Saturday, March 6, 2010

A Story About Gas...

...not that kind of gas. Gasoline.

I am really, really good about keeping plenty of gas in my car. Really. My Dad always taught me to fill up when I had about a quarter of a tank left. I have never run out of gas before. I've been especially particular about my gas tank since I have a commute to work now. However, this past Thursday, I made an uh-oh.

First of all, let me show you what my gas gauge looks like (this is not my actual car, just a Google image, but you get the idea):
See the squares? Each little square turns off as my gasoline level decreases. When I get down to 2 squares, it means I have just under 2 gallons of gas left. I usually fill up around 5 squares. My cute little Honda gets about 25 miles to the gallon on the highway, which is fantastic. I work about 20-25 miles from home, and do quite a bit of driving around town during the day for my job.

Anyway, now that you have the logistics, I can explain what happened. I was at about 6 or 7 squares when I arrived to work on Wednesday morning, which is great. I headed back to town, and decided to swing by my parent's house for a bit before going home. On my way home, I noticed that I was down to 3 squares on my gas gauge! It was way past dark, and since I am such a weenie when it comes to the dark, I decided to go on home and leave a bit earlier the next morning to fill up before my commute.

I'm an idiot. I got on the interstate the next morning completely forgetting to fill up. I have 1 exit about 2 miles after my on ramp , but there are no immediate gas stations on that exit. After that exit, I have no options until I arrive in my designated county, which thankfully has a station as soon as I get off the ramp. Just as I passed my only exit option, my 3 squares went down to 2 and my gas light turned on. Uh-oh! I rolled my eyes at myself for forgetting, but was not worried about making it to my exit. I had about 16 miles to go, and as I said, my car gets about 25 miles per gallon. Since I had just under 2 gallons, I felt confident that I would make it with no trouble (even though I should never cut it that close.) So I drove along.

12 miles to go. My gauge quickly goes down to 1 square. I started to get worried then, because those stupid squares were just turning off way too fast! I called Jason. Jason reassured me I would make it with no problems.

Mile Marker 7. 1.2 miles to go. My FINAL square disappeared! I FREAKED! I called Jason again. I still had a mile or so until I made it to the gas station. I knew for sure that I was going to be stuck on the exit ramp, gas station in sight with no ability to reach it. I can only imagine my husband trying to hold in his laughter when I screamed: "I HAVE ZERO, COUNT THEM, NO YOU CAN'T BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY! MY GAS LINE IS EMPTY! I'M GOING TO BE STUCK ON AN EXIT RAMP LIKE AN IDIOT BECAUSE I AM AN IDIOT!"

I told him he was going to have to make the drive to help me push my car.
He finally laughed.
He told me that I'd make it.
I told him that he was dead wrong.
He asked if my car was sputtering.
I asked what that meant.
He laughed again.
I reminded him that I've never run out of gas before, so it wasn't my fault that I didn't know what sputtering was.
He told me that if I didn't notice anything different in my usual driving, then my car wasn't sputtering and that I would make it.

I made it. Just barely. Thank you Honda, for good gas mileage, even if your squares don't represent it. Thank you, Pilot Station, for being exactly where you needed to be.

8 comments:

Jamie said...

I would have freaked out too! Glad you made it though!

Annie said...

ha, i wouldn't freaked as well!!
i can totally relate. my car is the same way, my gas light comes on when i have 60 miles left. i NEVER trust it though. i head straight to the gas station because those "60 miles" drop way too fast! 60 usually means 25-30.
i have never run out of gas either and i have no excuse to ever....there is a gas station across the street from our house ;)

hope you are having a great weekend!

Jess said...

I almost run out of gas, all the time.

Don't feel bad, lol.

Kristin said...

I'm opposite you! I took my car out and drove around (with my brother on standby with a gas can) after the light went on till I ran out of gas and checked how many miles that was so as soon as my light goes on I start my odometer over so I know how much further I can go! haha

Except, it doesn't always work. I may or may not have run out of gas right by my house the other day thinking I still had about 15 miles to go. I guess I didn't pay good enough attention! ha

Anonymous said...

I've done that before too! I was so scared! I made it too, thank god!

Heather said...

Oh gosh, I know that feeling! I was sooo worried that I was gonna run out of gas and then be embarassed on the side of the road!

I'm glad that you made it to the station safely!

Brittney said...

You should have a reserve tank, which is probably why you didn't run out after your last square went away. Your owner's manual should tell you exactly how big your reserve tank is, so you'll know. :)

Lisa said...

Girlllllllll!!! Don't be doing that stuff! Give yore Momma a heart attack, thinking you are on the road with no squares. If you are scared to go in the dark, I'll go with you!!!