Regular unleaded gas was $3.99.9 at Speedway on Tuesday and $3.98.9 at Peerless across the street. If it looks like someone has doctored this photo to bring the signs closer – like turning four doors into two and taking out some motel buildings and parts of a horse trailer – well, just know that most photographers don’t do that. ( Action line graph)
Action Line Diagram
Dear Action Line: The Peerless Tire gas station is just across the highway on Main Avenue. Their signs show the ongoing gas war. I love the Peerless tradition. In fact, their scrapers are always in good condition and their receipts actually get printed. Regardless, this seems like an unfair gas war. Peerless must manually adjust its symbols. Speedway can change its prices at the touch of a button. Of course, it’s the “sign” of our time: digital connections versus hands-on…or something like that. – Lou Lan
Dear Lou: There must be a problem here, but the line of action is just looking for the answer, not worrying about it.
Representatives from Speedway and Peerless both emphasized that there was no price war and they got along just fine. Here is the transaction:
Speedway’s Speedway manager at 20th and Main, Clara Kling, explained that Speedway does a quick “field survey” of several nearby gas stations and sends that information to the company’s office, which sets the daily price.
On the other side of Main, the folks at Peerless keep a close eye on Speedway prices. And it’s always 1 cent cheaper.
Yes, manual adjustments can cause some confusion, says Peerless assistant manager Daniel Holley. They have to pull out the ladder, find new numbers, and painstakingly make changes 15 to 20 feet tall. Hawley laughs that the track seems to have been changing prices one day just to get them to do the extra work.
Sure, Peerless could go digital, but there’s a very good reason not to: The tall sign along Main doesn’t fit the city code, but it’s been grandfathered because it’s been around for so long. Hawley said any new price markers would have to be about half the height of the current markers.
Technology has really taken the fun and adventure out of things. Next, they’ll make vehicles that can actually drive for you, or notify you when you seem to be dozing off, or answer a phone call, or, that’s not what it is — it doesn’t even need gas to drive.
But these things certainly have a long way to go.
Dear Action Line: Why is this column named “Action Line”?Don’t get me wrong, I love your column; it’s the first thing I read when I sit down for coffee Durango Herald. But, are you actually taking action, or am I missing something? You seem to often embarrass your readers by correcting grammar and misspelled words or innocently submitted questions. In most cases, your answer has nothing to do with “action”. Then there is the word “line”. That reference telephone line or telegraph line or sand line or what? Appears very outdated. So where did the “Line of Action” column title come from? Thanks, keep up the good work – you have a huge following! – A true fan!
Dear Huge: It’s like the word “line of action” creates this aura, this expectation, that some kind of “action” will be taken to really help the reader with the myriad of problems. How about that. Does everyone think Action Line is here to do their dirty work?
absurd!
Action Line is just about having fun, maybe playing with people’s emotions, trying, trying, trying to be entertained – and sometimes very unsuccessfully.
But take action?
puff! !
Let’s point out that Action Line goes to great lengths not to embarrass the reader. For example, in this question, Big Brother Fan actually wrote “misspilled” as if coffee was dripping from his or her shirt. But Action Line didn’t make a fuss, correcting it as a “spelling error” so Dafan wouldn’t be embarrassed. How about pure, humble chivalry?
To answer this question, Action Line reached out to former Action Line alumni. It’s weird that all but one person (no one can remember his name) lives in Durango, isn’t it?
Brother Fan was probably imagining a hotline, with the reporter’s hand on the receiver of the landline, expecting the bell to ring. It makes sense. Shirena Trujillo Long, second action line in 2000-01, heard that the action line was chosen “because we would receive requests from letters and phone calls to editors to investigate leads that required us to take action or get answers.”
So, does the Action Line take action? Maybe once many years ago, when Trujillo Long or Megan Graham or Mike Smedley or Tom Sluis were doing this, Action Line solved a problem. But that was a fluke.
what! Us boy! Recently, right above the head:
Remember the left turn sign at Beicheng Market? A bumpy spot on the Animas River trail that crosses the rails? Both have been fixed due to action lines. We could list more examples, but there is no room.
We can come up with a new and perhaps more accurate name. Self-assigned answer hack. Pioneers know everything. Lively rebuttal. reactionary line. But for now it remains: the line of action, your humble servant.
Riverview Tunnel
Last week, Action Line reported on the 1980s tunnel from Folsom Park under Riverview to the Animas River, which took enormous effort and cost to drain a pond in the park. A short but to the point response from a man named Dave:
“I was involved in that project, and yes, it was scary and very dangerous.”
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Maybe you figured this out a long time ago, but Action Line doesn’t qualify as “most photographers.”