Categories: uncategorized
Date: 10 February 2009 11:05:57
They'll be coming for me with the little white van one of these days... and it won't be long either. Last night I took the Smudgelet to Sprouts. As it was, we came back again fairly promptly seeing as it had either been cancelled or relocated and it hadn't occured to anyone to let us know. (I was heartbroken. How I'd been looking forward to my two hours sat in the car on the carpark, wrapped in a duvet while the wind and rain howled around me - so much nicer than sitting at home on the sofa watching the telly or browsing the ship). En route we called at the garage for some petrol, this being an advisable course of action when the little orange light is blinking merrily at you from the dashboard. I filled up, rejoicing in watching the £ dial turning fractionally slower than the litres dial, and then headed off to pay for my petrol. "Pump number 8, please" "No, I don't think so. There isn't anybody at pump number 8." How embarrassing. It reminded me of a talk I heard last year by the man who's introduced the new improved KS3 curriculum who said that real maths wasn't about working out how much change you got from a £100 note if you put 37.6 litres of petrol in your tank at 97.3p per litre, it was about remembering which pump you'd used to fill it up! Anyway, with an embarrassed smile, I went back out into the cold to check which pump my car was stood by, rejoined the queue and merrily returned to the cashier. "Pump number 5 please". "That'll be £11.50" The more observant among you will have noticed a slight discrepancy here. Did I? Nope. I handed my card over and happily typed in my pin number - twice, cos I got it wrong first time of course - and went on my way. Ah. Hold on. On returning to my car, parked still at pump number 5, I discovered that not only did it not have a Smudgelet in it, not only did it look remarkably different from my car, but it was not, in fact, my car at all. My car was parked by Pump 3. And while I appreciate that the cost of petrol has gone down a little bit, I really should have had my doubts when a full tank of petrol cost me just over a tenner. I had paid for someone else's petrol! Quick run back into the petrol station - just in time. They were very understanding... they managed not to snigger or look condescending until after I'd left the building. I will not, at this point, mention that I only just stopped myself in time before filling up with diesel rather than unleaded. I worry about me, sometimes! ;)