the little orange light...

really means something. who knew? here's the story...

i carpool occasionally with a coworker to work. sunday, both of us worked, so i drove. about half way to work, my gas light came on. no biggie, i know how far i can drive with the little orange light on. i even mentioned to tisha that we'll make it home. she then tells me how the other day she must have been going on fumes because she's sure that she was going to run out of gas but made it to the gas station. so we continue on to work.

after 12 1/2 hours of working we head back to the car and start the drive home. it's a pretty uneventful drive, all the while i'm thinking of the orange light and wondering if i can make it home and back in the morning to meet tisha to drive to work again before i need to get gas. we are about a mile from our exit and driving around the point of the mountain (a geographical landmark here in happy valley) when all the sudden my jeep chugs. i'm wondering what the heck is going on, so i hit the gas pedal and get nothing. i'm in the inside lane, so i manage to pull over to the emergency lane before the jeep completely dies. tisha is laughing. i'm wondering what is going on and i try and start the car. nothing. tisha tells me we have run out of gas. i'm like, no way, i know how far i can go. apparently that little incline up the hill proved me wrong. i have only run out of gas one other time in my life, when i was 16 and our old truck's gas gage didn't work. so i had no idea that the car just shuts off!!!

so this is great. we are a mile (or less!) from our exit, sitting off the side of the freeway at 830pm in the cold!! i call kerry and tell him the happy news. he's thrilled, of course, but tells me he is on his way. he has to stop and fill the gas can (thankfully we have one!!) and will be there in a bit. so me and tisha are having a fabulous time, hanging out on the side of the freeway. it's amazing how much faster cars seem to go at 75 miles an hour when you are stopped!! especially big rigs!! they make your car shake and fill like it's going to tip over!!! we have a lovely discussion about some big white thing that is sitting on top of the barricade on the side of the road. after much debate, tisha jumps out to see if it's attached or something someone left there (i know, who would leave something on top of a barricade sitting on the side of the freeway??). come to find out that it's attached. we can sleep easy now. we also sample a new flavor of stride gum. sweet berry. very good. a bit tart at the beginning, but great flavor. we also have a discussion of where all the highway patrol troopers are at this point in time because there are none driving through this part of the freeway!!!

about 30 minutes later, a car pulls over in front of us. we agree that they must have run out of gas too. poor souls. then the car starts backing up toward us. it is not kerry, so we have no idea who it is. come to find out, it was either an ax murderer or a very nice good samaritan. he goes over to tisha's window and she rolls it down a bit. he tells us that we really aren't supposed to park here. really? we tell him we just wanted to pull over to enjoy the view for a minute. we all chuckle and he asks if we need help with anything. we tell him that help is on the way and should be here any minute. he seems satisfied with our answer and tells us to enjoy the view and heads on his way. how nice that he stopped to see if we needed help.

about 5 minutes later a car pulls up behind us. hooray!! it's kerry, who has come to save the day!! after his look of "how in the hell did you run out of gas?" he politely hands me the gas can while he goes to get a flashlight. i start filling my tank and soon i have enough gas to get us the mile to the gas station. he tells tisha hello, laughs and gets back in his car. i get in and turn the keys on and low and behold, the car starts!! hooray!!! i apologize to tisha over and over and tell her to think of something i can do to make up for stranding her on the side of the freeway for 45 minutes after a long day of work. i don't know what that will be, but i'll sure do it!!!

things i've learned from this little experience are no matter how far you think you can go with your gas light on, you probably can't. so just stop and get some gas!! also, pull over as far as possible in the emergency lane. obviously i did not do this and i'm just glad i didn't get plowed into by a car going 80 mph while trying to fill my gas tank.

wowza...