Costco Gas

Having nothing to do with my story, here's a picture of Hayden enjoying his first popsicle after our dreadful run last Saturday.

I know this blog is a little car-heavy lately, but I had to tell you about buying gas for the first time. Our tank is almost twice the size as in the old car, so it would cost almost $80 to fill up if it were on empty. So in the name of resisting sticker shock, I thought I would fill it up when it hit the half-full mark. So, I pull into the Costco gas station. There's a few cars lined up, but I spot someone pulling out and get into an open pump pretty quickly.

Thankfully, I had checked which side the tank was on and pulled in on the appropriate side. Mr. Attendant is standing there to inform me that this pump doesn't print receipts. I say "that's okay" and pop my gas door like a pro (I scoped that out before arriving too).
I'm all ready with my cards for the machine and reach for the gas cap. Twist to the right. Nothing. Twist to the left, nothing. Hmmm, try pushing in, and then twisting like kid-proof medicine. Nothing. Starting to feel like a fool now. I look around for Mr. Attendant, hoping he's seen this before. He has disappeared. Okay, now I look closely at the gas cap & surroundings, hoping for a button, keyhole, or any other clue about how to open this dang thing. About two minutes of poking and prodding later, still nothing.

Ah ha! I have my cell phone. I'll just call Travis since I remember the salesman explained this to him while I was playing with the power door. Ring Ring Ring. Yup, Travis isn't at his desk and neither is anyone else at Lockheed apparently. I start to weigh my options. The lines are pretty long and I'm sure they are wondering what the heck I'm doing. But gas is expensive and this place is the cheapest in town. If I come back tomorrow, it will just be higher and require another trip! Then I remember the owner's manual! By now the car behind me has filled up and driven past. I pull out the manual and look under the chapter headings. Ummm kinda hard to tell which one explains this! So I head to the index and find the gas section, yeah wrong section! I don't need to read about where the gas gauge is, I need to know how to put it in!! Feeling more and more loser-ey by the minute, I frantically flip through until I find the right page.

OH! I should have known! It makes total sense that you would have to turn the cap to the left by 90 degrees, hold it for a moment, and then push against the resistance to turn it another 30 degrees before it magically opens. Of course! How stupid of me! Welcome to the year 2008 where gas caps don't just twist off.

Mr. Attendant shows up about 20 seconds later, once I've actually begun filling the tank (after searching the car for my Costco card that I set down somewhere during the frantic owner's manual search). "Uh, boy you need a lot of gas!" he says. Yeah, thanks! What happened to the good ole days of full-service stations?!