Fuel for Thought

Saw a new article last night on the closure of large stores in town and city centres due to the move toward on-line sales. One wonders what urban centres are going to look like in 10 years time, let alone 20. Makes you wonder if department stores could be the solution to the housing crisis - after all, warehouses from the 19th and early 20th centuries are now homes and they didn't look all that promising at the time. Can't see landlords sitting on unsaleable properties forever, waiting for the commercial property market to reverse.

Yesterday I was driving back home from Frimley with a quarter tank of petrol. Distance was 72 miles and the car computer said I had 70 miles of fuel left. "Easy," I thought, "the fuel computer is mainly based on town driving and I'm bound to exceed the calculated MPG." Got to Membury Services and it still looked just about possible, if risky, so I slowed down to 55 MPH, but the tank then started to drain at an alarming rate. I was just in sight of Leigh Delamere Services and 14 miles from home with the car fuel computer saying I had 5 miles of fuel left, which had been reading a range of 5 miles for several minutes already and about to flip to zero (it counts in fives).

Phew!