Anfecdote #1: the pink book

There are a few Anfecdotes that I've spared you, but I feel like they're important, should be shared and you will now see a series of posts about each of these in turn.

One of the first Anfecdotes I need to mention is the pink book.

The pink book generally loiters around the dashboard (car dashboard, not any kind of virtual reporting thing tht you office workers may have come to know). The pink book comes out on special occasions, of which there are two types:

1. When filling up with diesel.
2. In the morning.

Before I go on to explain these, we need to consciously put aside the fact that the ol' man has a plastic glove squirrelling insecurity where, when at a petrol station, he absolutely must grab a handful of plastic gloves. Just in case. (Just in case of what? I don't know. Just in case. OK?!)

I jest. It's in case he gets diesel on his hands. (Obvz.) Apparently, there's nothing worse than the humdinger of diesel. On boots. On hands. Anywhere. Just use gloves, OK? (In due course, I learned to fulfill the role of Debbie McGee and became his glamourous assistant who would hand him said gloves, pre-inflated, prior to any diesel filling.) And this leads me to point number 1...

The pink book must be updated with Smiley's mileage whenever she is refuelled. The price of the diesel must also be noted (currency and value per litre), alongside the value that is input (that is litreage and monetary). I mocked this at first but I now see how interesting it is. I alluded to the change in fuel costs as we were travelling around and it was really quite interesting to see how each country adapts to the rising cost of oil (Spain was notably cheaper than Portugal and France, for example - I can't remember if more or less, but the pink book will tell you! See?! So valuable!).

The second special occasion (the morning, for the forgetful of you) is when the pink book gets updated with the location of where we slept, the mileage (yes, again) and the date. I similarly mocked this, but I also now see the value in doing this. Not least, because it means we're able to calculate how many miles we do each day.

Basically, this isn't this man's first rodeo and, whilst the ritual of getting into the van and having to grab the pink book before we event move in the morning and before leaving a fuel station seemed pedantic at first, I see the value now!

All of this to say "Anf - I'm sorry for ever doubting you."