were perhaps raised by wolves.
mmm
When I get into the vehicle my husband last used, I typically have to pick the garbage off the floor, carry in the mail he left on the seat, and unload the various greasy, nasty, and/or heavy cargo he neglected to take out (think can of gasoline, floor jack, lumber…). Then I adjust the mirrors and the seat and I’m good to go.
When I arrive at my destination I gather up my purse, phone, coat, hat, list, cloth shopping bags, things of that nature. I am almost always the sole occupant so I can’t do it before I stop. I spend as little time as possible in and around cars, but I can’t avoid having to get organized before leaving my car.
I do think idling your car if you aren’t at a stoplight should be criminalized.
Right back at you if you are aggravated by someone taking a few seconds delay beyond what you have deemed acceptable. You must be enraged by people paying cash or card at a checkout because you deem the other method would have been quicker.
I think of myself as an unreasonably impatient person. I am so impatient that I’ve decided to never again buy gas at Costco because I’ll have to wait in a line. So impatient that i check gps to go to a place i go all the time, so i can drive around traffic, instead of being caught in it (even if that takes more time. Stop and go traffic annoys me.) But I’m astonished by the level of impatience documented in this thread.
Aggravated? Enraged? Those are your words, not mine.
I merely think you discourteous.
mmm
When I drove manual, and I had a GPS, I avoided stop & go because it’s hard on the clutch.
Raised by wolves?
I reset the trip odometer, and write down the relevant figures, while the gas is pumping.
I’m another get-in-and-go, shut-down-and-climb-out guy.
Subject to the slight amendment that there are 2 or 3 things that come out of my pants pockets just before I sit down and then need to be stored in cup holders, etc., in the car before start-up. On shutdown I unbelt, open the door, grab my toys, then climb out, stuff my pockets, then close & lock the car.
And yes, I’m usually waiting for my wife to get her stuff collected. She’s quick, but not that quick.
I can’t do these things without the key in the ignition.