A gallon of gas

Gasoline hasn't topped $4 a gallon for me, yet, but this morning the local stations had it going for $3.89 so it's only a matter of time. It's so nice to see President Bush's cozy relationship with the Saudis and Big Oil paying off for the average American, isn't it? I think the great Ray Davies said it best with lyrics he penned 30 years ago:



Soaring gas prices have hit the ol' Blaschke family budget pretty hard, as it has mostly everyone in the country. The family minivan--which isn't SUV awful in the mpg category, but still isn't great--remains parked most of the time now. We usually shoehorn everyone into the PT Cruiser when we have to go somewhere together, which isn't that comfortable for the children considering how much space the Bug's car seat takes up in the back seat.

Sadly, the Cruiser doesn't get as good gas mileage as it should for a car it's size. It's too heavy, and not very efficient. A redesign could help it out immensely as far as weight and mpg goes, but Chrysler shows no interest in that--only in building gas-guzzling muscle cars. Go figure.

I've got a 20-mile commute (each way) and that takes a toll. It can't really be helped. Mass transit and carpooling options are quite limited. We live where we do because of 1) affordable housing and 2) quality schools. Moving closer to my work would force us to abandon both of those things. So I do all the standard mileage tweaks to try and coax more fuel efficiency out of my car. Tires slightly over-inflated? Check. Clean air filter? Check. Clean out excess clutter and weight? Check. I just shelled out cash to get the engine tuned up, replacing the spark plugs and whatnot to improve performance above what it'd become (the engine was obviously missing when idling). But that's not enough.

Three years ago it cost me $25 to fill up the Cruiser. Now it costs $45-50. Ouch. So I've taken steps. I've slowed down to 65 mph on the highway. Throttling back from 70-75 doesn't sound like much, but it's reduced the engine rpms from 3,000 to 2,500, and that's had an obvious impact. I've also adopted some of the less-radical driving habits popularized by the so-called hypermilers. I turn the engine off if I expect to be stuck at a stoplight or in a drive-through line for longer than 10 seconds. I park face-out if possible so as not to waste gas in backing up. On downhill slopes, I hit the clutch and coast with gravity and inertia providing the power, not stepping back on the gas until I've slowed to 55 mph or so on the highway (I've gone half a mile at a stretch). I don't draft, though. I've tried it, but it simply strikes me as too dangerous and unpredictable to be a viable alternative for anyone but hard-core hypermilers. And I'm not looking to tick off other drivers with fuel-saving obsessions. I also run the AC or drive with the windows down, because I'm simply not going to bake in a sauna to shave a few pennies off my final gas bill. But hopefully, the steps I'm taking will add up over the long term.

There's one more thing I'm doing because of the spiraling fuel prices: I'm donating plasma. Yeah, twice a week now, I'm getting stuck with a needle and using the resulting cash to gas up my car. Somewhat surreal when you consider the fact that college students donate plasma for beer money, whereas an old fart like me is using it for gas money. That's progress for you, I suppose.

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