At the time of this sign, I had occasion to often drive Telegraph Rd (the one in the Dire Straits song - also passing where Jimmy Hoffa was last seen). Something to do with a young lady of my acquaintance ...

Driving back and forth to see this girl sucked up a lot of gas, maybe 80 miles round trip (she became my fiancee but the marriage never happened).

Anyway, there was this gas station open past midnight. Not many were in those days. And I often made the return trip after midnight.

Recall gas tanks were small and gas mileage even smaller. If you didn't keep an eye on the gauge, it was easy to run out of gas. Being young-ish and somewhat stupid played into that possibility. So did being broke much of the time.

"Can I have a $1.25 worth of regular please?" That was an hour's work ... and maybe 50 miles worth of driving.

So, this was often the only open station for the 15 miles or so I drove along Telegraph.
Trouble was, they charged ... 32¢/gal !!! Outrageous gouging!

I swore I wouldn't pay that much.

And, by God, all these years later, I was right.

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