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Ah, I've always wondered what a 'Filibuster' was and where the Callahan (named after 'Henry Callahan') came from.
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I had ended up scheduling a lot of things together into a very small amount of time. I needed to go down to the condo to pick up a copy of the disclosure statement, drop off said statement at the lawyer's house, drop off a bill for the patrol, pick up some floss and gel, get some cash, and get gas at some point in time. Sounds simple enough no? Well..
The first problem was that I had a lot of work to do. I didn't get out of work until after five, and this lead to my first problem. The condo offices close at six. It was several minutes after the hour before I got out of the office. Then I had to go and pee. It was ten after by the time I got out of the building. It started to rain. Hard. Hard rain doesn't make traffic go much faster, especially during the heart of rush hour. I had taken the GT-S out today, not thinking that I needed to go anywhere after work since it was basically out of gas and falling apart (as always). Traffic was at a standstill so I decided to skip the gas station at the corner because I was pressed for time. I figured that I had enough gas to make it to the condo. That was my first priority.
Unfortunately, spending all that time idling, starting and stopping didn't help my gas mileage (or time). The first intersection took five minutes. The next, another five minutes. By the time I got to the next highway it was already more than half past. A message board on the road mentioned that the next highway was "moving slowly". In other words: parking lot.
When I got on, I had a nice glimpse of the traffic ahead, and it was not a pretty site. I decided to take to the streets instead, as the chances of finding a gas station were higher, and traffic was bound to be less congested. I wasn't exactly right, on either count.
Traffic was moving, albeit slowly on the roads, and the constant stop and go action took a toll on the car. Soon after I got off the highway, the empty signal came on. I had already passed by another two gas stations at the previous intersection but didn't think of stopping since they were difficult to get to, and traffic was a nightmare. Unfortunately for me, HW's warning came back to haunt me: Once the gas light comes on, there's about five kilometres left in the tank. Five kilometres is not very much. In fact, my "no traffic" route brought be through a lot of residential roads. i.e. no gas stations.
I was in a dilemma: Do I drive towards a commercial area and hope to find a gas station (and thereby deep sixing half of my chores for the night) or plug on ahead, knowing that I might end up stranding myself in the middle of a busy road in the middle of rush hour?
Was there an option three? Probably, but I took option two. I plodded ahead and hoped that I saved up enough karma to make it out of this in one piece.
The road I took was fairly hilly, and I remembered the last time I ran out of gas was also on an incline since the gas would be pulled to the back of the tank. I watched the gas light come on every time I went up a hill, and shut off when I went down one. But my heart would beat a little faster whenever I had to stop at a light on an incline.
Despite my constant need and search for gas, I began to recognize the area and realized that I wasn't very much further from the condo! When I crested over the last hill, I realized that I had made it, and with no time (or gas) to spare! I was approaching the five kilometre mark by the time I parked the car, and I had one minute before the hour. So I grabbed my laptop, and rushed up to the office.
The office itself was still open, and I didn't wait long before I got my copy of the disclosure statement. When I got back down to the car, the weather had turned bright and sunny again, and the dark clouds that had brought so much rain and worry were nowhere to be found.
I didn't want to risk running out of gas again, so I left the car on the street and started walking up the road to look for a gas station. I had driven down that road before many times for broomball and knew of two gas stations on the way. Unfortunately, I was driving in every previous situation so I didn't know what sort of distances were involved, but I figured that it wasn't very far.
Well, I guess it wasn't very far in car terms. I ended up walking up the street and passed by a bank, and remembered that I needed money, so I popped in to grab some cash. Then I passed by a drug store and remembered that I needed some floss and gel, so I stopped to pick some up as well. I took note of the shops and stores along the street since I would be living in the area soon and I had soon walked a couple of kilometres.
The first gas station seemed bright and new, and wasn't at all as close as I had thought. But I got there and got in and talked to the guy behind the counter, asking if there were any gas containers or gas cans they were selling. He showed me where they were, but when we looked, the shelf was empty. He told me that they were sold out. Rats!
I asked him where I could find myself a container, and he told me that there was another gas station further up the street. Great, more walking. I trekked a little further up the street before I found the other gas station. This one was a little bigger and seemed to have more stuff, but when I looked at the automotive section, I couldn't find any gas containers. I asked the guy at the counter if they had any, and the lady next to him told me that they had sold out. Rats! *shakes fist*
Now I was getting kind of annoyed. I was prepared to buy a water bottle just so that I could fill it with gasoline. Before I was able to do something stupid, the lady told me that there was a hardware store a few stores further up the street that would probably have some gas cans. So I thanked them and headed off again.
The hardware store wasn't that far from the gas station, and it wasn't as small as I first thought. It took me several minutes before I found the cans, but they were there. In fact, there were lots of them, but I took the smallest (less than five litres) one. I paid for the can, and began my long trek back to the car.
As I passed by the second gas station, I heard two cars coming up from behind. one had a hanging bumper, while the other had a loud sound coming from the front. I guess they got into a car accident or something. I didn't pay much attention to them, but I used it as an excuse to stare at the girl who was washing her windshield. The way she reached over to the other side..
Anyway, I walked back to the first gas station, put down my bag, put the container on the ground (I had read the instructions), swiped my fob, and begin to pump gas. It must have looked kind of funny to the guy next to me, but hey. Gas is gas, and this quick pay thing is so useful! I got my gas, and headed back to the car.
The walk back was quite nice actually. The weather was great for walking, not too hot, not too cold, not windy, and nice and sunny. I got back to the car without incident. I did end up spilling some gas when I tried to pit it into the tank, but I blame my inexperience. Fortunately I didn't feel sparky at that moment.
The rest was fairly uneventful. I dropped the disclosure statement off, and was able to contact DE to drop off the bill. Then I headed home (but filled up the tank before I got there).
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