Most of the time lately, when someone asks how I am doing, I tell them we are getting pretty settled in. Well, maybe not, completely anyway....
I was out running errands on Saturday. While out, I needed to fill up my car because it was getting very close to empty. Keep in mind, I've been putting off filling up the car because I have not had the best experiences at gas stations over here. There is no "pay at the pump". You have to fill up the car and then go inside to pay. Most of the workers do not speak English so thus, one of my challenges.
Anyway, I pulled into the gas station, got out to put gas in my car, and realized the gas tank was on the other side of the car. Dang. Since the gas station was very busy with lots of cars, I thought I would just go to the next station down the street. Seemed like a reasonable approach, right? I pulled into the next station, pulled the car in the correct side of the pump this time. Nice job, Roger, way to go!! I stood there waiting for the pump to reset so the gas would start flowing and nothing happened. Finally, I looked over to see if the gas station attendant saw me and was going to reset my pump. I then realized why I had been standing there for so long and why this gas station was not nearly as busy as the last one. This gas station was closed. Dang again. On to the next station.
I pulled into the next station that I found. Got the car on the right side of the pumps. Another nice accomplishment, right? Filled up my car and went in to pay. The cashier actually spoke English. What a relief. I told her pump 6. I paid for my gas and walking out to the car, I checked out the ticket. I had indeed filled up my car with petrol. My Audi Diesel now has a full tank of unleaded gas in it. I need to learn some bad words in French because they would have come in handy. Never mind the fact that there are cars lining up behind and everyone is getting very impatient.
I thought, I need to call Michelle to come get me. I grabbed my phone to make a call. It was dead for some reason. More French bad words would have helped. I went inside to talk to the cashier. She was very nice. Offered me to use her phone and I readily accepted her offer. I need to call Michelle...who's phone number I do not know because it is stored in my phone. Why should I have to memorize it because I always have my phone? I do not have any contact information for anyone because it is all in my phone which decided not to work at this critical moment. Again, a stronger French vocabulary would have been useful about right now.
Since I did not have any contact information at all, I walked home. It took about an hour.
The Audi is a company car on loan while I wait for my permanent car. This morning, I had to go tell Carlos, the garage manager, that I am an idiot. According to "Google Translate", idiot in English is idiot in French. I suppose I am an idiot no matter what language you use. There is currently a flat bed on its way to go get my car. Hopefully, all they have to do is drain the tank.
I took a picture of the gas pumps. I have learned a few things.
Petrol pumps are green. Diesel pumps are black. Apparently, not always though. I saw the "EuroSuper" and did not read any futher. Back in United States, I always used the pump on the far left because that is usually the cheapest gas. 30 years of habits are hard to break. If you zoom in on the picture, you can see that it is labled as "unleaded". I know. It is easy to see now that you know what you are looking for.
So, that was a week ago. Carlos had the car picked up on a flat bed. They drained the tank and I had my car back the next day. I have been humbled and humiliated. While I was reluctant to tell this story, I have since been back to a the gas station to fill my car up with gas. There were two men there with gas cans and siphon pumps siphoning gas out of his car. I took pictures and laughed all of the way home. I guess I am not the only idiot in Luxembourg.
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