Thank you Mr Mechanic

The other day I went to Petronas station near my house to fill up the tank. But I couldn't open the fuel fill door. I pressed the fuel fill tab located near the driver's sear a few times, but nothing happened. I panicked. The low fuel indicator has begun to glow.

I tried to pry the door open with the car key, but to no avail. I looked around to get help from the pump attendants. Noone was around. So I drove home, all the time worried that the car would run out of fuel.

Back at home, I used the house key to pry the door open. It didn't work either. So I did what any other woman would do: I sent an sms to DH to inform him of my predicament.

His reply was short: "Noted. Dah merajuk sbb nak kena jual."

Obviously that didn't solve my immediate problem. So I sent him another sms to ask him what to do. I was hoping that he'd say, "Don't worry sayang. I'll handle it when I get home." Instead, what I got was "cuba minta tolong pump attendant tu."

It was a hot afternoon and I was fasting, so I was not in the mood to go back to the petrol station. I ignored his sms and decided to surf the internet instead.

My phone rang a few minutes later. It was DH. I explained to him what actually caused the problem.

About 1 month ago, as a pump attendant was helping me to refuel, he accidentally knocked the fuel fill door. A thin piece of metal, about the size of my forefinger, fell off. He struggled to put it back in place, and eventually succeeded.

Then about 2 weeks ago, the metal fell off again as I opened the the fuel fill door to refuel. I was in a hurry to send my nephew to a scholarship interview, so I picked up the metal and tossed it in the car. I didn't give it a second thought. Well, who would have thought that a small piece of metal would cause me misery 2 weeks later?
After I related the story to him, DH told me to go to a workshop near my house to get the fuel fill door repaired. I decided to be an obedient wife and did as I was told.

The workshop is located at an isolated corner of the neigbourhood. I've been there once with DH. Thankfully my memory served me well and I managed to get there without getting lost.

The mechanic told me to press the fuel fill tab near the driver's seat as he stood near the fuel fill door to inspect it. I pressed it once and walked around to the other side of the car to see what he was doing. Within that 2 seconds or so, he had managed to open the fuel fill door and re-attached the metal to its place.

I asked him the cost but he just shook his head and said "No need." It was a small help on his part, but without it, I would be in a lot of trouble.

Thank you, Mr Mechanic.

p/s: Remember to keep any fallen parts from your car. You might need it some day.