There are two schools to filling the gas tank of your car. The first school is when the pump shuts off, you take it out of the filler tube and hang it back on the pump. This results in a set of total random numbers which is fine for some and a Type B personality trait. The second school is for the Type A person, when the pump automatically shuts off, they will then bump the nozzle’s lever in small increments until the dollar total is even or at best 25¢ steps.
Overall I am definitely a Type B personality, but when it comes to filling my gas tank I exhibit Type A leanings. I have always tried to get my gas total a nice even (for a better word) number, partly for me, but also for my unmistakably Type A wife and household CFO.
On our last trip back from Florida I started to subscribe to an alternate of the second school, or a third school if you will, triggered by an incidence of the first school. While filling up somewhere south of Gainesville the pump shut off at $32.32 and I was intrigued enough to leave it right there. Reinforcement came when we went inside to buy some snacks and a Georgia DeLorme atlas for future geocaching adventures, the total of our purchases came to exactly $32.32.
This alternate school is difficult to achieve, because, like hitting the even dollar, it comes round only so often. Fortunately my Type B-ness allows me to be fine with achieving some even number (2nd School) and failing that, any old total (1st School.)
Tonight’s fill up – $29.29
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 979