if only we were in oregon . . .

so today . . . i had to put gas in my car.

this may not sound like a big deal, but remember--we are not in oregon--we have to pump our own gas here in california . . .

i hate to pump my own gas. i do it, because otherwise my car refuses to take me where i want to go. rollie likes me to fill my tank when it gets down to about 3/8 full. i usually fill it when the "get gas before you end up stalled on the side of the road and have to call AAA" light comes on. rollie's thinking is that i will never have to call AAA (or him) if i fill it at 3/8 of a tank. my thinking is that if i wait until it is almost empty, i won't have to fill it as often. rollie just shakes his head. i keep my AAA card right behind my driver's license . . .

i filled the gas tank a few days ago, right before we left for san diego. i wasn't sure that one tank of gas would get us there and back--in fact i was kind of hoping it wouldn't, because rollie would be with me. and if rollie is with me, he pumps the gas! but apparently my car gets pretty good gas mileage, because on the way home today when i asked him if we needed gas, he said, "no, we still have a quarter of a tank . . . "

this remark came, however, as we were sitting in the parking lot they call the 91 freeway at 3:00 on a friday afternoon. helicopters were circling ahead of us, so we knew there was a problem. we were in the car pool lane, but it wasn't doing us any good. traffic was not moving! we inched our way forward, looking for an exit out of the car pool lane so we could get off the freeway and onto surface streets. i was starting to worry that AAA might have to bring us gas in the car pool lane! finally we maneuvered our way across the four lanes of traffic standing between us and the relatively open road . . .

you would think i had spent enough time in the car for one day, but when we got home diandra had some errands to do and asked if i wanted to go along. of course i said yes, and so we headed to the long beach town center. two hours later we were on our way home. in the dark. and the gas light was shining brightly right at me! shoot! my evil plan for rollie to realize we needed gas and fill the tank before we got home had been thwarted by good gas mileage and all the traffic issues . . . so now i was going to have to do it. we went east to the gas station with the cheapest gas, but when we got there, it was too crowded for me. which worked out well, because diandra said she had heard that particular brand of gas wasn't very good anyway. ok, i thought, we will go to my other favorite (and by favorite, i mean cheap) gas station. so we turned around, backtracked, and kept driving--only to find that the left turn lane into the station was blocked off with traffic cones! i got out of the left turn lane, drove through the intersection and into a parking lot where i could turn around--because there was a police car sitting on the cross street with his headlights flashing. which seemed odd to me, but i was on a quest for gas . . . we pulled into the station, only to see that it was the same kind we had already passed up! but we were there, so whether it was good gas or not, it was going into my car. while i was pumping gas, another police car careened around the corner and screeched to a stop. and there i was, pumping gas, wondering what was going to happen next . . .

when we got home, we turned on the news to see what all the fuss had been about, and learned that earlier in the afternoon there had been an armed robbery of a jewelry store near us. they had caught one of the robbers, but were trying to catch the others. there was a short car chase, before the suspects escaped on foot--which is why the freeway was closed. by the time we saw the story on the news, they had all of the suspects in custody.

so, my neighborhood is once again safe, and my car is once again cooperative, and i am once again home.

a 15 minute adventure

so today . . . i needed a treat. and you know what that meant . . . a mad dash to 7-11 during my break.

i could have gone during my lunch break, but i only have half an hour for lunch, and i hated to spend it getting food. so i decided to go during my morning break. i do this about once a week, and usually it takes me exactly 15 minutes--occasionally a little more or a little less. but from the minute i walk out of the door of the school, i worry about getting back on time.

it was a beautiful day and as i walked to my car, i debated--leave the top up or put it down? it only takes a minute to put it down, but i didn't want to leave it down all day, which meant i would have to put it up when i got back which only takes a few minutes, but what if i didn't have time . . . so i left it up and headed out to 7-11.

once i'm at 7-11, the only decision i have to make is should i get two brownies or three? today i opted for two, but on my way to the cash register i had to work my way around a guy in a uniform who was buying juice. i thought he was a police officer, so when i went to the parking lot, i checked to see where he was parked, because part of my worst nightmare is crashing into a police car . . . but i didn't see one. so i watched where he went, and he headed for an ambulance. and this got me thinking . . .

where do ambulance people hang out in between saving lives? the hospital cafeteria? the fire station? the police station? the mall? in a metropolitan area like ours, there have to be thousands of ambulances, each with their own crews, but they aren't rushing around responding to 911 calls all the time. so what do they do when everyone is seemingly safe? inquiring minds want to know!

after today, i am guessing that they hang out in the home depot parking lot and buy juice at 7-11 . . .

i started back to school, and the lights were with me! i was cruising along, thinking about ambulance crews and their free time and could i make that into a blog, and i happened to glance at the clock--i had only been gone 8 minutes! yessss! i was going to get back to school in time to use the bathroom before my break was over--whether i needed to or not! green light, green light, green light . . . oh wait! shoot!! i green lighted right past the street i needed to turn on to get back to school!

you are all thinking, "just make a u-turn!" yes, that would be so simple . . . if i wasn't inside the city limits of cerritos where they have recently banned u-turns with signage.

i didn't have a lot of choices, so i kept driving until i approached the first opportunity for a u-turn--illegal or not (ok yes, illegal) but there was too much traffic to risk it, so i drove on. the next cross street happened to be a freeway and guess what? there was no sign banning u-turns!! so i put my left turn signal on, pulled into the turn lane . . . and saw a police car approaching from the opposite direction.

what to do, what to do. technically, there was no sign prohibiting u-turns, but maybe it was illegal to make a u-turn at a freeway entrance. normally this wouldn't be a problem--i'd just assume it was ok and go. but should i risk it RIGHT IN FRONT OF A POLICE OFFICER IN A REALLY FAST CAR?!? probably not. i contemplated doing it after he went on down the road a bit, but there were no cars behind him! not one. (where was all that traffic now?!?) if he happened to be looking in his rearview mirror, i would be toast. so back out into traffic i went, to the NEXT cross street where u-turns were actually encouraged--there was even a sign to prove it. but of course the light was red. and then i noticed the pedestrian, who i KNEW would cross the street when i had the light, and i would have to sit there in the intersection blocking traffic while she sauntered across. because i KNEW that she was a "saunterer." i could just tell.

but to my amazement, she was not a saunterer! she was a "walk across against the light" person. which was fine with me, so i just prayed for her safety and watched for a green light.

i revved my engine--just so i would be ready. but i forgot that i had just purchased this humongous lemon coksi which didn't quite fit in my cup holder. so i had to dial the speed back a bit, because i had to hold my cup with one hand and try to make a u-turn with only one hand on the steering wheel, which left no hands for shifting. (breathe, mom, it was perfectly safe! well, maybe not perfectly . . . )

i finally reached the school parking lot, careened into my designated space, grabbed my snacks, and ran to the building. only to be thwarted by the security door. (why is it that when i am late it takes FOREVER for someone to buzz me in!!!)

as i waited and waited and waited for that door to open, i could think of only one thing . . .

thank goodness i left the top up . . .