Stress Test

What a morning. Lydia and I made our 2nd appearance at playgroup. It was a nice time, although some of the kids aren't always so nice and there are usually several moments of anger amongst the kids. One and two-year-olds haven't exactly mastered the art of sharing yet and when you put them all into one small room... well, it's not exactly a relaxing time. There were 2 stay-at-home dads along with moms from Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, America and maybe more.

On our way home from playgroup I decided to fill up with gas. The first time since the initial gas incident. As I was replacing the nozzle, a man one pump over motioned to me that gas was leaking out from under my car. Mind you, not just a drip here or there... we're talking flowing. I called Brandon in a panic who told me not to worry, just drive it home. Just as I was building up the nerve to do that, the station owner went outside to take a look while his employees put a drain pan under the car and put sand over my growing gas spill. I decided I probably wasn't going anywhere. I called a friend who speaks Czech to translate with the station owner. He wanted me to wait until the gas stopped leaking but seemed to think it wouldn't take long and wouldn't be a problem to drive home. They pushed the car around to the back of the station and I stood there in awkward silence while they watched the gas flow. It's a strange feeling... not even being able to make small talk. Just nod and grin and wait. All this time Lydia is in her carseat, oblivious and smiling away at the station owner. After about 20 minutes, it slowed enough that the man motioned that I could leave. I think our initial car service guys didn't connect something quite right. In any case, we have an appointment to have the car worked on on Thursday. Guess I'll add that to my list of Czech phrases to learn... "Excuse me, gas is leaking from my car" followed by, "May I leave now?"