It could have been a really bad day

But in the end it turned out better than average.

I took the kids to the pool again this morning, we all swam laps this time, Dave did 2, Tom did 4 and Caitlin did 6. She announced to me with great glee that she'd swum 300m. There may have been flippers involved but it's a significant effort nonetheless. I caved in to pleas for ice-cream when we were leaving so we all headed back to the car with fast melting treats. I had a Heaven Caramel Truffle which sadly wasn't nearly as nice as it sounds, I'll stick with something chocolate next time.

On the way home the car started doing weird stuff, we were slowing way down going up the hills, the transmission wasn't shifting down through the gears quick enough, then suddenly it would drop a gear and the revs were going through the roof. It was all very disconcerting and stuff, especially as I was in my swimming costume and board shorts. I knew I was low on petrol but not so low that I was worried about it - I've driven for 30 minutes plus with the gauge reading as it was many, many times. We made it to our street and just as I turned the corner and pulled into our cul-de-sac the engine died. Oh my god, I could have been stuck half-way to Pymble with a broken down car dressed in my swimmers in 35 degrees C! Close call.

After I'd got the kids inside I went back to check that the car was really dead before I rang the NRMA...and it started just fine, I was able to drive up to the house and park properly. Weird. I washed the dog (she was not amused) and then had a shower so I'd be presentable when the NRMA came, there was no way I was driving anywhere till someone had looked at the car.

The guy who came (and who incidentally was lovely, very impressed I was) gave it the once over but couldn't see any obvious problem. He suggested that the fuel gauge might be less accurate than it once was and offered to follow me to the servo to get petrol. No problems getting there, the car behaved quite normally, but when I filled up, instead of the usual 50-55L that fits in when the gauge is reading almost empty, it took 59.somethingL. It's a 70L tank. Seems I'd nearly run out of petrol and on the steep hills what was left in the tank wasn't getting into the fuel line properly.

The kids and I spent the rest of the day hiding from the heat. We played Disney Trivial Pursuit and much to Caitlin's disgust David and I won. Then we watched DVDs till Adam came home with his mum for dinner.

After dinner I buggered off leaving Adam with the kids and went to see Quantum of Solace with Jen which we both enjoyed immensely.