"Aaaand halfway down the page is why I don't let me vehicles get much below half a tank."
Yep. In years past I was rigorous about filling up before I hit 1/4 tank.
Then, when my commute was so short, I got out of that habit.
Well, I was heading out of town on vacation, and I was intending on getting gas on my way out of town. The night before I left the Derecho hit Northern Virginia and knocked power out just about everywhere, and I didn't have enough gas to get beyond the power outage zone.
Fortunately I was able to finally find an open station fairly near my house, but I learned my lesson.