VanC
Well-known member
Well, the wife is gone for a couple of hours and I've got to get this off my chest, so I guess you're elected. I'll try to keep it short, but it's kind of involved, so bear with me. Here goes:
I go outside to empty the garbage this morning and notice that one of my tires looks low. I check all four and, sure enough, the right rear is down about 10 PSI. No big deal, I'll run up to the Mobil station and put some air in it. After all, I know exactly where their air hose is. I put a load of laundry in the washer figuring I'll be back in a couple of minutes in case something goes awry. (I'm kind of paranoid that way).
So I hop in my car, drive to Mobil, and pull up to where the air hose has been for as long as I can remember. I walk around the car and, what's this?, the air hose has been replaced by a brand new coin operated car vacuum. I look around the lot but can't spot what I want. I go inside and ask the cashier and she tells me they replaced the old air hose Friday and will be putting in a new one Monday. Oh, well.
No big deal. There's a Shell station right up the street. Surely they've got an air hose. So I drive up there, cruise the lot, and spot one. I pull up next to it, get out, and dig for the 75 cents it requires. I go to feed it but, alas, there's a piece of tape over the coin slot with the words "out of order" written on it.
OK, I'm starting to get a little miffed but I'm still good. There's a BP station right across the street and, lo and behold, I can see the air hose from here! I'm saved! So I drive over, pull up to it, put in 75 cents and.......nothing. No noise, no air, nothing. Now they've crossed the line!
I'm ticked! Bound and determined to take out my frustrations on the poor, innocent cashier inside, I fling the hose to the ground, take two steps toward the building and, voila, the hose starts to work. So I collect myself, mumble a little prayer of thanks, and put the air in the lousy, stinking tire that started this whole mess.
OK, I'm happy again, so I decide to reward BP with a little business by topping off the tank. I'm hoping that the people across the street at Shell will see that good things come to people that keep their air hose in good, working order. So I pull up to the pump, run my MC, grab the nozzle and, dam!, the tank is on the other side! (In my defense, I've only had this car for a couple of months and still haven't gotten used to the tank being on the opposite side from the car I drove for the previous ten years).
By now I'm afraid to look inside the building for fear of seeing the cashier laughing his butt off at the complete idiot I've become. So I sheepishly set the nozzle down and turn the car around. By now the pump has apparently timed out, so now it's beeping at me and telling me the transaction is complete. Wondering what the MC people will think of my $0 transaction, I run the card again, fill the tank and thankfully head for home. End of story. Well, not quite.
Remember the load of laundry? That's right, the hose has somehow gotten disconnected from the drain, it's run through the wash cycle, and there's enough water on the floor to irrigate 40 acres of corn. Not only that, the dog decided it would be cool to walk through it a few times and then check out the entire house. So, almost two hours after my initial 5 minute trip, all is well, except I'm now afraid to leave the house for any reason. Thanks for listening.
I go outside to empty the garbage this morning and notice that one of my tires looks low. I check all four and, sure enough, the right rear is down about 10 PSI. No big deal, I'll run up to the Mobil station and put some air in it. After all, I know exactly where their air hose is. I put a load of laundry in the washer figuring I'll be back in a couple of minutes in case something goes awry. (I'm kind of paranoid that way).
So I hop in my car, drive to Mobil, and pull up to where the air hose has been for as long as I can remember. I walk around the car and, what's this?, the air hose has been replaced by a brand new coin operated car vacuum. I look around the lot but can't spot what I want. I go inside and ask the cashier and she tells me they replaced the old air hose Friday and will be putting in a new one Monday. Oh, well.
No big deal. There's a Shell station right up the street. Surely they've got an air hose. So I drive up there, cruise the lot, and spot one. I pull up next to it, get out, and dig for the 75 cents it requires. I go to feed it but, alas, there's a piece of tape over the coin slot with the words "out of order" written on it.
OK, I'm starting to get a little miffed but I'm still good. There's a BP station right across the street and, lo and behold, I can see the air hose from here! I'm saved! So I drive over, pull up to it, put in 75 cents and.......nothing. No noise, no air, nothing. Now they've crossed the line!
I'm ticked! Bound and determined to take out my frustrations on the poor, innocent cashier inside, I fling the hose to the ground, take two steps toward the building and, voila, the hose starts to work. So I collect myself, mumble a little prayer of thanks, and put the air in the lousy, stinking tire that started this whole mess.OK, I'm happy again, so I decide to reward BP with a little business by topping off the tank. I'm hoping that the people across the street at Shell will see that good things come to people that keep their air hose in good, working order. So I pull up to the pump, run my MC, grab the nozzle and, dam!, the tank is on the other side! (In my defense, I've only had this car for a couple of months and still haven't gotten used to the tank being on the opposite side from the car I drove for the previous ten years).
By now I'm afraid to look inside the building for fear of seeing the cashier laughing his butt off at the complete idiot I've become. So I sheepishly set the nozzle down and turn the car around. By now the pump has apparently timed out, so now it's beeping at me and telling me the transaction is complete. Wondering what the MC people will think of my $0 transaction, I run the card again, fill the tank and thankfully head for home. End of story. Well, not quite.
Remember the load of laundry? That's right, the hose has somehow gotten disconnected from the drain, it's run through the wash cycle, and there's enough water on the floor to irrigate 40 acres of corn. Not only that, the dog decided it would be cool to walk through it a few times and then check out the entire house. So, almost two hours after my initial 5 minute trip, all is well, except I'm now afraid to leave the house for any reason. Thanks for listening.
