I'm on E again, the story of my life, sort of. I am always running on empty in life, usually not the gas tank. Today I had to run diet stupid Pepsi out to my brother who lives just outside of town. For some reason my Mother wanted to go, I have no clue why since she didn't go in to visit my brother and she's too old to carry the friggin' Pepsi. Halfway out there on the highway I looked down and noticed I was past E. I had a tiny second of panic because my Mother was with me. I should have been more careful, she's too old to leave in the car while I walked, it's hot today. Then I laughed because I realized being with her was the perfect time to run out of gas. I know her. She would have gotten out, played the sweet lil' old stranded lady act and someone would have found her a gas can and gas and probably paid for it by the time she got through. Me? I'd have had to walk and buy a gas can...and walk back. I like running on E, but, only when I'm alone. It's this weird habit I have. I like to see how far I can get on empty. I like it to sputter and make me coast into the station. Now, I live in a small town, it's never that far to the gas station and I wouldn't do it if I lived in the city. It's stupid to do it anyway and I don't know why I do it. Once when I lived in the country, I took the back roads on E because they were downhill and I managed to coast 19 miles sputtering and dying all the way. It was pretty remote and there was no other traffic, so if I hadn't made it, it would have been a damn long walk. But, it was exhilarating to make it. I had some lawn mower gas too, I could have put that in, but, I wouldn't. I wonder about the psychology of this. Does anyone else do this? Any idea why someone would do this? I'll get gas tomorrow after work..I only have a couple of places to stop first. Heh.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Runing on empty
I'm on E again, the story of my life, sort of. I am always running on empty in life, usually not the gas tank. Today I had to run diet stupid Pepsi out to my brother who lives just outside of town. For some reason my Mother wanted to go, I have no clue why since she didn't go in to visit my brother and she's too old to carry the friggin' Pepsi. Halfway out there on the highway I looked down and noticed I was past E. I had a tiny second of panic because my Mother was with me. I should have been more careful, she's too old to leave in the car while I walked, it's hot today. Then I laughed because I realized being with her was the perfect time to run out of gas. I know her. She would have gotten out, played the sweet lil' old stranded lady act and someone would have found her a gas can and gas and probably paid for it by the time she got through. Me? I'd have had to walk and buy a gas can...and walk back. I like running on E, but, only when I'm alone. It's this weird habit I have. I like to see how far I can get on empty. I like it to sputter and make me coast into the station. Now, I live in a small town, it's never that far to the gas station and I wouldn't do it if I lived in the city. It's stupid to do it anyway and I don't know why I do it. Once when I lived in the country, I took the back roads on E because they were downhill and I managed to coast 19 miles sputtering and dying all the way. It was pretty remote and there was no other traffic, so if I hadn't made it, it would have been a damn long walk. But, it was exhilarating to make it. I had some lawn mower gas too, I could have put that in, but, I wouldn't. I wonder about the psychology of this. Does anyone else do this? Any idea why someone would do this? I'll get gas tomorrow after work..I only have a couple of places to stop first. Heh.
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42 comments:
Why are you flipping us off?
I run close to empty because I hate to pump gas. My husband gets irritated because running it so low is actually bad for your car. It gets any sediment that is settled in your tank to run through your fuel pump..hence..shortening your fuel pumps life expectancy. I tell him french fries and hot wings are doing that to him...lol.
Seinfeld did a whole episode on this. Kramer went to test drive a car and talked the salesmen into driving around to see how long they could go.
Yeah, why are you flipping us off?
LOL anon. I didn't know that about the fuel pump. I've never had to replace one.
Crabbie, I am flipping off the gas gage. Don't get confrontational.
Oooooh, no, not for me. Can't get too close to the E. Happened once before and, although not that much of an awful experience, I start sweating when the light goes on.
Snark! I forgot about that episode! I related to that one. Usually couldn't relate to anything on that show..liked it anyway. That show was a study in psychology..the uncomfortable kind.
Melissa, you're a sensible person. When my light goes on I start grinning, I get evil, like, I will beat you this time. It's not right.
DD,
Maybe this is just a low cost way of thrill seeking! Not quite like jumping out of a plane with a tangled parachute. But...just saying!
