Monday, February 22, 2016

Half Full Or Half Empty?

Nick and I typically agree on most things. I think our personalities are pretty similar, and we’re usually basically on the same page about most things. Except when it comes to putting gas in the car. I don’t think we could be more opposite than we are about gassing up the car.

I’m pretty sure Nick could quite happily spend the rest of his life driving from gas station to gas station. He never really lets it get below half a tank, and starts talking about the need to fill the car up when it gets down to three quarters of a tank. He never lets the gas light come on.

I’m the exact opposite. I hate putting gas in the car, and don’t usually do it until the gas light comes on. Because we live so close to work, I can actually drive for a couple of days with the gas light on if I’m not planning to go anywhere else. Yes, I have done that. The only exceptions are if I’m planning to make a long drive, and when I go to South Carolina. I always fill the car up in South Carolina because gas is so much cheaper there.

We almost always take my car whenever we go anywhere together. Nick’s car may be full of gas, but it’s also usually full of junk. Mine is usually clean. We also have to take mine if we’re taking the dogs anywhere because Nick’s is a little two door, and just doesn’t have room for two big dogs.

I don’t like driving Nick’s car (I will never understand why anyone wants a two door car), and it’s a pain for him to move all of his fire department stuff over to mine if we do switch cars, so we almost never switch cars. He drives his, I drive mine, and we take mine when we’re together. That’s usually when mine gets filled up with gas, because in all honesty, Nick puts gas in my car a lot more often than I do. 

Nick has mostly given up on trying to convince me to put gas in the car more often, and I try to make sure the gas light isn’t on if he’s going to be driving mine. It’s the closest we’ve come to a compromise.

We took my car Friday night when we were out running errands and going to dinner. While we were sitting in traffic Nick made the comment that someone’s car was out of gas. I started looking around for the person stranded on the side of the road, but couldn’t find them. It turned out that he was talking about me. The gas gage was between a quarter of a tank and the light coming on. For me that meant there was plenty of gas to go to dinner, and stop on the way back. For Nick that meant stopping at the nearest gas station.

So what about you? Do you see a half tank of gas as half full or half empty?
Emma really doesn't have anything to do with putting gas in the car or not, but she's in the car, so perfect opportunity to share a cute Emma picture.

6 comments:

  1. This is a classic woman's thing. My first wife never put gas in the car...drove me nuts. Actually when the tank gets low the gas is not as clean and it is not good for the engine to constantly let the tank get low. At least that's what my pop always told me.

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  2. I had to laugh about this; this perfectly describes son (always on empty) and hubby (keep it half full or more). Son can tell you exactly where the line is on Empty how many more miles he can go :) (and he only ran out of gas once when he got stuck in traffic and used more gas than he anticipated). Hubby likes to keep it half filled or more :) Me? I never have pumped gas; hubby or son would do it for me and I rarely drive these days. It is my "duty" to tell hubby if my van gets below half tank so he can go and take it to fill up. It was funny, on son's wedding date, his soon to be mother in law had to drive his car (really long story). She was freaking out because it was on empty with the gas light on and he's like "no, its okay, you'll be fine" but she ended up stopping at a station and putting in a few dollars of gas.

    That was a cute Emma picture :)

    Loved this! Brought a smile to my face. I can't tell you HOW MANY conversations hubby had with son about being more prepared when it came to gas :)

    betty

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  3. Well honestly, I've never even heard of a "gas light" - I'm assuming your cars must be newer than mine. Or maybe mine has one and I've just never let it get low enough for it to come on! Anyhow, I drive so seldom (like around 600 miles per year) that I only fill up the tank once every few months. I probably wait until it's about a quarter full or so... but I don't think it's something I've ever given much thought to.

    When to put on new bike tires, on the other hand... now THAT's something worth worrying about! And yes, CatMan and I have totally different systems - he's got this crazy rotation thing going where he puts a new tire on the front and moves the front tire to the back (because back tires wear a bit faster.) I just can't see bothering with that, and I'll just replace them entirely whenever one starts showing meaningful wear. To me, it's not worth risking a flat just to save a few bucks on tires!

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  4. Hi Danielle - I can imagine this ... not having another half .. I drive til mine its about a quarter and then fill up - due shortly! Still at least yours is kept clean and tidy ... cheers Hilary

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  5. I try to fill up my tank when my trip meter hits about 200 miles. (I clear it when I fill up the tank.) Never more than 210. Not generally less than 170. I believe my tank holds about 10 gallons. I've never used 10 gallons to fill it. It's usually around 6.

    In other words, I never let it get past a quarter tank full. I've never seen my gas light.

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  6. LOL I'm so like you. I right mine until the E lights up. I hate stopping to get gas even if I only have to do it once or twice a month. That's once or twice too many times! Ahhh! lol

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