"The Tank Is On 'Low'"; Rollin' Down The Hill

A few years back when gas was still $2 a gallon, I was driving our 1966 Ford Mustang with the 289ci V8 (2-bbl, 3-spd auto). I was in college, living on campus so I didn't drive a whole lot. The only time I drove was to get dinner a few miles down the road a few times a week or the 30 miles home on weekends. Anyways, I liked to challenge myself to how many miles I can squeeze out of the 16 gallon tank. And I did stretch it to the limit a few times. There being no gas light, I was told that once the needle reaches the last mark, I needed to find a gas station fast.

First story: On my way home, the needle hit the last hash mark on the gas gauge. Being only about 5 miles from home, I decided to suck it up and keep going. I made it home and parked the car. (Yes, I'm a little bastard for letting my dad pay for my tank of gas.) The needle was a little behind the mark, so it was really close to running dry. That night at dinner, my dad tells me he's taking the Mustang tomorrow and I told him the tank was on low. So tomorrow rolls around and my dad takes the Mustang to go to some event in the neighboring city. He comes back, telling about the adventure he had that afternoon. Apparently, he forgot to fill up that morning, causing him to run dry a few blocks from his destination. Luckily, there was a gas station close-by so he enlisted the help of a nearby police officer and some friendly people to push the car to the station. Hey, I told him it was low.

Second store: On my way back home again. Again, I'm low on gas, and I'm gonna have to fill up on the way home. There's a station on the way home that I know has really good gas prices so I pray I can make it there. Everything is going smoothly until about half a mile away from the station. I pull up to a stop sign, stop, and when I proceed to pull away, the car hesitates and stalls. "Aw damn." Luckily, I still have enough momentum to keep rolling and it was a slight downgrade the rest of way. And roll I did. Enough to roll to the hill leading down to the station. So I rolled down that hill, rolled into the station, and pulled up to a pump. I noticed a few weird looks coming my way.