What a gas-tly day I’ve had…

When I got back from Shore Leave the other week, I had just enough gas to make it home, plus a little extra, enough for a grocery pickup a few days later. I figured I’d go somewhere soon after that to get a few gallons, enough to hold me over with my infrequent driving until prices went down more. I discovered that the gas station right across the street from the grocery store had the lowest prices in the area, so I thought, okay, next time I need groceries, I’ll fill up there before my pickup.

It turned out to take two weeks before I needed groceries, and I placed my pickup order last night for between 11-11:30 AM today. So today at 11, I went down to the car, started to pull out of my parking space… and the engine suddenly sputtered and stopped. The electrical system was on, but nothing happened when I pushed on the gas pedal. I was stuck just beyond my parking space with no way to move the car. I tried checking under the hood to see if anything was wrong, but I had no idea what to look for. Mainly it was just performative, in hopes that somebody would see my plight and come to help. Nobody did.

I’d always wondered what would happen if my car wouldn’t start for a grocery pickup, so before I did anything else, I proceeded with my plan for that contingency: call up the grocery store and ask if they could change my pickup order to a delivery order. Turns out the customer service rep had no idea how to do that. She said she’d have them call me back in 5 minutes, but they never called back.

After I had enough time to think, I realized that instead of a breakdown, I might have simply run out of gas. I’ve never run out of gas before, so I didn’t know for sure what it was like, but it seemed to fit what happened, and I knew I was extremely low on gas. Anyway, I went up to let the building manager know about my car being stuck, but she wasn’t able to offer any assistance. I figured all I could do was walk up to the corner gas station with the gas can I keep in the trunk for emergencies.

But there was a new problem. The gas can is very old and I’ve never needed to use it before. I discovered that it was missing the part that sealed the opening. Now, the building maintenance guy was there with a painter, and they graciously offered to push my car back into the space, though it took me a false start or two to realize I needed to put it in neutral. The maintenance man then suggested using a plastic bag under the screw-on collar thingy to seal the can. That worked long enough to get me to the corner station and back, though I felt very uncomfortable lugging a metal can full of gasoline with a makeshift seal into the convenience store to get my receipt from the cashier.

The maintenance man had said that if he was still there when I got back, he’d help me figure out how to pour the gas into the tank. Unfortunately, he wasn’t still there. I tried to create a makeshift seal for the nozzle using the roll of electrical tape from my car’s emergency kit, but it was half-melted and sticky and didn’t hold at all. So I went upstairs for my more substantial role of gorilla tape and used that to make a seal, then tried pouring the gas. Long story short, the seal was imperfect and it took some false starts to figure out how to pour, so I spilled some gas on the ground and on my hand, which was very worrisome. Once I got back to my apartment, I washed my hands thoroughly and changed my clothes. I didn’t think I’d spilled any gas on them, but I didn’t want to take chances.

So I went back down and started the car just long enough to confirm that it was running again after all. It took a few moments for the gas to work through the lines, but then it started! I pulled back out of the parking space and then forward again. Success!

With one problem sorted, that left the grocery issue. I checked the website and found that my pickup order was still listed as ready and waiting. I called up to make sure I could still come in for it, and I had a long wait on the phone, but finally I talked to someone who said yes, sure, it would be available until tomorrow.

What I should’ve done at this point was relaxed and had lunch, then gone in later. Instead, I started out right away. I was in such a rush that I even forgot my mask. I figured I’d be outdoors the whole time and just shrugged it off. It’s the first time I’ve gone anywhere unmasked since the first lockdowns. (I did forget my mask once when I went for a walk, but I remembered in time to go back for it.)

So I thought I’d go to the gas station first and then pick up groceries, but the station was too crowded. I waited in line for a bit, moved into an open space, realized I was facing the wrong way to reach the gas tank, tried turning around and backing in, gave up, and just circled the block and went to pick up groceries. With that done, I drove by the station again, found the lane open, and pulled in to fill up. Since I drive infrequently, I’d planned to get only maybe five or six gallons, then wait until prices were lower to get more. But I found I was unable to shut off the nozzle! The little metal kickstand thingy that holds the lever in the on position wouldn’t disengage until it filled the tank completely. So I ended up paying for a whole tank after all. It’s less than I would’ve spent two weeks ago, but probably more than if I’d waited a few months until the tank ran low again. Well, at least I have the peace of mind that I won’t run out again anytime soon.

So anyway, in this grocery order, I bought a can of coffee grounds to use in my new coffee maker. But I had no sense of the size from the online ordering page, and it turned out to be huge. Apparently they were out of the size of powdered creamer I ordered, since they gave me a huge one of those too (though only charged me the cost of the one I ordered). I had to rearrange my cabinet a bit to make room for it. (I took out the salad spinner I hardly ever use and nested it inside the microwave steamer I hardly ever use.)

So now that’s all settled and I can relax for now. But I guess I’d better buy a replacement nozzle for my gas can, or just a new, more modern gas can, in case of future emergencies. And I do wonder what would’ve happened with my grocery order if I’d needed to take the car to the shop rather than just refuel it.