Msquared
Well-known member
Bad time to be a Leaf owner. I live in the Portland Metro area, specifically Happy Valley, and normally I don't NEED to use the quick chargers because I can get to work and back just fine on one charge.
However, I just began a new job in Gresham, which is 11 miles from my home. My old job was in Tigard, which was ALSO 11 miles when I took the shortcut across the Sellwood Bridge (currently closed because they're moving the entire thing over to build a new bridge in its place.)
After work yesterday, I had to drive to Tigard to pick up my last paycheck from my last job. So, it was in my itinerary to stop at a known quick charger along the way in order to get some juice. Broadway Fred Meyer to be specific. Unfortunately, both sides of the QC were down, so I had to get what I could in an hour from the L2 (slower) charger. I figured I could visit the QC in Tigard to get the rest of what I needed. During the hour I was waiting, I dropped off my wedding ring at their jeweler to get it cleaned and the prongs tightened (my diamond was able to turn!) I have the lifetime plan with them, so I get this all done for free.
I went to my old work and then the bank and post office. After that, I went to the QC at Tigard Fred Meyer, but lo and behold, both sides were down in it, too! Not only that, but their L2 charger was blocked by a large Ford pickup.
I went to customer service and they paged the driver via the description and license plate, but no one showed up, so I just decided to wait outside. Luckily, the driver showed up soon. It was a very frail, old handicapped man who I could hardly be mad at, because he obviously thought that the EV spot was just another handicapped spot.
After he moved I hooked up. Literally under 3 minutes later, another Leaf showed up, and the driver was walking up to the quick charger. I had to tell him they were down. He was also very low on miles.
So, while I would have liked to get my hour (and sincerely needed it), I had to compromise and go for only 30 minutes so as to allow the other Leaf owner to charge, too. After I left, my GPS told me I may not have enough power to get back to the other Fred Meyer! However, due to Rush Hour and subsequent crawling traffic speeds, tI was actually able to save quite a bit of power driving that way, so go there with some miles to spare. Maybe the one time in my life I was actually THANKFUL for slow-moving traffic!
Once back at the other Fred Meyer, I had to charge for another hour. Killed time by reading their magazines. My ring was supposed to be done by approx. the end of that hour, so I picked it up (very nice and shiny).
I remembered I'd left some stuff in the lunchroom at work, and they throw everything away by Saturday night, so I wanted to go back to work and get it, so I thought I would to to yet ANOTHER quick charger at Burgerville (SE Powell and 92nd) to see if I could charge there and return to work. Unfortunately, that one was ALSO down on both sides. That makes for a total of three quick chargers completely down.
Today, my husband wanted to run some errands, which made things difficult due to the chargers still being down. I called Blink to double-check. Also, I was ICE'd at Wal-Mart. I was about to have a meltdown, I was so annoyed! :evil: Luckily, both at Wal-Mart and at Fred Meyer, where I later at, I was able to educate people on chargers and told a lady about the Leaf, which she didn't know did NOT have a gas backup.
However, I just began a new job in Gresham, which is 11 miles from my home. My old job was in Tigard, which was ALSO 11 miles when I took the shortcut across the Sellwood Bridge (currently closed because they're moving the entire thing over to build a new bridge in its place.)
After work yesterday, I had to drive to Tigard to pick up my last paycheck from my last job. So, it was in my itinerary to stop at a known quick charger along the way in order to get some juice. Broadway Fred Meyer to be specific. Unfortunately, both sides of the QC were down, so I had to get what I could in an hour from the L2 (slower) charger. I figured I could visit the QC in Tigard to get the rest of what I needed. During the hour I was waiting, I dropped off my wedding ring at their jeweler to get it cleaned and the prongs tightened (my diamond was able to turn!) I have the lifetime plan with them, so I get this all done for free.
I went to my old work and then the bank and post office. After that, I went to the QC at Tigard Fred Meyer, but lo and behold, both sides were down in it, too! Not only that, but their L2 charger was blocked by a large Ford pickup.
I went to customer service and they paged the driver via the description and license plate, but no one showed up, so I just decided to wait outside. Luckily, the driver showed up soon. It was a very frail, old handicapped man who I could hardly be mad at, because he obviously thought that the EV spot was just another handicapped spot.
After he moved I hooked up. Literally under 3 minutes later, another Leaf showed up, and the driver was walking up to the quick charger. I had to tell him they were down. He was also very low on miles.
So, while I would have liked to get my hour (and sincerely needed it), I had to compromise and go for only 30 minutes so as to allow the other Leaf owner to charge, too. After I left, my GPS told me I may not have enough power to get back to the other Fred Meyer! However, due to Rush Hour and subsequent crawling traffic speeds, tI was actually able to save quite a bit of power driving that way, so go there with some miles to spare. Maybe the one time in my life I was actually THANKFUL for slow-moving traffic!
Once back at the other Fred Meyer, I had to charge for another hour. Killed time by reading their magazines. My ring was supposed to be done by approx. the end of that hour, so I picked it up (very nice and shiny).
I remembered I'd left some stuff in the lunchroom at work, and they throw everything away by Saturday night, so I wanted to go back to work and get it, so I thought I would to to yet ANOTHER quick charger at Burgerville (SE Powell and 92nd) to see if I could charge there and return to work. Unfortunately, that one was ALSO down on both sides. That makes for a total of three quick chargers completely down.
Today, my husband wanted to run some errands, which made things difficult due to the chargers still being down. I called Blink to double-check. Also, I was ICE'd at Wal-Mart. I was about to have a meltdown, I was so annoyed! :evil: Luckily, both at Wal-Mart and at Fred Meyer, where I later at, I was able to educate people on chargers and told a lady about the Leaf, which she didn't know did NOT have a gas backup.