Running on Empty
"Kramer and that other guy, oh, they went further to the left of the slash than anyone ever dreamed!"
For some reason it is not uncommon for me to find myself on the left side of the E slash (In my car, it's South of the slash mark)
In my humble opinion, nothing does a better job of taking the dullness out of your routine commute than driving south of the slash mark.
Well, last night I found myself in this dilemma again, but this time to no fault of mine own. It all started when I drove up to Brighton, MA to a couple of friend's house for a Easter Eve dinner party. As I got off at their exit, I noticed that the gas light had come on. Since they only live about 4 miles off of the highway, and I was already a little late to the party, I figured that the logical thing was for me to get gas when I left. (I even scoped out the gas stations that I would do this at on the way back.)
So 11:30pm comes around and I left their place. I pull up to the first gas station to find it pitch black. What! Gas stations that close at night !?! This would never happen in SF Bay Area. "No need to panic at this point..." I comforted myself, "I saw at least a couple more gas stations on the way in." What do you know, every single one of them were closed!
Out of desperation, I tried the pump at one of them , hoping that maybe the credit card service is on after hours. I only managed to buy $0.12 of gas before it stopped pumping. Bummer! By now, my meter is definitely completely South of the E slash mark. Come on Massachusetts, what kind of place shuts down their gas station at 10pm!?!
Running out of options, I decided to get on I-95 head down towards Providence and see if I can make it to a exit with a gas station that's open. I drive a few miles on the highway, bypassing a couple of exits, trying to stay at 55mph, because I remember that's where most cars are most fuel efficient. After what seemed like eternity, I saw a sign that said gas this exit. So I pulled off at the exit and coast my way through the neighborhood only to find myself in the middle of a residential neighborhood with no signs of any gas station. I look at my meter and now there is a gap between it and the slash, I was completely cleared of the slash.
Having no options, I turned back and made my way back on the highway, my thoughts bounced back and forth between cursing the state of Mass and the more and more certain reality that I am going to be spending Easter Eve waiting on the side of the highway for AAA.
After a few more miles, there was another sign that showed gas station at the current exit. I am now trying to gather enough momentum so that if I ran out of gas on the off ramp, I can coast into the gas station. To my dismay, the Shell station next to the highway is closed again! I tried again to pump gas at the closed station, hoping again for a few cents of gas... nothing this time.... It looks like my luck has finally ran out.
Well, what was one to do, so I thought well, I'll keep driving down rt-1 and see how far I can go before I the car stops running. (This is where the Seinfeld episode kept flashing through my head)
A few miles down the road... could it be? Like an oasis in the desert, right there... a shiny, lighted sign that said "Rojo Shell". Could this really be? A gas station in the state of Mass that is actually open after 10pm? I felt the elation of a weary, parched, and stranded traveler in the desert upon seeing an oasis. Is it a mirage?
Thankfully, I am to say it was not a mirage. I pulled in to a long-line of cars filling up. (I wonder how many of them were running on empty like me) From the looks of it, you would think that this is the only gas station in the state that is open tonight. I've never felt such gratitude towards a gas station owner, I wanted to go and shake their hand and personally thank them for being open. I felt indebted to them. So much so, here is the link to their gas station should any of you ever need gas in Massachusetts after 10pm.
Anyways, I just want to say that 1) in lieu of Easter, running on empy sure made me pray a lot last night. 2) I am so glad that Traci wasn't in the car, I would hate to have her experience this kind of emotional turmoil ... again.
Here are a couple of pictures from a similar event back in January that earned me the worst husband of the year award. (These pictures should be self-explanatory)
Now, I should have sufficiently inspired you all enough go watch "The Dealership" episode of Seinfeld from season 9 where Kramer takes the car salesman for a test drive to empty. Here is the transcript to the show.
Happy Easter and happy driving!
For some reason it is not uncommon for me to find myself on the left side of the E slash (In my car, it's South of the slash mark)
In my humble opinion, nothing does a better job of taking the dullness out of your routine commute than driving south of the slash mark.
