Monday, November 12, 2012

We are able to get gasoline without any wait, but the rationing is still in effect. Im told if you ask nicely or refuse to leave, they will let you buy gas even if it is not your day.

As of Friday I had kids without power. Hopefully Newark is back online for all the students. This is exam week.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

License Plate solution

Allright, the vast majority of NJ plates have 6 figures: 4 letters and 2 digits. The two digits form one number--76 or 15 or 03, etc.

Christie only has to change his EO to say that the number on the plate, being odd or even, determines the day the driver can gas up.

What to do about out of state plates that have more than 2 digits... that will take more subsections of the EO to figure out.

Christie's Exec Order


Here is the FUBAR section of Christie's exec order:

Subsection C. Deeming all license plates not displaying a number as an odd numbered plate.

The problem: all NJ plates end in a letter. So the only way to read the order is that all NJ cars must gas up on odd days and none can gas up on even days.

Here is the entire order:
http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/other/Executive%20Order%20108%20-%20Gas%20Rationing.pdf

It only took a few hours for this to hit the fan


from NYtimes live updates
At an Exxon station on Route 40 in Bayonne, N.J., police officers and people waiting in line for gasoline argued over the meaning of Gov. Chris Christie’s order regarding gas rationing.
The order reads: “If your vehicle’s license plate ends in a letter (A,B,C…), you are only permitted to fuel the vehicle on odd-numbered days.” Numbers are allowed on even-numbered days.
The problem: All license plates in New Jersey end in letters, except for vanity plates. So on Saturday, most everyone in the state could buy gas. On Sunday, no one can. Or so it seems.
“It’s an executive order from the governor’s office. We have to follow it,” said Drew Niekrasz, the Bayonne deputy police chief. “Even though it makes no sense.”
Janet Tysh, a Bayonne resident, was waiting in line for fuel for her generator and had planned to get gas for her car on Sunday. When she asked a police officer to explain the new policy, he pulled the governor’s order from his pocket.
“What do you mean?” said Ms. Tysh, 61, who is retired. “Look at all these cars! Every one of their license plates ends in a letter! So the only way I can get gas is if I have vanity plates?”

Christie's gas rationing--license plate confusion

For those of you outside the region, there is def a need for rationing if only to keep people from flocking to the gas stations. We live three blocks from the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, which is closed. All the gas stations along that road are closed--either because of power outage or more likely because police do not want people on that road.

I have a third of a tank of gas, and was thinking of gassing up. But there is a logistical problem. The rule is during even days of the week only people whose license plate ends in an even number can fill up. On odd days like today--Nov 3--only people whose license plate ends in an odd number can fill up.

Here is the problem. My license plate, and every NJ car that I studied as I walked Samson around the block, ends in a letter instead of a number. I probably checked over 100 cars. One website said that if your license ends in a letter, then you fill up on odd days. But many other websites are simply reporting the rule as if every plate ends in a number.

Sidebar: On thursday night I over heard a guy at a bar on his cell phone say the following: "I'm not going to go down there and commander the gas station. That's not my job."

Sandy

The Hamilton Park area of Jersey City has power as of Thursday at 11:30am. The neighborhood is getting back to normal, but there is a tension in the air. Police, fire and ambulance sirens are heard almost every hour. At night blue and red police lights triwl up and down the street--I assume the police want their presence to be known. When the streets were dark there was a 6pm curfew. And I was glad to have it. There is a sense, even now, that there might be desperate people out there. There is talk of mobs of people going to town hall in Hoboken where there is still power out and standing water in buildings and streets.

Gasoline is another issue. I dont need to drive anywhere until next week, but there are long gas lines at the operational gas stations. The problem is that only half of the gas stations in New Jersey are operational due to power outages or other problems. The Obama administration has ordered the military to truck in gasoline, and they have removed restrictions on tankers.

One thought on the tankers: Ive sailed my little boat out in the New York harbor section known as the Parking Lot. They call it that because tankers have to park out there on moorings or anchors before comming in to off load their cargo. First of all, the tanker captains have to be replaced with a harbor captain because the skills that brought the tanker across an ocean are not the same as needed to navigate  the harbor. But gasoline and oil tankers are know to stay out there for months at a time waiting for gas prices to rise. The companies pay the tanker crew to sit out there for weeks and months because of the profits they will reap by an extra 10 or 20 cents on the gallon. Not sure if that is happening out there now. And if it is, not sure who would have the authority to make them move.