Last night I think that I said “Oh My Gosh!” about 100 times. April would probably say that I went well over 100. Here is the story of my laughable tragedy:
As I previously wrote, Sunday night was not one for sleep, so when Monday morning arrived I was not rejuvenated for the new week ahead. I did get to work (even on time) and the day went quite normally. Work is work regardless of what goes on in the rest of my life. After work I went home and got stuck in a traffic jam. I live just over 2 miles from the office, and it took me 20 minutes to go the last mile. There was a double-decker bus broken down on my street just a few houses away. So I got home just in time to turn on the BYU TV streaming broadcast of the announcement of the new President of the Church. While the stream was buffering, I threw a frozen dinner in the micro (it was one I hadn’t tried before Tesco Light Choices Chili with Potato Wedges – actually decently flavored, and pretty low points. It was freezing last night, so the Chili sounded good). While watching the broadcast I kept burning my tongue on the chili.
I am very excited for the new First Presidency. President Monson, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf will be a great team. I was impressed with how they handled the press conference. Now I’ll just need to continuously remind myself how to spell Uchtdorf (I just looked it up). The broadcast lasted longer than I expected, so when it was done, I quickly pulled myself and my things together to go up to April’s for a walk.
I got to April’s and Gresha’s family was still there (they were visiting for dinner and FHE). Jake took the kids home and Gresha stayed for the walk. We did our normal circuit and it was great. Then while I was taking Gresha home (about 2 minutes from April’s), my gas light came on (I should say my diesel light). It was just before 9pm, so I decided to head to the very nearby ASDA (owned by Wal-Mart) to fill up. As I was pulling in, I called another friend (Ronnie) to say that I wanted to stop by for a minute. I got off the phone and out of the car and filled the tank. As I was pulling the nozzle out of the car and replacing it on the pump I realized that I had just put 47 litres (and £50) of Unleaded Gas into my Diesel car! (There are so many reasons why: lack of sleep and brain function, distraction from the cold & wind while I was waiting for my debit card to get approved, thinking about all of the conversations that had been had with friends, just thinking. Plus, I never get gas (ahem Diesel) at ASDA, I always fill up at Tesco. Tesco has 3 grades of fuel (regular & super unleaded, and diesel) and ASDA just has 2. Plus, the diesel pumps here have a black handle, and gas has green handles – please someone verify that in America the diesel is always green. I would swear that it is.)
The first miracle that happened last night is that I noticed before turning my car on and destroying the engine. I am so watched over. Probably if I had been more quiet I would have been able to be more aware or prompted to pick the BLACK pump. Oh well – I am still lucky.
So, I thought ‘oh my gosh’ about 10 times and called April (on my mobile at the petrol station while still on the platform – I got lectured over the PA by the station attendant…and getting into my car wasn’t good enough.) I told April (who was groggy as she was getting ready for bed) what I had done. She asked if I had AA (the UK’s version of AAA). I don’t. She called them and then was on her way to sit with me until the AA arrived to tow me to a garage to get the gas siphoned out of my tank. April talked to the AA guys on the way, and when she arrived (her neighbor drove her, I owe him baked goods) she shared the bad news – the AA said there was a 3 hour wait in the area. They said since April lived 2 minutes away, we could wait there, and they’d call when they were on the way.
Miracle #2 of the evening is that they called about 10 minutes later. They set an ETA of 9:30. So we went back to ASDA. The AA tow truck arrived and Kev (the driver) hooked up my car with a pole and had me sit and steer on the way to the garage.
Miracle #3 – the garage was open and able to start siphoning straight away. I didn’t have to wait. Miraculous!! The siphoning process takes about 75 minutes when the tank is full (since I didn’t realize after just putting in 5 litres). The fabulous Kev took April back up to ASDA so she wouldn’t have to wait with me. The tow cost me nothing (Miracle #4).
