So this week I have been reduced to driving my husband’s Civic (see THEY are out to get my car for details). After 9 blissful gas-free months, I am now forced to deal with the inconveniences of driving a gas car. Now to be fair the Civic is not a bad car. It does its job well. But… had things been reversed and had electric cars been the norm and someone was trying to introduce gas cars into the market, I don’t think they’d stand a chance. I can’t believe I used to be ok with the mental gymnastics I was forced to deal with this week when I needed gas.
Thinking back I realize that Monday, I didn’t even look at the gas gauge, which could have been bad but luckily wasn’t. I’ve gotten used to waking up with a full “tank” and not even thinking about whether or not I have enough “fuel” to make it to work and back and run a few errands. So, it was a bit of a shock when I happened to glance at the gas gauge on Tuesday and realize I needed gas. Doing some quick mental calculations, I figured I had enough to get to work and I’d just fill up at the gas station near work that night. Went to work and promptly forgot about the gas situation.
So, Tuesday night I left work, got in my car and began driving home. When I stopped at the stoplight past the gas station, I realized “$#!+” , I need to get gas.
So, began the mental gymnastics.
I needed to get gas but I also needed to get dinner, which required me to stop at both the grocery store and the meat market. Of course there was no gas station next to either. The only gas stations I could think of at first were a 5 to 10 minute detour from the route I would normally have taken to hit the grocery store, meat market and go home.
So, I got on the highway and continued to rack my brain for a gas station that would be closer to my route. After a few minutes I realized that I did pass a gas station but it was on the outer road and was not close to an off ramp. Getting to the gas station without back tracking would require me to exist at the exist before it. Hit some stoplights and stop signs and then run the outer road. Fine, it followed my desired route and didn’t require much detouring just a slower travel speed.
As I pulled in to the station the mental gymnastics continued as I had to remember which side of the car the gas tank was on. Luckily I remember correctly, pulled up the pump, grabbed my wallet and got out to pump gas. I swiped my card, put it back in my wallet. Holding the wallet in my left hand I grabbed the pump with my right, awkwardly pushed the button to select the octane and turned to put the nozzle in the gas tank. Only to realize, I hadn’t removed the gas cap.
At this point in time gas is dripping out the nozzle all over the ground, and I was trying to avoid getting any on my favorite red suede heels. Putting my wallet on the trunk, I unscrewed the gas cap, inserted the nozzle and started pumping gas. I will refer you to the battery swapping video for a replay of my uneventful time pumping gas. There’s 5 minutes of my life I will never get back.
Remembering to grab my wallet, I removed the nozzle and replaced it on the pump, again dripping gas as I went. I never realized just how crappy those nozzles are and much gas is actually spilt at the gas station. Luckily, I didn’t get any on me.
I cannot get my car back soon enough and I definitely do not miss that experience.
I am never going gas again.
Thinking back I realize that Monday, I didn’t even look at the gas gauge, which could have been bad but luckily wasn’t. I’ve gotten used to waking up with a full “tank” and not even thinking about whether or not I have enough “fuel” to make it to work and back and run a few errands. So, it was a bit of a shock when I happened to glance at the gas gauge on Tuesday and realize I needed gas. Doing some quick mental calculations, I figured I had enough to get to work and I’d just fill up at the gas station near work that night. Went to work and promptly forgot about the gas situation.
So, Tuesday night I left work, got in my car and began driving home. When I stopped at the stoplight past the gas station, I realized “$#!+” , I need to get gas.
So, began the mental gymnastics.
I needed to get gas but I also needed to get dinner, which required me to stop at both the grocery store and the meat market. Of course there was no gas station next to either. The only gas stations I could think of at first were a 5 to 10 minute detour from the route I would normally have taken to hit the grocery store, meat market and go home.
So, I got on the highway and continued to rack my brain for a gas station that would be closer to my route. After a few minutes I realized that I did pass a gas station but it was on the outer road and was not close to an off ramp. Getting to the gas station without back tracking would require me to exist at the exist before it. Hit some stoplights and stop signs and then run the outer road. Fine, it followed my desired route and didn’t require much detouring just a slower travel speed.
As I pulled in to the station the mental gymnastics continued as I had to remember which side of the car the gas tank was on. Luckily I remember correctly, pulled up the pump, grabbed my wallet and got out to pump gas. I swiped my card, put it back in my wallet. Holding the wallet in my left hand I grabbed the pump with my right, awkwardly pushed the button to select the octane and turned to put the nozzle in the gas tank. Only to realize, I hadn’t removed the gas cap.
At this point in time gas is dripping out the nozzle all over the ground, and I was trying to avoid getting any on my favorite red suede heels. Putting my wallet on the trunk, I unscrewed the gas cap, inserted the nozzle and started pumping gas. I will refer you to the battery swapping video for a replay of my uneventful time pumping gas. There’s 5 minutes of my life I will never get back.
Remembering to grab my wallet, I removed the nozzle and replaced it on the pump, again dripping gas as I went. I never realized just how crappy those nozzles are and much gas is actually spilt at the gas station. Luckily, I didn’t get any on me.
I cannot get my car back soon enough and I definitely do not miss that experience.
I am never going gas again.
