What goes through my mind in the grind…

For no apparent reason, this morning I was thinking about gas stations. 

Have you ever seen the fuel delivery at a gas station?  A huge tanker pulls in.  The driver uses a wooden dipstick to determine the volume of fuel in the underground storage tank.  Why do they still use a 12 foot long stick to tell the how full the storage tank is?  Wouldn’t you expect someone to have figured out a no-nonsense way of doing that measuring remotely?  You could have little floats up the side of the tank that would be in the on or off position depending on where the level of fuel was.  Kinda like how the tank on your car works (it only has one float, usually). 

Does the tanker driver have to handle the gassy stick with his hands when he is done measuring?

What tricks does the tanker driver have for getting the smell of gas off of you and your clothes?

Does the tanker travel with its own sticks?   Or do the gas stations keep them handy?

Who makes the dipsticks?  Who makes paint stir sticks for that matter?  What an interesting industry that might be… stickmaking.