My car is hungry too...

I usually fill up the tank before the needle goes too far down. Maybe around a quarter tank etc. I get kind of paranoid if I feel I don't have enough gas, and all my crazy thoughts will start to overwhelm me... and I get even more stressed out. Especially during the winter times, with the snow and all that, I would never let my car go less than a quarter tank of gas. Just the usual precautions, you know:
"What if it starts to snow all of a sudden and my car gets stuck in the snow and I have no gas?"
or
"What if there's a huge accident up the road and I would be stuck in traffic and no gas left?"
or
"What if I drift off the road, and get stuck in the snow with no gas left???"

Man, too scary to think about. That's why I'm always very careful.

But yesterday... I wasn't. I was being adventurous. Instead of stopping by the nearest gas station when I realized the light was on, I planned on driving it back home, 5 miles away, to the cheaper gas station. And things always get tricky when you are nervous.

With the gas light on, I got on the usual freeway, drove... and all of a sudden, there was some traffic. Now I had to think about, "what if ... I don't have that much gas left to waste sitting in traffic!". So, I took the next exit, just thinking that will save some time and gas. But...
The local road was under contruction... What are the odds? Then I was forced to waste even more gas going around the blocks to finally get back on the right road. I could have just stayed on the freeway... and not even be wasting so much gas driving in circles...

I was practically sweating as I was circling around the neighborhood trying to take my so-called "Short cut" (that term is only valid before the contruction). And finally, Gas Station...

I was just over-reacting. You know, cars can usually go for another 10-20 miles when their lights are on. But still... my stepmom would tell me, "hey, what if the sensor's broken, and you acutally have much less gas than you think you have!"

Oh... so true... so paranoid...