Stuff That Matters In Life

I forgot to post about this. It happened about a month ago. Today I was reminded of it an unexpected way.

Here’s the long of it.

One evening a month ago, Elliot says: My gas tank is empty. I should go get gas for my car tonight so I have enough gas to get to work tomorrow.

Me: Don’t worry. When the needle is on E, it doesn’t mean the tank is empty.

E: It’s been on E for a while. I think I should go get gas tonight.

Me: My van is on E too, but I know I won’t run out of gas.

Next day, on the way to Casey’s house….I ran out of gas! Fortunately, we were on a residential street with no traffic. Audrey, Amy and I walked the rest of the way in the hot sun to Casey’s house and waited for Mike to come with a tank of gas. I thought it was all pretty funny 🙂
There’s more.

Two weeks ago, Mike drove the van full of teenagers from our church to the Harvest Crusade. The car died on the freeway. But it started up again, no problem. That happened twice.

There’s still more.

One week ago, my engine check light came on. I better take it in to the mechanic.

Finally, today, I took my van to my friend Chek the mechanic.

Me: The car stopped in the middle of the freeway, but started up again. What happened?

Chek: Don’t let your gas tank get too low. The debris on the bottom will clog the fuel line, causing the car to stop, but start again.

Me: Oh…does this have anything to do with running out of gas?

Chek: Ha! That’s exactly what I mean!
After running the diagnostic on the computer on the engine light:

Chek: There was an air gap in the line. When you ran out of gas, air got in.
Costed me $49. Chek says it could cost me more, if the fuel pump needs replacing from running on a low tank too often. Don’t let your tank get below 1/3 empty.

But I like to get the car as empty as possible before I fill up in order to feel like my car is getting good mileage :0