Background: the fuel gauge is shorting out on me (I think), so it always shows full. I'd only driven 80 miles since the last fill-up (Feb. '09), but I'd idled it quite a bit when working on the radiator and electric fan, so I must've burned through a good chunk of the tank.
Anyway...
Driving to work Thursday morning, left early to give the Jeep an easy go of it, never going above sixty. Halfway there, and it starts to stutter, fades, and then dies. My first thought is pure shock because the wiring harness and the engine rebuild were supposed to cure this kind of random engine death. But thanks to my clear fuel filter up near the carb, I was able to figure out that no fuel was flowing. Just needs some gas, so I'll ring up my wife and have her bring me some.
Of course, no cell phone.
And since I usually carry a few gallons of spare gas, the jug is sitting in the back, empty.
The Perfect Storm.
I'm evenly spaced between two freeway exits, and I cannot see nor remember where the nearest station is. So I wait.
Ten minutes later (roughly 8:15), as my karma turns, a truck for the Riverside County Transportation Commission's Freeway Service Patrol pulls up, gives me a gallon for free (no AAA required), squirts some starter fluid in the carb as I start it up, and then bids me on my way with a handshake.
I filled up at the next exit and made it to my class on time.
My Jeep rocks, the engine rolls, and I'm an occasional idiot.
