June 27

1:07 Just came inside after searching for the source of the dung smell. Didn't find anything. Today i intentionally left all windows open at 100 degrees to both dry any trace of water from the carpet (not that there was any left) and also "cook the smells" or let the heat deal with whatever bacteria left behind by washing. The result is it's 81 degrees inside at 1 AM while outside is 75.

I got gas at Grande Ronde (the cheapest) but when i got home i realized i forgot to put the cap on. I called them immediately to ask if i didn't pull the nozzle too, and they first said it doesn't matter, the nozzle are designed so they come apart when pulled hard, preventing someone to drag the hole pump, and when i asked him to look, he went out and then said "nothing out of the ordinary" and then i remembered i had the option to print a receipt which means i put the nozzle back. No receipt came out though.

Two distractions and me being tired (haven't been drinking in several hours) lead to forgetting to put the cap. Some guy dressed in leather on a motorcycle with no muffler started his bike exactly when my pump stopped. The guy on the other side at the other pump coughed loudly and then i looked down and i saw i was standing on a pile of absorbent material, the kind i hate most. Micro-porous calcined silica. So i took of my shoes and put them in a bag and drove barefoot. There is always one of those piles at one pump at that station but tonight i forgot to look. Yes Frank Farian and Boney M where on my mind too (i think it was him, not Jon Andreson i saw tonight at McDonalds),

Tonight i am happy that in Oregon they have attendants at gas stations, with me being distracted and until recently involuntarily high all the time, i would have certainly done it. Drag the nozzle.

In McMinville i caught up with the guy stuntman on the motorcycle, when he did something that made have lead to an accident. He suddenly slowed down while buttoning the screens on his left handle or horn of his motorcycle or whatever is called. But it was the other cars in front of him that slowed down too though not as much. 4 or 5. They always to this. They act in gangs. First one slows and you can't possibly blame him in case of accident, also because he's not going be there anymore. Good thing my low beam is adjusted a bit low and i saw him when he entered the spot, approaching fast into the light. I was telling Angela. Should have been a car, you could realize the distance by the space between lights that appears bigger as you approach it. Also it was the first time in years when i saw a motorcycle on that route at that hour. Then i got mad, i passed him on the right together with several other cars that were going under speed limit, and i sped up, more than usual, following a fast vehicle. He caught up with me half hour later, in the city, right in time for the cameras in down town Tualatin, when he approached from behind and going parallel with my car, but on the right, on the other side where the gas door is, for the show. I didn't like him being on my blind spot so i accelerated and he went on I5.

It's not like the old cars. The newer have some anti-siphoning device (a lid with a spring and the nozzle stays 99% closed and it doesn't smell much expect for the gas that you just poured and is still drying. Just remembered something, i drove by some guy dressed in black, athletic, walking on the right side of the road with something in a bag that could have been an analyzer or gas sampling device but can't remember if it was before or after fill-up.

BTW i want to share something. Since i have this habit of always reading the instant average mpg (average fuel consumption since last reset) i realized something. Tonight right until the stop light at the overpass here on I5 i had a reading of 48 mpg since last fill-up in Grande Ronde. But they were times when on the same route (road quality, elevation difference) i had 40. Most difference is given by tire pressure which i also read constantly. Tonight it was 39 psi at an average of 70 F, but when i did 40 mpg it was 35 psi at 50 F. 20% fuel consumption difference given by 4 psi difference tire pressure and rain.

And yes the cap was hanging next to gas opening and when he approached me on the radio they were playing Keep Me Hanging On with Kim Wilde.

8:08 Bobby