So, it happened once again last night. I’m not inherently stupid, but I seem to repeat stupid things. It always comes as a surprise to me even though it is not surprising. It’s like Russian Roulette with the fuel gauge. I usually win, but sometimes I don’t.

It never happens in a safe place like a side street or a parking lot, no it is always somewhere highly visible and slightly dangerous. 

My first encounter with running out of gas was on the Ville Marie Expressway east bound just before the exit for Atwater. I was with my friend Mike and I had just picked up $500 from a music store (Frank Quinn’s)on Décarie. Frank had sold my Fender Twin amplifier for me and paid me what was owed. We were headed toward “music row” on Craig Street where there were several music stores to browse. Browsing with $500 in a music store is dangerous for me. Back then (when I was still at University) it was a fortune. 

There were no cell phones back then, so we had to wait for a response from the surveillance routière cameras to alert the towing. The tow truck had a canister of gas on board and got us up and running. He said he only took cash or credit card, and did not have change for $100. I only had the five c notes, and had no credit card, so he trusted me and gave me the address to remit my debt. Probably around $35. Whew.

The second time I ran out of gas was on the way to the Brandon Jazz Festival with a car full of music students in the middle of a Manitoba winter. You’d think a teacher would have it together to ensure the car was gassed up for such a voyage, but no…. While we were pulled off on the shoulder of the Trans Canada Highway one of the other cars with more of my students passed us, laughing, waving and smiling and apparently oblivious to our predicament. One of the students from my car volunteered to hike over to a nearby farmhouse and came back with fuel.

As if this wasn’t enough, the third time was with my first wife and our unborn first child on the way to the Royal Victoria Hospital as we rounded the reservoir on Docteur Penfield. It was only on our way to birthing class, and not “showtime”, so Emma wasn’t born in the car…. I was sufficiently shamed into having the car more ready. A harbinger.

Several years passed until my next episode. I was returning from work in the very east end of the city and was to rendezvous  with my young daughters at Westmount library. They had just started to walk there after school alone and  although they were safe and had walked there with friends and their friend’s mum, they were still young and vulnerable and I had to be on time. I was running late and knew I was low on fuel, but decided to gas up after I picked them up. 

There probably isn’t a worse place to run out of gas than the Ville Marie Tunnel. Ironically within a km of where I ran out of gas the first time. I know the sensation and acted quickly to take the nearest exit (Atwater) I managed to get to the side and was starting to walk toward toward where I knew there was a filling station when a guardian angel pulled up beside me and offered to give me a lift to the station at St. Jacques and Atwater. I was super thankful and couldn’t believe my good fortune. I put a deposit on the canister and filled it and was preparing to walk back when the same man tapped his horn and indicated he’d drive me back. There are some good humans on this planet.

I swore I had learned my lesson this time and vowed to myself to never ever be put in that position again. 

Well, that lasted a while, but the next time it happened I was on my way to a gig in Ottawa and didn’t want to fill up in Montreal as the gas was always between 15 and 20 cents cheaper per litre in Ontario. I planned to fill up near Hawkesbury where there is a huge filling station just off the highway. Undershot it by one km. I ran out of fumes within sight of the station… in the rain.

Now over ten years into my new life, smooth sailing, happy camper,etc. 

We were On the 20 returning home after having gone to separate dinners in town. Sharon was at a pot luck with her photography class and I was with good friends a few blocks over. I picked her up after dinner and we were catching up and I forgot my mental note to fill up before heading out on the highway west. We nwere almost at our exit and I had just finished reminding her that we were scheduled for our flu shots in the morning. She had forgotten. I had just remarked that it was unusual for me to be remembering when I felt the Jeep losing power and I knew what was happening and put on my flashers and reached the shoulder.

Handily there was a sign directly in front of us with the exclusive number to call for roadside assistance. I called and within minutes a truck appeared and laid out flares and blocked off the lane beside us as we awaited the towing. Pretty smooth way out of trouble. I Paid with credit card and sufficiently shamed (Sharon posted it) and financially punished to stay out of trouble and maybe this time will have learned my lesson.