The Price of Gas

We're still under $4 here but just barely.  I'm sure it will rise above that just as we start our much anticipated trip down to southern Alaska over Memorial Day with Maama and Popop.  I thought that would be our big gas expenditure for the year, but unfortunately not.

We were babysitting some kids of friends last Friday and one of the older kids came up to me in somewhat of a panic.  She kept telling me that her younger brother and Isabel were putting sand into the "thing".  I didn't know what "thing" was and assumed it was our hose winder or plastic play thing that was in the backyard.  I was mildly concerned but soon realized that my level of concern was very different from my young reporter. This was my first hint at what was to come.  I went outside to check it out.  I looked at the hose winder and plastic play thing, but the girl kept walking.  I briefly glanced up and financial horror immediately set in. She slowly raised up her finger and pointed at...a small pipe coming out of the ground. The pipe was metal and relatively small in diameter and had a sticker that said "Sourdough" on it.  Unfortunately it was a very well known pipe to me...it is the pipe to our underground fuel tank and is now filled with sand.  I asked Isabel how much and she said about 20 "scoops".

Fuel oil is about the same price as gas up here (slightly more depending on fill up times) and the tank holds 500 gallons and was mostly full.  Ouch.

I was not happy...really not happy.  I yelled after Isabel (to find her) and when I saw her she clearly had no idea what she was doing.  She knew she was doing something wrong, but I'm pretty sure she thought it was something on par with squirting her brother with the hose or not taking off her muddy shoes when she comes home.  She probably didn't realize she just spend her allowance for the next 10 years. Ouch.

I too have had such experiences, although I don't think they were as costly. I remember at what I think was a similar age (5) spray painting a neighbor's green house (I intelligently spray painted my name on the side for all to see...not that great a criminal) and got into another neighbor's pantry and mixed toothpaste with Corn Flakes.

Anyway, the call will go out sometime next week to the fuel guys to come and flush our tank and refill it with liquid gold.  In the mean time we have our furnace firmly in the off position.  All I can say is that Isabel will have no sympathy from me when her kid leaves the upstairs faucet on and floods the house while she's at Home Depot.  Watch out kiddo!