Friday afternoon. Mariele the Volvo is running on fumes. The outdoor temperature is 17 degrees F. A mostly empty tank is not a good thing in these temperatures.
So, after finishing my workday and while the sun is still up, I pile Nelson into the car and drive the two blocks to BP on the corner.
Only to find that the first two pumps I tried to use were not responding to the card dip, or spitting out random keypad numbers, so cold was the cold.
I leave Mariele and Nelson at pump 6. Inside the shop, with my mask on, the man behind the counter tries to boot #6, then tells me to back up to pump 8. I swipe by Amex card for $20 in gas. Any more and I’d freeze to pieces before it finished pumping.
Good thing he set the pump inside, because this pump’s touchscreen showed a Windows boot error, so cold was the cold.
The cold was really cold.
I’m writing on Friday evening, with Sunday and Monday (publishing day) expected to be even colder. Nelson the Terrier is bundled in a red and black coat. He doesn’t need it indoors, of course, but if I’m home during the day, he wants out every few hours, so I’ll keep it on him until bedtime.
And on Sunday morning there’s this, from my friend Todd:
jeffreycarter.wordpress.com 