I sat in a quiet & empty reception room for just over an hour. I read 5 trashy Brit-pop magazines. I even learned some interesting things (I ripped out a 2-pager called “6 Things You Can Really Give Up” = 1. Nagging your partner. 2. Trying to be a Size 10 (US Size 6). 3. The job you hate. 4. Multi-tasking. 5. Putting yourself last all the time. 6. Worrying about everything.).
At 11:10pm the process was finished and I got the bill: £130 for emptying the tank, £20 for fuel disposal, £20 for fuel “replacement” (they said they’d put in 25 litres of diesel, I think it was actually more like 15), and finally just about £30 of VAT (basically sales tax). The total was £199.57. Added to the £50 of gas I bought at ASDA and applying the exchange rate – the night cost me about $500. That is more than a 4-night half-board stay in Marrakesh (included round-trip airfare) would cost. Unbelievable. But it is way less than it would have cost to rebuild and clean the engine – or worst case to buy another car.
I do feel lucky. I did learn. I did laugh. I was home by 11:30 and quickly climbed into bed where I got a good night of sleep. After work today I need to go to the supermarket for food – and for diesel. I’ll be careful. I have heard stories of people doing this several times in a row. Everyone I have told have responded with stories of their own and of friends. This happens ALL THE TIME here. Too bad they can’t figure out how to modify the petrol pump nozzles so they don’t fit in diesel tanks. It would save people a lot of money – and devastate the garage industry.
I took some fun pictures, but forgot my USB cable for the camera, so I’ll try to post them tonight.
I called dad in the midst of all of the drama. He made fun of me for all of the British pronunciation and vocab that inundates my speech, but he also said “just don’t put it in your blog.” I said of course I would put it in my blog. At least I could provide some entertainment out of the situation and my stupidity. So I hope you have enjoyed the read.
As I previously wrote, Sunday night was not one for sleep, so when Monday morning arrived I was not rejuvenated for the new week ahead. I did get to work (even on time) and the day went quite normally. Work is work regardless of what goes on in the rest of my life. After work I went home and got stuck in a traffic jam. I live just over 2 miles from the office, and it took me 20 minutes to go the last mile. There was a double-decker bus broken down on my street just a few houses away. So I got home just in time to turn on the BYU TV streaming broadcast of the announcement of the new President of the Church. While the stream was buffering, I threw a frozen dinner in the micro (it was one I hadn’t tried before Tesco Light Choices Chili with Potato Wedges – actually decently flavored, and pretty low points. It was freezing last night, so the Chili sounded good). While watching the broadcast I kept burning my tongue on the chili.
I am very excited for the new First Presidency. President Monson, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf will be a great team. I was impressed with how they handled the press conference. Now I’ll just need to continuously remind myself how to spell Uchtdorf (I just looked it up). The broadcast lasted longer than I expected, so when it was done, I quickly pulled myself and my things together to go up to April’s for a walk.
I got to April’s and Gresha’s family was still there (they were visiting for dinner and FHE). Jake took the kids home and Gresha stayed for the walk. We did our normal circuit and it was great. Then while I was taking Gresha home (about 2 minutes from April’s), my gas light came on (I should say my diesel light). It was just before 9pm, so I decided to head to the very nearby ASDA (owned by Wal-Mart) to fill up. As I was pulling in, I called another friend (Ronnie) to say that I wanted to stop by for a minute. I got off the phone and out of the car and filled the tank. As I was pulling the nozzle out of the car and replacing it on the pump I realized that I had just put 47 litres (and £50) of Unleaded Gas into my Diesel car! (There are so many reasons why: lack of sleep and brain function, distraction from the cold & wind while I was waiting for my debit card to get approved, thinking about all of the conversations that had been had with friends, just thinking. Plus, I never get gas (ahem Diesel) at ASDA, I always fill up at Tesco. Tesco has 3 grades of fuel (regular & super unleaded, and diesel) and ASDA just has 2. Plus, the diesel pumps here have a black handle, and gas has green handles – please someone verify that in America the diesel is always green. I would swear that it is.)