Thats pretty funny stuff! I love that Seinfeld episode. At the end Kramer & the salesman did a Thelma & Louise hi-hands & kept going past the exit back to the car lot. Thats how it ended. It was great! I still love Seinfeld. It was supposed to be about nothing. But it wasnt about nothing. It was great. Like real stuff. If you get that low on gas again Pat, add some gas system treatment before you fill up. It will help clean things out. You are supposed to that with every fill up! Yea riiight! I gave one to my daughter to use a month ago & its still in her car! Who remembers that!?
rox
I'm feeling particularly disgusted with my Narcissist mother today and reading your comments about the manipulative charm of yours made me angrier.
And yeah, you'll never understand them and that's a good thing.
You're lucky to live in a small town, I'm sitting here at Starbucks listening to all the traffic and feeling CROWDED. Wish I were there.
I think you're flipping us off. I think, sub-consciously, you hate us all.
Bayou, I HAVE parachuted. It was quite thrilling and I liked it a lot.
6:56:00 PM, you have one too, eh? They're a trip, aren't they? Mine has been decent for three weeks, it almost makes me nervous. If I was the kind of person who thought about the future it could bother me, but, I'm not.
TY, Rox, I will do that for sure.
Crabbie, I am flipping you off. So is Sandler's kid.
DD I am the exact oppsoite of you-I am paranoid about running out of gas. I hate pumping it, but I do so anyways because I hate the idea of running out of gas more. I've never even done it before, but am obsessive about it.
Did you know that you can actually save gas if you coast on neutral? I didn't until a few months back when we were driving the parents' volvo to Eastern WA. When we looked at the average gallons used indicator, when we coasted downhill on neutral, it was at zero.
I think coasting IS a gas. And I don't care what anyone says, driving on empty takes real skill, it's not all luck. The luck part comes when you coast into the station and have no one blocking the pump.
I think you like living on the edge! It's the thrill of walking that tightrope over the abyss.
LMAO @ crabbie...
Hey Dish, your girl Chelsea Handler is on Twitter.
I run on empty. Its 4 miles to work and can make stops along the way for all I need. I live in a lake town that could double in size all summer long do to tourism. This past week-end traffic stopped for a long time when a Big Boat fell off a trailer in the middle of the road in already heavy traffic. Boy did that have people worked up. So there is an extra thrill on holiday week-ends when crazy stuff happens. Makes a great excuse to be late for work too.
lets all just flip each other off. feels good.
DD, I do the exact same thing and never met anyone else who does this. I get a mild adrenaline rush running around on Empty. Once, a fellow bartender and I were going out to an all-night cafe on a deserted highway at 2 AM when I ran out of gas. I told her I'd take care of it and jumped up and down on the side of the road in a miniskirt at a semi that was passing. She was so pissed but I felt ALIVE! I also used to pick up hitchhikers until my husband forbade me. :(
Noelle, traffic stopping when you're on E..oh, that's bad. Sitting there knowing you're burning it up..ahhgggggg!
Tonya, I could never flag anyone down. I just couldn't do that. I never want any help. I'm weird that way. I aint pickin' up any hitch hikers. Uhh uhh. Even if they don't kill you, they talk to you. If they had a sign that said "I am a mute", then I might.
I ran out of gas one time on the free way. I was walking toward the exit, and a guy pulled over, flashed a badge and said "you can trust me I'm a cop. Do you want a ride?'
I said, "no".
Probably a rapist with a fake badge. I'm cynical.
Love Seinfeld.
I'd never trust a badge. Or any man who said, trust me.
You ALWAYS manage to crack me up somehow! LOL! Just when I am having a bad day,you come out with a story that just has me laughing my ass off! I always forget to look at the gas gauge. I'll be on my way taking my daughter to cheerleading or some other place and realize I am out of gas. Then I panic all the way to the gas station because I have her in the car with me! It's crazy, I really should pay more attention to something as important as having enough gas but I never do.
Jackson Brown
Running on E in the winter is bad. Causes condensation in your fuel tank which turns in to water that goes in to your carb/injectors and make for bad running. Can rust your tank out too!
