Last Thursday I was up well before the crack of dawn to feed Grant, and then luckily he went back to sleep. I rushed to shower and get everything ready for Jake's brother's high school graduation. I had to wake up Grant to dress him, and just as I was ready to walk out the door I texted Nyla, Jake's mom, to tell her to save us a seat. She called back and told me that it wasn't until the next morning. Oh. What a waste of my (and the poor baby's) sleep!
Well, now we were both ready with nowhere to go, so I drove to American Fork to clean out my classroom (school had ended the day before). It was great to see all my coworkers again!
Now here's the thing. I drive a 1991 Toyota Camry, which has always treated me well. Now that it has hit it's senior citizen years, it is slowly breaking down. It seems like every time we drive it, something else starts making noise or stops working. A few days before my trip to AF I had stopped at Costco to fill up with gas, and while it filled, I fixed a bottle for my screaming baby. The rest is sort of a blur, but the normal gas-filling procedure happened. When I got back in my car I noticed that my empty light was still on. Great. A broken light. Now I would just have to track my miles and guess when I needed to fill up.
So on Thursday, I left AF and headed home. 15 minutes later, I pulled into the exit lane and noticed that my car was decelerating. I hit the gas, which was no help, and didn't dare hit the brake because I needed to make it another 50 feet to where the exit ramp starts heading downhill. Luckily, I made it off the interstate and pulled off to the side of the ramp before I stopped moving (someone was watching out for us!). No smoke, no "check engine" light. I had only driven 30 miles since filling up, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was out of gas. In the end, I was right, though I'm still baffled as to how it all happened. I know I filled up--I put the nozzle in the tank, I pushed the lever. I heard it click off. I looked up to see how many gallons I had put in. Yet, somehow, I was out of gas.
Here is the only explanation: I must have forgotten to choose the grade of gasoline. I must have heard someone else's click off. And the total number of gallons must have been from the person before me who just happened to have a car with the same size of gastank. And, therefore, I went through all the motions and still drove off without a drop of gas in my car. The upside? I know my car will drive 30 miles with the gas light on. Oh. The light is now fixed.
Sigh. Next time I'll have to ensure there are no distractions while filling my car with gas.
Naptime
16 years ago
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5 comments:
It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who gets distracted and lets things slip up. Thanks Chelsea. :) GO MOMS!
Ha ha! Sounds like you haven't escaped placenta brain syndrome. That's what kids do to us, bless their hearts. BTW, I'm keeping an eye on your baby weight progress; way to go!!
That's a funny story. Maybe it's a sign of old age. Your birthday is coming up, you know. :)
Reminds of something that happened to me last week. Instead of no gas I got too much gas. I started pumping my gas and then went around the van to clean out the garbage. As a cirlced around the van to check on the pump I heard a sound of gushing water, but it wasn't water it was gas coming out of my van. The spicket hadn't turned off and the gas was gushing out of my van. I freaked out, turned it off as fast as I could and ran to the attendent. He was slow as molasses as my babies sat in a van surrounded by gasoline. He reimbursed me money and then took his time to come and clean up the mess. Luckily I had paid for a car wash and went directly there. What a mess.
That's a crazy story! How did you get home? It makes m feel better about the time I drove off with the pump still inserted in my gas tank!
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