Brent Butt saved me $4.03 this week.

This week's episode of Corner Gas (entitled, "Blog River" ... ironic, isn't it?) opened with Brent excitedly unpacking several cases of recently delivered windshield washer fluid.

As I stared quizzically at the TV screen, I slowly turned to my brother and said, "When I went to fill the car up with gas ... did I come out of the gas station with a jug of windshield washer fluid?".

At the first commercial break, I called Golf's Car Wash, and told them that I had paid for a jug of windshield washer fluid, but hadn't taken it with me.

"You were here yesterday?" they asked.

"No ... Friday," I said.

That's right. I filled up with gas, bought a jug of windshield washer fluid, walked out without it, and 72 HOURS LATER, it suddenly dawned on me. Lucky for me, the girl who answered the phone had been working that night, and she remembered me. She said they had thought that I would come back, but they gave up hope after a day had passed ... so much so, that they sold my jug of windshield washer fluid to someone else, they were currently completely sold out, and the best they could offer me was a refund of my money.

They sold it to someone else? How can they do that? I can maybe see keeping it for store use, or giving it away. They already sold it once. Unless someone else steals one, doesn't that screw up their inventory?

Even worse, when I arrived, and told the girl at the counter, "I called about the windshield washer fluid", instead of giving me a refund, she initially tried to sell me another jug, when they don't even have any in stock! What is this? Some sort of code? I'm surprised I didn't walk out of that place with a bag of marijuana!!!

I suspect that the main reason I was so absent-minded about my windshield washer fluid was that I was too focused on getting the free Fuddrucker's hamburger with every 30 litre gas purchase. They almost didn't give me the burger coupon, but did I forget about that? No: I just forgot another item with nearly the same cash value. Ever since this promotion began, I have filled up nowhere else, even if I was in desperate need of gas, because, in my opinion, they really are "the world's greatest hamburgers".

I thought about my first potential burger for a nearly a week, and put off filling up for three days until I could get to Golf's. I finally got the free burger coupon ... but stopped next at the post office, where I encountered a man who asked me, "Can you spare any change for something to eat?".

I gave him my burger coupon.

What else could I do?

Since then, I have managed to score three more free hamburgers: two from my own car's fill-ups, and one after filling up our work vehicle, then dutifully turning the coupon over to my interim boss, since it was technically not mine. One of my co-workers told my her what I did with my other burger coupon, and she insisted that I keep it.

When I told my friend Mark the story, his joking comment was, "That's why you're going to Heaven ... where you can eat all the hamburgers you want".

I doubt that would be my idea of Heaven ... but it immediately made me think of Wimpy from Popeye!