15 dollar gallon of gas.

today, i found myself driving toward upper darby high school for the millionth time this summer to deposit my siblings at summer stage rehearsal. we'd been away on a long weekend family vacation, and none of us were quite back together again. so it's not surprising that my parents failed to mention that the gas tank of the car was nearly empty, nor that i failed to notice it as i hopped in for the routine shuttle service.

it was as i was rounding the corner from state road to lansdown avenue that i noticed. the light turned green, and when i put my foot on the gas, the engine sputtered and died. temporarily forgetting that i was not driving one of my stick-shift vans in germany, i thought "shoot, i stalled," and turned off the engine and re-started it. meanwhile, a long line of traffic honked behind me as i yelled, "yeah, i know! if i could move, i would!" it was when the engine died a second time that jeff said from the passenger seat, "uh, i think you're out of gas." and then, i realized the extent of the problem.

for the second time this summer, jeff had to hop out of the car and walk the rest of the way to rehearsal (the first time was the flat tire incident, that's another story). he and alicia got out as i drifted the car into the empty lot on the corner and gave me a sad wave of "i hope you can get this figured out" as they walked up the hill.

i walked across the street to the gas station (thankfully, there was a gas station just across the street!) and fumbled through a purchase of a gallon jug of gas. the little red plastic jug cost me ten dollars, plus tax plus a $4.11 gallon of gas... and i paid 15 dollars for that gallon. i walked back to my car, standing in the street to pour the gas into the tank. as i tried to figure out how to attach the nozzle, a police officer drove by (rather, honked from across the intersection) and offered his help (and told me he'd be cursing me for the rest of the day because his hands would smell like gasoline.) thank you, officer.

(i bought myself a pint of coconut sorbet to make up for the sweat and hassle of the incident....)

ps. family vacation was wonderful. i loved being with the whole family minus 7 work and rehearsal schedules, 3 TVs and a computer. just us and the lake...