The first miracle that happened last night is that I noticed before turning my car on and destroying the engine. I am so watched over. Probably if I had been more quiet I would have been able to be more aware or prompted to pick the BLACK pump. Oh well – I am still lucky.
So, I thought ‘oh my gosh’ about 10 times and called April (on my mobile at the petrol station while still on the platform – I got lectured over the PA by the station attendant…and getting into my car wasn’t good enough.) I told April (who was groggy as she was getting ready for bed) what I had done. She asked if I had AA (the UK’s version of AAA). I don’t. She called them and then was on her way to sit with me until the AA arrived to tow me to a garage to get the gas siphoned out of my tank. April talked to the AA guys on the way, and when she arrived (her neighbor drove her, I owe him baked goods) she shared the bad news – the AA said there was a 3 hour wait in the area. They said since April lived 2 minutes away, we could wait there, and they’d call when they were on the way.
Miracle #2 of the evening is that they called about 10 minutes later. They set an ETA of 9:30. So we went back to ASDA. The AA tow truck arrived and Kev (the driver) hooked up my car with a pole and had me sit and steer on the way to the garage.Miracle #3 – the garage was open and able to start siphoning straight away. I didn’t have to wait. Miraculous!! The siphoning process takes about 75 minutes when the tank is full (since I didn’t realize after just putting in 5 litres). The fabulous Kev took April back up to ASDA so she wouldn’t have to wait with me. The tow cost me nothing (Miracle #4).I sat in a quiet & empty reception room for just over an hour. I read 5 trashy Brit-pop magazines. I even learned some interesting things (I ripped out a 2-pager called “6 Things You Can Really Give Up” = 1. Nagging your partner. 2. Trying to be a Size 10 (US Size 6). 3. The job you hate. 4. Multi-tasking. 5. Putting yourself last all the time. 6. Worrying about everything.).At 11:10pm the process was finished and I got the bill: £130 for emptying the tank, £20 for fuel disposal, £20 for fuel “replacement” (they said they’d put in 25 litres of diesel, I think it was actually more like 15), and finally just about £30 of VAT (basically sales tax). The total was £199.57. Added to the £50 of gas I bought at ASDA and applying the exchange rate – the night cost me about $500. That is more than a 4-night half-board stay in Marrakesh (included round-trip airfare) would cost. Unbelievable. But it is way less than it would have cost to rebuild and clean the engine – or worst case to buy another car.
I do feel lucky. I did learn. I did laugh. I was home by 11:30 and quickly climbed into bed where I got a good night of sleep. After work today I need to go to the supermarket for food – and for diesel. I’ll be careful. I have heard stories of people doing this several times in a row. Everyone I have told have responded with stories of their own and of friends. This happens ALL THE TIME here. Too bad they can’t figure out how to modify the petrol pump nozzles so they don’t fit in diesel tanks. It would save people a lot of money – and devastate the garage industry.
I took some fun pictures, but forgot my USB cable for the camera, so I’ll try to post them tonight.
I called dad in the midst of all of the drama. He made fun of me for all of the British pronunciation and vocab that inundates my speech, but he also said “just don’t put it in your blog.” I said of course I would put it in my blog. At least I could provide some entertainment out of the situation and my stupidity. So I hope you have enjoyed the read.
2 comments:
not that I've ever needed to pump diesel, but, yes Becky all of the handles attached to diesel pumps that I can bring to mind do have green handles or red handles certainly anything but black, black is always for gas. I'm just glad such things don't happen to me (knocking wood frantically)
While I have never need to pump diesel, yes, Becky, you are correct, all of the diesel handles I can bring to mind have green handles or maybe a few with red handles, certainly NOT black handles, black is always used for gas. I'm just glad such things don't happen to me (knocking wood frantically!)
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