Well, last night I found myself in this dilemma again, but this time to no fault of mine own. It all started when I drove up to Brighton, MA to a couple of friend's house for a Easter Eve dinner party. As I got off at their exit, I noticed that the gas light had come on. Since they only live about 4 miles off of the highway, and I was already a little late to the party, I figured that the logical thing was for me to get gas when I left. (I even scoped out the gas stations that I would do this at on the way back.)
So 11:30pm comes around and I left their place. I pull up to the first gas station to find it pitch black. What! Gas stations that close at night !?! This would never happen in SF Bay Area. "No need to panic at this point..." I comforted myself, "I saw at least a couple more gas stations on the way in." What do you know, every single one of them were closed!
Out of desperation, I tried the pump at one of them , hoping that maybe the credit card service is on after hours. I only managed to buy $0.12 of gas before it stopped pumping. Bummer! By now, my meter is definitely completely South of the E slash mark. Come on Massachusetts, what kind of place shuts down their gas station at 10pm!?!
Running out of options, I decided to get on I-95 head down towards Providence and see if I can make it to a exit with a gas station that's open. I drive a few miles on the highway, bypassing a couple of exits, trying to stay at 55mph, because I remember that's where most cars are most fuel efficient. After what seemed like eternity, I saw a sign that said gas this exit. So I pulled off at the exit and coast my way through the neighborhood only to find myself in the middle of a residential neighborhood with no signs of any gas station. I look at my meter and now there is a gap between it and the slash, I was completely cleared of the slash.
Having no options, I turned back and made my way back on the highway, my thoughts bounced back and forth between cursing the state of Mass and the more and more certain reality that I am going to be spending Easter Eve waiting on the side of the highway for AAA.
After a few more miles, there was another sign that showed gas station at the current exit. I am now trying to gather enough momentum so that if I ran out of gas on the off ramp, I can coast into the gas station. To my dismay, the Shell station next to the highway is closed again! I tried again to pump gas at the closed station, hoping again for a few cents of gas... nothing this time.... It looks like my luck has finally ran out.
Well, what was one to do, so I thought well, I'll keep driving down rt-1 and see how far I can go before I the car stops running. (This is where the Seinfeld episode kept flashing through my head)
A few miles down the road... could it be? Like an oasis in the desert, right there... a shiny, lighted sign that said "Rojo Shell". Could this really be? A gas station in the state of Mass that is actually open after 10pm? I felt the elation of a weary, parched, and stranded traveler in the desert upon seeing an oasis. Is it a mirage?
Thankfully, I am to say it was not a mirage. I pulled in to a long-line of cars filling up. (I wonder how many of them were running on empty like me) From the looks of it, you would think that this is the only gas station in the state that is open tonight. I've never felt such gratitude towards a gas station owner, I wanted to go and shake their hand and personally thank them for being open. I felt indebted to them. So much so, here is the link to their gas station should any of you ever need gas in Massachusetts after 10pm.
Anyways, I just want to say that 1) in lieu of Easter, running on empy sure made me pray a lot last night. 2) I am so glad that Traci wasn't in the car, I would hate to have her experience this kind of emotional turmoil ... again.
Here are a couple of pictures from a similar event back in January that earned me the worst husband of the year award. (These pictures should be self-explanatory)
Now, I should have sufficiently inspired you all enough go watch "The Dealership" episode of Seinfeld from season 9 where Kramer takes the car salesman for a test drive to empty. Here is the transcript to the show.
Happy Easter and happy driving!
posted by Herman @ 1:04 PM
1 Comments:
At April 18, 2006 2:26 PM,
jpn said…
This is a Seinfeld episode in itself. You needed 3 of your friends with you to take you off-track and end up miles from nowhere (wouldn't that be 'anywhere'?) and eventually run into Newman, where you would have to make a devious deal to get gas.
All that being said, I bet you were one relieved dude. It just proves that you can actually drive a lot longer than you thought below 'E'.
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