Lead Foot

Evidence is mounting, statistically and anecdotally, that American’s are changing their driving habits to save gas. They’re taking mass transit, car pooling more, consolidating trips, or getting rid of one car, like I did.

But one thing hasn’t changed: how people drive.

Forget all that advice about how to save gas. I still see aggressive stop-and-go driving; jack-rabbit starts; burn-outs; tailgating; and sudden lane changes. Some of the clueless, immature and poor time managers among us still need to feel like the master of their domain while behind the wheel. Now it’s just costing them more.

Curb This!

I guess this make sense… on Opposite Day.

George Carlin's 7 Words

Rest in peace, George.

Sad But True

I want my OIL

I want my…… I want my OIL.

Take the opening chorus of Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” and substitute the phrase above. It’s what some Americans are essentially singing about renewing efforts to explore for oil off-shore in the lower 48 and Alaska.

They’re baying at the moon. Even if exploration on both coasts was given the green light today, it’s estimated that prices wouldn’t begin to drop until 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration. Moreover, since we consume 25 percent of the world’s oil and have only 3 percent of the world’s reserves, we can’t drill our way out of this mess.

Sadly, the only people who would benefit from tying up even more public lands for oil exploration (they already have 68 million acres that remain untouched) are the oil companies and their friends who are glad to assist them.

Tally Ho! (Two)

On April 19, we began our living our lives with one car. So paraphrasing a question frequently posed by New Yorkers, "How we doin’?"

Honestly, not that bad. A little forethought about work schedules, conference calls, and the kid cartage schedule has helped us eliminate a hefty new car payment and is saving us cash on gas, not that we spend that much to begin with due to working out of the house. We have yet to tap the rental car option.

So to date, the tally looks like this:

New car payments (2) $1,320
Gas $ 200
Rental car $ 0
Repairs $ 0

Total $1,520

This was our approach to dealing with the soaring price of oil. What have you done to cope?

Know Thy Pain

If you’re planning to hit the road this summer, get a sense of how much pump pain you’ll endure before you feel the urge to break out a Seppuku knife.

The Chicago Tribune recently published its “Gas Gouge-o-meter”, a handy calculator to estimate what you’ll spend in gas. For example, based on gas costing $4.15 at my local BP, driving round trip from Chicago to New York would cost me $273.20 to cruise those 1,580 miles.

Ouch.

But, hey, it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than four round trip airfares, even if I have to spring for road food and an overnight stay at a roadside flop. And I won’t have to pay $15 to check my bags.

Disturbia

It occurred to me that the ever rising price of gas could have profound effects on the suburban lifestyle. How will we get to our jobs, transport our kids to karate lessons across town and drive to grocery store? Do urban 20-somethings now have a leg up on older suburbanites because they don’t need cars?

While it’s very likely others have had this thought, today I was made aware of 2004 documentary called “The End of Suburbia”. It describes the inevitable demise of our car-centric and unsustainable lifestyle (along with the end of the 3000-mile Caesar Salad).

Here’s the promo.

Hat tip to Mark DeWeirdt for the idea.

Old Habits

This exchange with my wife occurred earlier today. She took first shift with our kids during swim team time trials at the neighborhood pool:

Phone rings:

Wife: First, I had lens envy (referring to the zoom lens I gave her for our recent 14th wedding anniversary. She's major a photo freak), now I have coffee envy (referring to the cups of Starbucks and Caribou being consumed by the other parents). Just swing by Starbucks and pick me up a decaf of the day.

Me: Got it. See you soon.

Fast forward 10 minutes to a message on the answering machine (I was outside with the dog):

Wife: Duh! You don’t have a car. Forget the coffee.

Sad thing is it didn't occur to me either until I heard the message. Six weeks without a second car and we’re still adjusting.

Staycations

After oil blasted to an all-time high and posted the biggest one-day gain ever recorded, even the idea of driving my remaining car is giving me agida.

So I perused Technorati for ideas on family fun and saving gas. I found this from Miami Herald columnist and blogger Sharon Harvey Rosenberg: The Frugal Duchess: Latest Trend: 'Staycations' -- Ideas for Stay-at-Home Summer Trips. Some of the ideas are local to Florida, but most apply to any family trying to have fun and not exposing the kiddies to colorful metaphors while parked at the pump.

Dig the 535-foot Slip 'N Slide...

Oil Enters Orbit

If you’ve been wondering why oil pricing is on a tear, you'll find the contributing factors here.

In a nutshell, our economy is hurting our economy.

Bummer, Hummer

General Motors announced today that it plans to shutter four of its truck/SUV manufacturing plants. It’s a practical, if not rushed, move for a car company that is seeing Americans quickly turn European and Asian in their desire to drive smaller cars. GM also announced that in the process it may unload its Hummer brand. Good riddance.

For the true off-road enthusiast, ok, maybe this truck had some utility. But in my neck of the woods, where there are many more acres of subdivisions and corn fields than forest, motoring with this lumbering leviathan is equivalent of drivable bling. Chrome wheels, chrome bumpers, funky paint jobs and, heaven forbid, nary a speck of mud.

So, let’s start the countdown and say so-long to one pure show boat.

H3, H2, H1. Buh-bye.