Here's something unexpected about the rising price of gasoline: old mechanical pumps were designed during the time when $4 per gallon was simply unthinkable, so the rotary dials didn't have gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon!
Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she'll go out of business if fuel prices rise above $4 a gallon. Not because she won't be able to buy gas at that price, but because she won't be able to sell it.
The old mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials at her country store in Fauquier County lack the gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon. State inspectors shut down her diesel pump several months ago when the fuel topped the $4 mark, so now all that's left are two pumps dispensing 87-octane gasoline, set at $3.75 -- and climbing.
Link - Thanks Phoenix Kate!