Yesterday, as I pulled out of the driveway to take the kids to school, a mild panic swept over me.
You see I have this thing where I NEVER let the fuel in my car get below 1/4 of a tank. I don’t know why, I just do.
Actually, that’s not true. I know exactly why.
It’s because I’m highly organised (some might fling around terms such as ‘control freak’ or ‘borderline OCD’ but I prefer the term Highly Organised, thanks very much!) and the thought of running out of fuel gives me chest pains.
Scott on the other hand, prefers to live on the edge and basically only ever fills his car when EVERY LIGHT ON THE DASH BOARD IS FLASHING URGENTLY AT HIM TO DO SO.
This fairly casual approach to the very important task of being able to get himself or his family from A to B without running out of fuel has indeed caused him to actually run out of fuel on several occasions. Fortunately for all concerned, I’m yet to be in the car with him when it’s happened, but there have been a few close calls, which have caused me to react with a rather tense no talkies situation until the refuelling crisis has been averted!
So, as I was saying, yesterday, when I pulled out of the driveway, I heard a really weird beeping sound coming from the dashboard. I had no idea what it was but then I looked at the flashing light in front of me and just about shit myself.
Once I’d gotten over the fact that my dashboard was so dusty it basically looked like I’d been driving through a dust storm, I realised I had committed the ultimate sin and let me fuel gauge fall well below the acceptable 1/4 of a tank level.
So I rang Scott and we had a delightful conversation that went a little something like this:
Me: “Hey, you are going to be so proud of me.”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “Really, why?”
Me: “I’m just about to do the school run and the fuel light is beeping at me! Like actually beeping!!”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “I’m SO proud of you. That’s quite an achievement.”
Me: “Yeah, well now I’m freaking out that I’m not going to make it to the petrol station and I’m going to be stranded on the side of the road with no fuel and no clue how to get fuel. I mean I’m basically doing a Jamie Whincup*”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: (laughs) “Um yeah, that’s what you’re doing. Look, I don’t want to completely freak you out, but something I like to do when I pull out of the driveway and the fuel light beeps at me, is take the long way to the petrol station, just to test how far I can actually drive on nothing but fuel fumes. Maybe you should give that a go today?”
Me: “OMG. Are you insane? You’re lucky the kids are in the car, otherwise I’d be unloading all sorts of foul mouthed words on you right now! (sighs) You know how I am with this whole re-fuelling thing. I feel like you’re deliberately trying to wind me up!”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “Oh I know what you’re like alright. If we could actually own a petrol station, I think that would be your dream come true.”
Me: “Well now you’re just being ridiculous. As if I’d want to own a petrol station. Live right next door to one, definitely, but own one? No thanks. Have you even seen the manky toilets they have in those places? And we all know how I feel about using public toilets. It’s just one of the many reasons why I don’t do camping. Anyway, it’s been lovely chatting but I can see the BP now, thank god! I’ve gotta go and re-fuel ASAP.”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “Do you want me to ring ahead and let the staff know Jamie Whincup’s on his way?”
Me: “Oh you are HILARIOUS. Yes, you can do that AND let them know that Jamie’s very peeved that his support crew is of very little help in times of a refuelling crisis! See you tonight, where we can re-live the time you decided we didn’t need to put petrol in the tank when we passed a sign that said ‘Last Fuel Stop’ while driving through the Nevada desert. Remember that? I can’t even begin to tell you how much I LOVED hearing the fuel gauge beep at you for a solid 30 minutes, while we were surrounded by nothing but sand and spindleweed!”
Photo taken 20 minutes into the fairly tense lack of fuel situation.
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “Hey, I got us to a petrol station in the end, didn’t I? It doesn’t matter that I had to actually glide the car into it. I got us there and that’s all that matters.”
Me: “Yes, well done. It was quite the achievement, but please don’t ever do it again! See you tonight.”
Last Minute Re-Fueler: “Looking forward to it already.”
*FYI: Jamie Whincup is a racing car driver. He was winning the recent Bathurst race and ran out of fuel on the final lap, costing him the win.
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