Special Winter Advisory

When you are traveling this winter make sure you:

• Make sure you have good tires.
• Get a mechanic to do a winter check.
• Make sure they look at your: battery, antifreeze, wipers, windshield fluid, ignition system, thermostat, lights, heater, brakes, defroster and oil.
• Keep an ice scraper handy and a small broom if your area is expecting snow.

But the very most important one would be:

KEEP YOUR GAS TANK AT LEAST HALF FULL!

So I was driving to do some late night grocery shopping (7pm) and as I was driving down 104th in Kent, I ran out of gas. I was driving along, almost ready to turn down 212th and my car died. I was driving in the fast lane, which was next to a turn lane. I pulled into the turn lane and put my car into neutral thinking maybe I could coast through the light and into the gas station. Nope, I stopped before I got there. I know it's bad, but there happened to be a 2 cops at the espresso stand next to where my car stopped. I put on my flashers and ran across the street to see if I could get some help. I thought he could push me off the road and I could walk down to the gas station and get some gas. Oh no! There had been an armed robbery, the suspect was still loose, and there was a K9 in route, so he said go back and wait in my car and he would get someone out to help me as soon as possible. I waited and waited and waited. I decided to call the person that I thought was the closest and that was Miss Penny. She was down at her niece's dance practice, but said she would come and talk to me while I waited. I told her it would be better if she just brought me some gas. After many phone calls, she decided she could do that and she would be right there. The cops mean while were standing around and standing around and standing around. Then the dog showed up they took him for a run, but didn't find anything. Finally as Penny called for the last time to tell me she was coming down 104th, a nice young gentleman stopped and offered to push me off the road and on to the side. I took him up on his offer and profusely thanked him. I couldn't really understand why the cops didn't do that in the first place, because at that point I could have gone and gotten gas and been on my way. Miss Penny pulled in right after that and the young man stopped to see if I needed anything more. We were good, so he went home and I filled my car with gas and thanked Miss Penny and went about my shopping and got some more gas.

Needless to say I have learned my lesson and will remember to put gas in my car, when it says it needs gas, not just keep driving thinking my car can run on fumes and my good looks.