Recently, early in the morning, I was filling my car with diesel. In the back of my mind, I was planning my day. It was going to be busy, and I was also thinking about a technical challenge that required a solution. But while I listened to the fuel gurgling into my car, something wasn't quite right.
It scratched on the edge of my consciousness, trying to get attention. Then I thought to myself, the diesel didn't smell like it usually did. I looked down, and everything went into slow motion as I realised, to my horror, that I had put £30 worth of unleaded petrol into my diesel car!
I was not a happy bunny! So I went into the service station and told them of my problem. I then pushed my car to a safe place, and called a number of a company that pumps out cars when they have the wrong fuel. After a long wait, the van with specialist equipment arrived.
Being a bit of a geek, I watched with interest as they uncoupled the fuel pipe from the engine and proceeded to pump the fuel out of my car. The head mechanic was quite jolly. He told me about a lorry driver who had put nearly £1000 worth of unleaded into his wagon before he realised his mistake. He told me not everyone had the presence of mind to notice while they were at the pump, and usually had to break down before they called for help.
He asked me what I did for a living. I told him I am a data quality analyst.
"What do you do", he asked?
"Same as you," I replied, "you take bad fuel out of cars, I take bad data out of computers and replace it with good data."
He seemed to like that. Grinning broadly, he handed me my keys.
"Hope I don't see you again," he quipped.
"Likewise," I replied, and headed off to work.
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