Seriously??

So we are going to James' parents this evening, and very much looking forward to this extra visit with them (they're awesome!) but it seemed karma wanted to play tricks on Dominga today:

James had a class and asked me to fill the gas tank so we can leave right free work. No problem.....right? 

PROBLEM!!!

Driving down frontage road, gas pedal ceases to exist! Seriously, it feels like it's gone!! I'm slamming my foot down, wiggling it back and forth, but it's on the floorboard and is not coming back up! Don't panic, I tell myself, because I am approaching a stop sign with little park to the right so I coast in...No Parking spaces open! Ok, park on the red curb and call Good Samaratin Roadside assistance. Very nice kid shows up, after getting ver very bad directions from GSRA...very bright and observant he says " Ma'am there's something leaking. You got a leak." A closer look wasn't really necessary, you could smell the gas. 

Insert four lettered word used to express extreme frustration.

Ok. Get the van to a safe place and review situation. 

So I have it towed back to the Berkeley Marina, leave a message for James at work, and break out the Google. "How to fix a gas pedal" led to "how to replace a throttle cable". Well, karma was on my side this time. It wasn't broken, but the bolt had come off and I got grease up to my elbows trying to follow the cable until I located the missing bolt. 

Now, the gas gage doesn't work in the van, but I was pretty sure we had close to a half tank....and Google listed "Gas tank repair kit" when I searched "patch a gas tank". So all I needed was an auto store. No problem, O'Rielys was just a few miles away. I could make it if I didn't sit there and think about it too long. Could I patch a gas tank? Why not, I found the missing bolt.

Flash forward to O'Rielys parking lot and me hunkered down under the van, towels, tools, and repair kit. The kit came with a small wax looking piece that said to 'use to stop leak temporarily so it can be dried and sanded.' So I rub the wax on and the "insert 7 lettered word' hole gets bigger and the small leak has turned into a steady stream of gas. I grabbed a bowl and put it under the leak while I keep rubbing the wax over it. It took about 5 minutes and two bowls to stop the leak enough to dry, sand and apply the epoxy patch. 20 minutes after that, the 12 Van is back on the road, leAk free with a fill tank.