I hope all of your MG trunk paraphernalia came through without damage.
Regarding gas station attendants - the one you dealt with might have been as
bright as a stick but at least he spoke English. Once, my now 8 year old son
(today is his birthday) who was 5 at the time, had the misfortune of getting
some gas in his eyes by being curious at the wrong time. He stuck his face a
bit too close to the filler nozzle just as it clicked off and a back splash of
gas came gushing out of the tank. At this point everything turned to slow
motion as I ran over to him and started to scream out to the attendant that my
son just got some gas in his eyes and I needed a water source pronto. Well
lucky me I get a shrug and a puzzled look from the attendant - I guess "fill
it up" and "OK" was about the extend of his comprehension and literacy with
English. Fortunately, in one of the repair bays, I spied a hose and ran over
to it and started flushing out my son's eyes. At this time the 5 watt bulb
must have barely started to glow over the attendants head as my son was crying
hysterically "it hurts, it hurts" and I was repeatedly trying to rinse the gas
from his eyes - the attendant came over to watch. Well after an eternity
(about 3 minutes) of rinsing my son's eyes the "it hurts" complaints stopped
and I continued rinsing for another minute or so. He was OK - we were both
pretty wet and on the way home we joked about the "adventure". I was able to
make some points about safety and listening to dad and he told me how scared
he had been because it hurt his eyes so much. We stopped by the local
convenience store back in PA (Chubbies) for the obligatory "brave little boy"
reward. Oh, the attendant, I guess he got to clean up the big mess of water I
left in the middle of the repair bays cause he looked like a man looking for a
mop when we left - too bad he couldn't tell me where the bathroom was.
BTW, this happened in NJ where the law mandates that an attendant fill your
tank - self serve is not allowed. Apparently the government in NJ has deemed
that its citizens are unable to operate these gas pumps safely and has
entrusted this simple task, albeit with extremely volatile material, to
foreign nationals who do not speak English. A law which, I'm sure, must make
sense to someone.
Dr. Doug
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net On Behalf Of Jim Carney
Sent: Monday, June 01, 1998 2:53 AM
To: doug russell; Kevin Richards; mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: LBC NDC (Near Death Experience)
I quit when I heard the sound of gas splashing on the ground. I guess I got
about a half gallon in the boot. It disolves old trunk crud pretty well!
Folks were looking at me kinda strangely as I emptied my trunk rapidly on to
the filling station driveway: New top, new tonneau, top frame in new bag,
new tonneau frame in new bag, extra jumper cables, spare tire, jack &
knockoff hammer.
After using a bunch of their blue paper towels to clean up the mess, I
bought a $2 screwdriver off the rack & fixed the problem.
I took the screwdriver out of the wrapper & told the kid I'd pay for it
after I filled up. I also explained that I'd filled his trashcan with
gasoline soaked paper towels. He just stood there with his mouth open & a
glazed look in his eyes.
When I went back in to pay for the gas & screwdriver, I told him again about
the trashcan & suggested that he empty it before somebody with a cigarette
came along. I could see the light of recognition come on when I said the
whole place could go up in a bang.
He was headed out with a new can liner as I left...
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: doug russell <dr-doug@classic.msn.com>
To: Jim Carney <carney_fam_ark@email.msn.com>; Kevin Richards
<flybirds@erols.com>; mgs@autox.team.net <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Sunday, May 31, 1998 8:02 PM
Subject: RE: LBC NDC (Near Death Experience)
>Kevin,
>
>Would you believe this same thing happened to me yesterday on the 76 B? I
>just put the child seat in and was taking my 2 year old for a spin. Half
way
>down the block I smell gas and my feet are slipping by the pedals. Turned
the
>car off, looked under the hood and there it is - crack in rubber connector
for
>the two metal fuel lines. Difference is - I drive this car 3-4 times a
week
>to my office (150 mile round trip) so the line failure was not due to
sitting
>around with nothing to do. Anyway, grabbed a new bit of hose off the
garage
>wall (that's where we all keep it isn't it??), made the repair and off I
went
>with my 2 year old for a spin.
>
>Think I'll go look under there again to make sure the other rubber lines
are
>happy campers.
>
>BTW, Jim, I'm sure my filler neck is fine cause I had that apart a month
ago
>fishing out some obstruction that made filling the tank a slow laborious
>endeavor. Turned out to be that 70s thigamajig that only allowed the
narrower
>unleaded fuel hose nozzle to be inserted into the tank - it came lose,
turned
>sideways and was blocking the filler neck. Anyway, when did you realize
you
>were filling up the trunk - when you went past 12 gallons or when your feet
>got wet??
>
>Dr. Doug
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net On Behalf Of Jim Carney
>Sent: Sunday, May 31, 1998 5:10 PM
>To: Kevin Richards; mgs@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: LBC NDC (Near Death Experience)
>
>Snipped>
>
>>Popped the hood and found that the section of hose that joins the two
>>metal fuel lines by the heater box had sprung a leak also. I was able to
>>patch that with some scrounged bits from an absorbtion canister hose,
>>and I was on my way home, put Red Molly into her garage bay, and let her
>>rest from her near death experience.
>
>
>
>
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