A few months ago, I had a bout of indigestion when I realized that the new pumps installed at a nearby gas station appeared to be capable of displaying gas prices in excess of $10/gallon.
However, it appears that appearances can be deceiving, at least for those with analog pumps. Seen in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
As gas prices rise, some stations with older pumps are encountering an unexpected challenge: They can’t be set to charge more than $3.99 9/10 per gallon.[...]
The pump problem hit Engels about 10 days ago, when he boosted his diesel price to $4.25 to keep up with the competition. He said he planned to raise prices Thursday for all three grades of gasoline, as well as diesel, to more than $4 per gallon.
Ooops!
I suppose that now would be the wrong time to mention that the affected pumps could in all likelihood be adapted to sell gas in liters, rather than in gallons, thereby buying some time to upgrade the pumps.
