Dot's Expensive Mistake

Tuesday we took Jon to the airport and headed out to Howth which is one of the points of land which sticks way out into the Irish sea providing protection for the Dublin harbor. It is still very much a fishing village. It was the one place we went in Ireland, however, that we actually saw derelict buildings. It was clear that that town has had some hard times. Parts of it were lovely.

The wind was very cold so we stopped for hot chocolate and then visited the hardware store (which doubled as a marine store).

Howth Harbor

We drove along the coast through Dublin and were headed down to the other peninsula to the south of Dublin when we decided we would stop for gas.

 Here comes the expensive mistake. The car we were driving was diesel. I accidentally put regular gas in the car – about 4-5 gallons before I noticed.  I was very aware that I needed diesel, so I chose the green nozzle because that means diesel in the US.  Unfortunately, it is reversed here.  In France it was yellow.

 I then headed in to the Esso (!) station to ask advice.  I approached a very nice gentleman and ask him what he recommended I do.  He could not have been nicer nor more helpful.  He even called his brother for advice and helped us push the car off to the side.  (It was important that we not start the car.)  We then called the insurance company which provides roadside service to get the tank drained.  We were very fortunate.  The one and only service truck that does this was available and we waited only half an hour.  A very nice young man came out and (after negotiating with the station manager  because of fear of spillage) drained the tank.

Then, of course, I had to fill up the tank.  I must have checked which nozzle I was using about 10 times.  

The total cost of the experience was just shy of $500.  Now that’s an expensive fill-up and lesson.  It would have been way more if we had started the car.  The cost of the drain was mostly disposal cost - a single company has a monopoly on that service in Ireland.

The experience was priceless (Larry especially enjoyed the technology - just look at this truck.)  We learned all sorts of interesting things about how Ireland got most to drive cars using diesel by making it less expensive than regular gas - everywhere else it is more expensive. 

Eventually, after almost two hours at the Esso, we got back on the road, continued our drive, had a nice lunch and headed home.