Stepping out for the evening.

We stepped out to go and see the movie "Jackie" this evening only to run into gridlocked traffic.  There had been a (sadly fatal) accident on the Westlink ring-road, the main arterial route going west and south out of Belfast.  All the traffic was diverted through the city centre, nose to tail; stop, move one car length and stop again.  To make matters worse we were low on fuel.  The first warning "bong" went off soon after we hit the traffic.  "Never mind," said N, "it warns you again when it really is about to run out.".  Half an hour later, still crawling  nose to tail, the second "bong" went off.  I began turning off the engine if it looked like we were stopping for more than 5 seconds, always wondering if it took more fuel to get the engine going again than I was saving by turning it off in the first place.  Through the city centre and out the other side and still the traffic was relentless; stop, start, stop, turn off the engine, start up again, stress levels rising.  Finally, running by now on fumes, we made it to a petrol station and filled up.  We were much too late for the movie, but we phoned and told them our plight and they rebooked us free of charge for tomorrow night.  We ended up in a shopping centre passing time until we thought the traffic was clear, hence the shoe shot and the rather corny title to this blip!