The Chase

I'm programmed to run late.  It's in my genes.  I think my family actually has a time zone of our own.  People know that if they want me to be there by 7:00, they should probably tell me 6:30... let's make that 6:00 just to be safe. 

This is a problem on mornings when I need to catch my commuter bus, which is basically every morning.  I ('m supposed to) catch the bus at 6:50 am.  If I miss the bus at the stop closest to where I live, then I have to race the bus down the freeway in hopes of catching it at 7:00 am at a stop much farther down the way.  Usually if I'm running the least bit late I just ease on down the road to the next stop and catch the bus - I like to refer to this act as The Chase. 

I'm currently driving the boyfriend's truck until he gets back in to town with my car. When I started the truck yesterday morning, the gas light comes on.  I'm heading down the hill, I get off at my usual stop and the bus is already at the stop - this means there is no way I will be able to park in time to get on the bus. I'm stuck at the light as the bus pulls back on the freeway... the light that takes forever. By the time I get on the freeway again and finally arrive at the next stop I can see that I've once again JUST missed the bus.  And now the gas light isn't just "on" - it is below the empty line so I really have no clue how much farther I can go before I get stranded.  Did I mention I'm driving a diesel truck? In this particular part of town there are very few stations that have diesel.  Now being a regular car driver I've never noticed the lack of diesel stations prior to my own personal gas crisis.  I spent 25 minutes and passed seven, that's right, seven gas stations before finally finding one that had diesel.  At this point, I just want to put gas in the truck, head back up the hill to my house and climb back in bed.

I resisted the urge to go home but did decide that I needed (not wanted, but needed) a little Starbucks treat for all of the hard work I did just to get gas for the d*mn truck.  I ended up having to drive all the way to the light rail station and got to work half an hour late - boo! 

The moral of the story - get gas in the foothills where every other person drives a diesel and fuel is in abundance, not down the hill in the land of BMW's and Mercedes!