Halfway There...
"There" being the end of September. Once again, time seems to fly by and it's hard to believe that we're already half-way through the month. Today was a rather uneventful day at work (the best kind), but it was getting to work that was more of an adventure.
One of the many things on my old Explorer that doesn't work is the fuel-gauge; It always shows the tank as being empty, even when it's completely full. As a result, I can't use the thing at all, so I use the trip-meter instead; I reset it whenever I fill up, and I know I can get about 450km out of a tank of gas. In the Winter, I never go more than 200km without filling up, but in the Summer I'll take it up around 400. Maybe I won't do that anymore...
I had planned to fill up today after work, once I got my mid-month paycheque; The Explorer had other ideas. I had 390km on the trip-meter, so I should have been good for another 60km or so, more than enough to get to town. For whatever reason however, it seems that the Explorer just isn't getting the same fuel-economy, and I actually ran out of gas on my way to work this morning! Fortunately I had my cell-phone with me, and I was in an area with good reception. I called trixstir to come out for me, and to bring the big 50-litre Flow-N-Go tank if she was able to. It was only half-full, so she was able to bring it along, so that helped save some time! While I was waiting alongside the road, a good number of vehicles passed without anyone bothering to offer assistance. One was even a neighbour, who honked as they past but kept on going. Gee, thanks! I also called work, to let them know what had happened.
Just before Trixstir arrived, Harold Romeo pulled up behind the Explorer with his work truck and trailer. He stayed until Trixstir arrived a couple minutes later, and even helped lift the big gravity-fed Flow-N-Go onto the roof of the Explorer and held it in place while I pumped the fuel into the tank. Fortunately, it turned out that I had "just run out of gas" as opposed to a more serious mechanical break-down; A little embarassing, but nothing to really worry about. Harold's wife works for the Ability Centre (who's lawn-mowers I service pro-bono), and we're thinking of hiring Harold (he has a renovation company) to redo our roof and siding, so we all know each other on both personal and professional levels. Perhaps there was a little Karma involved in that the only person to stop and help was someone who I've (indirectly) helped as well. Just to try to balance things a little more, I also bought a ticket for tonight's lottery draw. ;)
On a totally unrelated note; Tonight was the Final Results for "America's Got Talent" and I feel it was rather predictable. Our favourite (Prince Poppycock) came in Fourth, Fighting Gravity came in Third, leaving Second and First place for an unbelievable 10-year-old opera singer (Jackie Evancho) and Michael Grimm, a raspy (but talented) singer from Down South. This is reminiscint of last year, where the final two contestants were also an incredible (but older) opera singer, and a gritty Good-Ol' Boy former Chicken-Plucker turned Singer...
... And just like last year, American viewers (and voters) chose the gravelly-voiced Good-Ol' Boy singer as their top choice, instead of the angelical young opera star. The real irony was that Grimm only got there because judge Howie Mandel brought him back as a Wild-Card choice a few shows earlier, otherwise he would have been out of the competition. It makes me wonder who else might have taken the top spot had Howie not brought him back. In any case, none of the top-four will be leaving the contest empty-handed; to reach that level means that talent and booking-agents from across the country (if not the world!) will be clamouring for their acts! Indeed, the Top-Ten will be doing a huge cross-country tour, headlined by the winner, Michael Grimm. I dearly hope that Prince Poppycock and Jackie continue their incredible dream careers, and that one day we'll see their names up in lights.
One of the many things on my old Explorer that doesn't work is the fuel-gauge; It always shows the tank as being empty, even when it's completely full. As a result, I can't use the thing at all, so I use the trip-meter instead; I reset it whenever I fill up, and I know I can get about 450km out of a tank of gas. In the Winter, I never go more than 200km without filling up, but in the Summer I'll take it up around 400. Maybe I won't do that anymore...
I had planned to fill up today after work, once I got my mid-month paycheque; The Explorer had other ideas. I had 390km on the trip-meter, so I should have been good for another 60km or so, more than enough to get to town. For whatever reason however, it seems that the Explorer just isn't getting the same fuel-economy, and I actually ran out of gas on my way to work this morning! Fortunately I had my cell-phone with me, and I was in an area with good reception. I called trixstir to come out for me, and to bring the big 50-litre Flow-N-Go tank if she was able to. It was only half-full, so she was able to bring it along, so that helped save some time! While I was waiting alongside the road, a good number of vehicles passed without anyone bothering to offer assistance. One was even a neighbour, who honked as they past but kept on going. Gee, thanks! I also called work, to let them know what had happened.
Just before Trixstir arrived, Harold Romeo pulled up behind the Explorer with his work truck and trailer. He stayed until Trixstir arrived a couple minutes later, and even helped lift the big gravity-fed Flow-N-Go onto the roof of the Explorer and held it in place while I pumped the fuel into the tank. Fortunately, it turned out that I had "just run out of gas" as opposed to a more serious mechanical break-down; A little embarassing, but nothing to really worry about. Harold's wife works for the Ability Centre (who's lawn-mowers I service pro-bono), and we're thinking of hiring Harold (he has a renovation company) to redo our roof and siding, so we all know each other on both personal and professional levels. Perhaps there was a little Karma involved in that the only person to stop and help was someone who I've (indirectly) helped as well. Just to try to balance things a little more, I also bought a ticket for tonight's lottery draw. ;)
On a totally unrelated note; Tonight was the Final Results for "America's Got Talent" and I feel it was rather predictable. Our favourite (Prince Poppycock) came in Fourth, Fighting Gravity came in Third, leaving Second and First place for an unbelievable 10-year-old opera singer (Jackie Evancho) and Michael Grimm, a raspy (but talented) singer from Down South. This is reminiscint of last year, where the final two contestants were also an incredible (but older) opera singer, and a gritty Good-Ol' Boy former Chicken-Plucker turned Singer...
... And just like last year, American viewers (and voters) chose the gravelly-voiced Good-Ol' Boy singer as their top choice, instead of the angelical young opera star. The real irony was that Grimm only got there because judge Howie Mandel brought him back as a Wild-Card choice a few shows earlier, otherwise he would have been out of the competition. It makes me wonder who else might have taken the top spot had Howie not brought him back. In any case, none of the top-four will be leaving the contest empty-handed; to reach that level means that talent and booking-agents from across the country (if not the world!) will be clamouring for their acts! Indeed, the Top-Ten will be doing a huge cross-country tour, headlined by the winner, Michael Grimm. I dearly hope that Prince Poppycock and Jackie continue their incredible dream careers, and that one day we'll see their names up in lights.