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Yesterday’s Globe reported that “nearly 300 people were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents.” The immigrants, who are here illegally from Guatemala, were arrested at the Iowa plant on May 12 and taken to the grounds of the National Cattle Congress. In a span of four days, 297 people were convinced to plead guilty to avoid higher penalties and sentenced to five months in jail—how’s that for due process? They will be deported immediately after completing their jail terms. Later in the article, it states, “No charges have been brought against managers or owners…” This whole episode makes me sick to my stomach. If this crime of working to pack animal carcasses without proper papers is so atrocious, why aren’t the owners being sent to prison for hiring them? And what will happen to the company? Will it shut down or just ship in a new group of presumably low-paid workers to exploit? But the real kicker is, if they’re being deported anyway, why make them sit in prison for five months first? So they can be fed and housed on the taxpayers’ dime? The whole thing makes no sense (a combination of mean and stupid). It stinks, I imagine, as bad as a meatpacking plant…

These tips were emailed to me by someone with 30 years experience in the petroleum industry. No more letting my tank get to empty again! Read on for details:  Buy gas in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. The colder the ground, the denser the gasoline; when it gets warmer, gasoline expands, so buying later in the day, your gallon is not exactly a gallon. Also, when you’re filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created.  One of the most important tips is to fill up before you get below the halfway mark. The more gas you have in your tank, the less air is occupying its empty space, and gasoline evaporates fast. And one final reminder, DO NOT fill up if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks–most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.