The bruising at the pump that began earlier this week has turned
into a full-fledged assault, as supply shortages pushed Bay Area
gas prices up toward $4.50 a gallon and some Southern California
stations threw in the towel and shut down.  Duff Criley, a
general contractor from Cupertino, figures he'll spend $150 on
gas this week to keep his GMC Sierra running to job sites -- 20
to 30 bucks more than a few days earlier.  "This is ridiculous,"
said Criley, 55, who pulled into a Valero station off Hamilton
Avenue in San Jose where gas was selling for $4.61 a gallon. A
station attendant told him that he had just raised the price 20
cents five minutes earlier. "It had been holding at $3.99 for a
couple of weeks. Now this. You betcha this hurts."  Commuting to
her job at an insurance broker in Pleasant Hill, Glenda Bray saw
prices at the local Chevron station climb 10 cents at lunch on
Wednesday and another six cents by the time she got home. On
Thursday, the station raised the price another 30 cents.  "I was
afrai