I just committed the dumbest act of my adult life.
On the morning of Saturday, August 12, 2007, I had to drive from Atlanta to Macon for a sorority workshop. In the meantime my aunt and uncle were on their way from Augusta to Atlanta to run errands and drop Hai back off. They wanted to meet me at 1pm, but I couldn't leave the workshop 'til 12:15. That gave me 45 minutes to make a normally 70 minute drive. Tough, but do-able.
So after the workshop I realized that, surprise surprise, I desperately needed gas. Rushing, I pulled into the nearest station, swiped my card, and grabbed a nozzle. I went to shove the nozzle in the tank and the darn thing didn't fit! Red flag #1! "This thing must be broken!", I thought as I then decided to keep pumping. You should have seen me holding the nozzle up to the hole! As I watched the amount tick up towards $20 I noticed the other three available nozzles at that pump were skinnier. Red flag #2! "Just my luck that of all the nozzles, I choose the broken one." After I had enough to get me back to Atlanta, I finished up and started back on my way.
After exactly 1/2 mile, my car totally shut down. It had just enough uuumph left for me to steer it to I-75's shoulder. What the ****?! I got out, walked around the outside of the car, and didn't see anything. I hopped back inside, no 'Check Engine' light. "Hmmmm," as I guzzled the last of my bottled water. Then it hit me...check the receipt from the gas station.
The dumbest act of my adult life was unintentionally putting diesel fuel in my gasoline tank!
It went from bad to worse after that. 104 degrees, 2 feet away from a busy interstate, 45 minute wait for a tow truck. Then, my cell phone broke - probably from a combination of the heat and my sweat since I was using it the whole time. I gotta end this story now because retelling it is sending me back into a deep depression. But after a 90 minute tow truck ride back to Atlanta that day, 5 more days in the repair shop, and a $700 bill - my nightmare is over.
Once I was able to think clearly again, I desperately began searching for the lesson that cost me almost a month's mortgage payment. There were certainly mini-lessons coming to light. 'Look before you leap.' 'Be prepared.' 'Thoroughly investigate red flags.' But none of these lessons are worth the price of a trip to Jamaica!
So I'm going to chalk this one up to a lesson on slowing down! So what if my aunt and uncle would've had to wait an extra 30 minutes for me! (They wound up waiting an extra 3 hours!) Life already moves too fast. Now I know there's big time consequences at stake for speeding it up even more.
On the morning of Saturday, August 12, 2007, I had to drive from Atlanta to Macon for a sorority workshop. In the meantime my aunt and uncle were on their way from Augusta to Atlanta to run errands and drop Hai back off. They wanted to meet me at 1pm, but I couldn't leave the workshop 'til 12:15. That gave me 45 minutes to make a normally 70 minute drive. Tough, but do-able.
So after the workshop I realized that, surprise surprise, I desperately needed gas. Rushing, I pulled into the nearest station, swiped my card, and grabbed a nozzle. I went to shove the nozzle in the tank and the darn thing didn't fit! Red flag #1! "This thing must be broken!", I thought as I then decided to keep pumping. You should have seen me holding the nozzle up to the hole! As I watched the amount tick up towards $20 I noticed the other three available nozzles at that pump were skinnier. Red flag #2! "Just my luck that of all the nozzles, I choose the broken one." After I had enough to get me back to Atlanta, I finished up and started back on my way.
After exactly 1/2 mile, my car totally shut down. It had just enough uuumph left for me to steer it to I-75's shoulder. What the ****?! I got out, walked around the outside of the car, and didn't see anything. I hopped back inside, no 'Check Engine' light. "Hmmmm," as I guzzled the last of my bottled water. Then it hit me...check the receipt from the gas station.
The dumbest act of my adult life was unintentionally putting diesel fuel in my gasoline tank!
It went from bad to worse after that. 104 degrees, 2 feet away from a busy interstate, 45 minute wait for a tow truck. Then, my cell phone broke - probably from a combination of the heat and my sweat since I was using it the whole time. I gotta end this story now because retelling it is sending me back into a deep depression. But after a 90 minute tow truck ride back to Atlanta that day, 5 more days in the repair shop, and a $700 bill - my nightmare is over.
Once I was able to think clearly again, I desperately began searching for the lesson that cost me almost a month's mortgage payment. There were certainly mini-lessons coming to light. 'Look before you leap.' 'Be prepared.' 'Thoroughly investigate red flags.' But none of these lessons are worth the price of a trip to Jamaica!
So I'm going to chalk this one up to a lesson on slowing down! So what if my aunt and uncle would've had to wait an extra 30 minutes for me! (They wound up waiting an extra 3 hours!) Life already moves too fast. Now I know there's big time consequences at stake for speeding it up even more.
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