I am always running on empty too. Especially when gas prices got up to 4.00 a gallon. I was driving a 1000 miles a week and would push it till the last drop. Jim wasn't amused when he went to get me gas one morning and ran out of gas and had to coast into the station. Sheesh some people have no sense of adventure;)
I run on empty every time my freaking checking account has like $4 in it and I have just grown use to it; i worry when i have half a tank and run to the gas station to tip it off or to make sure the line is on Full! I have a benz now so i really try not to run on fumes in that one cuz i am gonna fup the engine...don't you just love when you take the gas cap off and it kinda' sighs and pops, really loud, sometimes i move away cuz i am afraid the cap is going to shoot right into my gut!
ali
I would never ever trust anybody just because he has a badge. You can buy those over the Internet.
It's a form of procrastination. Your payoff is, if you panic about the small things, you don't have time to dwell on the big things. Sometimes it's easier to stress about little things, (that can be easily remedied--therefore giving a sense of accomplishment or relief) than it is to try and figure out the big life problems that just can't be fixed, and that there is never really any real relief from.
I am the biggest procrastintor on the planet, except for an empty gas tank.
The only time I ran out was when I took my brother and sister-in-law to the airport in their Suburban. Usually they told me to drive it, but why would I?
This one time they told me not to drive it. So I did. And I was driving merrily along when it stopped. I called my boyfriend and he came out and it was out of gas. He put in a gallon or so. The gas tank goes out really quickly in a big truck like that.
The next day I decided to have it washed and put some gas in before I picked them up. It was a full-service and the guy walked off. I saw the fuel tick off $20, $30, I was shouting for him to take the danged thing out. He had disappeared.
Well it got to about $60 and stopped. I was horrified, not only at the price but that they would know that I drove the truck after they asked me not to.
I picked them up at the airport and confessed everything. They were just thrilled that the truck was cleaned and filled up.
Anon 1:33... The psychological implications ring true for me. Makes perfect sense. How did you come up with that? Very insightful! It's amazing (and sometimes scary)the way the mind works!
1:33:00 very insightful, but, I don't panic.
Is this some kind of control issue?
I just got gas, I think writing about it took all the fun out. I'm done now.
Ali, I'm sorry, I know what it's like to have a $4 dollar bank account. Frequently.
I don't think it's a control issue. It's a coping mechanism. It's a way to keep your brain busy with unimportant things. People that are chronic procrastinators (me) do so because if I really gave myself time to do my very best, and it wasn't good enough, then I would have to face my inadequacy. (sp?) If I save everything for the last minute, then I can blame "not enough time" for the reason I was not up to snuff. But if I pull it off, I'm brilliant.
Meanwhile, I get to keep my brain busy with minutia, so I feel justified in not dealing with my bigger problems. This is the real payoff.
I originally used the word "panic" because to me, it best describes the idea of only being able to think or deal with one thing at a time. The word could have been stress, exhilaration,anger, fear, etc. Whatever emotion works for you in order to turn off the constant commentary in your brain.
The thing with running out of gas is, it's exciting maybe, but it also could be dangerous, and not good for the car. For most people, that is enough to keep the tank filled. As compared to say, a roller coaster ride where there are no adverse consequences, doing something that COULD be harmful shows that you need a bigger stimulous in order to clear your head.
I'm not sure how I came up with this, it's my theory to explain a lot of illogical human behavior. You can apply it to many things, and it rings true, so I tend to trust it. Or maybe I'm just channeling that asshole Dr. Phil!!
lol.
sorry for the long post ;o)
*sigh* i ran my truck on E one too many times and ended up having to take it to the dealer and having it fixed..apparently it's a common problem with Nissan Xterras and it's a costly problem to fix if you don't have extended warranty (thank god i do)..it made the floater thing for my gas gauge get stuck..so the gauge wasn't working AT ALL so i'd have to put it on "miles to empty" to know how far i could go. still cost me over $100 to fix it because there was a deductible on my extended warranty, but that's better than the over $500 it would have cost without it.
-Miranda-
133, quite interesting. Never apologise for long posts.
Miranda..maybe I secretly hate the car I drive.
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