My Own 4th of July Fireworks

For the 4th of July we headed to Florence for an old fashioned BBQ complete with hot dogs, hamburgers with sesame seed buns and all the fixings, potato salad, watermelon and ice cold Coronas. We almost did not make it to the BBQ due to a major car malfunction.

The day before the 4th of July, Deme and I dragged ourselves all around town in search of a baby stroller. I was driving and decided to head to the gas station to fill-up. After a long afternoon of window shopping and price comparisons, we headed to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner. The car began to give us some trouble and I begged Deme to take it in the following morning, the last thing I wanted was trouble on the motorway. Well the next morning the car would not start. To make a long story short, I had mistakenly put gasoline in our diesel car. Being the daughter of a mechanic I am embarrassed beyond belief. We drove to the gas station on the moped just to make sure I used the wrong pump and I did. I started crying when I realized what I did. We got the car back today and all seems well again.

Things I have learned:

1. When I refueled the car I knew that we had a diesel engine, I reached for the pump that I thought said “BluDiesel” but I was wrong. I basically ruined the engine and it had to be cleaned out thoroughly.

2. You cannot but diesel into a gasoline tank since the nozzle of the diesel pump is larger than the opening of the gasoline tank but the reverse is possible. You CAN put gasoline in a diesel engine.

3. The pump for gasoline at almost all Italian fueling stations is green. I don’t think I will ever make this mistake again.

4. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as we told our apartment manager what we did she told me her husband did the same thing once. Even the guy at the gas station says that it happens once in a while.

The car was out of the repair shop in only a few days and since it was a company car, we did not have to pay for the damage which totaled about 1,900 Euros. I was ready to accept responsibility for the damage and to pay for it but the leasing company that owns the car said that this happens and they had insurance against this kind of damage. We are glad to have realized this before we headed on the motorway as the engine would have just stalled and it could have caused a major disaster. I count my luck stars.

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