Cheap Gas

When you're at the gas station, what's your routine?

I select the method of payment and the level of octane, then adjust the button that holds the pump handle for you to the lowest setting. Then I go clean something ... the windows, the mirrors, the headlights/taillights, maybe if I have time I'll even wipe off the inside of the windows and throw away the bits of trash and other flotsam that have accumulated over the week.

But then the pump stops. What do you do then? Call it quits and put away the nozzle, or top off the tank? If you top off, do you round up to the nearest dollar? Lately I've been rounding off to the nearest gallon so I can easily calculate my current miles-per-gallon.

But, as it turns out, maybe I shouldn't be doing that.

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When their family car developed a knock in the engine, my neighbor and I began discussing possible causes. I used to work as a mechanic so I suggested that it could be something as simple as cheap, poor quality gasoline.

My neighbor called his wife out and asked if she had purchased regular or premium gasoline the last time she had driven into town. She couldn't remember.

"You probably got the cheaper gas," my friend said to her. "That's probably why our engine is running roughly."

"No, the gas wasn't any cheaper!" my friend's wife replied, indignantly.

"Well, how much did it cost?" my friend asked, thinking if he knew the total he could guesstimate the type of gasoline she had bought.

"I didn't buy cheap gas," she answered. "It cost the same as always. I bought twenty dollars worth, just like I always do."

[Doc's Daily Chuckle via Sermon Fodder]

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WELCOME to YOUR WEEK: To keep things timely, I'll let you know that May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month ... it's National Dog Bite Prevention Week ... National New Friends, Old Friends Week ... National Transportation Week ... World Trade Week ... Emergency Medical Services Week ... National Effectiveness Week .... and National Bike to Work Week. And today is World Hypertension Day. So chill out.

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