Bridgeway Gas doesn't have a convenience store, or even card readers, so every morning someone sits by the pumps and processes cards. But it does have a cat, whose name is Coast, who sleeps in his own car at night. It also has the Cavalho family, including Steve, who owns it, his mom Gwen (who does the books by hand) and his dad Harold. Normally, Bridgeway doesn't open on Sundays.
But on July 15, at 5 pm, the residents of Oakland and Berkeley who love the station will be having a party. There will be music, food, drink (please bring snacks to share) and a mercifully brief reading from Oil On the Brain, which will be offered for sale by the College Avenue bookseller Mrs. Dalloway's.
The station sits at the intersection of Ashby/13 and Claremont, and is tucked right under the Claremont Hotel.
Originally, Bridgeway was a Flying A station, which explains its fantastic overhang design. Flying A was bought by Getty Oil which was bought by... I forget. But then, sometime in the early 70's, the Cavalhos bought the Bridgeway. Their other station was near the original Bay Bridge entrance, but the freeways changed all of that. So when they moved into the current station, they named it the Bridgeway. Even though it's nowhere near the bridge.
3 comments:
Hi Ms. Margonelli:
I just finished reading "Oil on the Brain" and thought it was fantastic! It is by far one of the most insightful and well written books on the industry. It was a truly an enjoyable read. I thought it was great that you were able to visit many of the oil exporting countries and provide detailed stories and descriptions of what actually takes place in the business.
Thanks again for a great book! I wish I could attend the party or some of your readings, but unfortunately I'm on the opposite coast. Anyways, if you have any other suggestions or articles on the industry, I would definitely be interested in them.
-John Strickland
Ms. Margonelli:
I've been reading your book. I recently published a book on the electricity industry, "Lights Out: The Electricity Crisis, The Global Economy, and What It Means To You," John Wiley & Sons, June 2007.
I have an idea. How about all of us recent "energy" book authors apply for a grant to do a series of panel discussions around the country? You, Me, Jeff Goodall (Big Coal), Wendy Williams (Cape Wind), David Sweet ("Breaking the Carbon Habit" largely about nuclear power) maybe even Brian Hayes, who published one of the best books ever on energy and other infrastructure called, "Infrastructure." There are others. I guess I would frame the group as those who have clearly written books aimed at a non-professional readership.
I think we all need to get together and get this country focused on all of the energy issues, the infrastructure that supplies it, and the implications for our continued patterns of use.
If you like this idea, please contact me at jmakansi@pearlstreetinc.com or 314-495-4545.
Jason Makansi
Loved the book...
Ch. 4 stunned me. substitute my name for C Roper. I started out mudlogging in WVA went back to grad school and went from there to Teague, Tx. In 76' i lived in Fairfield in a tin shed converted to "apartments" We were drilling deeper zones, but always feared the Bossier, which was nicknamed "Booger Sand". The Travis Peak was the Tragic Peak. And our Co. Man always changed bits above the Boosier to a very hard bit due to the abrasive nature of the formation. Roper sounds like a typical crazed mudlogger to me...ironically, I had two great-uncles named Gus and Barney Roper who were drillers in the 30's. Barney wrapped himself around a telephone pole in Shawnee, OK (drinking roughneck). Gus crashed in W. Texas when he unexpectedly hit a water puddle, which left him disabled.
You sent me on quiet a memory flashback - My favorite oilfield saying? There was an old geologist about 1978 whom I worked with in E. Utah. He matter of fact told me this was the first well that he hadn't had a piece of in 11 years. He had a small field, but at age 60+ his wife had left him, took the house, the Porsche, everything but a pickup and a dune buggy. And they shut in his gas field. He was looking out over a huge canyon on the Unita Reservation and he smiled as he told me this and finished with "Never believe in your own Geology"...
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